Things we used to teach our children no longer seem as important as they once did. Remember always hearing how the first impression lasted a lifetime? Remember adults telling us to look them in the eyes when we were speaking to them. Remember having someone rate your handshake and give you lessons on how to correctly shake someone's hand if you didn't quite get it right the first time.
And although these lessons most likely came from our parents or grandparents, adults who may have been total strangers felt empowered to correct a child when they needed a little extra help. There was no fear that parents may step in and say they had no right to tell their little baby how to do anything. Whether we like it or not, one's attitude, appearance and overall demeanor say a lot about a person. When you make the best possible first impression, you have your audience in the palm of your hand. When you make a poor first impression, you lose credibility in the eyes of your audience, no matter how hard you struggle to recover it.
In the business community I hear too often that our recent graduates do not know how to interview. We have got to do a better job of educating students on the basics. We must fit these very basic etiquette lessons into our every day way of work, even amid all of the mandates we are saddled with.
And whether these basic skills (and yes they are skills) are an indicator of whether someone merely interviews good or if they will be good employees as stated in this article, you rarely get a second chance to make a first impression. I always compliment a student who gives me a nice firm handshake and looks me in the eyes. I also give a quick lesson on how to correctly shake someone’s hand if they don't already know how. We don't need elaborate lesson plans, we just need to keep in mind that if we only have testing in mind we are setting our students up for failure.
What kind of first impression do you make?
12 comments:
Ms Griffin
We need to talk. I get the impression you have no idea just how much instructional time is wasted using the latest silliest instructional fads, worrying about how our school is going to "look" and running around making things look good rather than doing our best for kids.
My students did very well on the AYP scale yet I was marked down on use of instructional strategies.
Silly.
I suspect you see alot of dog and pony shows just like the one that was put on for a Springboard official at my school the week before the holiday.
By the way, I make a great first impression. :)
After starting to take the quiz I realized on question #2 that no mater how I answered I would make the wrong first impression.
Chan,
I didn't take the test myself before I posted it. As to your comment on question #2...I suppose it depends on who you are trying to impress :-)
I took the quiz and have removed it because much of it was not relevant to my post.
Thanks for the heads up. Happy New Year.
April
April,
It is very sad that I completely agree with what you have to say, but that with the current climate, I would never be supported or find time to implement these life lessons and basic skills because it would mean I wasn’t implementing all the required SpringBoard lessons. SpringBoard, though the powers that be said it wouldn't, takes up almost every minute of the class to prepare for, implement, and follow up. That reality completely eliminates time for additional/supplemental life lessons, fundamental writing skills, grammar instruction, test prep, basic life skills, personal interaction, remedial interventions, and necessary basics for low level students.
I am also very startled by the enormous grade curve that happened on those English midterms. Nearly every single teacher I have heard from is disturbed by this, but they are entirely frightened to speak up. They don’t say anything but a mumble because they know the threat of retaliation looms and because they know that they won’t make a difference because they are never listened to. I am nervous just to post, for I have been retaliated against for my questioning of the curriculum at my school site. Some English midterm grades saw an F turn into a C. Some saw a D turn into a B. These curves are a lie to the students and their parents. If SpringBoard really is superior to what all the professional educators were already doing, then why so many D and F grades on the midterm that was clearly shorter and far easier than the old midterms that the county used in the years before SpringBoard?
I just want to use my voice in a safe way because these questions and concerns are out there, but not many teachers will vocalize them because we all know that no change will be made. SpringBoard, as we were told in a meeting with the curriculum/county representatives, is here to stay. My concern comes from a good, sincere place. I deeply care about the future of quality education and the future of our children.
April, I truly respect and appreciate this blog, your independent thought, your dedication to the first amendment, and your allegiance to an education that based in the true needs of our students and quite honestly… reality.
Sincerely,
A Broken Teacher
Unfortunately nowadays the ability of a person to make a good first impression is more important than ever. Because of the increase use of online tool such as blogs, micro blogs, social networks and other online presence students leave their “first impression” in many places. And these impressions linger long after they are made.
We need to be doing more as a district to educate students about their online behavior and increase their knowledge of digital citizenship. At this time the only program that I know of that the district is providing in that area is the NetSmartz program and this is not required.
