Ms. C's Reflective Classroom

Middle School ESL Teacher with opinions.

[iambrillyant]

“there is nothing more powerful than realizing that your wholeness is not defined by anything but you. people may add onto the beautiful pieces that already exist within you, but nothing they do could ever complete you. the keys to your acceptance have always belonged to you.”

— iambrillyant

[philosophybits]

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes.”

— C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

[professionalteacherlady]

Mental Health in Public Schools

Teachers are in a unique position to report on student mental health concerns. Freire, Bell, and Dewey each stress the importance of teachers as facilitators who help students find meaning in their world. My school district asked teachers to provide data on mental health, but students still cannot receive routine mental health services in their school building. Guidance counselors are usually prepared to intervene in emergency situations, but guidance teams tend to refer students to outside mental health resources for continuous care. Ongoing talk therapy is still informally delegated to teachers that the student trusts. Teachers are leading students through social emotional modules related to depression and anxiety without support from the school or district if a student indicates they need help managing their mental health.

We learned from Education Week's Chart entitled “Teachers Are Stressed, but Many Aren’t Getting the Support They Need From Their Schools” that teachers believe that school districts are shirking their responsibility to support the mental health of students and teachers. According to Madeline Will of Education Week, “Only 2 percent of teachers said there’s nothing their school or district could do to help relieve their stress. But the survey shows a disconnect between what teachers say would be helpful from administrators and what administrators say they’re planning to do this school year” (Will 2021). Inaction at the district level frustrates many teachers today. 

Many school districts are also deferring mental health support to parents. However, this strategy does not stem from a lack of understanding of the mental health problem in schools. My school district requires teachers to complete mental health surveys for each student in their homeroom classes on a quarterly basis. Teachers are asked 30+ questions about each child’s social and academic habits. If a student scores too low, teachers complete another 70+ questionnaire about the student. As a teacher, I was not aware of where this data went after I submitted my 18 student surveys at the end of each marking period. Each marking period, I would submit the same 3 or 4 names as students who needed additional interventions for mental health services. I never received a follow-up about these students, so I believe that these surveys are intended to collect mass data rather than addressing individual concerns. 

As I move forward in my teaching career, I plan to partner with parents to support children before I expect resources from a district. I believe that when parents and teachers work together to hold students accountable for their actions, education can build self esteem and social skills. Finally, I would like to explore the interventions that teachers believe their districts could provide. What is the difference between a district that offers those services and a district that does not? Are those school districts intentionally moving away from the banking system of education? Do teachers in these districts feel like they are capable of empowering students?

[professionalteacherlady]

The Pervasive Influence of Urban Legends on Education Policy

As a teacher during the pandemic, I was frustrated by the urban legends about education that were commonly repeated in editorials about virtual school.  Most people spend at least 13 years in school, and this depth of experience enables non-educators to enter education policy debates. During the 2020-2021 school year, I quickly learned that many of my middle school students were not “digital natives” like urban legend claims.  Some of my students had experience using a smartphone, but few had grown up typing on a home computer.  According to a Common Sense Media survey (2019) of more than 1,600 U.S. 8- to 18-year-olds, 53% of students have a phone by the time they are 11 years old. Although about half of my 6th grade students were familiar with the QWERTY keyboard through texting, the letter recognition did not allow these students to type Chromebook responses with ease.  Even students who grew up with a family iPad or laptop had to learn how to use the digital learning platform. My classroom did not reflect the urban legends I heard about the importance of letting these digital natives self-direct their education. My students lacked the prior digital knowledge they needed to thrive in a virtual classroom. 

Students who are new to technology will need to build experience using a computer before they can use technology to learn new content. Kirschner’s work (2009) reflects a constructivist approach where prior knowledge influences the way that students seek out new information on the internet.  In a virtual classroom, students need highly-trained teachers who have experience navigating digital information in order to build on their prior knowledge. Teachers tailor instruction so that each new lesson connects to previous topics, and their expertise is invaluable to student development. Teachers also help students understand what information is important and truthful on the internet. Kirschner and Merrienboer conclude that students are not naturally gifted at consuming information on the internet. Instead, students need teacher guidance to build on prior knowledge in a productive way (2013). 

