Day 11

Karen and I have settled into a routine by now in class. When I first get to Social Studies, we read a novel on our own for about fifteen minutes (her teacher started this tradition). Karen really loves to read- especially books with characters that she can relate to. I really like that her teacher lets Karen choose whatever novel she wants for silent reading, instead of assigning a specific text for the entire class. I would like to implement a silent reading period in class each day when I have a classroom of my own, whether I end up teaching Social Studies or Language Arts. I'll be sure to let students choose their book, so they are more likely to begin to actually enjoy reading.

After silent reading, we head to the computer to work on E2020. Karen isn't actually a part of this second period social studies class, but she comes there during that time to get a lot of her online work done. The teacher doesn't mind, and we don't let whatever the rest of the class is doing distract us. Today, we are working on government work. I have a lot of problems with the E2020 program. Although I voiced some of them in earlier blog posts, I just don't understand why an online homework program is beneficial for at risk high school students. Every student that I have worked with or talked to expressed the same disdain, and told me they would much rather be taught by an actual teacher than an online lecturer. The problem is that most students don't pay attention during the lecture part of the online program. They aren't required to take notes about the material, so by the time they begin answering questions, they haven't learned a thing. This is a struggle for me too, because sometimes I come into class and Karen has already watched the lecture she was supposed to watch. Then it is up to Karen and I to answer the questions, and she doesn't know the answers because she didn't pay attention during the lectures. We use Google to help us define some works or court cases if necessary, and I help her understand what the question is asking and if she can eliminate any choices. Overall, I'm not really sure how much knowledge she is really getting out of the E2020 program, and this is discouraging for me. Karen needs one-on-one attention and help (more than she gets from me one hour a week), but that is not how CCHS works.