I'm a teacher.
Although I come from a family where education was not valued.
Neither one of my parents graduated from high school.
In fact, my father didn't make it through the 7th grade.
Reflecting back on my schooling,
I was never taught how to learn.
Consequently in college, I struggled.
I struggled with organization, knowing what to study, and how to take tests.
My parents were no help.
In fact, they had no expectation of me to even use education in my future,
and told me I was wasting my time, and my money.
My father went so far as to tell me the only degree I needed to focus on
was the "Mrs" degree, find a husband.
But I wanted to change my circumstances.
And I knew that education could be my path out of generational poverty.
As a teacher, I wanted this for my students as well.
I wanted to teach them the skills that I had to learn on my own.
I could only imagine how much more effective I would have been
if I'd had that guidance.
It was important to me to be that guidance for my students.
Success isn't dependent on where you start.
It's dependent on good life choices and some tools help along the way.
We have to teach these tools to our students.
I started teaching with the optimism that only a new teacher can have.
But I quickly realized my students were facing the same challenges I had faced
as a student.
I needed my students to be successful in the content, of course.
But even more than that,
I wanted to teach my students tools that would help them be successful.
I wanted my students to approach their learning as if it were their job.
I knew the tools I would teach them in my classroom
were tools they could use all their lives.
Later in college, in their careers, or whatever vocation they chose.
As I reflected on what worked and the tools that helped me help them,
I found that there were three specific things that solved the major challenges
my students faced in the classroom.
These three things made a positive impact on my students' learning.
Organization.
Organization does not come naturally to most students.
I know, you're shocked.
So helping students with organization was a natural place for me to start.
Everything we did in class was maintained, recorded, and filed in "the journal."
It kept them on task, it kept them focused,
and taught students the value of keeping track of their resources.
Students owned their work,
and they could see their knowledge grow over the semester.
It was their first step in learning the importance of organization.
Students also used "the journal" to keep track of their grades.
There was no surprise at the end of the grading cycle,
students knew where they stood.
They were taking control of their own progress.
It showcased the idea of work in equals work out, or, action equals reaction,
Newton's 3rd law, in layman's terms.
It put the responsibility for their progress directly on them.
My students learned that success breeds success.
Well, failure breeds failure.
I was choosing success for my students.
One former student said
having to update the journal consistently reinforced the idea
that it's up to them to progress through school successfully.
Another, who is currently in law school,
told me she still uses the format of the journal for her notes and case briefs,
despite having hated it as an eight grader.
The next problem I needed to solve
was how to keep homework from causing my students to fail.
As a teacher, we know that purposeful homework
is a way for students to review and practice concepts.
But I realized early on, that a majority of my students didn't do their homework,
causing serious damage to their grades.
I began to notice that some of the students that weren't doing their homework
knew the material.
Having students fail an assignment but understand the material
didn't seem reasonable.
But at the same time, teaching accountability was important.
I had a dilemma.
I needed the students to practice, hence the homework,
but I didn't want students to fail because they didn't do their homework.
Our students may be tending to younger siblings, working a part-time job,
have no parental support.
We don't know what our students are going home to.
I wanted my students to be successful.
Instead of collecting the homework for a grade,
how about a pop quiz based on the homework assignment, but with a caveat.
Those students that had done their homework
could use the homework on the pop quiz.
For the students who were able to comprehend the information
without having done the homework,
they proved it on the pop quiz.
Since the reason for assigning the homework was to help them with the content
this was a win win, for the students, and myself.
The students recognized that I was placing importance on the outcome:
learning the material.
My goal was for the students to master the content,
not just pass an individual assessment.
One former student said that being in my class was the first time
she had to truly take ownership of her own learning,
since no one was going to rescue her if she failed.
The third problem solved by a specific practice in my classroom,
was students not knowing what to focus on when preparing for an exam.
To address this, I would give the students a 3x5 index card
at the beginning of each grading cycle.
These were for their "gems of wisdom."
And they were to write anything they wanted on the front side of the card,
glue it to the front of the journal,
and then use the gems during their assessments.
Since the card was so small, the students had to think critically
about what pieces of information or "gems" they wrote on the card.
A former student told me that the "gems" helped consolidate information
and really focus on the important concepts,
and this stood out to her as a tool of success these many years later.
Another student told me,
"You were the first person to teach me how to focus on the process,
or the "gems," and that the results would follow.
Teacher to teacher, I want you to reflect on how you impact your students.
1. How do you help your students with organization of their resources?
2. How do you help your students reach academic standards in their content?
And then 3. How do you help students know what's important to focus on
when preparing for exams?
These were three major issues I faced as a teacher.
Implementing the journal, adopting student-centric grading practices,
and prompting my students to create their own "gems of wisdom,"
impacted my students as lifelong learners.
From the moment they walked into my classroom,
my students knew the content was rigorous
and that I expected a lot from them,
but they so knew, that they could expect a lot from me.
I made sure they understood not to make excuses, to work through their mistakes,
and to take responsibility for their actions.
They knew that my classroom was a safe space to learn in,
and that I would do everything in my power to make them successful.
One former student told me,
"I was surprised at how much getting organized in your class
helped me in other classes as well."
We are pushing our students toward success when we teach them organizational skills,
we hold them accountable, and guide them to take ownership of their learning.