Teacher Heather B

What I see is the most significant change in my teaching over these two placements is also the most difficult to achieve …positive, caring relationships. I have seen that both at-risk and academically successful students believe it is important for teachers to treat them respectfully and to value them and their efforts, the two groups of students have very different ideas about what makes student-teacher relationships meaningful. Academically successful students value a teacher’s willingness to help them in academic matters.  For example, they may not require face-to-face meeting, but they do want personal notes on papers. Yet they want to feel you are available to them. At-risk students encounter more troubles outside of school and are more easily distracted from their schoolwork.  As a result, they desire more face-to-face contact with their teachers.  These students feel that caring teachers legitimize their personal concerns and also help them refocus energy on such long-term goals as high school graduation.

This is a monumental task when student teaching. As a student teacher you come into their school lives midway only to leave soon. As difficult as the first year is, orienting to a new school, mastering a curriculum, there will be nothing more important than building these caring relationships. I saw this develop in my teaching and have since come to feel that this is crux of what I must do as a teacher. Perhaps this is why taking on this long-term sub work is so difficult. I have been dropped cold and hard into a very difficult situation. I have had a great deal of difficulty writing this critical reflection because at the moment I feel like I don’t remember how to teach.

So, I have taken this moment to clearly define what I believe about student-teacher relationships in hopes that I will realign myself for the sake of my current students.

• Learn as much as possible about students’ personal interests and backgrounds.  Try to connect their personal interests with classroom work, where possible.  Also, learning

about my students’ backgrounds may help me relate to them more effectively.

• Include journal-writing activities and class discussions, which enable my students to voice and me to address concerns. Give more written, personal feedback.

• Implement social emotional learning opportunities, which improve students’ abilities to understand their own and others’ emotions.  

• Be aware of classroom dynamics.  Try to diffuse tensions that may exist between students.

• Be patient with those students who are disruptive and disrespectful. Bonding with disruptive students may improve their behavior in the classroom.

• Model appropriate behavior.  Students are very sensitive to teacher’s attitudes towards the school and the class in general; therefore, I must be extremely self-reflective, making certain that I am modeling positive behaviors for the class.

•Find some way to have enough control of the room to build these relationships. Find a way to create calm in the room so I can do all these things I know how to do.

•Find a way to give them hope. Their hopelessness is overwhelming. It no longer matters to most of these students if they fail. Somehow I need to build the relationship, then I can build hope, then they can have the opportunity to succeed. 

How good it feels to have my own classes now. Sure, it’s a tough situation. I’m coming in two-thirds of the year in, 80+ students with NO management for several weeks, they have done NOTHING for their state exams NEXT WEEK, and they have no idea who I am and if I am “just another sub.”

Its still great. Even with having to march 5 students down to the office on Friday …way to get a “rep” as a teacher. I estimate it took 30 minutes for that info to travel 3 floors. Already my classes are calming down and we are starting learn and have fun. There is no way I can totally prepare them for their NY State practical in three classes so at least we can get to know each other and try to accomplish a little learning.

Bellwork Friday was a “3-2-1″ that included “2 things you want to learn in science this year.” It is amazing how many students were begging to do experiments, investigations and more hands-on work. I am so happy I can oblige. The weeks of free-for-all they have had may seem like fun but the truth is they really want to learn. They really want to be there for a reason. They really want a teacher who asks a lot of them. That is the truly amazing thing about kids!

I was told a great bit of advice from a co-teacher. She is in a bit of dismay about her work and was fortunate to have a dear friend visit her from overseas recently. Her friend offered a bit of knowledge which she passed on to me and I will pass on to my gentle readers. 

“No matter how bad things are, how challenging, how much you doubt yourself and what you do  …don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

I learned that one of my student’s father is a convicted serial killer. Whenever I think I’ve heard the most awful thing with kids I usually get something worse. So, it gets even stranger …his father was the same serial killer that my husband sat on the jury for. Not sure why it matters but, it’s just strange. After two months of time in a courtroom my husband walked out in relief thinking it was finally over. But last night, over lobster ravioli, wine and a warm safe home, we discussed how clearly it is not. We discussed how years ago, he sat in a wood paneled room with an ominous responsibility to the lives of strangers and now I sit at a rickety table with a child who I have a responsibility for. It is all connected. They are the same lives.

