“Students have a right to think, and teachers have an ethical obligation to teach them to think and to provide them with meaningful content to think about. Schools and districts are responsible for creating cultures of thought that will empower students to engage in academic disciplines and American democracy.” (14)

It is my responsibility to make the curriculum I teach my students both relevant and thought provoking. I find this interesting because often times I question my motives when planning or day dreaming about my future classroom. I wonder if I try to make things relevant simply to, as my sophomores would say, “Have swag.” I realize after reading this chapter that I absolutely agree with what Plaut has to say about my responsibilities as a teacher. And, if I really believe that all students have both the ability and the right to learn (which I like to believe I do), then Plaut’s words resonate even more. I think it is interesting the gap between what I read good teaching is and what I see in my field placements. No offense to the districts I have worked in or the teachers that I have had the privilege of working under, but I don’t think that they necessarily think of teaching as a democratic responsibility. I think if more teachers thought this way, as students being our future in a more realistic sense, we would take our curriculum planning more seriously, and maybe others would look at our profession as more  than just a glorified type of babysitting.

” This study makes it clear that high schools need to teach students how to think in order to make then ready for college and the world.” (15)

I get so frustrated with my high schoolers. With middle schoolers, I can pose a question, wait for a few moments and someone will at least tempt to answer. They will take a wild guess, an educated guess even…with my high schoolers, you would think that there are crickets in the room. You would think that a sea witch stole their voices and we were all in The Little Mermaid. There is more whining and complaining about the fact that they have to actually use their brains to form a question than I have ever heard about anything in their lives. I wonder who taught them that they didn’t have to think? Who taught them that, if they waited long enough, someone would give them the answer? I think about the fact that many of them are not prepared for the real world and I get really sad because when I spend the extra 15 minutes to poke and prod them to think…they do a really great job. During my unit I am planning on having them work in small groups. I am hoping to eliminate their learned helplessness by creating a culture in which my students HAVE to think. 

Today we did a poetry explication as a district assessment. One of my seniors said, “Miss Pierce, I don’t know how to do this. Right now my brain is thinking about fun, not about this stupid poem.” She continued to call me over throughout the course of her explication and ask me reaffirming questions. She was unsure about what words meant and wanted to ask me if her answers were right before she even attempted to type them in a word document. I was getting frustrated, thinking, she is so paralyzed by having been fed the answers for so long, she cannot even construct a sentence without me affirming that she has created the correct answer. What a disservice we have done to these students…who can currently vote, but cannot think. Awesome. 

“We talk to them about how they should act maturely, be responsible for their behavior, and not be influenced by negativity, but rather choose a path toward success. Rarely are students given ample opportunities to practice meeting these expectations.” (31) 

Today we did a poetry explication as a district assessment. One of my seniors said, “Miss Pierce, I don’t know how to do this. Right now my brain is thinking about fun, not about this stupid poem.” She continued to call me over throughout the course of her explication and ask me reaffirming questions. She was unsure about what words meant and wanted to ask me if her answers were right before she even attempted to type them in a word document. I was getting frustrated, thinking, she is so paralyzed by having been fed the answers for so long, she cannot even construct a sentence without me affirming that she has created the correct answer. What a disservice we have done to these students…who can currently vote, but cannot think. Awesome. I have asked my students to do something but have not given them the time to practice what it is I’ve asked them to do.