Connection & Check-Ins
“…educators are not taught to understand and build on the historical context of a community and school, understand and negotiate the sociopolitical landscape of an environment, or develop partnerships with family and community members of their students and stakeholders,” (Milner, Cunningham, Delale-O’Connor & Kestenberg, p. 45).
Throughout this short year of learning and broadening our understanding of the education system and the systematic inequalities within it, we are blind to how fortunate we are to have these conversations. I would like to assume that all education programs are learning and discussing the inequity in classrooms, but sadly we know this is not true. What steps would you take as a new teacher to ensure that the school community you are joining continues to have these conversations with their teachers?
The Kids Are Out of Control chapter also brings up the challenge that conversations about the issues are great, but they do not solve problems. We can have all the preparation in the world to go into a classroom and be determined to challenge the injustice, but how can we stay consistent in our goals? The chapter mentions the importance of developing and then practicing the skills we have worked so hard to gain. What ideas do you have on holding yourself accountable to challenge the inequities in your future school? How do we stay motivated to practice the skills we have learned?
Classroom management is impossible to accomplish unless the connection between the teacher and student is there first. The foundation of having a safe, welcoming and engaging community of learners lies with the connection between the teacher and his/her students. It seems naive of me to think that the issues of inequity in classrooms/school communities to be solved by getting to know our students on a personal level, but I think that is the start to creating change. The Kids Are Out of Control chapter explains that past trauma in a student’s life can affect his/her performance. “The impacts of trauma can manifest in school in a variety of ways, often unnoticed. The danger is that some educators may misinterpret these manifestations as disrespectful or ‘problem behaviors,’” (Milner, Cunningham, Delale-O’Connor & Kestenberg, p. 40). A teacher would understand the behaviors a student is presenting if he/she gave the extra time to understand the student on a personal level. Checking in with students frequently and doing home visits can be ways to stay on track of what is going on with students when you are not looking.
Checking-in (and checking on) students is vital to maintain the connection and show to our students we care. What ways can we make sure to offer equal check-ins in our classroom? I saw this image floating around of a teacher who used close sticky notes on the board for her students to express how they were feeling that day. I think this a good idea to allow equal opportunity for the students to privately share how they are feeling and if they need extra support. What ways can we make these check-ins culturally relevant for our classrooms? 
Tori, your first quote and paragraph (as well as the reading) made me aware of "how fortunate we are to have these conversations". Had I not been a part of this program, I don't know if my privilege and biases would have even been to my attention, and therefore, I would be doing a great disservice to my students and myself. The other quote from the chapter (that hits on your point in your third paragraph) truly concerns me: "Even when teachers learn these skills in preparation programs, they are often discarded in the face of other demands, such as test preparation..." (p. 45). I worry about this very thing happening to me. Yet, I feel like when we commit to self-reflection and peer accountability from those who enact critical pedagogy and instructional practices, we will become transformative teachers.
ReplyDeleteBut it is a choice. We need to make the choice, even now, to be committed in the face of distraction and other demands. I think of it like this: it isn't an added task to our list of demands, it's a point of view and lens with which to view our tasks and to act out of.
I love how you bring up the point that our actions/decisions as teachers are choices we can make. We need to make choices every single day to ensure our mission as culturally relevant educators is always our focus. Great points!
DeleteTori, I liked your blog and the idea of check-ins for a classroom. We have experience with the check-ins from Dr. Ardrey’s class. When we first did this activity at the first or second classroom, I thought it was just kind of silly. After a while I did appreciate that Dr. Ardrey was concerned with how we were all feeling on that day of class. It did show us that she cared. I worry also that these check-ins and conversations won’t be enough to activate change. Like you said, preparing for no action doesn’t do anything at all. We are grateful though to at least be exposed to the injustices in our educational system. Not everyone teacher can say this. We have learned and studied different pedagogies that will enable us to become effective culturally relevant instructors. I believe as a new teacher it will be important to ask the right questions during the interview. If we really believe into what we are teaching, we first must surround us in a school system with the same vision.
ReplyDeleteThese Kids Are Out of Control mentions, “It’s critical for educators to understand that while individual students and families may have some level of choice of neighborhood, people of color and those living below the poverty line are and have historically been limited by structural constraints.” (pg. 37) This quote resonates with me because when we teach, we need to be aware of our culture and neighborhoods surrounding the school. Unfortunately, trauma for students in schools with lower resources and low SES areas will be more common. We have to take this into account and not demand behavior in which a student can not replicate. Each student is different and has different circumstances. If it’s the start of the day or the start of the school year, it’s up to us as instructors to understand and support every student and realize effective instruction will only occur if we have that relationship with our students.
Doug, I didn't even think about our check-in first semester. This was such a great way for her to asses how we were each week and allow that to reflect the mood of the class each day. Your point on surrounding ourselves with a school community that reflects our vision is so important when we are searching for our future classrooms. I also like how you point out that each student is different and has different pasts that reflect their actions today. We need to make sure to individualize our ideas for each student.
