how do you motivate apathetic students who are poor readers? – Teachers.Net (Social Studies)

Join Teachers.Net

chatboardsgroups

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Social Studies

MEMBERS

9 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Social Studies Teachers Chatboard

how do you motivate apathetic students who are poor readers?

by Mpachank

Nov 4, 2011

I teach general level 11th grade American history, and the majority of my student are reading below grade level and are happy if they make a D-.

I love my subject and try my best to make it relevant and interesting.

I'm required to stick to the state pacing guide and comprehensive curriculum and don't have much leeway to add in projects.

I'm not doing a good job motivating them to be high achievers or take more interest in history. In fact, their apathy is starting to rub off on me!

Help!

view previous comments

history teacher On 11/08/11, mpachank wrote:

What exactly do you mean by 'study'? Can you operationalize that? In steps?

Because if you can, then spend a class 'studying' with them. When I can't get my math students to do homework, I take a class and we do the homework together in class. When I teach LA and I can't get them to write at home, I t...See MoreOn 11/08/11, mpachank wrote:

What exactly do you mean by 'study'? Can you operationalize that? In steps?

Because if you can, then spend a class 'studying' with them. When I can't get my math students to do homework, I take a class and we do the homework together in class. When I teach LA and I can't get them to write at home, I take a class and we go to the computer room and they write in class.

I believe that 'study' means memorize and you keep repeating the word over again so it's some kind of special mantra for you. All I've ever seen is that 'study' means memorize - sit and stare at the page, mumble questions to yourself and try to make sense of a lot of information and it's something that poor readers are exceptionally poor at doing - in my experience.

But you really believe the missing key to their success is to have them 'study', then set aside a class and do a group 'study' with them. > >> >> From what I see, you seem to just want them to memorize >> irrelevant facts since they really can't read with much >> comprehension past an elementary level (not even knowing >> their ability to decode words uncommon to them even if they >> saw them several times). Many kids that struggle with >> reading are also struggling with working memory - which is >> the inital process needed to move from short term to long >> term. > > No, I want them to remember IMPORTANT facts and concepts. I want > them to be able to say why those facts are important. > >> How do you see them studying without having to read? How >> does their reading impact their ability to comprehend the >> TEST itself - then add in true and false where they have to >> decipher one small nuance that will make something true or >> false. > > You don't have to reading on a college level to study notecards. > Notecards are good for all levels. Elementary children learn > using flashcards, and I used notecards in grad school. > >> I think your students are apathetic because they are being >> forced to go through the motions with no real plan to help >> them for a long, long time. Heck, they know all they have >> to do is pass to graduate. The fact that they come to >> class and actually pick out the blue words for you says a >> lot. Maybe they don't study because it never has helped. > > Have you been over to the National Board chat board? the NBPTS > board. It's full of teachers who teach the same kids I do, but > are motivating them to become high acheivers. Their advice is > for me is pretty much just to get to know the students better > and be interested in them. I do that already. I've talked to > them about their artwork, sports, children (yes, a few have > babies), TV shows, etc. I compliment them on things they do > outside of class that they've been successful or creative on. > >> Wonder what would happen if you actually read the test to >> the whole class outloud as a way to see how much the >> reading was interferring? > > You're assuming all 30 students in class work at the same pace. > Some kids are slower and some kids are faster. If i read their > tests aloud, wouldn't that be distracting to the ones who are > reading faster and getting ahead on the test? If I see a student > taking his time or struggling, do all the students have to wait > until he's finished before I read the next question, or do I > leave him behind and keep reading? > > Again, my tests are not hard. I've modeled and suggested study > skills. They just won't study, and I can't motivate them to do > so! > > I'm 100% positive that if every student in my class studied, > I've have a normal bell curve if not one tilted towards more Bs > than the curve I have now that is curved towards Ds.

Nov 8, 2011

mpchank I also know that kids can copy BLUE words from textbooks until the > cows come home and still not truly understand what they copied > really meant. And how do I know this? Because we too have very > poor readers that can copy blue words from texts to comply with the > classwork, but they don't learn a darn thing from it because they >...See More

Nov 9, 2011

mpachank On 11/08/11, history teacher wrote: > On 11/08/11, mpachank wrote: > > What exactly do you mean by 'study'? Can you operationalize that? In > steps? > > Because if you can, then spend a class 'studying' with them. When I > can't get my math students to do homework, I take a class and we do > the homework together in class. W...See More

Nov 9, 2011

Jo Not one person here accused you of just doing bookwork all class and sending them home to study. No one accused you of making tricky questions.

