The Brilliance and Screw-ups of Mr. Lasseter

For this post we had to comment on the success and failure of the second years.

In his failure section, Patrick talked about how miserable his 4th period class was. In a class of 20, about 7 or 8 of them went to alternative schools or were expelled. He thought that after these problem kids were gone, he would have better order and a more productive classroom. He was wrong. Instead, an additional six boys in that class started making trouble. They were talking back, talking during class, frequently getting kicked out, and generally playing around everyday. They didn't pass the first semester and were failing the second but they still had time in last nine weeks to pass. In the end, Patrick gave up and stopped caring if they passed or did their work. He was happy if they just stayed quiet writing something. His other students, however, did pass.

Patrick sees his failure in giving up as a teacher. He thought he should put more effort into those students who were failing and acting out. I understand where Patrick can be hard on himself and think that this was a failure, but before the final straw, I'm sure he did alot to try and motivate those kids. As a teacher, especially in the schools MTC works with, many of the kids go to school because they have to and it's something to do. (I learned this in summer school because many of the parents' eyes lit up when they discovered that they could send their kids to summer school, even if they wouldn't get credit for it. I mean, free daycare? Who's going to pass that up. I digress). So if they are not necessarily performing well, often times it's because they just don't care or there are circumstances outside the classroom that causes them to act out. And that can be very frustrating as a teacher; trying to reach someone who constantly rejects you. I can see where you'd just want to check out. So, in the end, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a failure. I think it's just something that comes with the job.

On a better note,

In his success story, he spoke of a student named Gelisha. She was really quiet and opened her mouth only to say, "Hello, Mr. Lasseter" She flew under the radar the first semester and was one of twelve who failed the class. (Her average was 60%). Second semester, Patrick reached out to her more and found that she had some learning difficulties. She severely struggled when reading. He got her working with other students and taking tests after school when she needed more time. They worked on reading comprehension and other "basic" skills. And he checked on her each class to ensure that she was getting the concepts. Gelisha passed second semester with a 72.

Patrick says his success story isn't one to knock anybody's socks off. But I think it should, especially to those who know the difficulties of teaching. It can be very difficult to motivate an underperforming child to do better because they listen to their peers, and even some adults, call them stupid. In this case, Patrick took an active role as a teacher and got close enough to his student to realize that she couldn't read well. How many of her teachers knew that but passed her anyway just to get her out? No, she didn't get an "A" but her improvement shows just how much of an impact a dedicated teacher can make on a student. She was willing to talk to other students and stay after school, those are successes in itself.

Good job Patrick. I'll know you'll do an awesome job next year.