In my Democracy and Ethics in Education class, we are discussing qualities that support or discourage the growth of teaching as a profession.  The National Labor Relations Act (1935) defines a profession as an occupation that is an intellectual endeavor involving discretion and judgment.  The output of this occupation cannot be standardized, but it must require a high degree of training and advanced knowledge (National Labor Relations Act 29 USC § 152(12).  While it is important for society to hold educators accountable for student growth, it is also important to recognize teaching as a highly-skilled profession.  Teachers are trained to meet the academic and developmental needs of students at different experience levels, making teachers essential experts in conversations about learning processes. When urban legends about education influence policy decisions, society undermines teaching as a profession. 

Finally, I found it interesting that this reading on urban legends in education perpetuated a common misconception about the obesity epidemic. In what appears to be an unrelated aside, the authors write, “The second problem is that learners often choose what they prefer, but what they prefer is not always what is best for them. The current obesity pandemic is probably the best proof of this!” (Kirschner & Merrienboer 2013). The authors are implying that today’s children fall under the obese at higher rates because they allowed to make poor choices for their health. However, the obesity pandemic itself is more or less an urban legend in health. In 1998, the National Institute of Health expanded the “Overweight” category to include people with a BMI of 25 or greater (Cohen & McDermott 1998). Before this, women needed a BMI of 27 and men needed a BMI of 28 to be considered “overweight”. This definition change more or less correlates to the dramatic rise in the number of people who are considered overweight in America. While I agree with the overall message of this article, this analogy about obesity does little to support the claim that students need help from teachers in order to make positive choices. 

Cohen, E. and A. McDermott. (1998). Who’s Fat? New Definition Adopted. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9806/17/weight.guidelines/

Kirschner, P. A. & J.G. van Merrienboer (2013). Do Learners Really Know Best? Urban Legends in Education. Carnegie Mellon University. Routledge.

National Labor Relations Act. (1935).  29 USC § 152(12)

Rideout, V. and M. B. Robb. (2019). The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens. Common Sense Media. 

Webb, L.D., A. Metha, and K. F. Jordan. (2017). Foundations of American Education (8th). Boston:  Pearson.

[professionalteacherlady]

Teaching as a Profession and Critical Race Theory

Chart #7, entitled “Most Teachers Say They Talk About Historical and Present-Day Racism, But Some Aren’t Sure if Systemic Racism Exists”, resonated with me as an ESL teacher. I was not surprised to hear that 23% of teachers do not believe in systemic racism, but I would be curious to know how this figure varies by student populations. I would imagine that teachers who primarily teach white students would be ignorant to the structural discrepancies that are often more apparent in diverse schools. 

Virginia is one of the states that has banned critical race theory in schools, and this legislation affected the books that my co teachers and I chose for our novel study during the 2021-2022 school year. 

I teach collaborative ESL English, so about 75% of the students in each of my classrooms are English Learners. The vast majority of my EL students come from Spanish-speaking households, so my co teachers and I incorporate books with Hispanic main characters into our curriculum. This past year, my co teachers and I considered teaching Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros as a read aloud. This book follows a Mexican-American boy who fights to support his family and get his mother home after she is deported to Mexico. When we began lesson planning for the book, we realized that the primary conflict is Efren vs. US Immigration Policy. Immigration officers are the antagonists in this story, and we did not feel confident that the county would support us if a parent complained about the book. Ultimately, we opted to read Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, which discusses conflicts related to gentrification and heritage. The antagonist is personified as a cartoonish landlord rather than a political figure. Our novel study choice was greatly influenced by our concerns regarding parent reception. 

Critical race theory ban threatens the professionalism of public educators by limiting teacher autonomy and the exercise of discretion. The professional code of ethics calls me to commit myself to encouraging positive development for my students by creating a classroom environment that helps diverse learners thrive. How does one connect curriculum to underserved populations in a meaningful way without touching antiracist themes?

[professionalteacherlady]

Short term Goals

What critical skills am I trying to develop this summer?

I will reflect on my experiences as a student and teacher in graduate education programs. I am setting up a routine that creates a work-life balance. I am exploring what self-renewal means to me.

