Serving Parents to Foster Community

Often, I think we underestimate parental and community interest in education. Because parents don’t show up to conferences or answer emails and phone calls, it is automatically assumed that they don’t want to be involved; we assume that they don’t want any responsibility over their children’s academic progress. During my years as a para at a middle school, I was exposed to home visits and their impact on student education. For example, I worked with a student my first year who really struggled academically and socially. Their teachers were frustrated because the student showed up to school late every morning, slept during class, and didn’t always have their homework completed. As direct support for the student, I was unbelievably frazzled as well because I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with the student (and in hindsight focused way too much on how the student wasn’t serving ME instead of focusing on how I could be better serving THEM). Eventually the principal suggested that a couple of the student’s teachers attempt a home visit. During the home visit, the teachers learned that the student was living with almost a dozen other family members, so they didn’t have their own room and it made it difficult for them to sleep restfully. Also, the student’s mom didn’t have reliable transportation, so they had to walk a distance to get to school if no one was able to pick them up, which was often. Mom was deeply troubled by her inability to provide a peaceful environment or transportation for her children and didn’t know how to reach out. Fortunately, as a result of the home visit, Mom felt like (rightfully) the school was on her side as we were more accommodating of her sleepy child and did our best to facilitate her child’s timely arrival to school, which had a positive impact on their grades. In the time following, the mother also felt comfortable being more actively involved in what her child was doing, getting to know the teachers, what they were teaching, and their expectations better.

My experience proved that it’s not that parents don’t want to be involved in their children’s school lives; parents can easily feel excluded because schools and educators could do a little more work to ensure all types of families feel welcome in that space, especially English language learners. In their research, Samway and McKeon mention that for English language learners in particular, schools have implemented interactive parent-teacher conferences with mini-workshops for parents to participate in with their children, which provide demonstrations of the types of things their children are doing in class (167). Similar to our daily lives outside of school, as educators, it seems so easy to get into a pattern of frustration and complaining about things that aren’t working rather than trying to find solutions to those problems. Sure, it can be difficult to feel a lack of parental or community engagement, especially when we desperately want that participation and feel like resources aren’t readily available to make what we dream a reality. I guess what I have to remind myself is that I have to make do with what I do have. If there aren’t translators available to help me communicate with a parent, could I have the child or another family member serve as an intermediary? What about learning some conversational Spanish in order to bridge the gap myself?

Samway, Katharine Davies and Denise McKeon. Myths and Realities: Best Practices for English Language Learners. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2007.

Genre Reflection #2: "How To"

How (Not) To Be An Exemplary Student

1. Tire of the routine of the semester a third of the way through.
2. Put off assignments and readings until the last possible minute.
3. Complain about not having enough time to complete previously mentioned assignments and readings.
4. Realize your predicament is no one’s fault but your own and promptly shut up.
5. Come to class unprepared to listen or learn.
6. Daydream while your professor is giving instruction, only catching part of what she says.
7. Sit with a puzzled look on your face when asked to participate in an activity you missed the directions for.
8. Leave campus and immediately forget about your academic responsibilities until you step foot back on said campus.
9. Continue with your disorganized habits because they have gotten you this far, right?
10. Get the mediocre grade that you so deserve at the conclusion of finals.
11. Commence complaining, AGAIN, but not vow to change any of your habits that put you in this predicament.

How To Be An Exemplary Student (from an over, then underachiever)

1. Face every day with a fresh perspective to break up the monotony of each week.
2. Be proactive about starting assignments early to alleviate frustration and panic later.
3. Cease complaining about behaviors you refuse to change.
4. Vow to not put yourself in precarious situations with your grades; start strong and finish strong.
5. Utilize those beautiful lists of tasks that you so painstakingly compile in order to stay on track and come to class prepared to listen and learn.
6. Approach every class meeting with intention, as you wouldn’t be there if there wasn’t anything valuable to learn.
7. Listen attentively as your knowledgable professor imparts her wisdom onto you.
8. Rely on your school and home families for support when you need it and engage in self care to maintain your mental faculties.
9. Engage in regular reflection regarding performance and adherence to your personal goals you’ve set for yourself.
10. Strive to be better than you were yesterday EVERY DAMN DAY.
11. When everything is said and done, look back at your achievements and say “Hey, I did good.”

Some Stuff About Language

Coming from my fishbowl in small-town, USA, observing and teaching in such a large, diverse district has been quite the learning experience each day. One of the most noticeable things about my students are the multifarious manners in which they communicate with each other. Maybe it’s too much time in linguistics classes that has made me so sensitive to these nuances, but I love walking through the hallways every morning and listening to the murmurings occurring before the first bell rings and between classes. Listening to students communicate with each other is kind of like music; the way their voices rise and fall melodically, sentences sometimes overlapping. Now, it’s not always pleasant, as I’m not the hugest fan of shrill laughter or screaming, but I never realized how different and wonderful language really is before I came here. What is so intriguing about language, you ask? There is much to be learned about language, and our students based on how they speak and write. But, I wonder, how do we teach language/grammar to students without forcing them to abandon their own?

