Avoid Labels by Knowing Students One-on-One

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Narrator: To prevent the temptation of labeling students, teachers must be fully aware that they see their students' behavior through the lenses of their own culture.

Margo Handy (principal): Unfortunately, some people believe that all children learn in the same way. And that is not the case. So one has to be extremely careful, when entering a classroom, that you're responsible for implementing effective strategies. You must disrobe your false perceptions and beliefs so you can meet the needs of every child regardless of race, color creed, or learning styles.

Narrator: Teachers can easily check any bias or performance by simply having their class observed…asking a peer or mentor to attend a couple of classes with an eye on specific behavior. Consulting with other teachers and educators, and talking with parents, will benefit a teacher if the focus of the conversation is on such issues as labeling students or attitudes and perceptions about their students. Also, creating opportunities to work one-on-one with students is a must.

Patricia Blevins (enhancement reading teacher): All right Ryan, will you put your sentence together?

Narrator: Several opportunities exist at Prince Street Elementary for one-on-one contact with students, including the school's reading recovery program, called RISE.

Blevins: About 10 years ago, we were actually still using homogeneous grouping. So we had children who were in the top, middle, and bottom reading groups. Causes that we found, particularly in the early grades, [were] that the students did not have an adequate sight vocabulary. So we actually had a whole change in our school. We went from this homogeneous ability grouping and tracking to a more heterogeneous grouping with children being pulled out for specific areas of need.

Blevins: So why is it important for them to close their shell then?

Ryan: 'Cause they're frightened. (reading to Blevins): One…part of…the turtle's shell…covers its back…

Blevins: The more experienced the person is with teaching reading, probably the more effective the program would be. However, what we have found is that even using high school students or college students to implement the program is far more beneficial than the student sitting in the classroom and not having that one-on-one contact. In a large group setting, sometimes the students are missed because their specific needs are so specific to them—and it may be that the classroom teacher is not able to pinpoint that area of need.

Blevins: There were many hard words in there. You did an excellent job with most of them, but there were some that provided some difficulties, so let's take a look at those, OK?

Ryan: OK.

Blevins (writing the word): This is the first one.

Ryan: (murmurs)

Blevins: Why don't you use your finger first and trace, OK? Your writing finger.

Blevins and Ryan (together): C-E-N-T-E-R.

Blevins: What's the word?

Ryan: Center.

Blevins: Now, you write "center." Your writing looks as good as mine. Or better! What's the word?

Ryan: Center.

Narrator:  At the heart of recognizing and changing false ideas and attitudes about students is for teachers to sincerely believe that all children can learn.
 
Blevins: It's so important that we don't put students in a particular group and then leave them there as we did 10 years ago or before that. If we put children in a particular group and then leave them there and track that student, that student will never reach their full potential. The mission of our school is that every student can achieve and every student has a right to an appropriate education.

Source: From Educating Everybody's Children (Tape 1: Attitudes and Beliefs), 2000, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.