Post date: Feb 5, 2018 7:41:15 PM
I had some time between classes on a Friday so I was sitting in the SPED resource room while a second grade student was doing a spelling test. Ten words plus three bonus words; let’s see what words you remembered to spell correctly. Upon completion the teacher asked if the student wanted her to grade it right there while they were together. “Sure!” So she started.
“How many did I get wrong?” Bonus words don’t count towards the final grade and he got the rest of the words right… “You got all of them right so you got a 100” (T) “Yay! That means I got an A!” (S)
By the time our students are in second grade (7/8 years old) they have been conditioned to ‘get the grade’. The conversation was not about why the misspelled words were misspelled or breaking down the misspelled words but on the completion of the spelling test, the grade, and moving onward.
How can we, or how do you, foster the actual LOVE for learning? What language are you using? What practices and policies are aiding or hindering this process?
ML 2/5/18