Three Things I (Think I) Know About My Students Without Looking At Them

During the past three weeks, just from reading homework and other writing assignments, I find that you can tell a lot about students from their written work. This may be especially true in the higher (5th-6th grade) grades in elementary school, but certainly by this point, there are reasonable expectations of penmanship, neatness, organizational skills, in addition to spelling, grammar and punctuation. Not surprisingly, students whose handwriting could only be called (charitably) atrocious, tend to be rather messy and disorganized at their desks and, by extension, in their social skills (this is not ALWAYS the case, but more often than not). However, it is not necessarily a reflection of their intelligence (in fact, when they type or use the computer for assignments, some of them show marked improvement). But on the basis of the first few assignments, the sloppier the writing is (in both style and content) the more issues the child has.

Similarly, without looking at the individual students, much can be discerned from the way they speak. Confident kids speak loudly, clearly, usually concisely, and some of them can really blow me away with how articulate they can be. While these kids are usually the brightest in the class, not surprisingly they are also the most boisterous and ones that have to be disciplined most frequently for talking while others are trying to speak (including teachers) and sometimes even being disrespectful or overly sarcastic. On the other hand, while quiet students may sometimes be considered a blessing, it can also be an indication of social skills that need to be improved, and this is often reflected in the work and study habits as well. The ideal student is one who knows when to be quiet (e.g., when others are speaking) at the appropriate times, but demonstrates good verbal skills when presenting to the rest of the class. Thankfully we have quite a few in this category.

The third way I learn a lot about students is as a group, without looking at or focusing on any individual students. How they act and interract as a social unit tells me a lot about how well they are adapting to their classroom environment, their teachers, and most importantly, to teach other, as a cohesive social unit. In the same way that each student has their own unique individualized personality, I find that classrooms also have a collective personality. This can be gauged in a variety of ways: volume of noise (or lack thereof); laughter; neatness or sloppiness of desks and floor areas; etc. But also sometimes its just an intuitive vibe that a classroom gives off. Not sure I can describe it much beyond that, but you know when you are in a vibrant, learning classroom environment, even when the kids aren't in there.