Listening to Student Voice

As Dale and I walked into the Parent Lounge for the post-observation Student Panel meeting, I glanced over at the four District C students sitting at the large conference table in the center of the room. The student panel consisted of one Senior, one Junior, one Sophomore, and one Freshman. The Superintendent, Principal J, Kim, four Education Professors from RI College, myself and my seven SED 407 classmates, and two individuals that I did not recognize, possibly parents or school staff, sat in a semi-circle facing the District C student panel. Personally, I had just felt slightly uncomfortable and a bit uneasy when several of the people sitting in the cemi-circle had looked up when Dale and I walked into the meeting a few minutes late. Feeling this way made me wonder how the students in the panel were feeling. Yet these four students were sitting there looking around, smiling, and talking and joking with Principal J. Instantly, I admired their strength and resolution, as they each sat there unwaveringly in front of a panel of professional educators and collegiate students.

As the group discussion began, the Senior immediately boasted about the student pride at District C, not just in sports, but in extracurricular activities and academics as well. 

"The teachers [at District C] challenge us academically,"

the Senior stated with conviction. 

And with this, the caliber of the discussion was set. For the remainder of the meeting the four students on the panel were asked a number of questions regarding their educations. It was not at all surprising that the students' answers facilitated frank and open discussions about teachers, teaching methods, and learner differences and preferences. 

When asked about "their ideal teacher," the students on the panel expressed teacher qualities that any administrator or human resource coordinator would be seeking when hiring a teacher to work for their institution. To sum them up: Understanding, Challenging, Knowledgable and Patient.

The maturity and level of self-awareness reflected in the complexity of their answers was inspiring. When asked, "What motivates you as a student?" the Freshman in the panel responded that he wanted to make his family proud by becoming the first to attend college. "I want to be what my parents couldn't be." He profoundly expressed his aspirations for the future as he said with determination,

"The only limits that exist are those you make for yourself."

The Senior responded next, communicating that his academic motivation stems from a need to help other District C students. His achievements have been fueled by his ambition to be a leader and role model in his community; to push other students to be successful and rise above the preconceived expectations that so many people have about District C and its student body:

"I want to get good grades to prove to others and the media 

that [District C] is not as bad as everyone thinks it is."

As with the other students on the panel, the Sophomore exhibited an air of confidence in his voice as he conveyed to his audience that regardless of the bad press, controversy and scrutiny that has inundated his community, he "would never be ashamed to be from [District C]." My classmates and I are the "future of America," he exclaimed proudly.

"I know what I am capable of." 

The panel of students were also asked about assignments, what they liked and what they disliked. Each of them had a variety of responses but what stood out most to me was the Junior's response. He responded that he liked group assignments because, as he put it, "by working with your classmates, you develop social skills that you can use in real life [and group work often allows] you to become the teacher." He also expressed that he liked "challenging work, AP classes and assignments where I get things wrong," explaining that, "practice makes perfect."

The final question posed to the student panel was in regards to District C's curriculum. They were asked, "what would you add to your school's curriculum?" Their responses were very similar in that they all wished to add courses to the curriculum that pertained to and helped develop and foster skills that could be used in the real world. Some of the classes mentioned were: Business, Finance, Science, and Technology. The students also expressed that they wanted teachers to:

• Recognize their talents
• Teach 21st Century skills
• Challenge their thinking
• Give them opportunities for critical thinking

And again I found myself swelling with pride as I thought to myself,

  "I am so proud to be part of the community at District C."

American Psychological Association article:

"Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key To Motivating Students

Meeting Ms. G

On our November 7th visit, we had the pleasure of meeting Ms. G, a 19-year veteran and ELA teacher at District C. Ms. G is an alumni of both District C and RI College. While at RIC, she was a member of both the Upward Bound Program and the Preparatory Enrollment Program (PEP). Ms. G spent 9 years as a behavioral specialist and a year at Perry Middle School in Providence, before subbing for District C. She told our class that she knew right away that District C was where she wanted to teach, explaining that Providence was too big of a district and that District C felt "cozy and comfortable." 

Ms. G had many words of advice for our group. She explained to us that one of the most important things you can do as an educator is to make connections with your students:

"Make everything personal; you're dealing with individuals."

"Individualize your instruction as much as you can."

"Don't be afraid to connect with your students on a personal level: ask questions, do your research, know the student population you are working with."

