After three full days of school Breakthrough Houston style, I now officially feel like a Breakthrough teacher. And, after just a few short (but yet so long) days, I have realized the ultimate difference between a normal middle school and the Breakthrough philosophy: Breakthrough makes school fun. Everyday we greet the kids with cheers and high-fives when they get off of the bus. We do silly dances with them at breakfast and lunch, and have them create skits with vocabulary words. We have friendly competitions between families (or teams), and give a spirit stick each day to the student who most embodies the Breakthrough attitude. We have superheros and villains kidnap teachers out of classrooms as part of daily lesson plans. We wave goodbye to them as they get in their cars and on the buses. In other words, we bring summer camp into the school.
At the same time, however, we have exceedingly high academic expectations of our students. We expect them to take five academic classes and one elective every day. We expect them to complete their two hours of homework each night and to call their teachers if they do not understand an assignment. A half completed assignment is no better than an uncompleted one. The students are supposed to be challenged and accept challenges. There is simply no place for mediocrity.
And guess what. It works.
So, by infusing a rigorous academic curriculum with time-traveling, high-fiving, crazy dancing teachers, adolescents are actually excited about school. They want to learn and they realize how lucky they are to be receiving an education. Why don't we do this in all middle schools, not just he nonprofit organizations that are supplements to middle schools? Why don't we, as teachers, pour as much energy into teaching as we want our students to put into learning? If looking silly and acting like camp counselors instills an attitude of "excellence in learning" in 12, 13, and 14-year-olds, then looking silly is worth it.
BTH Cheer of the Day (by virtue of the amount of times we sang it :) )
People in the front, let me hear you grunt
Grrrrrr.
People in the middle, let me hear you sizzle.
szzzzzz.
People in the rear, let me hear you cheer.
Whooooo!
Gooooooo Breakthrough!
Gooooooo Breakthrough!
Courtney! I'm so glad that things are going well! I hope I'll be as great of a teacher as you are one day! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you're liking teaching.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought for you (pretend like it's our typical breakfast): So these kids experience school during the summer as an exciting event. Do you think that returning to a "normal" school in the fall where they may not be supported or encouraged could disillusion them and cause more frustration?
Happy week 3!
Emily: You already are a great teacher :)
ReplyDeleteCollette: Most definitely! I am experiencing that now with some of the students; I think they are just used to mediocrity at their home schools, and I can't blame them. Nobody bothers to spend too much extra time on the smart kids who are well-behaved when there are 30 kids in a class.