In a Bottle

She came up to me when I was in between reading groups to ask if I had any more revising checklists. My mind wasn’t in the game, I was still making notes about the students that had just read for me and so it was with a somewhat dismissive tone that I replied without even looking up, “Did you check the basket?” She confirmed that yes, she had already searched the extra papers basket. I stopped at looked at her. Of course she had. She is one of my most responsible and independent students. I paused and gave her question the time it deserved. “We haven’t reached the revising point with our opinion writings, yet,” I replied, wondering what her motivation was for wanting the checklist.

“I don’t want it for my opinion writing. I’m writing a story during my writing station and I’d like a revising checklist for that story so I can make it so much better.”

I had to just sit there and soak it in. She was working on a story during her independent writing station and was eager to do the writing process?! Unheard of in my fourth grade room. They are “first and done” kids, wanting to only draft a story and then share it with the world. Working through the very important revision process was always a challenge with them. I was impressed with this student’s initiative – as I always am with her. “Of course! Of course you may have a revising checklist! Write me a note so I remember and I’ll print you one during my planning time.”

At the end of the next reading group, she returned to my side. “Mrs. Koehn? You know those blank books you made for our summarizing practice when we read Edward Tulane? There are some extra ones in the basket. Can I use one of those?”

“Of course you may! Can I ask what you are using it for?” I was anxious to see what creative use she was going to use the booklet for.

“I want to keep practicing my summarizing with the book I’m reading during Read to Self. I really liked how we did that at the end of each Edward Tulane chapter and I want to keep working on it with my own book.”

At this point I had to just lean back in my seat and truly soak it in. These are the moments, aren’t they? The ones that we as teachers live for? These little moments when a student takes control of his/her own learning and soars. I praised her highly, and even took a moment to let her share with the class what she was working on during her station time.

It wasn’t but a few short moments later when I had to redirect a different student for off-task behavior during his station. He struggles every day to stay focused and use his time productively. He has been particularly struggling with a couple concepts but won’t work with a partner during stations and he won’t spend extra time using the resources around him to learn the materials either. I’ve been working with him as often as I can not only to provide remedial instruction but to keep modeling and showing him how he can learn the material and what options he has, but he would much rather hide in a corner and mess around.

Wouldn’t we all?

Well, no. My first student and a few others like her wouldn’t. The more I think about it the more I know that this hurdle is one of the biggest I face year in and year out. All the other challenges of teaching aside, I have longed for better answers on how to motivate the unmotivated kids. I have read books, I have attended a seminar, I have read blogs on the subject, but I fail to find a sustainable answer. I know it’s a complicated quest – no two children are the same and even the same child will be motivated very differently on different days or with different tasks. But it’s a hurdle that could have life-long implications. Helping students learn that intrinsic motivation (even if it has to start extrinsically) could help them be more productive as a student, employee, parent, etc. later in life.

So, here I sit, wondering how can I bottle up the work ethic and desire to learn that my first student has in abundance and share it with my apathetic, unmotivated kids who struggle just to get through the day sometimes? I wonder if I was wrong for holding her up in front of the others as an example – is that too much pressure? Did I just reiterate to some of my other students that some kids just “get it” and some just don’t, even though that is far from the truth? I could easily dismiss the task from my list of classroom responsibilities and say it is a skill that should be taught at home, but I know I can’t relinquish it so easily. The onus is on us all, especially when parents are struggling to teach it in the home.

I don’t have an answer, just a desire to do better. I know I need to start by making sure that all my students feel capable and loved, no matter where they are at in their learning journeys. I know my classroom environment needs to be a safe place to take risks, to admit ignorance and to own our mistakes. And I need to remind myself that this is a process that will take time, even if I wish beyond wishes that I could snap my fingers and make it happen for all my students today.