Time Marches On

‘Tis the season, I suppose. The end of the trimester is quickly approaching, which means report cards are due in about a month. I don’t generally mind doing report cards. I start early with the behaviors and knock those out. Slowly work on Reading, then Writing, then Science last. I have a system. 

But this year, I feel like I am already starting out behind. This year, I’m feeling like my kids have started out so far behind, that I’m not sure what to say. 


We had a big talk last week, after an awful session of Science that required them to use what they knew about Earth’s systems to explain how different types of weather and climate are created. The explanations were in front of them, so they basically had to put it in their own words. I planned on an half an hour—it took three times that long. Now I am not too proud to admit an error on my part. I incorrectly assumed that this would be simple enough that we didn’t need to go through one together. So I ended up going through 2-3 with each group. But here’s the thing. We’ve been studying Earth’s systems for several weeks. There are four of them: geo-, hydro-, bio-, and atmosphere. Even after going through examples, the kids couldn’t work independently because they couldn’t even tell me that the mention of “air” indicated atmosphere or “water” meant hydrosphere. So I let them in on a little secret. 

My lesson format, as all teachers will know, is “I do, We do, You do”. I did. I taught. I reviewed. We did. I came around and we did 2-3 together. But the “you do” was missing. I explained to them how I can stand up there and teach my heart out, but if they aren’t putting in the work on their end, it doesn’t matter. They have to internalize the learning. Own the learning. To their credit, they seemed to really take that to heart. 

So now that’s my battle cry: I do, we do, YOU do! With an emphatic point in their direction at “you do!” But it's a still a struggle. Every day I wonder how I can engage them, get them to own and care about their learning. I don't have the answers yet. But I want to do right by these kids. So on we march.