Years in Education: 4-6 White Cisgender Woman Queer Middle School Social Studies & Social Justice Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: There are layers to what my students and I have in common. Many of my kids are white. About half are girls. Most are cisgender. A handful are queer. And those, the first spokes on the intersectionality wheel, matter. The world hits us in similar ways, and we can immediately and visibly relate to each other’s experiences. But I’m not sure those are even the most important ways in which we are similar. I, apparently, have the sense of humor of an average middle schooler. Recently, a kid asserted that vegans had to be “tall… to get to the leaves at the top of the trees,” and I still haven’t really stopped laughing. We share a genuine and sincere appreciation of the importance of birthdays. We agree that sometimes it’s better to run outside in the snow and try to catch it than it is to just watch it fall. Honestly, I think what we share the most is a genuine interest in each other. They want to know the people they spend hours with every week, and I want to know and understand them. Together, we want to understand the world, the people in it, and the choices we all make. We don’t always agree, but we are certainly bound together by our mutual curiosity. In my social justice class (an elective that I started last year), this is especially true—and in that case, we’re also bound by a true passion for the subject. I just did a survey yesterday, asking my social justice students about their willingness to participate in a high-risk, quite vulnerable activity. I explained the activity in detail, and I gave them an anonymous survey. If even one person did not want for the activity to occur, we wouldn’t do it. If anyone wanted changes made to the activity (for example, changing or removing some of the questions asked), I’d make those changes. They have all opted to participate in the activity, and we’ll take that courageous leap on Monday. It may be hard, but I know that we’re all taking care of each other. With the kids with whom I have the deepest connection, what we share is a willingness to be vulnerable. We’re learning together, exploring the world and its intricacies as we go. Ms Frizzle (the greatest role model of my life) advises her students to “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” and I think following this life approach together is an important point of connection. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I’ve struggled with this question, because I feel equally and passionately that there are two truths that seem to directly conflict: 1. Of course it matters. Students should be able to see people like themselves represented throughout their lives, and that’s especially important when those people are in “role model” positions. 2. No, it doesn’t matter; what matters more is a genuinely caring relationship. I don’t have to have your experiences to care about them, and to believe you when you tell me about them. I think the reality is that Truth 1 helps facilitate a movement toward Truth 2. If kids can tell immediately that you share something in common with them, or if they learn about it, they’re more willing to trust the teacher. But if a teacher can communicate true regard for their students, in a way that students truly feel, then that can overcome a lot. A couple of years ago, I had a wonderful, quiet student in my class. She was reliable, kind, bright, and just a genuine pleasure. She isn’t one who would stay after class and talk, but we had a positive relationship. A year later, I had her younger brother as a student. When the sister saw my name on his schedule, she assured him, “Oh, you’ll like her. She’s really LGBTQ-friendly.” The brother is trans, and his best friend—another student of mine that year—is non-binary. Before they even arrived in my classroom, they already knew that I would… see them. I’m cisgender, and very feminine, but they knew that I could be their ally and advocate. The messenger matters, certainly—but I think the message matters even more. Litza is the founder of her school's popular Social Justice elective. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong
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Years in Education: 20+ Jewish White Female First in Family to Graduate From College High School Honors Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Honors Problem-Solving Seminar Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: I have a love of puzzles, and most of my students do, too. If we have a few minutes left in class, sometimes I will pose a riddle and the whole class lights up. I have a play table in the back of my classroom with various puzzles and games from childhood, such as Connect Four or the Cracker Barrel Wooden Peg puzzle, and students often come to my classroom early to play. I love watching the light in their eyes when they work on puzzles either together or individually and solve them - it's such a good feeling of accomplishment when you get something on your own, or even with a little help from someone else. Growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of love, but there was also a lot of turbulence in my family. My mother was married and divorced by the age of 19, with me, her nine-month old baby, in tow. I grew up living with my extended family--my grandparents, aunts, and an uncle. My father was not really present for me. My mother was more like a sister. We fought constantly, and I always went elsewhere for solace. For me, math put me in the present moment; I could do math problems or puzzles, and all the issues I had with my parents would go away. I like to give students problems that take their minds off of the baggage they bring into the classroom - we all have it. And for a few minutes each day, students can smile at the delight of solving the riddle or of the trickery involved in it. Even if they don't have the commonality of liking math, I try to make it fun for them so that we all can share those moments of joy when they think, "Aha!" or "I get it!" Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, because when you instinctively see the problem that you had when you were growing up, you can help. For me, it was coming in with baggage or being a perfectionist. I work in a private school where most students strive for high grades. Personally knowing that sometimes you don't get the grade you think you deserve, I try to let them know that it will all be okay if they don't get that A on the first test. I even made a huge poster that says, "Everything will be OK," which I sometimes need to draw their attention to. But I have found that with math, it's not always about ability. I think the most important thing is letting them know that you believe in them. I had several adults in my life that thankfully believed in me, and I know that if a teacher thinks you matter or are important, your confidence soars in that class. Even if you don't have things in common, for example, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, every person deserves to feel important. As a Jew, I have been discriminated against, and I never, ever want my students to feel that way. My biggest priority in class, aside from getting the material across, is having a warm, inviting classroom for ALL students, whether we have commonalities or not. It's a privilege to be teaching my students, and I often learn more from them than they do from me. My job is to make them all shine, even if only for the moment that they are in my classroom. Lisa is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. She is the creative genius behind many brain-bending TED-Ed lessons such as Can you solve the locker riddle? and Can you solve the virus riddle? Follow her on Twitter @Lisaqt314 . Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 7-10 American Indian Multiracial Female Heterosexual 6--12th Grade Gifted and Talented Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Commonalities between me and my students: --Diverse ethnicity --Cultural customs --Rural living I myself am considered to be highly creative with some ADD tendencies and I am secondarly gifted in Math. Gifted students are special people. They are highly intelligent, but not always across the board. Gifted students often times do not learn or function well in the traditional classroom; their learning styles and tendencies tend to lend towards unconventional learning methods and more exploration and project-based experiential learning. My relationship with my students is different than most teacher/student relationships because I spend a ton of time with the kids on projects, and on local and cross-country trips. These are experiences that the majority of students do not receive. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, without commonality relationships are hard. Without relationships, community is difficult. And without community, we are isolated. It is my job as an educator to highlight those likenesses that bring us together, and to bring a sense of compassion for the diversity we encompass. I always try to find commonality with my students because that helps build connections and relationships. A community must be connected to build a working relationship. That being said, diversity is a key element to our country and our world as a whole. We are a melting pot of varied backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures. Delene is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. She is designing curriculum to guide gifted students in self-discovery. Connect with her on Twitter @mccoy_delene. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 1-2 Chilean and Xicanx Heterosexual Female High School ELL and Social Studies Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: At Foster High School, nine out of ten students are students of color but only six teachers are people of color out of a staff of about 60-70 teachers. The young people I work with come from over 51 countries and speak 44 languages. There is no single story or experience that can be identified as "typical" or "common" among our students because of the hyper-diverse context in which we learn and work. Our students are undocumented, they are refugees, they are DREAMERS, they are immigrants, they are Seattleites, they are Foster High School Bulldogs. What I have in common with a vast majority of students is that I am a person of color. I am an educator of color. I have been, and will always consider myself a student of color since I spent 18 years of my life in public schools and institutions of higher education. My experience as a student of color has shaped the way I teach, learn and engage with young people, particularly in the way I mentor students of color. As a kindergartner I was given my first taste of public school. At 6 years old, I recall loving learning. I felt so deeply cared for by my kindergarten teacher Ms. Coglin, at Bryant Elementary in Seattle Public Schools. I remember her warmth to this day. Unfortunately, 18 years of public schooling did not always reflect the love and warmth I experienced in the early years. As I grew older, my experiences began to reflect the undeniably racialized world in which we lived. I began to notice my cultural and linguistic traditions in a way I never had before. I began to notice how "different" my family was compared to the white children and families that I attended school with, and how my cultural traditions and ways of being in the world did not easily align with how I was "supposed" to act in school settings. My elders and my community taught me to speak with fire on my tongue and passion in my heart. They taught me to live graciously, but to push boundaries if they limited us. I was taught to share my gifts with my community, and to never think in terms of individual gain. I hold all of this in common with my students and so much more. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: It absolutely matters that students and teachers have things in common! About 75% of the students in my classes are English Language Learners, many of whom speak Spanish. As a bilingual educator of color, I cannot deny the depth of connection I experience with my Spanish-speaking students. When I speak to my students in Spanish, there is an immediate level of mutual respect achieved. A shared language translates into a shared set of values. When students see their teacher speaking a shared home language, it helps them envision themselves as both learner and teacher. Schooling is no longer solely associated with a white, English-speaking, culturally irrelevant learning context, but a familiar, culturally diverse and engaged learning environment. In addition to teaching, Stephanie is her school's Muslim Student Association Advisor, and she is a Teaching Fellow with the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice. Connect with her on Twitter @MaestraXicana. Years in Education: 7-10 White Female Former Middle and High School Math Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: I had braces twice when I was their age. I've had a broken arm. I wore glasses until I switched to contacts in 7th grade. I enjoy drawing and crafts. I love every kind of animal and I was always eager to see pictures of my students' pets. We listened to some of the same music and watched some of the same shows on television. My parents divorced when I was in high school. I’d participated in a lot of musical theater. But there was also a lot I didn’t share with most of my students. For the ones who did relate, I felt these these shared experiences bonded us much more closely than they realized. During my adolescence, I turned to self-harm and drug use because I didn’t know how better to express my emotions and pain. A suicide attempt my sophomore year in high school resulted in an eight-day stay in a psychiatric ward. I lost most of my friends because I tried to pretend that everything was okay and, quite frankly, I was a terrible friend. I bounced from relationship to relationship seeking the love and acceptance I was aching for. I also struggled with severe body image issues and an eating disorder I am still working to recover from. Since my adolescence, I have had friends enter rehab for alcohol or drug addiction, and over the years some have returned for the fourth or fifth time. I’ve experienced the grief of someone I loved committing suicide. So many of our youth are burdened too young with emotions and experiences similar to these. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Commonalities may make it easier for a teacher to include themes into their lessons that apply directly to students’ interests or hobbies, or tailor aspects of classroom life to cultures or celebrations that may otherwise be overlooked. It certainly helps to have more of an inside view about what a student has experienced or how they like to spend their time. However, I don’t think that teachers and students need to have things in common. A teacher may have to work harder if they don’t immediately have things in common with students, or to build those experiences that build commonality between people, but I don’t think it’s a requirement from the start. What is a requirement is the need for teachers to be able to put themselves in their student’s shoes and consider that individual as a whole person, not just as a student in that particular class. You can’t have something in common with everyone. We need to celebrate the differences in us all, be that a variety of political views, religious beliefs, personal convictions, passions, and fears. We need to be open to learn from each other (especially from our students) on whatever it is that is outside of our comfort zone or familiarity. Being able to appreciate what is inside each and every person is not something that we’re generally raised to do. But it is this quality that absolutely matters in creating an environment that is conducive to learning and growing, be that inside the classroom or outside. Merrill recently transitioned out of the classroom and is now a Program Manager for a business and consulting firm in Seattle. Connect with her on Twitter @MerrillJeanne. Years in Education: 7-10 Latina Woman Heterosexual Middle and High School Science Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Right now I work in Los Fresnos, which is a small South Texas town near the border with Mexico. Minutes away is Brownsville where I was born and raised during my early childhood: where both sets of my grandparents live, where my aunts and uncles call home. I feel like I have everything in common with the students I work with. Most of us come from hard-working families where the dominant language is Spanish. We share the same culture, we eat the same food, we listen to the same music, we speak the same language, we have the same shade of skin; in my eyes we share the same identity. The only difference is the obstacles that we have had to overcome. Some of us have climbed hills while others had to climb mountains. We come from a region where the roots of two countries are intertwined and have fused deeply together. