If I go into a high school class as a substitute, I can guess fairly well what I will encounter. I know that the students don't like substitutes. I've been told that many times by people who've attended high school, by substitute teachers, and by students actually in high school classes. I may have mentioned elsewhere that four or five times in my substitute career I have had a class file in and sit down and one of the students has remarked to me, :You know, we don;t like substitute teachers." The first time I was told this, I didn't know what to say. After that I formulated an automatic response: "If I wanted love, I'd get a dog."
For me, the chance actually to teach something to a class is a wonderful experience. It comes only rarely. Usually the regular teacher has made copies of classroom work and home work to be done by the students. The classroom work most often takes no more than fifteen minutes. This leaves about forty0five minutes during which the students could be doing work for other classes or their homework -- which most of them rarely do. This gap contributes greatly to the students' opportunities to gossip (loudly), gather in groups, and engage in mischief. The greatest way a regular teacher can help a substitute is to leave enough work for each studI can be fairly certain what I will encounter among the Asian studentsent to do that wIill fill the hour, and to attach weight to that work that really affects each student's eventual course grade. But sadly they usually don't do the former and almost never do the latter.
All this said, let me describe what I will usually see from a class where I substitute. It will divide itself into three or perhaps four,groups depending on how you want to break down the class's population. There will be the Asians -- Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai students. There will be the African-Americans. There will be the Hispanics. And there will be the Caucasians.
I am going to make generalizations about these groups, but let me warn you. The generalizations apply to the majority of students in the group, but definitely not all.
The one thing that applies to almost all the studients will be that they will try to play games on their electronic devices, hide them beneath the level of their desk, and waste their time. That's why most teachers have a "No Electronic Device" policy.
I can be fairly certain that the Asian students will apply themselves to the work I pass out. And when they have finished that, they will probably work on studies related to other classes they are taking. Now and then there will be an exception -- a student so intelligent that anything he is given is like child's play. Usually it is a boy. And this kind of Asian student may do a lot of chatting and laughing and fooling around. But chances are that he is very, very intelligent -- too intelligent for the work the teachers give him. He may choose to pass his class time as a smiling wise-ass.
The Hispanics in a regular class will be a mixed bag. Some will do their work and some will not. Some of the ones who don't do their work don't do it because they don't understand enough English to know what is required of them. Similarly, the Caucasians will also be a mixed bag. Some will work as though they are serious about their studies. Others will try simply to chat and fool around.
And now we come to the most problematic group, the African-Americans. They are problematic to me because I want badly for them to succeed, and yet most of them engage in behavior that tends to prevent this.
I can be fairly certain that most of the African-American girls (most, but not always all) will try to gathere in one or more groups and chat, and will try to avoid doing any work at all. More often than not, a pair of them will try to turn the class hour into nail shop or hair shop, in which will start braiding or combing another;s hair. And if they are told to stop and get to their classwork, they give utterly indignant looks as though this kind of behavior is appropriate. There are always one or two who adopt what I've come to call a "princess attitude," as though they are just to good to do schoolwork or follow the instructions of a teacher.
Among the African-American boys, most will predictably try to gather in groups and chat and use their electronic devices. Usually a group like this has a leader, a fellow who is a prominent athlete, and who wears the symbols or engages in minor behavior that reminds everyone of his status. Maybe he will wear his varsity jersey to class. Maybe he will carry gym clothes and make a big deal out of letting everyone know he is a jock.
But one thing is certain: most the African-American boys and the African-American girls seem not to realize the value of an education. It is as though they have been taught that school isn't important, that it doesn't make a difference.
Before you jump on me and call me a racist, let me add a few more observations. The behavior of the average African-American students in the school system where I teach is not due to their race. It is due to their culture. It is due to what they have been taught by their families and their peers. They don't know that the lifetime earnings of a college graduate amounts to about a million dollars more than the lifetime earnings of a high school graduate. Ask them what they want to do in their careers and many will say they want to be a professional football or basketball player. They seem not to realize that their chances of actually becoming a professional athlete are infinitesimally small.
All of this is a matter of culture, not race. Culture -- the sum total of what they have been taught to believe -- is what makes the difference. Students with the same skin color who come from African cultures are utterly different. Go to our International High School or to any English as a Second Language class and you will see highly motivated students with a thirst for achievement. But that same thirst seems not to be in the make-up of most of our African-American students. Attitude does not stem from skin color.