If we are part of any village long enough we all fall into these degrees of connections with other lives. We tend to think of networks as things we build but, more often than not they are built for us. I could continue my career as a scientist and fairy easily ignore those connections. Though they will still exist, I could go about my life without acknowledging them or even selectively managing them in a way to make my life comfortable and protective.

But, I see now as a teacher I have signed on for something quite different. All these life connections will demand my acknowledgement and fostering. And, if I do choose to ignore one out of self-protection or disinterest there is far more at stake. 

Science educators seem implicitly to assume that students’ only relevant exposure to science is through the school curriculum. There is little systematic research on students’ reactions, social processes, experiences and reflections to science occurring in out-of-classroom settings.  Other learning settings or “free-choice learning” - learning that happens when people can choose what to learn, when to learn, where to learn, and with whom to learn–are where lion’s share of our learning occurs. Though, free-choice learning certainly occurs in the classroom, it is often field trips and out-of-classroom experiences that teachers’ will use to foster this intrinsically motivated, participatory learning and engagement. 

Through experiences like field trips and informal exploration, attaining science learning in non-doctrinal settings, where the learning group possesses more autonomy and free choice, and the teacher or facilitator possesses deep content knowledge and acts a resource for the inquiry process teachers can uncover another way to promote and develop science literacy.

Each community of learners has its own characteristic behaviors and the actions of its members depend on previously established cultural and educational norms. In school, teachers know what these norms are and with experience can predict students’ likely behaviors.  In out-of-classroom contexts the norms of school can break down and can even conflict with the approaches to learning and expectations that the informal situation provides.  

            New opportunities for learning science abound. Working such contexts allows students to express themselves in ways school does not. The richness of students’ conversations can often be improved by the well-judged intervention of adults, though teachers must be careful not to slip into their own more formal, scripted, school based norms when doing this. 

Now, how do I pay for it?

I am rethinking on an old topic for me…

It is my belief that integrated curriculum is an effective and caring way to teach the whole child and not simply skill or subject mastery.  Integrated curriculum respects the abilities and experiences of the child and relies on those characteristics to achieve a successful classroom.

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) emphasized the importance of connecting a study of science to other school subjects. These standards asserted that middle school student achievement in science and in other school subjects is enhanced by coordination between the science program and other programs (p. 214). Such coordination includes attention to the language arts program, emphasizing oral and written communication skills, as well as the development of skills in reading and comprehending both narrative and expository text. This emphasis on a coordinated literacy program provides students with experiences and activities that help them read, write, speak, listen, view, and visually represent. Such coordination reinforces the ideas of investigation and experimentation that science so thouroughly values.

Though definitions vary greatly, a basic definition of integrated study is one in which children broadly explore knowledge in various subjects related to certain aspects of their environment. I see links among the humanities, communication arts, natural sciences, mathematics, social studies, music, and art. Skills and knowledge are developed and applied in more than one area of study. In keeping with this thematic definition, integrated curriculum as is education that is organized in such a way that it cuts across subject-matter lines, bringing together various aspects of the curriculum into meaningful association to focus upon broad areas of study. It views learning and teaching in a holistic way and reflects the real world, which is interactive. In general, integrated curriculum or interdisciplinary curriculum includes: a combination of subjects, an emphasis on projects, sources that go beyond textbooks, relationships among concepts, thematic units as organizing principles, and flexible student groupings.

The “explosion” of knowledge, the increase of state mandates related to myriad issues, fragmented teaching schedules, concerns about curriculum relevancy, and a lack of connections and relationships among disciplines have all been cited as reasons for a move towards an integrated curriculum. Support for integrating disciplines across the curriculum is found in benefits both to teachers and students. Teachers develop professionally as they construct curricular connections and investigate novel instructional strategies that provide appropriate fits with integrated instruction. Because instruction is not relegated to skills taught in isolation from the rest of the curriculum, students benefit from integrated curriculum that makes meaningful use of academic skills and materials in real-world learning activities. The potential for meeting the individual differences of students is also enhanced within an integrated curriculum. When students are able to use literacy skills to learn about science, opportunities are provided for the development of multiple intelligences.

