RTI Response

RTI Blog Response

                Response to Intervention is loosely defined by Ben Johnson as a reaction to a student struggling with classroom materials and subject and the teacher’s desire to help the student. The No Child Left Behind Act falls under RTI, and to a certain extent, I do understand and support these kinds of programs and systems of aid; however, on the other hand, I do not see the need to reward unwarranted bad behavior from a child academically.

                I am a stickler for high expectations. I demand high expectations because they are expected as normal in the real world, and because as people, we should want the best for ourselves. I want the best for my students, and they should want the best for themselves too. High expectations show kids what they can reach and what can happen when they do reach and surpass the bar. Keep raising that bar, and they will rise with it. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve done it in my previous school that had no Spanish program at all, and then after a year and a half of me busting my behind and the kids working their tails off, more than three quarters of them are going into honors high school Spanish, a level past where they would normally be in freshmen year. It’s about dedication to the kids and to the subject. Sell it to them, prove its relevancy, and they will pick up what you’re putting down. I don’t think high expectations are the difficulty. I think the difficulty in today’s classrooms is the fact that literally every child expects that they will be great at everything because that’s what society is preaching. I’ll be honest: I am terrible at math. I can’t do simple addition. I can’t do grading systems out of anything less than 100%, but at least I admit it. I know I will never be great at math, so I have the honors math students teach me how to make grading scales or ask for help from a fellow teacher. It is OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP, and I think that is the hardest thing for some kids to do in this day and age.

                I like RTI for the reason that it gives kids the incentive to ask for help, to allow them to be confused and then rectify the situation. I do not like RTI as a way just to pass the child for the sake of passing. School isn’t meant for that. School is meant for learning. Progress is progress. Even a C level student moving to a B level is a good situation in my opinion because it means they have learned and they have applied the material in a way that is understood. Any improvement is still improvement, and that IS a movement that I can get behind.