There is something I have come into the habit of trying to do during these classes. If there is an African-American student whom I guess shows promise, I try to take him or her aside and tell them something. I say, "Just understand that if you work in school and college, you can do or be anything you you want to do or be." I also make it a point to tell them that although they may love someone very much, if that person tells them that they cannot do or be what they want, that person is wrong. Love them, I say, but don't believe that you cannot succeed.
For me, the chance actually to teach something to a class is a wonderful experience. It comes only rarely. Usually the regular teacher has made copies of classroom work and home work to be done by the students. The classroom work most often takes no more than fifteen minutes. This leaves about forty0five minutes during which the students could be doing work for other classes or their homework -- which most of them rarely do. This gap contributes greatly to the students' opportunities to gossip (loudly), gather in groups, and engage in mischief. The greatest way a regular teacher can help a substitute is to leave enough work for each studI can be fairly certain what I will encounter among the Asian studentsent to do that wIill fill the hour, and to attach weight to that work that really affects each student's eventual course grade. But sadly they usually don't do the former and almost never do the latter.
All this said, let me describe what I will usually see from a class where I substitute. It will divide itself into three or perhaps four,groups depending on how you want to break down the class's population. There will be the Asians -- Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai students. There will be the African-Americans. There will be the Hispanics. And there will be the Caucasians.
I am going to make generalizations about these groups, but let me warn you. The generalizations apply to the majority of students in the group, but definitely not all.
The one thing that applies to almost all the studients will be that they will try to play games on their electronic devices, hide them beneath the level of their desk, and waste their time. That's why most teachers have a "No Electronic Device" policy.
I can be fairly certain that the Asian students will apply themselves to the work I pass out. And when they have finished that, they will probably work on studies related to other classes they are taking. Now and then there will be an exception -- a student so intelligent that anything he is given is like child's play. Usually it is a boy. And this kind of Asian student may do a lot of chatting and laughing and fooling around. But chances are that he is very, very intelligent -- too intelligent for the work the teachers give him. He may choose to pass his class time as a smiling wise-ass.
The Hispanics in a regular class will be a mixed bag. Some will do their work and some will not. Some of the ones who don't do their work don't do it because they don't understand enough English to know what is required of them. Similarly, the Caucasians will also be a mixed bag. Some will work as though they are serious about their studies. Others will try simply to chat and fool around.
And now we come to the most problematic group, the African-Americans. They are problematic to me because I want badly for them to succeed, and yet most of them engage in behavior that tends to prevent this.
I can be fairly certain that most of the African-American girls (most, but not always all) will try to gathere in one or more groups and chat, and will try to avoid doing any work at all. More often than not, a pair of them will try to turn the class hour into nail shop or hair shop, in which will start braiding or combing another;s hair. And if they are told to stop and get to their classwork, they give utterly indignant looks as though this kind of behavior is appropriate. There are always one or two who adopt what I've come to call a "princess attitude," as though they are just to good to do schoolwork or follow the instructions of a teacher.
Among the African-American boys, most will predictably try to gather in groups and chat and use their electronic devices. Usually a group like this has a leader, a fellow who is a prominent athlete, and who wears the symbols or engages in minor behavior that reminds everyone of his status. Maybe he will wear his varsity jersey to class. Maybe he will carry gym clothes and make a big deal out of letting everyone know he is a jock.
But one thing is certain: most the African-American boys and the African-American girls seem not to realize the value of an education. It is as though they have been taught that school isn't important, that it doesn't make a difference.
Before you jump on me and call me a racist, let me add a few more observations. The behavior of the average African-American students in the school system where I teach is not due to their race. It is due to their culture. It is due to what they have been taught by their families and their peers. They don't know that the lifetime earnings of a college graduate amounts to about a million dollars more than the lifetime earnings of a high school graduate. Ask them what they want to do in their careers and many will say they want to be a professional football or basketball player. They seem not to realize that their chances of actually becoming a professional athlete are infinitesimally small.
All of this is a matter of culture, not race. Culture -- the sum total of what they have been taught to believe -- is what makes the difference. Students with the same skin color who come from African cultures are utterly different. Go to our International High School or to any English as a Second Language class and you will see highly motivated students with a thirst for achievement. But that same thirst seems not to be in the make-up of most of our African-American students. Attitude does not stem from skin color.
There is something I have come into the habit of trying to do during these classes. If there is an African-American student whom I guess shows promise, I try to take him or her aside and tell them something. I say, "Just understand that if you work in school and college, you can do or be anything you you want to do or be." I also make it a point to tell them that although they may love someone very much, if that person tells them that they cannot do or be what they want, that person is wrong. Love them, I say, but don't believe that you cannot succeed.
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