Parents As Partners

Over the course of this semester there has been a common theme in the words of advice that we have received...

Get to know your students. 

So when we met with District C parents last week it was no surprise when they told us this was important to them. So when I think about getting to know my students, I know that one of the best ways to do so is to get to know their parents. Parents are such a valuable part of obtaining the information we need to know how best to educate our students. They know their children, what they are going through, and how to get through to them. 

As teachers we have to make the effort to get involved in the community we teach in. As Principal J said last week....

"Teaching is not a job, it's a lifestyle."

This really resonated with me. It is such a realistic look at our profession. We are one of the major influences in the lives of our students. Their needs are not based on 9-5 clock in, clock out type schedule. We must be there for them when they need us, even if that means interacting with them outside of school. Principal J and others at District C have told us so many stories of how becoming personally invested in their students' lives has had enormous benefits. Not every job, has you making house calls, but in this profession, if that what it takes to get through to a student and make a positive change in their education, then it is our moral obligation to do so. And for this reason parents are such a valuable resource.

Parent and Family Engagement: Click Here for Link

Summative Assessment

As novices students acquire their knowledge of academic discourse from their interaction with content-area teachers who are experts in their field. It is imperative as educators to incorporate effective literacy learning strategies into the content-area curriculum through systematic, explicit, and direct literacy instruction and the use of repetition. The improvement of literacy is an issue that all teachers should be equipped to address in their instruction. To be effective content-area teachers must be aware of instructional approaches and strategies that can be used with their existing curricula to help improve the literacy levels of struggling readers, by understanding the literacy challenges they face. The inability to decode multi-syllabic words, which provide much of the new information in content-area texts, negatively influences reading comprehension and can prevent struggling students from reading grade-level texts independently. Also morphological skills can be strengthened when introducing new content-area vocabulary by incorporating base words, prefixes and suffixes, and compound words into the instruction activity. Teachers can help with fluency by reading aloud and giving students ample opportunities to do the same, either through whole-class share-outs or by participating in cooperative learning activities. Content-area teachers should also focus on specialized words that are unique to their specific discipline. In content-area reading, where text is more technical and abstract, insufficient vocabulary knowledge can be especially problematic. To learn and retain new words and concepts, students need to connect them to what they already know, have repeated exposure, and have the opportunities to practice using them in different contexts. Finally, teachers can approach reading through Functional Behavioral Analysis, which enables them to help students recognize the specialized patterns of language in the texts they read. By making discipline-specific ways of using language explicit, teachers help students better engage with school knowledge and more effectively develop disciplinary literacies across academic content areas.  

It is crucial to take the time to know your students. “Don’t be afraid to connect with [your] students on a personal level: ask questions, do your research, know the population you are working with.” (Ms. G 11/7) I will never forget the voices of the students we met in the panel discussion and I will let their words guide my teaching. I will challenge my students and push them to do their academic best. “Be empathetic, not sympathetic; have high expectations.” (Principal J 11/7) I also plan to incorporate 21^st Century skills into my curriculum to enable my students to be academically competitive in and out of school. This semester has shown me the importance of culture and community in learning. Effective teachers take their students’ funds of knowledge and personal differences into consideration when planning their curriculum in order to create culturally responsive classrooms. Students’ input, knowledge and differences should be seen as assets, not hindrances. There are 24 students in Mr. S’s Sociology class; 12 of these students are ELLs and 6 students have IEPs. In today’s inclusive classrooms it is increasingly more important to “individualize your instruction as much as you can.” (Ms. G 11/7) I will listen to student voice and take my students’ opinions into consideration when making decisions about curriculum and instruction because I believe that students know best what they need as learners and they will tell you, if you take the time to listen. “I always learn the most from my students.” (Dr. H 10/31)

There are endless teaching strategies and methods that can be utilized in teaching, many of which I will discuss in my presentation, but what truly matters is implementing what works best with your current students and their learning needs. Teachers have more success with behavioral management when their students are engaged in activities that are well planned and tailored to their interests. This, coupled with a predictable classroom routine and assignment rubrics, provides students with clear expectations of what to expect and what is expected from them as well. During one of observations, Mr. S jingled his keys and all of his students began putting their notebooks away. Without a word his students knew that the jingle meant that it was the end of independent work. This type of interaction is a result of clear teacher expectations. However, even in the best run classrooms there are always going to be good days and bad, but you have to “discipline in a loving way” (Ms. G 11/7) and remember that “everyday is a new day.” (Vice Principal T 10/24)

