IsabellaDavis

1/22/15
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IsSchoolfortheStudents?

Theteacherpacedtheroominfrontofthedustychalkboardashedrawledonandon
aboutthestudentsfavoritesubject:EnglishLanguageArts.Morespecifically,grammar.A
fewkidsyawnedandstretchedfromtirednessintheirseats.Somestudentssatwiththeir
headsproppedupontheirhandsandeyeshalflidded,trying,andfailing,tomasktheir
obviousdisinterestanddesiretoploptheirheadsonthedesks.Althoughthemanthatwalked
throughouttheroomcouldseehisstudentsreactions,hecontinuedtolectureabout
punctuationandsentencestructure.Thekidsgroanedinannoyanceandexasperation.They
knewtheyhadtolearngrammar,butcouldntitbeabitlesschallenging?
Oneeighthgraderespeciallydislikedthetopic.Thestudentactuallyfeltlikeshewas
beginningtoloatheit.Sheknewhowtopunctuatewithyourbasicperiodandcommaandso
on.Whywasthatnotenough?Thegirldidherbesttokeephereyesopenandshowshewas
payingattention,butherteacherwasmakingthesimpletaskanarduousordeal.Thegirl
couldseeherpeersreactionswerentmuchdifferentfromhers,sothatgavehersomerelief,
butnotmuch.Therewassomuchcomplicatedinformationtoprocessthatitwasseemingly
impossible.Sheknewshehadtolearngrammar,butcouldntbeabitlesschallenging?
GrammarisoneofthebasicelementsofeighthgradeLiteracyandEnglishclasses.It
goesalongwithanalyzingtexts,writingnarrativesandpersuasives,andpresentationconduct.
Althoughthecurriculumhaschangedovertheyears,thecoretopicshavemostlystayedthe
same.Thisalsomeansthatthestudentssucceedandstruggleinthesameareas.
Everystudentstrugglesinonesubjector
areaoranother.Whetheritsbeingextremelyfar
behindorabarelynoticeablesetback,itsstilla
struggle.Kidsoftencomplain,butdonotfeellike
theycanchangeanything.Teacherswanttohelp
butstudentsusuallydonotwanttobeapproached
aboutit.Thisiswheretheproblemlies.Students
andteachersneedtoworktogetherandcreatea
curriculumthatwillbenefitthestudentsbetter.
Asurveywasconductedwithsomeselecteighthgradestudentstoseewhattheir
mosttroublingareasareinELAandLiteracy.Sevenoutoftenstudentsputthattheyfeltit
washardtousepreciselanguagethatwasntwordyorredundanttoexpressideas.Sixoutof
tenkidssaidtheyhadtroublewithareasofpersuasivewriting.Especiallybackingupthe
claimsorargumentstheypresentedinthetext.Themainproblemseemstobethatstudents
knowwhattheywanttosayorwrite,butcantexpressitintheywaytheywant.

Nowthatthestudentviewhasbeenestablished,weshouldseehowateacherfeels
theirstudentsarefaringinliteraryareas.LisaRodriguezisanEnglishLanguageArtsteacher
atEastHillsMiddleSchool.Shehasbeenteachingfornearlythirtyyears.
Ilovetheenergyandenthusiasmthatkidsbringtoeverysituationandevent,Miss
Rodriguezexplained.Sheelaboratedonhowmuchsheenjoyedreadinganddiscussing
literature.Itwasthatandherwanttolearnmoreaboutliteraturethatledtoherbecomingan
ELAteacher.
MissRodriguezfeelsthatmostofherstudentsstrugglewithgrammar.Shefeelslike
learningthesubjectissimilartolearningmathoralanguage.Theteaching,studying,and
practicingofgrammarshouldbestartedintheearlygradesanddevelopedovertheyears.
Studentshaveahardertimewithgrammar,especiallywithverbvoiceandverbtense.
Sentencesthatarewrittenbystudentsoftendontmakesensebecausetheydontunderstand
this.MissRodriguezwouldliketospendmoretimeteachingeighthgradersaboutclauses,
phrasesandcomplexsentencestohelp.
Anotherareashefeelsthatstudentscouldntreallygraspisanalyzinghowcertain
linesofdialogueorstoryincidentspropelaction,revealcharacteraspectsorprovokea
decision.MissRodriguezsaidthatoverfiftypercentofherstudentsdontunderstandthis
topic.Itworriesherbecausesheknowsthattherewillbequestionsonthisskillonthereading
PSSA,PennsylvaniaSystemofSchoolAssessment.
Icoulddoawholeyearoncreativewriting,theteachersaidexcitedlywhennarrative
andinformationalwritingisbroughtup,butthereissomuchtodoinELAclassinsucha
shortamountoftime.Whenitcomesrightdowntoit,theyeargoesbysoquicklyandthere
neverisenoughclasstimetofititallin.
Aswasmentionedearlier,seventypercentofstudentsfeelthatitishardtouse
preciselanguagethatisnotwordyorredundanttoexpressideasandsixtypercentofthem
saidtheyhadtroublewithareasofpersuasivewritinglikesupportingtheirarguments.Miss
Rodriguezsaidthatmostofherstudentshavetroubleintheseareas,soshealreadyknows
whatthekidsneedhelpwith.Thekidsneedmoretimebeingtaughtaboutgrammarand
persuasivewriting.Theproblemismakingthetimeforit.Thequestionweshouldbeaskingis
whatshouldlesstimebespentontomaketimeforthehardersubjects?
Weshouldspendlesstimewithsubjectsthateighthgradershavealreadygrasped.
MissRodriguezfeelsthatherstudentsdoverywellwithconnections.Thisincludes
connectingeventsinatexttothemselves,theworld,oreventoothertexts.Also,shesaidthat
identifyingwhethertheauthorspurposeforwritingthetextistoentertain,persuade,orinform
seemseasyforherstudents.Anythinginvolvingtechnologyorcomputersisanotherareathe
eighthgradersfindrathersimple.Collaboratingbyusingthedevicesandincorporating
multimediaandvisualdisplaysintopresentationsisincludedinthatspecification.Sincethe
studentsfindtheseareasrathersimplistic,lesstimecanbespentteachingthekidsabout
them.Sotheanswertothepreviousquestionisconnections,authorspurpose,technological
collaboration,andmultimediapresentations.
Nowweknowwhattroublestheeighthgraders,whattheteachersnoticefromtheir
students,andwhatareasofliteraturethekidsfindabiteasier.Theplanistotakethetime
spentteachingsubjectsthatstudentsalreadyunderstandandspenditteachingareasof

literaturethatareharderfortheeighthgraders.Allweneedtodoistakeactionandmakea
change.