Students select a quote or passage from a reading and write it on one side of an index card. They write their thoughts about it on the opposite side. In small groups, each student reads their selection, and then the other group members each share their own thoughts about it. The student whose quote it was gets to share their opinion last.
In my MLED 330 the whole class received a list of quotations from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech in 1994, and was asked to pick one that stood out to us. We were to write the quotation on an index card, and our thoughts about it on the other side. To be honest, I thought all the quotations were...cheesy. Well, I guess cheesy is really casting my thoughts in a different light because the ‘quote’ I selected for the front side of the index card was the citation ‘Nelson Mandela, 1994’ and on the opposite side I drew ‘Nelson Mandela, 1994’ as a tramp stamp peaking out from someone’s jeans. You have no idea how much I am kicking myself for throwing that out as I write this post.
I was not responding to the prompt in this way to be difficult, or to be rude or abrasive… I just didn’t like any of the quotations. As I read my selection, I was a little afraid my classmates would think I was just being difficult. Instead, my peers thought I was trying to point out that in this speech, Mandela quotes Marianne Williamson, and since his speech, some of her words have been misattributed to him. We all laughed at my drawing, I learned something new, and my classmates told me to relax, they don’t think I’m an obstinate person.
So how else does this experience connect to this week’s readings other than it is an anecdote involving an activity the book recommends? In discussing classroom communities the text advocates for classrooms being a place “where students trust the teacher and believe it’s safe to take risks” (p. 171). I don’t think I would have taken the risk of doing something that could possibly portray me in a negative light in a classroom without community. This willingness to take a risk both reveals connections I had, and strengthened them. It also aided in my learning. I have an experience that makes me remember the year Neslon Mandela was inaugurated as president of South Africa, and I know about this misattribution of Marianne Williamson’s words, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.”
The text emphasizes that building communities in classrooms is not about “fluffy ‘team-building’ exercises” (p. 171), it is about research based practices that “give reading in our subjects the full meaning it deserves” (p. 167).
Before I leave you dear reader, I would like to call attention to the research based practice of “believ[ing] [students] can do well in school” (p. 168). That is a paradigm I want to operate from! I just want to think that way! I think students can tell when you give up and I don’t want to ever give up and look at a student and think, “There is no way that student can succeed.” However, I constantly find myself in conversations with people, some of whom are teachers, who try to get me to give them a but. “I believe all students can do well, but not in this case...but not those kids...but not in that district.” I do not want to give a qualifier, and I do not want to cave into the pressure I feel to say “but I know I’m young and naive and I’m sure I’ll meet students who will certainly fail.” I want to scream, “I believe students can do well and research shows this mindset will lead to more student success!! Help me stay positive, I know teaching is hard!”
Do any of you have similar experiences with people telling you to give up on the kind of teacher you want to be before you even get started?
First off, I enjoyed you "Cat-leen" comic :) Secondly, nearly every adult I have ever met (teacher's included) have tried to sway me from my path. Literally, everyone. Of course, I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember and there is honestly no "back-up" plan for me. My thoughts have never wavered, but I want to know why so many people are trying to hold us back. Yes, teacher is hard. Most professions are hard but I don't hear my friends getting the same feedback about their career choices. What does this suggest about the current teachers who are trying to discourage us from teaching? Did they lose their passion and love of teaching because of the new standards and policies? Is there a huge secret that we don't know? You bring up a lot of great points and I would love to know why people look for the "but". There doesn't have to be one!
ReplyDeleteColleen,
ReplyDeleteI loved your anecdote. It's a good reminder that even when we plan these reading comprehension activities, what the students choose to do with them can be a learning experience in and of itself. It also sounds like your class was a supportive learning community!
I just realized that I wanted to comment on your question as well. Just last week a teacher from CF was warning me against RIC's teacher education program, because it was "inflexible, and they're always adding requirements." He then went on about all the things that I should avoid and shouldn't do. I politely listened, but inside I was rolling my eyes. I'm at a point in my life where I feel like I know what I'm doing. This isn't to say that I don't expect surprises and challenges, but I feel very confident in my knowledge about what it means to be a student, and my ability to define what it means to be a teacher for myself. I will make the choices about which teachers I want to emulate and ultimately the kind of teacher I want to be, and I'm really not interested in unsolicited advice about what I should or shouldn't do.
ReplyDeleteI love your point about picking the teachers you want to emulate! I think this is going to be SO important as a first year teacher. I hear Josh and Julie talk about finding like minded teachers at your school, and I am beginning to realize just how important that is. I would even go so far as to say I would pass on job opportunity if I thought the school culture was not the kind that had an asset based approach to looking at students. I just can't imagine being a new teacher surrounded by folks who are consciously or subconsciously telling me to throw in the towel. Let's be positive, supportive, and work together!
DeleteColleen, I enjoyed your whole blog (including the comic) but I want to comment on the last part. Interestingly, I was just having a conversation with a teacher/parent today and we were saying how a patient teacher makes all the difference. I hate to always pull out my mom card but that's my experience right now. My son has had a rough year transitioning into middle school but there have been a few teachers who have really gone above and beyond to help him through and he has A's in those classes. The question is not his intelligence; he's a smart kid, it's the teacher. The teachers who are not as willing to look beyond the surface will see the student as incapable of improvement. Every student has something to offer, every student can learn, but is every teacher willing to see that and go above and beyond?
ReplyDeleteI love your Mom Card! I'm really interested in parent perspectives, so it's always cool to hear what you have to say (It's definitely going to be a strength to you I think when you are in the teacher seat chatting with parents!). During the student panel they were basically reciting every research based teaching method we're taught and it made me feel more confident about using those strategies. Similarly, when I hear parents ask for qualities in a teacher and those qualities are one's I want to adopt, I feel encouraged! It's not that I don't know teaching is hard and I'll have to go the extra mile, I just want to be a person who believes in my students!
DeleteI am constantly getting "advice" on what type of teacher I should be. Friends of mine will constantly say, "don't be 'that kind' of teacher". It is infuriating. Why doesn't everyone just let me be who I am going to be? I know there are things I should do and shouldn't do, but I am going to teach how I want to teach. I am going to teach how I think History should be taught. For all of the people that want to tell me how I should teach; pay attention to yourself!
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