Blog #6

As I read the readings, I could see where the author was coming from as far as labeling students and coming up with the type of learner that they are. However, at the same time labeling also has it limits and issues and relying on labels could have a teacher run into problems in the long run. The problem with labeling is that it does not include the many details that can be associated within the category of a particular label. Each student under a label is different than the next. You will never find one student that is exactly the same as the next no matter how many similarities they may have. In a sense, labeling does this and can give many teachers false ideas that all students under a certain label are the same. I have seen this many times in schools before and I'm sure we all have a some point as well. I can even admit that I have done the same thing and have will more than likely do the same in the future. However, I work on this exact concept each time I go into the classroom, because it is important to work with each student and see them for who they truly are and not what a label has them being.
Another thing with the labels that I noticed was that there is a lot of chance for overlapping as far as each of the labels is concerned. The author had the labels and certain characteristics of each label. When I tried to "label" myself, I had a hard time finding just one label that could fit. I found parts of myself in many of the different labels and sometimes I found I could see myself fitting under different labels and have different characteristics depending on the day, the mood I was in or the situation I was placed in as well. I say this because I feel we all can say the same. We have all had bad days where we did not feel like doing anything and also had very good days where motivation and a can do attitude was at a peak level. We also act differently around certain groups of people. The person we are in class, can be totally different than the person we are in public. The person we are in public can be the exact opposite of the person we are in private. The options are endless, and I feel this makes it very hard to label students unless you know the underlying reasons behind certain behavior or tendencies. This is what I have found myself becoming more interested in. I see a student misbehave or not do an assignment and I am curious why this is the case. Rather than label them as unmotivated or dumb, I want to see why this happens and see if there is anything I can do to change this. It may take more effort, but to me it is worth it if it means that each student will maximize their potential as a learner.