Reflection #4

I was absolutely shocked by what happened in “His Name was Michael.” I was in disbelief about the fact that not one person even bothered to check David’s name. My question to the school system is, where did Michael or Miguel even come from? Those names aren’t even close to David. It may have been a mix-up with siblings or middle names, but regardless, someone should have caught on. I feel like stereotypical mistakes such as this one are made frequently, and most of the time can be done without us even being aware of it. My reason behind it occurring so often is because stereotyping comes through in different ways. Students are not only stereotyped by skin color or culture, but by behavior in the classroom and by word of mouth (what other teachers say about these students). For example, if a student had a discipline problem at their previous school, teachers might be warned about them before they have even been given a chance in their new school. On that student’s first day, teachers will already have a pre-conceived idea and stereotype about how this student is going to function in their classroom, and they haven’t even had the opportunity to work with them yet.

I feel that I have done pretty well with my students this semester. The students that I have struggled with the most are the seniors. They are stereotyped as being lazy and just ready to get the rest of the year over with. It has been difficult to get them to put any effort into their work, but I refuse to give up on them. Unlike some teachers that I have noticed being more lenient with the seniors, I am still giving them assignments that are going to push them to the very end. As long as they are in class and I’m teaching, they are not going to miss an opportunity to learn. I think a lot of stereotyping comes from carelessness. Even if we don’t realize it, I think that all of us as teachers have to push past our comfort zones if we ever want to really get to know our students, and without really getting to know our students, they become subject to stereotyping. In “His Name was Michael,” no one cared to try and get to know David, or even to check to make sure that was his real name. I feel like I have been the most successful at overcoming this with one of my freshmen classes. Although it is a lower-performing class and even though there are days that they make me want to pull my hair out, I feel the most attached to this class because I want to see them succeed even though others say they can’t. I’ve heard other teachers put them down, and I can see where their reasons come from, but I feel like the situations that arise in any of their classrooms are not excuses, they are more like opportunities. If we as teachers don’t take those opportunities to try and reach those students on a different level, then they will never succeed.