DeleteGreat post Tori! You talk about getting to know students and how that can help us understand their 'misbehavior.' This idea has been pretty clear throughout "These Kids are Out of Control." The more we get to know our kids personally and recognize/learn about the cultures, experiences, and backgrounds they come from, the better we can structure our classroom to fit their needs. And the more our classroom fits students' needs, the less 'misbehavior' there will be.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of classroom check-ins. Like Doug, I thought the check-ins we did with Dr. Ardrey were cheesy at first. But I began to really appreciate the opportunity to be more than just another student in class. I began to look forward to the check-ins, both to share personally and to hear about everyone else's lives (positives and negatives). I think this could easily be a way to check-in with students. I've also seen an idea of a teacher mailbox floating around the internet where students can send their teacher mail with something they want the teacher to know, but don't necessarily want to say in front of the rest of the class. In my classroom I hope to have some sort of balance between completely public check-ins and completely private check-ins. I believe shared check-ins can strengthen the classroom community as students hear about things that are going on in others' lives outside of school. But some students are more private and some topics are more personal, so some way that students can share with just the teacher could also be beneficial.
I agree on your point about being able to hear others check-ins. I think it creates a safe space within the classrooms and each student has the ability to empathize with others. I love the idea of a mailbox! It is a great way for students to reach out to the teacher if they are shy/do not wish others to know what is going on. I agree with your point about balance. I think it is important to create that community but also allow students to have the privacy and individual attention from the teacher.
DeleteTori, you are very colorful today. recently i have experienced the check out process with students. This is where they share something positive that happened to them that day and something they wish to change for tomorrow. They are not allowed to use any names. With 30 students this takes a lot of time, but it's time well worth it. As the teacher you hear from the students point of view what they were thinking both positive and negative. You can hear everything they say all day long and this is a time when the good and the bad comes out. So, as the teacher you can capture these interactions and watch for them the following days.
ReplyDeleteI think engaging in the Critical Reflection practices can be beneficial for myself as a first year teacher. It seems like a lot of work, but as "effective teachers constantly engage in reflection"(p.59). This engagement as a teacher will enable us "to generate new understandings, feelings, and experiences that expand their repertoires and inform how they approach their work in the future" ( p. 60). Each interactions will help adjust your teaching for the next lesson and then cause you to make better connections to the students thinking and understanding. With the students becoming more engaged because of the connections as a teacher your focus on corrective classroom management will disappear and be replace with challenging classroom management where the students will be asking questions instead of writing notes.
Jay, I think taking the time to do these check-ins is important as you said. I think we can get caught up in making sure we complete the standard checklist we have, but we can't neglect our students well-being and mental health just to ensure they pass a test. I like the check-in you mentioned because it can be a great tool for the teacher to use to make sure the classroom community is a safe space.
DeleteGreat post Tori! I really like your quote "The foundation of having a safe, welcoming and engaging community of learners lies with the connection between the teacher and his/her students." I think this is really important because when you create that environment, students are more likely to engage in class. I've never been a student who often participates in class, but the few teachers I've had over the years that have created the welcoming class community, I have definitely engaged in class more and felt like I truly learned something.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, "What ideas do you have on holding yourself accountable to challenge the inequities in your future school? How do we stay motivated to practice the skills we have learned?" I think there are a lot of things I have to do to hold myself accountable to challenge the inequities in my future school. One easier thing I will do is stay more up to date with news and current events regarding social issues. In one of my journal entries, I wrote about how I need to be more up to date. Not that I live in a bubble, but I usually read about things a day or two after they happen, and I don't want to be blindsided by a student's question about an important social issue. Another way I will hold myself accountable is self-reflection and speaking up. If I see or hear about injustices in my school, I won't just use my privilege and ignore it and maintain the status quo. Also, since my goal is to be a special ed teacher, I will definitely hold myself accountable to speak up for those that can't and fight against ableism.
Thanks, Will. I think all of your ideas about holding yourself accountable are great. I too am not always the best at reading news and understanding what happens in our world every day -- partly because it is exhausting seeing all of the horrible events occurring in our world, but partly because I do not prioritize it enough. I think a way to also stay up-to-date would be to do what we are doing in class now with 'while we were gone' with our students. Teaching them how to research properly and source news articles to share with our class will allow us to broaden our awareness of news and events.
DeleteTori, I think you bring up many great points about how necessary making connections are with our students! I have seen that picture of the post-its before, and I think that is a really great idea to answer your last question about making these check-ins culturally relevant. I think including the differentiation into something as simple as check-ins can help build a connected classroom environment. These Kids Are Out of Control mentions how detrimental the "pedagogy of poverty" can be to a classroom, "because teachers spend much of their time trying to force students to do things they do not necessarily want to do" (Milner et. al., 2019, pg.58). Including something like check-ins pictured above, allows us to gauge how students are feeling in the class, it also allows the students to see how the rest of the class is feeling. I liked the check-ins we did with Dr. Ardrey and I think that they really did provide a sense for how the group was feeling for the day. I think what I like the most about something like that post-it chart above, is the anonymity it provides, so students who might be having a bad day and don't want to be bothered about it can maybe just hold off on sharing that with the class. Great suggestion!
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