The pursuit of perfection, that dauntless task that overwhelms and challenges a person. And, as a teacher, one of the biggest frustrations to deal with in the classroom. Student rush through their work hoping that the first attempt is correct and that they no longer have to pay attention to the assignment. Their focus is not on the content and understanding of the assignment, but the completion and finality of the assignment. This relentless challenge is my biggest and the most frustrating aspect of my job.At an early age, I was never taught that perfect grades, or perfect assignments were the goals of my academia.
The life lessons taught to me by my parents, teachers, and coaches were the pursuit of excellence, the willingness to improve and to be better each time. The idea of perfection is unattainable, so why pursue the unattainable. Why not pursue the idea that with every attempt, I get better. My understanding get betters. Furthermore, by changing my mindset of from ‘perfection’ to ‘excellence’, I began to unburdened myself with a very fruitless journey that is usually bathed in guilt and shame.
As a teacher, I try to continue this learning expectation and philosophy in my classroom; however, I find it increasing hard for students to process. So, I wonder if this is the teacher’s fault or students? Why do students rush through their work with the expectation that one go around is enough? This is a problem in ALL classrooms, not just urban classrooms; but, I do find some interesting variable that are in occur.
First, students rush through their work because they are uninterested. In an urban education content, it is important to find material, concepts, ideas, and activities that are highly relatable to the student. This means, that the teacher has to step outside of the norms and find stories and discussions that might challenge their own comfort. You will have to talk about drugs, prison, immigration, broken families, dating, abuse, etc. It is about understanding your audience and tapping into experience that will both heighten and develop a students understanding and involvement in the classroom.
Second, students rush through their because they aren’t provide the proper instructional time to learn the correct process. Teachers fail to spend adequate time developing a strong academic foundation for urban students. There are many variable that impact the instructional time of a classroom (behavior, absence, learning abilities) and, as students progress in school, they are going from one grade-level with deficiencies. They are not aware of these deficiencies, so they assume that their work as at level. In relation to Language Arts, students are writing essays without punctuation, or structure/organization, or focus, but they believe by writing words and ideas on the composition paper, they are done. Urban students tend to receive inadequate instruction and no one is willing to challenge this teaching behavior and output.
Third, teachers give up to quickly on challenge students to improve and develop their work. Some believe that there are unique challenges when working with Urban students, but there isn’t; the unique challenges depends on the teacher. Is a teacher willing to challenge, to spend time processing with the student, to review and analyze, to require greatness not excuses, and to see the potential of a student’s effort. It truly requires effort; to go through every line of a student’s work, to find where they are struggle and provide a solution, to challenge ideas and push students to think! So many times, in my opinion, teachers give up on Urban students. They expect and accept the bare minimum; they believe that they can’t go further, they think the effort is too much. This, to me, is the greatest travesty in Urban Education… we don’t push or expect urban students to be great, just like their counterparts.
The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate “apparently ordinary” people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. ~K. Patricia Cross
Expectations are key. No matter where a student is in their learning, they should be given particular expectations that challenge them. Students need to learn that learning is progressive and life-long. That learning, as well as life, is not based on “Is this Enough?” but, “what can I improve on”. Sadly, as students move throughout the grade-levels, they develop core value that completing an assignment is ENOUGH! So, they bellyache and argue and get annoyed, but these reactions will only be temporary and should be challenged at every point.
One of the greatest tools I learned from my mentor is to adapt your grading system. The philosophy is that a final grade takes time, that revision is the overall goal and focus. This grading system takes time, lots of effort, organization, patients, and buy-in from students, but it work if given the proper attention. In my class, students get the following grades:
- E= Exceptional (Student work shows mastery of content and expectations)
- P= Progressing (Student show some mastery and will be given additional chances to improve upon work)
- U= Unsatisfactory (Student did not complete assignment, students needs to spend additional time understanding material and concept)
Students are given as many times as possible to achieve an, “E” on their assignment. This will annoy students, but, by the end of the class, they will walk out with a passing grade, learning endurance, and the appreciation that effort is continuous. And, even better, students will begin to see themselves a little different. They will see the potential in their work, the potential in their effort, the potential in their minds. The guilt and shame of not understanding will be swept away by second and third chances. That the fear of failure will be adapted into the excitement of what failure can do… make you better! And, possible, redefine what failure means!
There are many examples of icons who’s life represent the pursuit of excellence rather than the pursuit of end goals. The transformation of expectations in the classroom will begin to develop future icons who will change the world, or their community, and even their families. However, to do this, one must begin to apply a different approaches in the classroom and realize that the effort and mentality we have as teachers directly impacts the future of so many great students. This different approach is necessary and needed in the Urban Education school and classroom, even if it is daunting. It is no long about ENOUGH but EXCELLENCE.
An Urban Education 