I will learn how to teach writing by challenging myself to put thoughts on paper. My students protest writing at the beginning of the year, but many of them look forward to responding to open ended prompts at the end of the year. I see how repeated practice makes writing less scary. I want writing to bring me joy instead of anxiety.

I will archive my teaching practice through a written record. I am creating something that I can look back on when I pursue National Board Certification.

[fuckyeahyoga]

[30knight]

A comic about the spectrum of responses to stress - we talk alot about the more extreme ends of this and trauma, but the more subtle and every day responses can be harder to spot. if we can understand our own and other’s responses better, problems Are easier to confront and blaming is less likely to happen :) hope it’s helpful!!

[geomagics]

Recently discovered I mostly freeze, but definitely have felt all of these at some point

[teachmoments]

[radhi4025-blog]

Strategies for Improving Early Childhood Literacy

Some parents and educators believe it’s best to let kids be kids for as long as they can. Why push them to grow up? Why force them into a rigid education structure before they’re even out of diapers? We wholeheartedly agree. But we also believe helping kids to begin developing literacy skills during early childhood is a key to healthy development and success in their future schooling. Fortunately, developing literacy skills in your child doesn’t mean you need to start teaching him to read right away. On the contrary, simply reading to your child twenty minutes a day is one of the most important literacy building activities you can do to prepare him to learn to read and succeed in school.

Did you know there are several “story time” strategies you can use, while reading to your child, to help him develop early literacy skills without him ever knowing? Try a few of the tricks below the next time you read with your child, and see if he doesn’t start turning into a little bookworm right before your eyes.

Run your finger under each word

Running your finger under each word as you read starts developing literacy skills for small children in ways you might not even imagine. Reading and writing left to right, and top to bottom, doesn’t come naturally to all young children. Running your finger under each word as you read helps children develop a sense of orientation. At first your child may not even notice what you’re doing with your finger–but they will sooner or later. Then your child will start watching your finger, and as he does, he’ll not only develop a sense of orientation for reading and writing, but he’ll begin developing a concept of words, spacing between words and print. Before you know it, he will start running his finger under words as you read mimicking what he’s seen you do, and he will begin pretending to read–a very big step toward early childhood literacy.

Focus on vocabulary

A child doesn’t have to know how to read to build vocabulary. In fact, much of a child’s vocabulary is acquired long before he starts to read. Having a well developed vocabulary is key to learning how to read down the road.

Developing a strong vocabulary at a young age helps children develop “background knowledge” that they’ll draw on for future learning. Most parents, and even some educators, don’t realize that the human brain–especially the brain of a child–learns by attaching new information to old information. If we can attach something new to something old, it is easier for us to understand it. Helping your child build background knowledge, by developing their vocabulary, will make it much easier for them to grow their vocabulary and learn to read when they start school. Did you know that children who enter kindergarten with a strong vocabulary are typically able to learn 8 new words per day, while children who struggle with vocabulary learn only 2 words per day? The stronger your child’s vocabulary, the easier time he’ll have learning how to read and comprehending what he’s reading.

Use your story time to expand your child’s vocabulary. Take time to point out important words. Use picture books to start developing associations between words and the objects and meanings they represent. As you read, discuss important words with your child that he may not know. Building your child’s vocabulary at a young age will make it much easier for him when he starts learning to read.

Point out the punctuation

It may seem like pointing out punctuation to a four year old is going a bit far, but it really does make a difference in early childhood literacy. We’re not recommending that you teach your child what a question mark, period or exclamation point is, we’re simply suggesting that you point them out. Many adolescents as they begin to read struggle with punctuation. Believe it or not, punctuation is intimidating. Introducing your child to punctuation at an early age, while you read to him his favorite stories, will help him feel much more comfortable–and less intimidated–with punctuation when he starts reading on his own. Again, the idea is to build familiarity and comfort with punctuation while reading to your child, not teach them how to use punctuation.

A great way to point out punctuation while reading is to create a game out of it. For example, when you come to a question mark, let your child answer the question. When you come to an exclamation point, place exaggerated emphasis on the last few words in the sentence preceding the exclamation point. You can also vary your inflections based on different types of punctuation.

