Fires Chapter 4

Chapter 4 was about how you can help your students succeed in your classroom. A major part of that is just believing in your students in the first place. If you don’t, like Porsche says on page 63, you send the message that you don’t really care if they come to school or not. To succeed students also need to participate in class, and sometimes that can be a nerve racking thing for many students. As Mika says on page 71, before his teacher taught him the skills he needed to participate in class he struggled with participation. Grades are also a tricky thing when it comes to student success. For example, on page 78, Porsche talks about what it feels like to get a bad grade, she says, “You feel like you’re doing all that hard work for nothing.”

All of these things stood out to me in this chapter because I have had experience with them myself, and can clearly see how it could have an affect on a student’s success. I can understand if a student doesn’t have a teacher that they know believes in them that they may not see the point in coming to school in the first place, let alone attempt the work. I also know what it’s like to be too afraid or unprepared to share my thoughts in class. It is stressful. Not only do you not want to be made fun of, but you don’t want to let down your teacher. I also know what it’s like to feel like I've worked my fingers to the bone for a particular class, and still come up a little short. It’s incredibly frustrating, but I have to say that I always knew that at least I put all that I could into it, and that made me feel better.