Almost every experience I have had this semester was a highlight. In fact, this semester has been the highlight of my college experience thus far. The only “disappointment” and I wouldn’t actually use that word, is that we did not have more instructional practice with lesson planning. However, I have learned that lessons must be meaningful. “You must have purpose” when planning your curriculum because students want to know “why am I doing this?” (Principal J 9/26) For this reason, and because of my experiences over the last few months, I plan to make civics and civic involvement a large part of the curriculum in my history classes, providing my students with the social and civic skills needed to become active and informed citizens and “Real World Learners.” Finally, this semester has taught me that the educational experience is not merely a teacher passing their knowledge to students but a learning community where knowledge and ideas are shared between all members of the classroom, creating a culture that encourages both teachers and students to put themselves in the roles of educator and learner.

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

My Essential Question

History is boring...Not everyone feels this way...

How can I see things from other people's perspectives/ point of views?

I was having a conversation with myself…

How do I take my students' experiences/ likes/ dislikes/ feelings into account?

I am already open-minded and accepting, consider myself comfortable in regards to cultural diversity and sensitive to others' differences...

What more can I do? I asked.

Then my essential question occurred to me…

How do I teach my content through the eyes of my students?

I came across an article by Geneva Gay entitled Teaching To and Through Cultural Diversity, which talks about culturally responsive teaching; and its message really spoke to me. In the article Gay speaks passionately about culturally responsive teaching; referring often to her 2010 book Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. It helped me begin to think about how to answer my question. The following is by no means in my own words but is also not directly quoted from the article. I collected the parts that spoke to me and pieced them together in the following paragraphs…

Culturally responsive teaching is defined as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them. It is a means for improving achievement by teaching diverse students through their own cultural filters. This form of teaching is contingent on seeing cultural differences as assets; creating caring learning communities where culturally different individuals and heritages are valued; using cultural knowledge of ethnically diverse cultures, families, and communities to guide curriculum development, classroom climates, instructional strategies, and relationships with students; challenging racial and cultural stereotypes, prejudices, racism, and other forms of intolerance, injustice, and oppression; being change agents for social justice and academic equity; mediating power imbalances in classrooms based on race, culture, ethnicity, and class; and accepting cultural responsiveness as endemic to educational effectiveness in all areas of learning for students from all ethnic groups. Culturally responsive teaching: validates, facilitates, liberates, and empowers ethnically diverse students by cultivating their cultural integrity, individual abilities, and academic success.

In the United States teachers are predominately middle class, female, monolingual, and of European ancestry, while students are increasingly poor and linguistically, ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse. These differences make linking culturally responsive teaching explicitly to regular classroom functions even more important. A key mandate of culturally responsive teaching is accessing this internal strength of ethnically diverse students and communities and using it to improve their personal agency and educational achievement. Culturally responsive teaching is at once a routine and a radical proposal. It is routine because it does for Native American, Latino, Asian American, African American, and low-income students what traditional instructional ideologies and actions do for middle-class European Americans by filtering curriculum content and teaching strategies through their cultural frames of reference making it more personally meaningful and easier to master. It is radical because it makes explicit the previously implicit role of culture in teaching and learning and it insists that educational institutions accept the legitimacy and viability of ethnic group cultures in improving learning outcomes. The close interactions among ethnic identity, cultural background, and cognition are becoming increasingly apparent. It is these interactions that give source and focus, power and direction to culturally responsive teaching.

Culturally responsive teaching, in idea and action, emphasizes localism and contextual specificity. That is, it exemplifies the notion that instructional practices should be shaped by the sociocultural characteristics of the settings in which they occur, and the populations for whom they are designed. One of the core tenets of culturally responsive teaching: to respect and respond to the particular diversities in each classroom. It is futile for educators to claim they can attend to the needs of students, academically or otherwise, without engaging their cultural socialization or to expect students to divorce themselves from their cultural heritages easily and at will. Culturally responsive teaching helps teachers to genuinely see and accept culture, race, and difference as potentially empowering factors for educating students, grounding teaching in the notions that success generates success, that competence builds confidence, and that regardless of how marginalized or disadvantaged an individual student or ethnic group may be according to external criteria, there is some kind of capability within.

Teaching To and Through Cultural Diversity by Geneva Gay University of Washington