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
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Years in Education: 4-6 White Heterosexual Male High School AP English Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Throughout most of my education I was never known as a high-performing student. In fact, I was satisfied passing with Cs. The rare B’s I did receive I thought must have been through luck and polite behavior. I felt like I was just expected to pass and I was never motivated to achieve more than what was expected of me. I see now that I feared finding out that even with my best efforts, I may not be good enough. It was safer for me to not try hard in school. Similar to many students who enter my classroom, I never had a mentor who inspired me, or a teacher who invested their time into me outside the classroom. No one expected me to become better than who I already was. But in high school, that’s what I wanted. I longed for a relationship with my teachers. I was desperate for an adult to invest their time into me and to show me that I mattered. Simply put, I wanted to be known. I wanted to know that my teachers cared not just about my grades, but about me: who I was, my aspirations, and my passions. Now as a teacher I see that so many of my students want that same thing. I empathize with my students who have been expected to achieve very little. The ones who have been given up on. I see that society has stereotyped and labeled them and I try to see past those stereotypes and labels myself. If you were to come into my classroom, you would see a white, middle-class, heterosexual male teacher in front of a room of teenagers who are mostly Hispanic and Asian. A smaller population of my students are Pacific Islander, African American, and Caucasian. 70% of my students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Many of my students are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants who speak a variety of different languages. About 80% of our students at TEC High School are male. I may not look like a majority of the students in my classroom, nor have a similar socio-economic status, but what I do share with my students is the desire for relationships, to be affirmed and pushed to a higher expectation, and ultimately, to be known. During the year, as we share our stories with each other I have found that I have a lot more in common with my students than I originally thought. That is why we take the time to share our stories with each other and most importantly, to listen to one another. My hope is that we may see what we do have in common and in the end see the humanity in each other. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I start each year telling my students about how I was not involved in high school and had no idea what I wanted to pursue in college. I tell them I went to college hoping to learn construction. I tell them about my insecurities including my fear of speaking in public. And then I tell them how I overcame those challenges to become a teacher. I don’t spend the first week of school having us tell our stories so that I can only get to know them, but more so that they can also get to know me. I hope that they can find some similarities between us and see that we’re not so different after all. Ultimately, I hope that they also learn to be okay with being vulnerable and learn to tell their story. Shortly after sharing with my students this year, I had a student come up to me at the end of the day and tell me that even though we look completely different, he saw himself in my story. We talked about our battles with anxiety and our fear of speaking in front of others, and how hard it is sometimes to motivate ourselves when there’s little support or purpose. By the time we ended our conversation, this student resolved to join ASB and get involved in assemblies so that he could overcome what has been holding him back for so long. It’s the connections like this, or finding out that I still relate to the humor of seventeen-year-old boys, or taking the time to share the music and shows we like, or even sharing the love for soccer and kicking the ball around after school that brings me to a resounding, YES! It does matter that students and teachers have things in common! It can be a groundbreaking moment when you realize how much in common you actually have with your students. When that moment finally breaks down barriers, there’s an increasing desire to learn and an increasing desire to teach and become a part of each other's story. Cameron is the Head of the English Department at TEC High School in Seattle. He is also a former a flag football/soccer/basketball coach. Connect with him on Twitter @CamMTown. 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: 11-15 Caucasian Heterosexual Male High School English and Theory of Knowledge Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: When it comes to the external or the obvious identity markers, not a tremendous amount because I teach in a diverse school that is 60% students of color from a variety of cultures, which means that most students do not match my identity--white, US born, heterosexual, middle-class, cis-gender male. However, we share a common curiosity and wonder about the world we live in, and I have learned way more from them than I could ever teach. The strongest bond is that we are learners, and furthermore, we are both teachers. I have worked at my current school for twelve years. When I started about 70% of students were white and 30% non-white. The staff in the building was 95% white. Today, we are a rich tapestry of ethnicities, nationalities, genders, and many more identities that makes going to work a delight. It has made me a better teacher to learn from such a rich multitude of lived experience. Although the student body has changed rapidly, the staff in the building is still 95% white. I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, TX and went to a very homogenous school where over 95% of the teachers shared many of my identity markers. I saw many examples of teachers that look like me. My students do not see that, and I believe it is the responsibility of me and my colleagues to provide a curriculum that brings in many voices not just the ones we are familiar with. Additionally, we have a community of successful alumni in the area that have amazing stories that need to be shared. As a TED-Ed Innovative Educator, I have partnered up with a former student to create a venue to support that, and we are calling it The Barbershop of Ideas. Akeem is a talented artist who opened his own barbershop two years ago, and it is the place to be in our community. The purpose of the venue will be showcase examples of success from our community by bringing together alumni, community members, and current students. