Go Ontrell!

You know that phrase, “instant success”? What a load of capitalistic shit! Reserved for infomercials and advertisements, the phrase shouldn’t be associated with education or learning. Change, or success is gradual and as a teacher you have to look for it (or even study it!). Thinking about what or who to write about for this reflection was somewhat difficult—do I focus on one person? Do I focus on a classroom management strategy that worked? Do I write about a time when one or more of my classes really got into a story or concept we were studying? Only upon reflection do I realize success occurs in my classroom everyday. Like any good researcher I had to look for it and analyze it. None of these successes were instant or easy, but they all felt pretty wonderful. In remembering the events of the last two months, my mind kept coming back a series of successive successes for one charming sixth grader named Ontrell Cocroft.
Ontrell is an eager beaver-- the kid of student that likes to cross his t’s and dot his i’s. No doubt most of his teachers have liked him (and of course I join in that group) and have easily given A’s and B’s. So easily, in fact, that he doesn’t know how to answer complicated questions or think critically. Having received A’s and B’s for most of his academic life, he was pretty shocked that he was failing my class when one-month progress reports went around.
When I think back to the written responses he gave on short answer questions, I cringe. I knew he has done the work of reading and listening in class. Somehow, he expected me to give him all the answers to the questions. He would do well on multiple-choice questions and anything that required route memorization. But when asked to “explain or describe” he would be lost—as a result he would fail tests that included those types of responses.
Ontrell had never failed before, but being given an “F” for the first forced him to reassess himself. I never imagined giving a student an “F” would be a positive thing, but with Ontrell it was—I spoke to him individually about his grade, explained what I thought was the problem, etc. After that, he started really engaging in class. If there were something he didn’t understand—he would ask a question (something I strongly encourage anyone who is failing to do). On creative projects, he would ask for help coming up with new ideas (before he would simply copy the example I provided). Every writing assignment became a little better, and it looked like he was having a lot more fun! He was really “thinking” about assignments and questions. Every time he came up with new ideas I would say, “Go Ontrell!”
The next time progress reports came out—he saw his grade and gave a great big hug and thanked me in the middle of class. I hide my bursting happiness, and simply said, “I don’t give grades, you earn them” like always. The whole class laughed pretty hard. I was really proud of him.
The whole “higher standards” philosophy is true. I could have been pleased that Ontrell was good at copying what I said or did, but that is not my goal for my students. I want them to know how creative and smart they are—I want them to keep getting to the next level of thinking. You have to keep saying, “go.”