Meeting Student's Needs

Yesterday I had coffee with Gwen M. - Gwen and I taught together at Edwards Elementary School for many years. She was a talented teacher and a good person to partner with. It was good to be able to reconnect with her.

She caught me up on her family and it was good to hear about them. One story that still bothers me, however, was about her grandson who just finished kindergarten. You see he came to kindergarten already able to read and write. That was a challenge to his teacher and she did not handle it well.

It always makes me sad to hear of a teacher like that. Most teachers care about their students and want to do their best for them. They will take the student where they get them and move them through the learning process so that the student can get the most growth during the time they are under their tutelage.

My nephew Jonathan, unfortunately, had two teachers like this kindergarten teacher. One was a teacher in Story City and I personally observed the interaction between my loving little nephew and his teacher. He came up to ask her a question and she physically pushed him away and ignored him.

Later in Ames he went to Fellows school and his remark to his parents was "I think I am doing OK but my teacher doesn't think so." This woman communicated her negativity to a little second grade boy and made him feel less than he should have felt. She suggested he be held back.

Fortunately, I had a friend who was a learning disabilities teacher and we talked about him. Turns out he was less in need of being held back and more in need of some, temporary, assistance. He was in that program for about 4 or 5 years and was helped tremendously. He graduated with distinction from Iowa State University last year.

The learning disabilities student is a student who can achieve normally. If you expect it of them and if they have some help and guidance with their difficulty. Generally they grow out of the program due to the ability of these dedicated teachers.

That is not to say that all of the LD teachers are tremendous. Parents need to investigate and see that the teacher is a good one. I taught with one who was more focused on what her children couldn't do than what they could do.

I have had all types of students in my classes over the years. One student was so advanced that we decided that she needed to skip sixth grade as she was never challenged. Today she is a lawyer out east. One student had to be held back. He went on to success.

Students like Gwen's grandson who are talented can be harmed if parents aren't advocates for their special needs. Students like my nephew can be harmed if parent's aren't advocates for their special needs.

When those needs are met the student can soar and can accomplish much. I had one boy in my class who was in the LD program. When it came time for the project of planning his trip to Europe (my own invention) and the Medieval project he jumped in with both feet and (sure there were one or two misspelled words) his work was outstanding. I think the fact that I expected him to perform turned him around and made a big difference in his life.

I made my students memorize a poem. Not only is the memory work good for you but the philosophy in the poem is pretty outstanding. I have had them come back as seniors in High School and recite it to me.


If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you are beaten, you are;
if you think you dare not, you don't;
if you like to win, but you think you can't
it's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost;
for out in the world we find
success begins with a person's Will~
it's all in your state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;
you've got to think high to rise.
You've just got to be sure of yourself
before you can ever win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go
to the stronger or faster one,
but sooner or later the ones who wins
are the ones who thinks they can.

I found the poem in an old Masonic magazine and rewrote it a little because it said the MAN who wins, etc. and I wanted the girls to realize it was for them also. I don't know that I was able to reach every student in my class but I enjoyed working with them, I appreciated the partnership with the other teachers and liked it when the administrators either helped out or got out of the way so we could teach but mostly, I appreciated the parents who viewed their child's education as a partnership and worked with me to achieve the maximum success for their child.