Yes we need to teach students how to shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye. And if we as teachers, parents, and members of the community model this behavior the children will learn. But their online life is often formed with no one to model from.
We as a district have put great effort and expense into linking our classrooms to the world with technology. Now we need to teach our children how to act in this world not just log on to AR.
Chan,
You make a really good point. Universities are even doing online research on applicants and sometimes denying entrance because of things published on social networking sites. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
At your service, April
Broken teacher,
I have started a new post subject on the grading curve. Please encourage other teachers to post their experiences.
Educate me teachers.
At your service, April
Dear April,
I believe that as educators we must lead by example. I did not get the impression from your post that you wanted comments on how to incorporate etiquette into lesson plans. As adults that impact the lives of our students, we ALL teach etiquette everyday. It does not take any additional time to model for our students what our expectations are.
I attended a workshop several years ago. The clinician made one comment that really impacted my thinking. "We all teach reading....we all teach math....we all teach social studies.....we all teach life. It is the responsibility of every educator in a school to model for our students and correct those students when necessary."
I LOVE that you take the few minutes needed to share with a student the importance of a handshake. Those students will remember that one lesson from you for the rest of their lives. That one gesture can make a huge impact.
I am so grateful that as a student in Hillsborough County I had educators that cared for me as a person, not just as an English student or a Math student. They ALL inspired, educated, and disciplined me if I needed it. I try very hard to take that into my own classroom and my school campus everyday.
This is most likely not a popular view given the climate that some of the bloggers are dealing with. I agree with you April. It matters and we ALL can make a difference.
April-
You're right about first impressions and manners. We model as much as we can--that only goes so far. Some of us insist on appropriate behavior in our classrooms--but, wait until we walk in the halls !!! As long as popular culture, parents and peers tolerate and encourage this, our kids will have a very rude awakening when they try to advance --whether in business or college!
Thanks for your publishing your observation--Happy 2009!
April,
Would you like a copy of the English exam scale so you can see for yourself? Maybe you would like to view some of the Springboard materials that many teachers consider inappropriate for the class room.
A few things strike me about SpringBoard.
First, by making the curriculum so regimented and lockstep the district may be hoping to be able to get rid of their experienced, expensive teachers and replace them with younger, cheaper, less experienced and more timid and easily intimidated teachers. Great job protecting the teachers, CTA. Let me know if someone ever finds an actual use for you.
Second, this is a boondoggle pure and simple. It reminds me a lot of those programming tools that salespeople would come around touting, saying "This will let your managers write applications so you can fire all your programmers.". They never worked as advertised, and many of them never worked at all.
Third, who cares *what* the District has to say? They report to the Board, and through the board they report to us taxpayers. Their whole job is to create an environment where students can learn and teachers can teach and to then get out of the way.
Amen "Mrs. Griffin"!
Our children are growing up feral. Parents aren't raising them or teaching the most rudimentary manners. Instead they believe it is the teacher's responsibility to take over all parental duties--except discipline.
Kids may seem tough but they are terrified by the constant onslaught of dire warnings of the agenda-driven school boards. It is not necessary to make a child take on the disagreements of adults--global warming, cultural "pride" (always somebody else's culture, nuclear proliferation, sexual preferences, etc.. They are in school to learn Math, Reading & Literature, and the sciences--not the partisan ideals of the school district or (some) teachers.
I see no reason for "Gay Day", or spending a month learning about Ramadan, when we can't even say "Merry Christmas" within the halls of academia.
We were taught to take resposibility for our actions, respect adults, love our country, and behave in school. Even the worst kids knew better than to use foul language in front of an adult. If the teacher ever had to talk to your parents about your behavior, in school, you were in big trouble--not the teacher!
All this "equality" is churning out boys with no spine and girls who can cuss and spit.
Now, the system is so busy forcing social idealogy they fail to notice that the kids are functionally illiterate and have no concept of what being a productive citizen is.
I can see no improvement in society for all this extra nonsense. Stop worrying about menus and bring back recess, PE, and real subjects.
Stop tormenting teachers with unrealistic benchmarks. I never had a "bad" teacher in my life. To grade them by how well students do on tests is ridiculous. There are just too many factors involved. Not every teacher has a job in an upscale neighborhood and a room full of kids with with well-educated parents.
Please don't correct my grammar and puntuation, it's been awhile.
~KarenO
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