Ms. G also let our group know that it takes years of experience to develop effective classroom and behavioral management and that understanding and controlling student behavior is the most difficult task for new teachers. She explained to us that it took her 7 years to take her class out of rows and that it was only with experience that she realized that her own attitude towards behavioral management needed to change before she could effectively manage her students.

"If I wanted to effect change, 

I had to be the change that I wanted to see."

"Don't be afraid to discipline [your students] in a loving way."

Before our meeting came to an end, Ms. G left us with a few last words of advice. She told us that to be effective teachers and mentors to our students, we must:

"Know our content."

and

"Be open to change."

Gaining Perspective

With each passing week, through our experiences at District C, my classmates and I have had the opportunity to meet with a sampling of individuals, each with their own unique perspectives on education. Thus far we have had several opportunities to discuss various educational topics and issues with individuals in a number of positions within the educational field. Our class has met:

• Members of the District C Administration: Superintendent, Principal, and Vice Principal. 
• Members of the District C Faculty, from a range of content areas: Special Education, English, History/ Social Studies, as well as a number of others we have had the opportunity to observe.
• Several Rhode Island College Professors, with specialties in various areas of elementary and secondary education: Literacy, ELL/ ESL Instruction, Educational Psychology, Transformative Pedagogy, Foreign Language Didactics, Urban Education, and Community and School Health Education.
• A panel of four District C Students, representing each high school grade level.
• Rhode Island College PE/ Health Education Students.
• And last but certainly not least our bus driver Steve, who has given us insight into the District C community with his many "bus ride stories." How else would we know about "Sparkle City?"

When our class was first approached about participation in the Innovation Lab I was extremely excited about being presented with the experience of spending an entire semester out in a high school setting, however I didn't anticipate getting the opportunity to meet with such an diverse group of progressive educators.

And I never imagined just how profoundly the experience would influence my own personal identity as an educator. 

It has been truly inspirational. 

And still the journey continues... this week my classmates and I get to partner with District C parents and gain yet another perspective into the world of education.

Teaching Perspectives Inventory: Helps summarize your views & perceptions about teaching

Protocols

When we met for our post-observation on October 31st, Principal J and Kim explained to us that we were going to participate in an activity called a Microlab. We were split up into groups of 3s and each given a number (1, 2, or 3). Then either Principal J or Kim asked the whole class a question and picked a number to decide who, in each group, would answer the question first. The rules of the Microlab states that only one person can speak during a timed period. When the time is up the individual with the next sequential number takes their turn to answer the question, and so on and so on until everyone in the group has had a turn to respond. The intention of the Microlab is to get other members of the group to actively listen, without interruptions. This allows participating individuals to focus on and absorb each group members' response. It is an activity that allows even timid students to participate and contribute to the conversation, in a low stakes environment, where there are no wrong answers. It also gives participants extra time to think about the question before answering. 

The following week we were accompanied to District C by PE/ Health Education students. During our pre-observation meeting we participated in a protocol that my class had already been introduced to back in September, called Connections: (For an in-depth explanation of this protocol see my September 30th blog post.) What differed this time from our previous experience was the size of the group participating in the activity. In our last session, because our class is so small, I feel there was more pressure to participate. By the end of the timed session everyone in our small group had contributed at least once. However, this time the number of people participating in the activity was tripled and many chose to remain silent. 

This recent experience with Connections got me thinking about different ways to utilize protocol activities in a classroom setting, probably because our guests made the group closer in number to an actual classroom size. I had already envisioned using Connections as a beginning of class "transition time" activity but that's as far as I had gotten. Now I found myself thinking of a number the different ways to use these protocols: 

• To introduce class content/ topics as a prior knowledge activity. 
• To informally quiz students' understanding of previously covered material as a lesson review activity.
• To alleviate the pressure of participating for struggling students, who could participate in these activities: by "actively listen" to their classmates responses; and/ or by utilizing the extra "think time" provided to formulate their response. 
• As a way to initiate conversation about behavioral issues or conflicts between students, in such a way that classmates must listen to one anothers' emotions, feelings, and/ or concerns without fear of rebuttal or confrontation.

Whether it be a Microlab or a Connections session, my experiences with protocols thus far has definitely made me agree with a statement Dr. H made on our bus ride back to RIC after our Microlab session, "I love Protocols." 

For more Protocols: National School Reform Faculty; Harmony Education Center