HELPING MY STUDENTS AS A TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATOR

[Isaac Odongo]

Three weeks ago I was appointed administrator for academic progress and excellence.

In this thread, I will share my processes:

• Talking to students. Helping them with their problems.
• Handling stress, depression, anxiety and other mental health.
• Learnings from my responsibility as administrator and teacher.
• Getting feedback from you people on the forum.
• I don't know whether this will be or is Fastlane.

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

WHY?

This involves helping people, but first managing myself. What I love most about it is helping people.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

The girl was expected to score the maximum of 20 points in the final exams, straight As. She was earmarked for it by teachers, administrators and students alike.

But the girl was struggling to score a principle pass in any of her 3 principles. She sat for a couple of them and failed flat. Her teachers were furious and discouraged at the same time. She, instead of getting out of her head and working to solve the problem broke down and cried and broke down and cried again.

She should be punished. They said. She should be suspended. She is very unserious.

Mr. Odongo you need to handle her. You are responsible for academic excellence. Handle her with an iron fist.

One of the students had the problem above. She sat for exams but barely wrote anything on her answer booklets.

And my responsibility was to help her.

What would I do?

1. It's not uncommon for such to be punished either by verbal or physical means. What would I do?
2. Talking it over with her would appear to some: weak and ineffective, even permissive and unserious of me.

One afternoon I call her into the staffroom and ask her:

Only the two of us in an open staffroom.

"How are you doing and how are things going?"

"Not fine," she says.

I discuss, asking open-ended questions and other Andy Black kind of questions. I rephrase her responses seeking to understand.

Pressure. The pressure is overwhelming. She says.

I read. I have them in my mind. But when in an exam they vanish. The pressure makes them vanish. I don't know what I can do.

"Why do you so badly want to pass exams?" I ask.

"Because I have to," she responds.

"Who says you have to?" I ask again.

"No one. But I have to."

"What if you don't? What happens then?"

"I will be finished. I will have no where to go."

"Who says you'll have no where to go?"

"No one. But I won't qualify for a scholarship to do the engineering course I want to do."

"So you want to do an engineering degree. Did anyone force you to do it?"

"No. It is my choice."

And the discussion follows. I asked her to change "I have to" to "I want to" and take charge of her life and future. I show her these are choices she makes and the results she gets are also a product of her choices both physical and mental.

I ask her to write goals down. She breaks down and cries. She doesn't write them.

"What to do fear?" I ask.

"Nothing. I don't fear anything." She says.

"What's that you fear to face that's making you cry?"

A confession. Drugs and all that. A history she wants to wipe out of memory in vain. An estrangement from her father as a consequence of some poor choices she makes.

Take control of your life now. I tell her. I can only help you when you do that. I insist.

Take responsibility of your decisions, actions and their consequences. Stop excusing yourself and take back the power to change your reality. I say.

She agrees.

We will work on taking down the pressure later. When you have processed the matter and value of taking control of your life and reality. I tell her.

She appreciates. This conversation we have had is different from all the others I have had with other teachers. This has been helpful. Others just demand and make me feel inadequate.

Put them all out of your mind. When you are alone. What are you? What do you want? Why do you want it? That's your motivation.

That evening the chief administrator threatens her with a suspension. That in the evening assembly on that same day.

I think she breaks down again.

The next day we meet, this time with another administrator. She turns up with a radiance on her face and a notebook to write.

She is stronger by then and ready for the next stage.

 

[ExistingExpert]

WHY?

This involves helping people, but first managing myself. What I love most about it is helping people.

This is the mindset Andy talked about in his call. Attain this and anyone will be able to provide immense value, and as a result, gain immense profits.

 

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[Stargazer]

Can you start your own school?

Is that feasible in Uganda? Start small and grow?

Dan

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Can you start your own school?

Is that feasible in Uganda? Start small and grow?

Dan

Thank you for this suggestion.

It is feasible. And it is a lucrative industry, if you know what to do.

People want results.

Results want good and committed teachers.

These teachers want Disciplined students.

The remaining task is setting goals and planning to achieve them and implementing those plans.

When results come, customers are willing to pay a foot and an arm for the service.