I remember being a kid and abhorring anything language or grammar related at school because I grew up in a household where African American Vernacular English (AAVE) was spoken, so any time we discussed the “right” and “wrong way to say or write something in class, I was constantly told the way I communicated was incorrect and needed to be fixed. For anyone who is not familiar with African American Vernacular English, it is a social dialect that is typically viewed as an inferior mode of communication because it utilizes double negation (ex: couldn’t nobody) and loss of verb inflection (ex: ‘he go’ instead of ‘he goes’) among other properties that proponents of Standard English frown upon. In Randy Bomer’s Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s English Classrooms, he states, “As citizens in a democracy, students need to learn ways of thinking about language variation that will allow them to respect other citizens across differences. They need to learn to think about language variation in order to understand the intelligence and value of linguistic patterns different from their own” (267). In my own experience, the language variation that I brought to class was not respected and I was forced to abandon it, and the same thing happens often to the students we serve now. I don’t know what it is about English teachers as a collective, but we have to let go of that superiority complex when it comes to language to let our students know that their language differences are valid, which in turn could encourage them to learn how to utilize registers that are appropriate in particular conditions. 

Teaching language does not have to be the same boring, predictable exercises that we suffered through as students. There is no one way to interact. Language is exciting and should be celebrated as such. There should never be a “right” or “wrong” way to use language, but there are certainly “wrong” ways to teach it; silencing students for not using Standard English, invalidating their ideas because they are not spoken or written in a manner that you expect, and making it clear that their language differences are to be abandoned when they cross your threshold are examples. I want to explore the dynamics of language with my students and help them understand that the ways in which they communicate are beautiful. If they have something they want to share with me, their peers, or the world, I never want to silence that just because they use a double negative.

KATE Conference 2K16

This past week I had the privilege to attend the Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE) Conference, and it was an experience that made my heart so full. I spent the two days listening to personal testimonies and presentations about inclusiveness, diversity, and awareness, which are all topics that highly interest me. I will admit that I was closed off to the idea of other educators being willing to learn more about the students they are serving in order to create spaces in which they can flourish, but I was quite moved by everyone’s curiosity and attention to different topics discussed such as ethnic/racial diversity, gender identity/expression, and sexual orientation.

I suppose their care was stunning to me because I was not surrounded by educators brave enough to stand up for me or others like me in order to provide me with the best education possible when I was a kid. Remembering how isolated I felt in my school environment, especially in my teens, I am doing my best to learn how to be a supportive and inclusive educator. There’s some quote along the lines of “be the person you needed when you were younger” and I hear that on loop in the back of my head every day. Bill Konigsberg’s keynote amplified the little voice in my head to be better; he even put some pressure on me to implore other people around me to be better. Konigsberg reminded us that we may be the only figures in a student’s life that validates them in their identity and supports them as a whole person, so the things we say and do must be calculated. Although I’m sure we all knew this, sobering reminders are needed at times so we can re-evaluate our behavior.

Addressing diversity in the classroom takes truckloads of bravery, especially in environments where it may not be encouraged, but it is NECESSARY. The KATE conference reinforced my ideas about the type of educator I want to be, but it also challenged me to examine areas in which I need to be more intrepid; I need to be more brave about standing up for things I don’t feel okay with because the safety and wellbeing of my students count on it. I cannot stand by and let comments a young person says ride because they assume no one heard them. I have to hold my colleagues accountable for damaging comments or silence as well. Most importantly, I have to check myself when I am in the wrong. 

Here I am rambling again, but my whole KATE conference experience was quite introspective. I’m still ruminating on some of the subject matter, so I expect this post to expand.

Here’s to growth,

Ms. McDaniel

Monday

The familiar, drawn out ding sounds
A hushed shuffle of feet, shh, shh, shh
make their way down the corridor
Carrying exhausted bodies, baggage
Raspy voices mutter about the weekend
and assignments fallen by the wayside
Eyes like lasers cut every which way
Skirting contact as minds
race to gather their things and
Thoughts
The final countdown occurs
as some are still clearing the sleep
from their eyes
They pour through the threshold, water
Sink into their seats
Papers rustle, crunch, bags ziiip
A hand shoots up, "Miss, what'd I miss?"
A collective audible groan resounds
as colleagues shoot daggers at their
inquisitive peer
Hello, Monday

Awareness 101: All Are Welcome

As a pre-service teacher, something I have been grappling with is how to create an inclusive environment for my students. Over the past year I have been working more on awareness of differences (ability, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.) and checking my privileges along the way.This growing awareness has made me particularly mindful of how my assumptions about students and their experiences inside and outside of the classroom are shaping them, especially socially and emotionally. I know that education and experience are the most influential components of growth, but how do we tackle those experiences that teach us with grace rather than indignation?

