My Thoughts
The article Yale or Jail is about how we view young black boys in school. It draws attention to the fact that black boys are often judged before they are given an opportunity. "The cover is always judged before the book in the case of people, especially in the book of the young black man."
I see our black boys walk the halls of our school daily and I often wish I am doing something that will make a difference in their lives. But truth be told, what they need and require I can not give it to them. We must try to reach them at an early age. Teaching for many years at the high school level, our young black boys were already created to answer the question of: "Yale or Jail". Teaching our young black boys at a young age is the key.
It is important that we teach them the importance of an education. And let's be real for a minute...teaching them does not mean following a pacing guide that does not reflect their interest. We lose our students when the learning is not interesting to them. Take the risk and get to know your students...take that relationship to create an educational experience that involves them. Make learning about them...interesting, hands-on, inspiring.
We begin to lose our young black boys at an early age because of their educational ability. These are the students who becomes lost in the classroom, often ignored and left to defend for themselves. As a result they desire attention, but only knows how to get it by acting up. What we fail to realize is even at the age of 6, these students have been labeled. As educators it is our duty to reshape what they think of themselves to begin a transformation...
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