It's the common norm to start small and grow.

However, I had never thought about this.

I would probably start a school where digital advancements are appreciated and fully exploited.

 

[Stargazer]

It's the digital aspect I was thinking of.

eg UK Government pretty much put the entire National Curriculum online free of charge when the pandemic struck.

That site is now going to be upgraded as it's teachers at home filming themselves delivering lessons due to circumstances.

However once properly scripted and filmed and then an assessment element added you literally have a world class education available from anywhere in the world free of charge. UK is pretty advanced in this kind of thinking. We are just crap at implementing it.

So you could have teachers and curriculum already set up if you see what I mean? You just need a building and internet connectivity and the students need a device to access.

Teachers are quickly going to be collaborators in the class soon. Well this is what was discussed yesterday. They want to move towards a 21st Century model of 3 Cs, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Collabration, and rip up the current Victorin model.

Dan

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

The Uganda education curriculum for secondary schools underwent a strong change 3 years ago.

From knowledge based to competency based. And teachers are yet to fully adjust, this to the detriment of the students.

The curriculum requires digital technology but schools have denied students opportunity to use phones and the like for Learning. Talk about maintenance of status quo and hegemony of teacher as source of all knowledge.

This also to the detriment of the learner and the nation. Quite unfortunate.

My dream is a school that appreciates and fully embraces digital changes.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

A small update
I have been made class teacher of a class considered the worst in the school.

I have openly stated the same myself and once recommended that half of it be offloaded.

When the announcement was made in an assembly, the students of the class fell silent and looked down.

I simply stared at them, chuckling. A few gasped in shock. I knew it was a fresh challenge in leadership.

I decided against holding an immediate class meeting. But began taking an interest in each of them as individuals.

Talking to them sometime. Now in my school it is quite common for learners to hold conversations with teachers. This isn't the case in most schools.

This evening and yesterday evening was a milestone. Some of the most undisciplined of them spent most of the early evening talking and getting help of some kind from me.

When the time is ripe, I will strike home the lesson of taking responsibility of their actions and ensuring that those actions help them make a legacy, however small it may be.

Another one
While teaching in another class, there came a need to discuss a certain grammar aspect. I explained it and the learners used their guide to grasp and practice. They got it.

It was close to lunch break and I was thinking of letting them go.

Then they began asking questions. And I began responding. The bell for lunch sounded and I was shocked to see that none of them wanted to end the lesson. They sat, content, peaceful and attentive and kept asking more questions.

I kept responding. I then reminded them that it was lunch time. But they had found it and were not going to budge. They said they wanted me to explain. They actually asked more questions. That I answered.

The serenity. The peace. That was beautiful. That may be the only reason I keep teaching. I have never seen it before. The words I have used cannot describe it.

I wanted to let them go. But they didn't want to end the lesson.

Paradiso.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

It happened again today
I was teaching a class an aspect of grammar in English, the active and the passive voice.

As you may know, the active voice takes the form of:

1. John bought a car.
2. People like eating sweets.

In the passive voice these two may become:

1. A car was bought by John.
2. Eating sweets is liked by people.

Then came a sentence that says:

• Apollo took a break from school.

And its passive counterpart has many possibilities:

1. A break from school was taken by Apollo.
2. A break was taken by Apollo from school.
3. A break was taken from school by Apollo.

And a discussion ensued. Turn-taking was observed without pre-ordained regulation. The endurance they showed in following the problem to the furthest point possible awed me.

The truth is, language is ambiguous. And the passive voice is a beauty of ambiguity.

The question we wanted to answer was: using the passive voice renderings, where is Apollo? Is she in or outside school.

The bell for lunch went and nobody was bothered about it. One of the prefects came to alert the class about the ongoing lunch, no one heard him. Everyone was determined to get to the end. And then a boy stood up and walked to the board and asked.

"If we Rewrite all these passive voice sentences into the active voice, what sentences do they become?"

And we saw that they all return to the rendering:

• Apollo took a break from school.

And then we saw that the above sentence makes it clear that during the break in question, Apollo is not in school. She is outside school.

And then the lesson of ambiguity became obvious. And the probability of unclear communication loomed.