A few weeks ago I had an interaction with a student that keeps replaying in my head. She had been late or absent from class just about every day since the semester started, and this particular morning she walked in pretty flustered. Because we were already twenty minutes into instruction, I quietly approached her and began explaining what her classmates were doing and attempted to provide her with an example to get started. She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, but I continued talking, trying to ignore her growing frustration. Once I stopped talking, she informed me that she wasn’t going to complete the assignment because she didn’t complete the reading. When I suggested better time management outside of class, she told me she was a parent and found it extremely difficult to allot time for reading. Before this conversation I was unaware that she had a child, which is why I assumed that she may have had time outside of school to complete school work. In that instance, I alienated this student by making her feel like she wasn’t doing the best she could with what she had. She eventually transferred out of the class (which is not a result of our conversation) but when I ran into her in the hallway last week I made sure to apologize for making her feel attacked our last morning together and asked her about how things were going at home. Everything seemed forgiven afterwards, but thinking back on myself at that age, I can only imagine that this student, as well as many others, probably still carries that assumption in her subconscious; more baggage. The things we say to students and the way we make them feel while under our authority has the power weigh them down, just as the things outside of school that we don't know about do. Instead of adding to that baggage that is isolation, non-affirmation, and inferiority, what can we do to help our students take a load off?

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) offers some seemingly effective practices for fostering an inclusive environment. Their research and resources obviously have LGBTQ+ students in mind, but much of their message can be applied to other populations of students that I listed at the beginning of the post. Some of the ideas GLSEN presents are:

•  Making certain classroom norms are clear
• Do your students understand what things are acceptable/unacceptable in your classroom?
• Being sure to use examples and teach materials that represent varying experiences/backgrounds in respectful ways
• When in doubt, do more research and get input from your colleagues
• Inviting students to share their lives with the class
• Make yourself accessible to students as well to foster a community environment
• Examining and re-evaluating our own biases about different cultures and backgrounds
• It is okay to acknowledge those biases! Admission of bias is the first step to change.

Cornell University also provided a wealth of useful information regarding classroom climate. As an educator, I'm now beginning to see how integral my role is in promoting student growth by becoming and remaining aware of the extensive list of circumstances that may inhibit their advancement. I am also beginning to truly understand the importance of doing my best to not use any preconceptions I may have to oppress or inhibit them either. 

First Days & Mindset and the Ability to Learn

The first couple of weeks of school have come and gone, and while we are still learning how to work in tandem, I am settling in to my new school and getting more comfortable with interactions (this is the oldest group of students I have ever worked with). It’s kind of strange when you look like you should be sitting in a desk next to the young people you’re in charge of!

While I haven’t been able to meet with my MT for an extended period of time yet to discuss procedures and my role in the room, I have learned quite a bit from her on the fly about her normal procedures regarding assignments, basic classroom management, and the format of a typical class period. Her methods are eerily (in a good way) familiar to what I have experienced in college classes, which is something I have found both interesting and highly functional. My MT strives to make her classes about more than just reading a book and regurgitating information—the students do interact with texts, but they also have the opportunity to deepen their understanding through the exploration of philosophical and psychological inquiry. I never knew a high school English class could look like this (again, in a very good way), but I am thrilled to be buckled in and taking this journey with these wonderful young people this year.

I'll have the opportunity to teach an ACT prep vocabulary mini-lesson next week, which I'm nervous (naturally) about, but it will be nice to finally get to break the ice with my students and start really working on my front of the room presence. I'm thankful for the chance to get going a little early, so I'll be more comfortable by the time my formal observation rolls around.

Because I am with my MT during her honors classes, I have been reflecting on the idea of fixed versus growth mindset. A teacher during Core II recommended some reading by Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. The particular study referenced concentrates on mindsets regarding intelligence in math and science, but we explored the concept on a broader scale, which included a discussion about achievement in ELA classes. The basic inquiry is:

Does an individual have the ability to change the amount of knowledge they have pertaining to a certain subject, or is that amount of knowledge unalterable? 

Incidentally, Dweck’s research ties into my previous post about failure. As someone who wants a classroom where everyone will be encouraged to challenge themselves and be fearless of mistakes, I identify closely with the growth mindset she speaks of. With the open, discussion-driven nature of my MT’s class, I can confidently say she falls into the same category. It’s refreshing to see how excited she is every morning about questioning the class and encouraging them to stretch themselves a little further mentally than they normally would. She is guiding them to continue putting effort into their learning so they can modify or solidify what they already know.

In the coming weeks, I would like to observe the fixed versus growth mindset as I get to know my students better. Dweck has some suggestions in her research about how educators can change their language when talking to students about their work to assist them in viewing their abilities more positively, so I'm interested to learn more about that as well.

Until next time,

Ms. McDaniel

Works Cited

Dweck, Carol. "Mindsets and Math/Science Achievement." Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2008.

Image: https://thecollegiatecall.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/fixed-vs-growth-mindset/