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes: There needs to be trust for learning to occur and, and trust develops through an authentic relationship. It is difficult for students and adults to start building that relationship when they do not have as much in common. A great teacher does everything he or she can do to find the way to make the connection to have something in common. No: As long as both have empathy for the other person's lived experience because that can be the most powerful thing we have in common. I see that as my main responsibility as a teacher- developing and cultivating empathy by modeling what that looks like and living it through my actions. And when I fail, which I inevitably do, I admit that I made a mistake and use that as a way to continue to build that relationship. Tim is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. For his Innovation Project he is creating a Barbershop of Ideas where students are having authentic conversations about their ideas and values in a safe space. Follow Tim on Twitter @timleistikow. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 11-15 Latino Heterosexual Male High School Administrator Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: First and foremost that I am a human being. With all the flaws and insecurities. I like to relate to my students on a personal level because we've all had times in our lives when we needed someone to listen to our struggles, to give us encouragement, and to tell us everything's gonna be alright. No matter what race, ethnicity, sex, or economic background, we are ALL part of the human race. Therefore, we deserve to be treated with dignity and worth. What do I have in common with my students? The fact that we are alive, and that as we experience life itself, we come to understand that it doesn't come without its challenges. However, no matter how hard things get, if we are conscientious of our existence and the power that we posses to positively affect our lives and that of those around us, that should be reminder enough that our existence has purpose, and meaning. That without us, things would just never be the same. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes. There is no learning without that human connection. The way our brains are wired, we must connect with the person before we can come to understand anything they have to say. If your students don't KNOW that you care about them as human beings, they will never learn from you. People are emotional beings and sometimes we don't learn through our eyes, earns, or mouths, but with our hearts! I ask, when was the last time you learned something from someone you don't like? Jorge is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. He is the Founder of Instructional Leadership Academy where teachers work together through peer coaching to elevate their practice and strengthen their community. Follow Jorge on Twitter @jalvarezcjusd. Photo (c) 2017 Kristin Leong Years in Education: 20+ Asian Male Technology Integration Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Hawaiʻi is a very multi-ethnic place where there are no "minorities." My Asian ethnicity is common, and is in common with many of our students. Having been raised here, I also have cultural commonalities and share common values with many of our students and families. I also believe that we share similar interests, pastimes, music, and even foods. The local culture here is a blend of many immigrant cultures that came to Hawaiʻi to work in the sugar plantations. It is beautiful and has a unique charm. I teach at a school for Hawaiian children. Although they are part-Hawaiian, they are a majority of other ethnicities. Still, I thought it was important to learn the culture and language. I have grown a love and passion for the Hawaiian culture! It has given me insight, empathy, and a place in the ʻohana and community. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I believe that learning is very relational, and it is helpful when students can relate to a teacher or mentor. I believe that it is also important to have role models of similar race, economic status, and orientation. There is a hope and a power in making that kind of a connection. Because Hawaiʻi is such a tiny place, there's always been that "underdog" mentality. It is important to have local role models whom students can relate to. I believe that transparency in the teaching/learning relationship (or in any relationship) is important. When students get to know you, something just might resonate and make all the difference in the world. When I was an elementary student a teacher would throw football with me during recess. That connection and relationship made a huge and lasting impact. The first time I brought my ukulele to class, I was finally able to connect with a student who often seemed disengaged. And again, learning the culture(s) of your student population can lead to more connections and empathy. Sometimes even the use of a local slang can make an impact. "Shoots! All pau. Good job!" When you have things in common, you can start to break down barriers and build community. Alan is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. To