A large majority of the students in my class are English language learners, of middle to low SES, and children of color, and many students in the class are male. The students that usually interact the most with each other are those of the same gender, but there are some positive interactions between genders when they are in the same group. The students who appear to be the “lone wolf” student(s) of the class are those who cannot read or participate as well as the other students in the class due to language barriers. The students who appear to participate the most and be “doing well” in the class are those who can communicate clearly and understand English. One student in particular does exceptionally in the class, and is one of the very few whose parents both have well-paying jobs and time to engage with her learning at home and at school. One day, the class did not receive math homework to do, so she made up and solved her own math problems that were above grade level and handed them in to the teacher.
Many of the students got along fairly well; however, there were some students, specifically boys, who the teacher pointed out “instigated” each other’s bad behavior. Because of this problem, these boys sat at different tables across the room from each other. This strategy worked, and I didn’t see any major problems with these students during my time in the classroom.
The students who were eager to take on their work and take ownership of their work made it pretty clear that they felt that way. They always raised their hands to participate in class, and always finished their classwork without hesitation or grief. On the other hand, the ones who did not want to do their classwork or be in school made it known that they felt that way as well. For some, it was an outspoken displeasure with being in school, while for others it was more subtle. By subtle, I mean that the student would not say anything or be disruptive to others in their class, but they would stare blankly at their work and needed a lot of pushing to begin their work (they often would not complete their work).
For both the outspoken and quieter students who expressed displeasure at their work or school in general, there seemed to be a common theme of a lack of self-efficacy. Many students who did not like school or learning expressed that they didn’t know how to do a skill or that they had no idea what to do. The teacher said that some of these students were very bright, but that they did not show their full potential because they didn’t feel like they could or wanted to do their work.
2018 Boston Urban Teaching Initiative 