However, it seems you solved your problem by history teacher's suggestion. Have your "study" session in class instead of them doing it at home since the only thing missing is them studying at home...See More

Nov 9, 2011

GW @ Mpachank LOVE YOUR POST!!! I can tell you love your job. My hat is off to you. As a teacher and a parent of a LD student, thank you for your concern. It means alot to the students. I really wish that more teachers would try to understand that for these kids, many do not try for fear of failure and frustration.

On 11/07/11, depression and discourag...See MoreLOVE YOUR POST!!! I can tell you love your job. My hat is off to you. As a teacher and a parent of a LD student, thank you for your concern. It means alot to the students. I really wish that more teachers would try to understand that for these kids, many do not try for fear of failure and frustration.

On 11/07/11, depression and discouragement breeds apathy wrote: > On 11/04/11, Mpachank wrote: > > Poor readers are discouraged - don't mistake it for pure > apathy. If you can't read well, you can't do well in school > because school is based on reading and history classes > especially so. > > For such kids, I don't assign them reading - it's pointless. > Textbook reading is difficult at best - textbook writing tends > to be very dry and with long stilted sentences. Poor readers > simply can't make any sense of textbook reading. > > I rewrite the material and in one succinct page and we read > that aloud in class - I let students volunteer to read. If they > don't, then I read it in a clear, expressive voice. And the > rest of the class is activity and discussion based. > > To get these kids to break through their depression and seeming > apathy, you have to contrive some success for them. I give > quizzes that are easy but your students are juniors - they've > known 11 years of failure in school. It's NOT easy to break > through that. > > Projects don't need to be added in - condense the textbook into > a handout and add that in. It can be done. > > Picture yourself with handcuffs on and being told to sculpt in > clay and with enthusiasm - could you muster enthusiasm to > sculpt with handcuffs on? Or picture yourself taking a history > class but the instruction is in Hungarian. Do you speak Hungarian? > > History as it's given to us in textbooks and curriculum guides > is way too detailed and too many history classes are almost > solely about memorizing details - that's why even good readers > end up hating history. > > Teach the concepts - when we broke away from England, we were > like 13 rebellious teenagers. When we had our Civil War, we > were like two siblings angry with each other. They can > understand history when it's taught in concepts rather than in > details. > > > Make your tests open note, short and concept based. And what > kind of a future do these kids really have? Why would they be > chipper in times like this? You can at least make your class a > brighter spot in their day but no teacher can promise students > in a general track a promising future. >> >> Help!

Dec 14, 2011

More discussions on the Social Studies Teachers Chatboard...

free professional development opportunity

free online tools for high school and college classes!

History with Film - Ideas for Industrial Revolution

Teaching virtually suggestions

Putting Presidents in Order

Back to Social Studies Teachers Chatboard

Teacher Chatboards

General

Teacher Chatboard

Method & Theory

Grade Levels

- -

Multiage Classroom

Adult Education

Classroom Projects

Arts and Crafts

Read Across America

Travelling Buddies

Learning Centers

States

Teachers Abroad

Australian Teachers

Canadian Teachers

Subject Areas

Foreign Languages

Language Arts Center

Science Teachers

Language Arts

4 Blocks Literacy

6 Traits Writing

Accelerated Reader

Building Blocks (K)

Books & Literature

Creative Writing

Librarian/Media Arts

Reading/Writing

Remedial Reading

Foreign Language

ESL/EFL Teachers

French Teachers

German Teachers

Spanish Teachers

Travel/Study Abroad

Peer Groups

AP/GATE Teachers

Beginning Teachers

Distance Teachers

Department Heads

Library/Media Science

Master Teachers

Mentor Teachers

Retired Teachers

Special Education

Student Teachers

Substitute Teachers

Method & Theory

Beginning Learners

Character Education

Classroom Discipline

Collaborative Learning

Disruptive Students

General Education

Learning Disorders

Learning Research

Lesson Planning

Montessori Method

Motivating Students

Professional Devel

Professional Readings

Staff Development

Standardized Testing

Testing & Grading

Career Center

Continuing Education

National Boards/NBPTS

Hot Topics

Classroom Humor

Healthy Teachers

NCLB/Race to the Top

Teacher Gatherings

Teacher Inspirations

Teacher Recipes

Teacher Social Board

Tech Center

Apple Classroom

Computer Teachers

Educational Software

Internet Security

Library/Media Science

Teaching with PowerPoint

Teacher Video Share

Teaching with the Web

Tech Coordinators

Teachers.Net

Home About Forum Policies Privacy

Resources

Chatboards Lesson Plans Classroom Projects Classified Ads

Follow us...

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mailring

Contacts

Advertising Job Listings Submissions Reprints