Read with voice inflections

It’s been suggested that 93% percent of all communication is non-verbal (55% body language and 38% tone of voice.) The same holds true with ready. Meaning communicated through reading comes not only from the words themselves, but how the words are used. When reading with your infant or young child you should use voice inflections. Using voice inflections in your reading serves two purposes. First, voice inflections help children hear how reading should sound. They’ll pick up on how you emphasize words and use voice inflections as they hear you use them. Second, using voice inflections as you read holds their attention and gets them excited about reading. It isn’t necessary to exaggerate every word, but it is useful to use voice infection whenever appropriate.

Hunt for letters

If your child is a little older, doing a letter hunt with him from time to time is a great way to make story time fun while helping him begin to recognize and learn his letters. Teach your child a specific letter, like “A”, or maybe use the first letter of his name “B” (for Brian) to make it interesting. Then have Brian search each page you read for the letter B. Count how many times he finds B on each page, then count how many times B appears in the story. Repeat this exercise for all the letters in the alphabet to improve your child’s letter recognition and help lay a foundation for future success in reading.

Search for sight words

Being able to recognize and understand basic sight words is extremely helpful when it comes time to teach your child to read. The most common sight words found in most books include: a, of, the, and, is, in, it, you, to, that. Just like playing “hunt for letters”, have your child count how many times he can find the sight word on each page, then count how many times the sight word appears in the story. Now go back and read each sentence that contains the sight word so he can hear and see how the word is used. Repeat this exercise for each sight word. Arriving at kindergarten the first day being able to recognize and understand basic sight words will give your child a big head start. (Note: If your child doesn’t like this game, don’t do it. This exercise will give your child a head start in reading, but isn’t necessary–and may have the opposite effect if you push it.)

Ask your child to make a prediction

Before you start reading a new book, have your child look at the cover, read the title and possibly flip through a few pages to look at some pictures. Now ask your child to tell you what he thinks the book is going to be about. After you’ve finished reading the book, have your child tell you how close his prediction was to what the book was actually about. This exercise will help your child pay attention as you read and focus on comprehension as he hears the story and mentally compares the actual story to the version he predicted.

Check for comprehension

Reading comprehension is one of the most important skills school age children need to have. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the areas where many children struggle the most throughout their elementary and high school careers. Focusing on comprehension at an early age will not only give your child a head start, it will help ensure that your child will be able develop the ready comprehension skills early that he’ll need to succeed in school.

After you get done reading a story to your child, ask him a few questions to see how much he understood or remembers. If he is unable to answer a question, go back to the page where the answer is found and reread the page. Then ask the question again.

Read it again and again!

Reading the same book every day may seem a little bit tedious, but if it’s a book your child enjoys, they’ll love reading it again and again. Repetition is key to learning. It’s not to say you can’t, or shouldn’t, switch it up a little, but reading from the same book regularly will enhance all of the learning strategies you’re employing, enhance his vocabulary and make it much easier for him when he is required to start reading on his own. Read to your child from the same book every day, and in no time he’ll start turning the pages when you come to the end of the text, correcting you when you make mistakes or change the story, and even pretend reading the book himself.

More important than developing early childhood literacy skills is helping your child learn to love books and enjoy learning. Focusing too much on skill development at a young age can have a negative effect, and cause your child to not like reading. Include some learning activities, games and exercises in your reading, but most of all, make sure that story time is a fun time for your child.

[c-ptsdrecovery]

[yogi-thee-bear]

I made something I thought you all like to see.

[professionalteacherlady]

Creating Space for Reflection

I'm doing the thing they tell you to do to get better.

I'm journaling and reflecting and holding myself accountable for student outcomes. I'm taking inventory of my strengths so that I can battle my weaknesses with confidence. I'm taking classes in educational ethics, advanced psychology, and language development.

I'm also discovering that nothing is real to me until I write it down. This realization brought me to Tumblr, a platform that has offered me a creative outlet since I was a middle school student myself. I hope that this blog will create space for me to nurture good ideas so they can become great lessons. I want to synthesize my ideas about equity, policy, and education as I continue to take graduate course in Reading Education. I want to get better, and this is my next step.