find out how Alan is amplifying student voices in Hawaii through real-world community leadership follow him on Twitter @alantamayose. Years in Education: 11-15 Caucasian Heterosexual Male Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math Integration Elementary Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: I teach in a demographically diverse elementary school: linguistically, culturally, and economically. With 15+ different languages spoken in a given classroom and no ethnicity representing more than a third of the population, the students I teach are generally as different from each other as they are from me. That being said, I did grow up in the district where I teach and we share that experience. Most of my students enjoy learning and school. Our region is a STEM hub so students like technology. Most also love hands-on learning and science. Engineering activities are popular as well. In addition to increasing access to those STEM interests, I am able to serve as a male role model for the boys (there are very few male elementary teachers). As such, I am able to model equal access for all and showing the assertive boys the value of encouraging less assertive students. Being a very diverse population, we value and celebrate our diversity together. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes. As human beings, when forming relationships we tend to connect where we have things in common and build from there. I am fortunate that my school is so diverse because we all share that as a sense of community. Yet, I am also aware that it is hard for many of my students to look at me and see themselves because of differences in gender, culture, language, ethnicity, etc. With this in mind, it is important for educators to seek out as many things that they do have in common with their students as possible, e.g. sports, music, hobbies. Teachers should also take an interest in their students' unique interests and encourage them in these areas as a way to connect. Still, having students able to see themselves reflected in their role models is important. To this end, I cannot change who I am, but as a teacher I can reach out to community members and ask them to visit our school. So, yes, it matters and we need to do what we can to encourage teachers from all backgrounds to enter the profession--a diverse workforce is a stronger workforce in so many ways. In the meantime, those of us who are already teaching can invite in role models that our students can relate to and see themselves reflected in as they envision their own dreams. As adults dedicated to the future success of all of our students, we all have this in common. Douglas is a Washington State Teacher Leader and an innovator in the Maker Movement. To find out how Doug is creating hands-on, student-led opportunities for his students to connect their learning to the real world, follow him on Twitter at @DaskalosDouglas. Years in Education: 11--15 Caucasian Heterosexual Female First in Family to Graduate From College English Language Development & AVID High School Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: Like my English Language Learner students, I worked hard in school to learn another language, Spanish, which helps me to connect not only with their language-related struggles, but also allows me to better form relationships with their families and encourage their primary language development. Travel has also enabled some surprising commonalities. For the past eleven years, I have spent a considerable amount of time in Asia during my breaks, so in addition to being familiar with some of my students' home towns, I know the feeling of being a stranger in a strange land, with little knowledge of the language, ability to communicate with others, and the general discomfort of being in a completely unfamiliar setting. This helps me relate to and empathize with newcomer students who are often feeling the same way within a week to a few months after moving to the United States. Another thing I have in common with several of my students is that I was the first in my family to graduate from college. While I was extremely fortunate that my parents were overall very supportive of me throughout high school, they were ill-equipped to help me navigate the world of college applications and the FAFSA. I did not have a close relationship with a guidance counselor or teacher to help me with the complexities of applications, moving away, and enrolling in college, but in retrospect, I wish I had. I hope to relate that experience to my students who may be too afraid to ask questions. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes, I believe that it is important that students and teachers share commonalities. I feel that it is extremely impactful for students to see their reflection in and have shared experiences with their teachers. That being said, there are many things a teacher can do to cultivate authentic relationships and establish mutual respect and trust. I also believe that there is much to be learned from a diversity of experiences and perspectives, and frankly, learning from and about my students has made me a better person. That being said: has it been as beneficial for them to learn about my experience as a white woman? I'm not so sure. Our teacher education programs need to actively recruit more diverse candidates to effectively represent our student population. Our students need to make those connections through better representation in education and a host of other fields to better help them aspire to be whatever it is they choose to be. Tiffany is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. To find out more about how Tiffany's Innovation Project is connecting classrooms around the world, follow her on Twitter @BadgerEDHS. Years in Education: 11-15 African-American Male Heterosexual First in Family to Graduate From College 5th Grade Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: It’s rare to see a male teacher in an elementary classroom, and