Next Steps

This semester for me has been a roller coaster of emotion when it comes to my own perspectives on teaching. The harsh reality of standardized testing and its prominence, combined with the bureaucratic nonsense that often seems to take place in schools, combined with outside criticisms that teachers are not doing their jobs, all make me question why I even want to continue teaching in the first place. There were days this semester when I legitimately wondered, “why am I planning to enter a classroom again next year?”

Recently, however, I have heard a great deal from my former students. Of course, as a teacher, this is a great sign. They had my class for a year (or two) and still like me enough to talk to me!? I’ll take it. Several students contacted met to see if I would be able to attend their graduation (which unfortunately coincides with my own graduation from graduate school) and another student informed me that she would be pursuing a degree in English education, and wanted to thank me for influencing her choice. In each case, I am thrilled with the decisions and successes of my students, and am incredibly excited to see where their futures will take them. 

I don’t mean to highlight these interactions as a form of bragging rights, although I am genuinely proud of my former students, their accomplishments, and their appreciation for their past educational experiences. More than anything, I highlight these interactions because they grounded me back to thinking about what teaching is really all about in the first place- our students. I improve my knowledge of digital literacies, young adult literature, alternative assessments, and countless other areas not ultimately for myself, but for my future students. Reentering the overwhelming education realm, in all its bureaucratic nonsense and uncertainty, is for students. And small interactions with my formers students remind me of why I love teaching.

As it is, in fact, teacher appreciation week, I want to give a shout out to all of the amazing and hardworking teachers in my life—both my peers as well as my former and current teachers. I applaud the time and effort you spend shaping children every day, and know I would not be the individual I am today without the countless, fantastic teachers I was (and am) lucky enough to have who shaped and molded my learning and believed in me. As for me, I am incredibly excited to continue working with young people next year, and as I reflect on my graduate school experience, I can’t help but be excited about all of the new ideas and possibilities I now envision for my future students.

My Love Note to Twitter Chats (and #Engchat in Particular)

There were many times in my first two years as a teacher that I felt completely isolated and overwhelmed. I realize this sounds slightly dramatic, but I’m sure most teachers can agree that adapting to all facets of the job are challenging. What more, while we spend the majority of our days in our classroom with students, we often have very little contact with other adults. Most days, I only saw other teachers standing at our doors during passing period and at lunch. Even these interactions were not always consistent. I was ultimately alone as a teacher in my classroom. Surrounded by students, yes, but alone in many of my attempts to navigate the challenges faced by a new teacher.

If only I’d known about online communities and Twitter chats in my first two years of teaching! Incredibly cheesy that I’m exclaiming this? Absolutely. But participating in the Twitter chat #engchat earlier this evening made me appreciate the ease with which I could connect, collaborate, and learn alongside other teachers, both from around the country and around the world.

This evening’s topic was “global collaborations in the literature classroom,” something that I did not even consider in my own teaching experience. While I mostly had questions for where to begin an endeavor like this one, teachers were able to discuss the challenges of connecting with other classrooms across the globe, share resources for technology available in assisting with this endeavor, and also provide lesson ideas for how classrooms in different parts of the globe could collaborate and work together to achieve a common goal. What’s more, my questions and comments were directly addressed. I felt extremely validated by simple retweets and direct responses to my questions, and I assume the same could be said for all other members of the chat as well.  Every member of the chat was there to learn and share, all members were positive and supportive, and while the chat lasted an hour, it went by extremely quickly.

For the sake of not boring everyone, I will not share all the details of the Twitter chat, and simply highlight how AMAZING digital tools are in assisting with endeavors of collaboration (Simple sites like Google + and Twitter can help teachers connect to other classroom communities).

Archives of all of the #engchat conversations are available at this site for people who are interested in more details of this evening’s chat (and all others): http://engchat.org/

Also, Meenoo Rami (who I am currently working with at my fieldwork placement) recently published a book discussing benefits of connectedness for teachers (amongst other things). Everyone should check it out as well! http://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Ways-Invigorate-Your-Teaching/dp/032504919X

Now that I’ve had access to these resources, I want to share them with everyone. And long story short, after being slightly hesitant and critical of joining a Twitter chat, I found it to be pretty awesome.

The end.

Simple Tweets of Fate

Neighbors peer down from windows as two women brawl. Police arrest one. For the first time on this street, all are together, watching.

He sat, a ball on the damp cement, as teenagers taunted, simply replying "thank you" to their pennies. If only $5 were enough to fix it all.

The talent of young people displayed through stories of raw humanity. Some worry about the future, but we see what they are capable of

A test score. So significant, but telling? A small window into unknown, untapped, abilities. Stifled by tiny desks and bubble sheets. 

Florida, Connecticut, Kentucky, Wisconsin. I send congratulations but cry inside. My bracket is ruined. Goodbye dreams, see you next year. 