It took over 10 minutes after the lunch bell for them say they were comfortable to stop the lesson and go for lunch. And they clapped. This is the third time they don't want a lesson to end.

The feeling that you have inspired someone. That's what I am talking about. You have made someone to dream. You have made someone to envision. That's what I feel. That's what I saw in their eyes.

Previously, my purpose for teaching was to build a legacy, as I was adviced by a senior teacher, remember he lives the script. Now it is to inspire a soul. To move the souls of men. To see their eyes light up as a result my interaction with them. To see them getting wowed by the power of their minds and how they love the intricacies of life and learning.

I thank MJ for his courage in writing his stellar books. I implore that we all imitate his courage and get out and inspire someone to envision.

The Millionaire Fastlane led me to this forum. Then I read unscripted . Then The Great Rat Race Escape .

Then came @Andy Black with the thread on quiet quitting. And it saved me from quitting my job or becoming a bag of potatoes at work. I followed the wisdom therein and put renewed effort. And another was Who Have you Helped? I have been happier ever since.

When I chose to help others, I saw teaching as a way of helping. Giving foward. I have noticed the impact on the kids is great. I will update on this later.

The Lord said, "There is more happiness in giving than there's in receiving."

WHO DO YOU INSPIRE?
WHO HAVE YOU HELPED?
WHAT IS YOUR WHY?

Fastlane is not just about money. We are not money chasers. We are value creators. Money is a side effect of our value creation. It is about money, health, and people.

And that's why we end up happy and pumped often. That's why we end up strong. We have all the ingredients.

If you don’t inspire anyone, if you don’t help anyone, if you have no clear why, better go find them.

What is the automobile you want to democratise?

What is the banking you want to give all in your country?

What is the railway system you want to use to connect everyone in every city?

What is your universal information highway for the globe?

What is the computer you want place on every desk and every lap?

What is the power you want to give to the masses?

MJ wanted to let us all know the scam Wall Street and its loudspeakers are. He wanted to show us the SCRIPT and the slavery we were in and so he wrote. And inspired a way of life. Saved lives. Strengthened lives. Made many thousands envision.

Why are you here?
Why are you a fastlaner?

 

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[Robdavis]

Three weeks ago I was appointed administrator for academic progress and excellence.

In this thread, I will share my processes:

• Talking to students. Helping them with their problems.
• Handling stress, depression, anxiety and other mental health.
• Learnings from my responsibility as administrator and teacher.
• Getting feedback from you people on the forum.
• I don't know whether this will be or is Fastlane.

It probably isn't Fastlane, but I suspect that it could be made Fastlane. If you use your experience in this role as a learning experience, then you will develop more skills in this area. Then you could create products to help people with the issues that you encounter doing this role.

In other words, you could imagine that doing this role will put you in contact with your future customers, so just ask yourself "What do they want?" and "What do they need?".

Based on what you have written so far, maybe they could do with a book on successful studying and managing the potential pressures of that experience. Maybe they need anti-stress / pro-relaxation products, or something else.

As you do this role you will get more experience and gain a much better understanding of what your "market need" is.

You could also do more market research / personal learning, by encouraging collaboration between administrators for academic progress and excellence.

For example, it might be possible to organise a meeting between all the administrators for academic progress and excellence from all the schools in Soroti, say on a weekend day in a coffee shop, or if that's not appropriate, to meet at someone's house one evening for drinks and discussion. You may find that this creates a breeding ground for ideas and allows you to meet other people like yourself. This could also leads to regular meetings or more widespread collaboration in the future.

Just a few thoughts...

 

[Isaac Odongo]

I was speaking to individual students recently, as they were on verge of getting through with their certificate examination.

I spoke about happiness and life.

And one of them, when I asked her to ask me a few questions, said she had only one.

She asked, "Sir, why didn't you do counseling?"

I asked why she asked that question.

"You do better in it than you do in class during lessons. In class you lose your cool sometimes, but here you don't and you do it so well," she said.

I proceeded to talk with about 20 of them individually, that evening, between 8pm and 10:30pm.

They were happy and the next day they came out of exams in celebratory mood.

Wonder where this counseling thing may take me.