African-American men are even rarer. In my school of more than 60 employees, only five are male. I believe this has an impact on our male students – especially those without positive male role models in their homes. But it also provides men like me with a unique opportunity to reach out to these students and inspire them to do great things both in the classroom and in the community. We have the power and responsibility to prevent an achievement gap before it begins. While some kids dream of becoming a teacher as they grow up, I didn’t figure out my calling until I was in my 20s. As a student, I was every teacher’s worst nightmare. I was constantly in trouble and failed 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades before being forced out of school at the age of 16. It was December of my 2nd year in the 9th grade when the school counselor called me to the office to tell me it was best that I pursue a GED and learn a trade. I plead my case and asked for a second chance, but the decision was made, and my time as a student was over. Within a year, I received my G.E.D., and I spent the next decade bouncing from job to job and living paycheck to paycheck. In 1998, my mom passed away after a long bout with breast cancer, and I struggled with her loss for months. Just when things started to get better, my dad passed away as well. Losing both parents within six months of each other was the toughest stretch in my life. I did a lot of self-reflecting and soul-searching during that period, and in the fall of 1999, I enrolled in Livingstone College to major in music with the mindset that I was going to make a difference. To fulfill my college community service requirements, I began volunteering at a local elementary school. Not much had changed since I was in school – students were given worksheets, the teacher sat at their desk, and students with behavior issues were allowed to sleep in class or were removed from the environment completely. I was disturbed by what I observed, and began volunteering and mentoring in that classroom. The next semester, I changed my major to elementary education. I received a full academic scholarship, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. in Elementary Education in 2003. As a teacher, my main goal is to give my students a learning experience radically different from my own – which is exactly what I’m doing today. My classroom, better known as Johnsonville, really isn’t a classroom at all. It’s a collaborative community – a real-world simulation of adulthood where kids come to work and play as they learn about personal finance, government, and global affairs. In Johnsonville, there are no lectures. I integrate technology and problem-based learning to capture the attention of even the most disengaged students. Just like in the real world, my students show what they can do through projects, teamwork, and research. Is it working? North Carolina state testing shows that my problem-based learning model improves student scores. My students consistently score higher than other science classes in my district. At the end of the 2016 school year, my fifth-grade students scored an average of 85 percent on the state science exam, while my school as a whole scored 58 percent. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: Yes. Anthony is the 2016-2017 Rowan-Salisbury Teacher of the Year and is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator. To follow the adventures in learning happening in his real-world simulation classroom, visit johnsonvillelearningnetwork.com and follow Anthony on Twitter @a_p_johnson. Years in Education: 7-10 Caucasian Heterosexual Female Middle and High School English Language Arts Teacher Q: What do you have in common with your students? A: I have a lot in common with my students. This is a wealthy school district in a suburb; it is majority white, with a sizable Asian-American community, and other minority and immigrant groups spread around, too. I grew up in a middle-class suburb of San Francisco, but went to high school in a more affluent, Bellevue-like city. Conspicuous consumption was all around me; most students got a car when they could drive. The majority of my peers expected to graduate from high school and continue to a four-year university. My high school was competitive and students took themselves seriously. Because I lived in a different, less-affluent city, however, I was slightly out of place at my high school. I think I identify with a lot of my current students in that I always feared - and still do, to a certain extent - being exposed as an imposter. I think a lot of students - not necessarily because of wealth, but rather because of self-image - feel like imposters some of the time. You make sure to talk a good game and put up the right front so that you belong, but you don't always believe that you do. Q: Does it matter that students and teachers have things in common? A: I am supposed to say that it does matter. I know that students need to see themselves reflected in the people who have power over them. I know that students need to feel a connection and that a connection is certainly easier, quicker, and more apparent if there is ready empathy. But I am going to boldly say that having things in common with my students doesn't matter. What does matter is that I am open. A teacher should listen, observe, and have compassion. A teacher should know where she comes from and understand her perspective as she seeks to comprehend her students. Empathy is great. Understanding because I have been there is valuable. Does it matter? Yes. But, implicit in that word is that is is necessary, and to that I say No. What really matters is that I am open to - that I strive for and work toward - a real connection with my students. I want to know them. I grow to love them. That matters. That is necessary. Jen is a middle and high school English Language Arts teacher. Follow her on Twitter @JenASPiper. |
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