In conclusion, integration should not de-emphasize the individual subjects but should mesh processes and standards inherent in the various disciplines and based on methods that positively impact children’s learning. Key instructional aspects should include relevance, timeliness, resource accumulation, relatedness, planning, and cooperative investigations in the development of scientific knowledge that includes both observation and inference. The idea is to capitalize on the strengths inherent in each of the disciplines and to develop those processes so that students are equipped to solve problems and think critically. If students and teachers are to flourish within classroom contexts that foster engagement across science, mathematics, and literacy, efforts to investigate and implement effective integrative practices must continue. 

This seems like a critical topic for teachers dealing with difficult, even hostile, work environments and their subsequent endurance.  In a recent conversation with a close friend we were discussing the merits of Maslow’s hierarchy and how it really pans out in real life.  Quickly, but important, she is: a fourth year teacher, at a “failing” school, teaches 8^th grade English, and desperately looking for another job (by “desperate” I mean shaking with rage).  What she said after describing yet another time when she had to duck a punch in the classroom is, “I don’t feel like MY basic need for security is being met.”  She has had her emotional identity turned completely upside-down. In all the reading I’ve done for Warner classes, I hoped to see more association with “identity” and “ego.”  Perhaps the more a teacher can lessen or eliminate his or her ego the more flexible and resilient one would be to the needs of the students.  My friend’s case is an extreme. Her ego and her body are under assault. What really confuses her is how she might carry this into another school? …even a safe one.

Regardless of the reason, focusing primarily on urban schools establishes a needless rural/urban antagonism and ignores the fact that urban and rural communities face similar struggles even though their circumstances differ. Both have experienced declining employment and increasing poverty that affect school funding. Both must respond to increasing federal and state demands for accountability and higher student achievement while facing growing teacher shortages during fiscally challenging times. Both have been adversely affected by economically driven population shifts. By identifying here the common threads of the challenges they share, can we stimulate discussion about how people in urban and rural communities can find common purposes? If the shared challenges are recognized, it may be possible for urban and rural schools to join forces and so exert more effective influence on the national sociopolitical arena?

Frankly, I have a perfectly successful career as a scientist yet, I felt my values pulling me towards education: something that never crossed my mind when I was in my 20’s. And when I began my education at the Warner school I did so with in the intention of serving high need students.  Intellectually, I understood that did not only include urban but, any students living under circumstances of poverty. However, the truth is I did not really have an image of a high need student in a rural setting. Once I understood the scope of what “high need student” really means I began struggling with the decision I will have to make about what kind of location I will teach in.  As an individual, I thrive in the living creativity and diversity of the city however; rural areas face their own challenges as well.  But, as always, I constantly have to remind myself, it is not about me. Where I work is not as important as what I do there. The problems facing high-need urban and rural schools are long-standing, deep, and pervasive. The similarities that exist between urban and rural schools are pronounced, as both respond to day-to-day challenges brought on by the effects of poverty, insufficient school funding, and external sociopolitical demands. Successfully addressing these problems will require sustained, multifaceted efforts that address many areas simultaneously and evolve continuously.   

Perhaps in my career I need to foster broad discussions with other educators about how to help schools respond as advocates for both urban and rural school interests.  We need to recognize common issues and collaborate on deep and long-term solutions. Separately, urban and rural schools serve relatively small segments of the population and so have little political power. Working together may create enough critical mass to influence political and social processes on a large scale. By identifying and analyzing the common problems faced by schools in high-need communities and by acting in concert to address them, rural and urban educators might find ways to take meaningful steps toward school reform. Either place I should be able to make these connections toward my student’s well being.

