Dangers of prejudging students abilities.
As teachers we must be very careful not to have preconcieved notions about students abilities.
The class I teach has certain prerequisite classes but, from time to time I can get a class where half of them may not have had these classes. This requires a little "fancy footwork" in adjusting my lesson plans but, mostly has taught me the importance of asking more probing questions on the first day in order to assess this more quickly.
I agree with Mr. Knight. The students come to school to learn. If they already knew the material they would not be there. I find it easiest to assume they know nothing that way I can do my best to insure they learn everything. I have found that most of my students know very little of the subject being taught yet won't ask for a variety of reasons. Therefore I cover everything I possibly can in order to do my best to answer their unasked questions and help make them more comfortable and hopefully get them more involved.
Hi Ron,
What a great example of learning from students and their abilities. This student had the desire and motivation to be successful in his chosen career field.
Gary
Even students with obvious diabilities such paralyzed and in a wheelchair should not be prejudged. I had this happen to me once. The student quickly showed me up when I asked if he needed help with a dent he had on the roof of his car. He replied " do you mean, do I need YOU to help me fix the dent or, can you tell ME where to start with this dent"?
He opened the door, rolled the window down, grabbed the A pillar with one hand, top of door with the other and swung himself on top of the door. He was now able to repair the dent himself with my instruction.
Hi Evan,
You are student centered in your approach I can tell from your comments. You are approaching the classroom with no preconceived ideas about how the students will perform. This is good because then you can let the students show you how they will perform in the class during the fall phase.
Gary
Our Fall starts are usually the youngest students of the year. These students are a little more "active" than other classes, but I try not to have any preconceived notions of how they will perform as students.
Hi Michael,
You are right about not having preconceived notions about students and their abilities. After many years of teaching I am still surprised each course phase by the abilities of students that you would not expect to have such abilities.
Gary