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? No, I do not believe that teachers and students must share something in common, although I do believe it can make things easier and transitions much smoother. As long as both teachers and students have open minds and hearts and are eager to learn from each other, all obstacles and barriers including differences in language, culture, and identity can be overcome. Alejandra is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. Her Innovation Project #LightUpLiteracy is spreading awareness about the shocking illiteracy rate among American high school graduates, and is making reading and writing across disciplines fun and accessible. Follow her on Twitter @aguzmanscience. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 16-20 Asian Female English as a Second Language Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: When I'm teaching, I feel like I'm a robot/machine. I don't have time to have my break. I'm the disciplinary teacher, and there are times that I handle many truancy cases. We have a crazy system in Malaysia. Every five years we have new Education Minister and this person introduces and implements new approaches. The victims are teachers and students because we become the guinea pigs. Our schools are too exam-oriented and students do not have the choice to do or learn what they want. They come to school to pass the exams. Our education requires teachers to prepare students for examinations not to prepare them to face the reality once they leave school. Only recently (last year) did our government encourage students to develop soft-skills at school so that when they exit, they are able to continue to develop their skills, not only by answering exam questions. In my classrooms, I allow students to choose their own topic of interest and I let them share the topic with their peers. We talk about sharing and listening to each other's stories and how those stories impact their lives. In class we talk about issues that are hardly being discussed in normal Malaysian classrooms such as LGBT issues, child marriage, sexual grooming, and our education system. From our classroom discussions, I can see that the students are actually keen to know the issues but it's not within the content of our syllabus. Once one of my female students was having an identity crisis because she realized she was attracted to her female friends. She was afraid to share it with her parents. As a mother of two teenagers, I told her I respected her feelings and it's okay to have feelings towards the same gender. I know she was confused at that point. I'm not sure whether I did the right thing. That incident really made me realize that many parents never really talk to their kids. All they can think of is the grade, the kid's performance in a test. I guess my specialty is I'm very open towards my students. LGBT issues is an alien topic in our Malaysian classrooms but I've taught about it about for the past two years. Most of LGBT students keep their identity to themselves as they would be teased/condemned if people were to find out. My community is not accepting but I want my students to know what is LGBT and I believe that each and every one of us has the equal rights to be who/what we want to be. To instill awareness to the students is not easy as many of them have their own mindset (mostly negative thoughts) about LGBT people. I have a group of students who will be doing a project on LGBT issues and I'm super excited about it! I know that there are many students who want to share their thoughts but they do not know how or if they should. I want my students and my own kids to know we should treat people equally and never to judge them. Regarding the students who opened up to me a few years ago, I never heard from her again. I wish more students would come forward and share their feelings. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: YES, to me it matters for me to have similarities with my students. I need to understand them and with that similarity is essential. The classroom environment is not only about a teacher standing in front telling students what they should do. Willingness to listen is another thing a teacher should have in common with their students. Teacher should at least listen to their students. Maggie is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. Maggie’s TED-Ed Innovation Project is helping Malaysian students overcome their fears of speaking in English and is allowing them to share ideas at their own pace. Connect with her on Twitter @magdmuuk . Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 4-6 White Female Heterosexual First in Family to Graduate From College Former High School International Studies Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: I grew up as a first generation college student with a stay-at-home mom and a blue collar father who worked most if not all weekends of the month, to enable my mom to stay home with us and to give us the opportunities my parents wanted us to have in our affluent suburb, where there was rampant elitism. I use the term "rampant elitism" because despite the fact that my family's class status didn't impede my academic success, from my perspective, the pressure and the boundaries of elitism were almost always present in my life, though often quiet and subtle. As a student, elitism was always more apparent in my peer group than in my teachers. Group project work sessions were always held at the homes which were more desirable. Certain students always won in our school elections and ran almost all of the school clubs. We had a strong population of students who refused any attire that was not clearly expensive. When it came time to drive, there was a clear divide between who was driving a new vehicle and those of us who sported something older. My experience as a student prompted me to be highly motivated to want to see a change in how other students experienced school. I know I felt just a shadow of what many other more significantly marginalized groups feel. I always wanted my classroom to be a safe space for students where they felt free to share their honest, even if at times controversial, opinions or feelings. My work ethic came from watching my family push in every way to offer me and my two younger siblings the best possible options for our futures. My dad was initially an elevator mechanic and eventually an industrial mechanic in the Everett Boeing plant. He switched to working nights instead of the prized day shift that he had held for over 20 years because the overtime was being cut on that shift and he didn't want our quality of life to suffer. He continued to work until was mandated to stop by a doctor due to a late diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer. I have no doubt he would have continued to work through his illness even longer without complaint if his brain tumors weren't affecting his balance on the catwalks. Even in the last weeks of his life, he complained that they wouldn't let him fix the crookedly hung paintings in his hospital room. The drive that my dad fostered in me is guided by my mom's influence. She is the reason I care so much about how people feel. Her gentle pushing and prompting, with firm, high expectations (regardless of my low starting point) inspired my classroom management approach when I was a teacher and led me to have great success with a wide swath of students at the different schools I worked in. My mother's influence is the reason I am so driven to connect to others. She taught me to value everyone's story and it's part of the reason that I am so passionate in being supportive however I can to every teacher I work with now. Ultimately, my mother is probably the reason that I am participating in ROLL CALL, despite the fact that I am usually not a big sharer of my feelings or personal life. I am hopeful that someone may glean something from all of my sharing that resonates with them. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: It absolutely matters that teachers and students have things in common. That bond and connection created by common interests motivates drive and motivation that cannot be replicated if a teacher does not take the time to find or create a common interest with a student. As teachers we are expected to be role models for our students, part of that status requires that we ensure that all students can see part of themselves in us so that we really can function effectively within that role for students. I am a white woman. That gives me an immediate connection to many of my of my white female students. For my nonwhite and male students, I find I connect with them better over time. Because we lack the obvious outward connections, it takes time creating that connection by sharing and establishing bonds over what experiences or values we both share. For me, sharing my background with my students that includes my love of sitting in the garage tinkering with my dad or baking with my mom for big family potluck gatherings was usually a great opening connection with my students who didn't automatically see themselves as similar to me. Krystal has recently transitioned out of the classroom to become her school's Instructional Technology Curriculum Leader. Connect with her on Twitter @KJStevie72. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 16-20 Caucasian Female 7-8th Grade Digital Teacher Librarian and former High School English Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Currently, I teach in a middle school. This is an interesting age of growing because they are leaving the world of concrete ideas and entering into abstract ideas. This means their world of black and white, right and wrong starts to tilt wildly and they are just holding on for dear life trying to navigate what was previously a very defined life. When I was this age, I believe I lived in a more sheltered world where topics like drug abuse, eating disorders, and sex were there, but not prevalent and easy-access as they are today. Mental health definitely wasn’t something that was an acknowledged issue at the middle school level, possibly not even at the high school level. Now, my students face a barrage of social media, television, music, and movies that give them ideas of what right and wrong are and who or what is acceptable. When these images don’t mesh with who they are, our kids struggle with their identity, depression, anger, and rebellion. Because of this, I work hard to make connections that are more than academic level connections. Through my Ted-Ed club and Ted-Ed Innovative Project, my kids and I focus on combining the idea of global citizenship and social justice to create lessons for others to use to help them navigate the ambiguity that they are in. In our efforts, we hope to build a safe environment in which our society starts to become stronger through acceptance of change and challenging the status quo. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Having commonalities between teachers and students is essential to growth and learning. Before I became a Digital Teacher Librarian, I taught high school English in a high-risk school. My school had 70 countries represented and close to 120 dialects and languages spoken in the households. I grew up in upper-middle class suburban Colorado where diversity was not something common. Working in this school gave me such a wide understanding of the world I live in. I learned more from my students than I could ever hope to have taught them. Experiencing quinciñeras, Vietnamese and Chinese New Year, Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo with my students didn’t just increase my cultural awareness, but my students awareness of each other’s cultures. It also increased my empathy for those disenfranchised with learning and education. When I was growing up, it was always when you go to college...My students heard, “if you graduate high school”. The impact of that simple phrase shocked me to the core. When your family and community don’t even expect you to graduate high school, the importance of working to reach graduation distorts like a funhouse mirror. Although I remember many of my students and their hard work and pride from graduating, one student always sticks in my memory. Her name was Maria and she came to me and asked if she could talk to me after school. I worried that she was about to tell me she was pregnant. Prior to Maria, I'd had approximately 50 girls and 10 boys (whose girlfriends were pregnant) come to me with pregnancy news. In fact, Maria had come to me because she didn’t know what to do. She was taking IB classes and doing very well. She wanted to attend Colorado College, a private college in Colorado Springs. Her counselor basically informed her that she shouldn’t shoot so high, she should look at community college because that was what her family could afford. When she spoke to her parents, they also expressed doubt that she could succeed in the high-pressure world of college and suggested she attend community college and then start working for the family business. When she came to me, she was in tears because her dream had been to go to Colorado College and to start a career. She asked me what she should do, how to shift gears to lower her dreams. Instead of jumping on that band wagon, I told her that she should apply to Colorado College. She was a first generation citizen, her parents had immigrated to America before she was born. I told her that there were a lot of scholarships she could apply for and that CC also had scholarships she could apply for. I even found a couple of suggested scholarships. After that talk, I didn’t hear anymore about college, until the spring. Maria asked if I could come to the Senior award night. I did, and on stage, in front of her family, peers, and teachers, it was announced that not only was she accepted to CC, but she received a full-ride scholarship to college. I have never felt more pride for a student for their refusing to give up on their dreams than at that moment. That moment, that student, is the epitome of the importance of connecting with our students. Sometimes, we are the only voice they hear that says “yes, you can.” or “follow your dreams” or “try again, learn from what went wrong and try again.” That is the reason most teachers become teachers and those connections are why it matters if students and teachers share commonalities. Not just because it helps them learn, but because it is essential to have that lifeline when things start going wonky in life. Tobye is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. Her Innovation Project is inspring Colorado students to become global learners. Follow her on Twitter @tmertelt. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 4--6 Malaysian + White Female Immigrant First Generation American Middle and High School Math Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: My students are all recent immigrants and refugees to the U.S. I share the fact that I am an immigrant with them but I moved here under different circumstances than them and at a much younger age so my transition was different. I don't know what it is like to be Muslim in America but I know what it is like to be a womxn of color and someone who is committed to racial and social justice. While I may not share everything the same with my students, I know that our oppressions are rooted in each other and their fight is my fight. Together in solidarity we find our strength. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes! Sharing common experiences leads to trust. You do not need to have everything the same as your students, differences cause us to push one another to help each other grow, but seeing someone who you can find parts of your self in matter. It is important that students see themselves as potential educators, or where ever their path may lead; and it is important for teachers to see themselves in their students, to have that empathy and understanding. There is a reason that there are so few teachers of color and why students of color continue to be disenfranchised. My hope is through collectivity we can change that and truly be in solidarity. Saraswati teaches at the Seattle World School, which serves primarily immigrant and refugee students. She is a Washington State Teacher Leader and in 2016 she won the Imagine Us Award for Bold and Visionary Leadership in Equity and Justice. Follow her on Twitter @saraswatinoel. |
ROLL CALLHumanizing the gaps separating teachers and students. Archives
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