During the last 30 years, there have been numerous studies and descriptions about the development of teachers, particularly those in pre-service and in-service stages. A quick look through back issues of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching or the Journal of Science Teacher Education demonstrates this point. More recently, beginning teachers are recognized as being distinct from their pre-service and in-service counterparts. This expanded view of teacher development acknowledges that there are different phases in a teacher’s career and that each phase should be developed in its own way.    My student teaching experience has clearly demonstrated to me first, that it is critical in my pre-service time and later in-service I actively pursue the internal and community resources available to me. The fact is, mandatory professional development will only be as useful as others can identify my needs and mentoring is only as effective as the mentor. Secondly, I need to constantly make myself aware of the resources available and finally, because there is only so much time in the day as a new teacher, consume those resources efficiently by recognizing what I need at what time through careful reflection.

Recently I returned to an earlier article I read in “The Science Teacher” (Summer 2007) new science teacher needs five types of support. Logistical support includes helping beginning teachers find supplies, use resources, and understand school and district policies and procedures. Instructional support for beginning teachers is related to the pedagogy and enactment of lessons, and can include lesson organization, student discipline, and classroom routines. Conceptual support relates to the content needed or associated with the lesson. Psychological support for beginning teachers is best described by as emotional support, positive regard, accurate empathy, and empathetic listening. Philosophical support provides beginning teachers with a research and standards background related to accepted classroom methodologies and practices.

Teachers tend to move through distinct phases during the first years of teaching. Initially, the beginning science teacher is just concerned with surviving and can only consider the most pressing issues related to teaching—the teacher-centered phase. As the new teacher becomes more competent, there is an increased focus on the planning and enacting of lessons and the teacher moves into the instruction-centered phase. When a new teacher ultimately considers and focuses on student learning during instruction, a phase referred to as learner-centered has been obtained.

This aligns rather well with the semi-linear way in which I imagined myself progressing through the first three years of teaching. I feel I can combine the types of support with the distinct phases to depict my growth as a new teacher during the first years. Ultimately, strategically sought support that corresponds to an expressed need enables a new teacher to construct abilities and practices toward a learner-centered orientation. For example, as a new teacher, if I am teacher-centered and logistical, I should seek support and resources that address this area.  Support that is mismatched just consumes valuable time and hinders my development as a beginning teacher.

Student teaching has both expanded and refined what I know of as a teacher resource.  Internal resources, or those within specifically teacher oriented groups, include the New York Teacher’s Union, the Teacher Centers, veteran teachers, mentors, as well as novice teachers like myself.    I have aslo been exposed to in-school, non-teacher resources like counselors, librarians and administrators.  These individuals can provide specific support that is also immediate. Though these professionals are available right in the same building, is all too easy to overlook their services.  I feel that they will be most helpful if I can approach them having identified the particular phase I am in and support I need.

Finally, the most enlightening and interesting resources are those external to the school building and sometimes even the education system.  These are the community based organizations, higher education, and social services.    There are also endless lists of resources with in the community such as museums, local experts, government and non-government organizations, archives, performers, artists, business and so forth.  This last group truly breaks down any limits one might think of when it comes to taking advantage of Rochester’s educational resources. However, for this cohort to be most effective, I must approach them knowing not only what my phase and support needs are but exactly what they can do or provide for students and my content. Nonetheless, I entirely imagine myself frequently starting conversations, “I’m a teacher and I was wondering if you could…?”

“Commitment” is a term that teachers frequently use in describing themselves and each other. It is a word they use to distinguish those who are caring, dedicated and who take the job seriously from those who put their own interests first. Some teachers see their commitment as part of their professional identity, it defines them and their work and they “get a lot of enjoyment from this”. Other teachers feel the demands of teaching to be significant, requiring great personal investment and view it as a job that can take over your life. These teachers often limit their commitment and their engagement with the school, as a means of survival. In some cases, these teachers choose to leave the profession altogether. For these reasons, I have been thinking carefully about commitment and what it means for me to say “I am there for you.”

So many of my students have become accustom to adults simply not being available to them and this weighed heavily on me when I left my first placement after being in the classroom since the beginning of the school year. I was unnatural to leave one group in January and approach another with no relationship at all. Perhaps “depth of commitment” is not so much about the quantity of time or desire to be there but being sure to follow through with the promises you have made. It may be better to make small commitments and live up to it than grand or vague ones that risk being left undone.