Inspired by Teju Cole's "Simple Tweets of Fate," and my experience writing one such tweet for Digital Literacies class, I took on the challenge of conveying events of my week through 140 characters. A combination of small news stories, observations from field work, class discussions, and my own personal interests, I loved the challenge of tweeting concisely and "with brevity."

For more information about simple tweets of fate, see this interview with Teju Cole:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/09/150068298/simple-tweets-of-fate-teju-coles-condensed-news

True Grit

Grit. It’s trendy. It’s arguably a key factor in students’ future success. This resilience, perseverance, whatever we want to call it, is popping up everywhere. What's more, it is now not just a desirable trait for students, but for teachers as well. A new study of novice teachers in high-need classrooms found that teachers with more grit are more likely to succeed compared to their peers, and also less likely to leave the classroom.

I’d never heard of this desirability for grit until three years ago as a Teach for America corps member. Grit was one of the sections of the rubric we were assessed on for our selection to the program. Did we try again if at first we did not succeed? Did we persevere through hardship? In working at a charter school in the Mississippi Delta last summer, the administration pushed to teach what they considered valuable personality traits to students to build their characters. One of these was grit. Others included zest, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity. Articles everywhere are popping up discussing the value of grit, and its existence in the characters of successful people.

In reflecting on when I may have shown “grit,” I immediately think of two miserable summers on swim team after 4^th and 5^th grade when I got last place in literally EVERY race I swam, and won the “most improved” swimmer award two summers in a row (which may as well just have been called “THE worst swimmer award”). I absolutely 100 percent would have quit if my mother had not made me go. And even if I did go, my swimming instructors had to literally pick me up and drop me into the pool a couple times because I HATED IT SO MUCH. But I made it through. I supposedly improved. So is that grit? Or is it not so much because as soon as my mother gave me the choice to not do swim team I said “THANK YOU! NEVER AGAIN” ? Maybe I showed grit for my perseverance through those summers, but I was also completely happy with my choice to quit. I have never looked back (at least not longingly).

When it comes to education and developing young people, grit is important, and I don’t think our emphasis on it should completely disappear. But should we really be giving this trait so much attention? While we do want students to not simply give up on everything they try, aren’t there times when that may be the better choice? In talking to Meenoo Rami during my fieldwork in her classroom, another strong point surfaced—who are we to say what personality traits are most desirable? Is it fair to push these white, middle-class values on a diverse population of students and to tell them that they must behave in a certain way?

Maybe a level of grit is needed in teachers—after all we don’t want them quitting all over the place. I would say this holds for most jobs.  However, many arguments against this desirability for grit in teachers simply say that, while sure, it may be nice, teachers should not NEED this trait—especially if our expectation is to be supported in our profession. Yes, we should be willing to work at our job. But schools should also support teachers so that they do not have to  survive adversity everyday at work. Lack of support should not be supplemented by simply finding more “gritty” teachers. Several blogs relating similar arguments and ideas can be found here: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_ahead/

As for teachers who quit—this is sad of course. However, I can’t help but think about my swim team experience. I don’t want to encourage people to leave the profession, but I also realize that teaching is not for everyone. Is it better for teachers to show grit, even if they are unhappy in their work? Or is it better for students to have teachers who truly care, and truly love teaching?

#ResistTFA?

On February 17^th, SUPE (Students Against Teach for America) went live with a Twitter chat under the hash tag #ResistTFA. Timed to coincide with Teach for America’s final application deadline, the conversation sparked a national debate about TFA’s lack of effectiveness. SUPE specifically argues that the short preparation of TFA teachers, in combination with the organization’s partnerships with large corporations, is problematic.

As a Teach for America alumna, I am not oblivious to the controversies that surround Teach for America, nor do I think the organization is perfect. The power this debate was able to spark via Twitter is telling of the power of social media’s influence in today’s society.  At the same time,  is pointing fingers and placing blame going to help our students in any way? TFA spokeswoman Becky O’Neill argued that, “At the end of the day, we all want the same things for kids…so, it’s a little disheartening when we see these sorts of activities that we don’t necessarily view as helpful, especially in a time when the status quo just is not working for so many kids in this country.” Hannah Nguyen, SUPE co-founder, said with regards to the conversation, “It’s a great start to some tension, and hopefully we’ll see some change from there.” She is right that there is tension.

Quotes from tweets include- “#ResistTFA because it’s used to attack teachers unions…,”  “We #ResistTFA because even clown college is substantially longer than 5.5 weeks,” and “…replacing veteran teachers with untrained tourists short changes our kids…”

What change is she expecting to see from these?

SUPE to me is problematic because it is targeting an organization as the problem in education, rather than addressing the actual problems in education. What about the lack of funding in Philadelphia schools that almost prevented them from opening this year?  Ultimately, we do hope that Teach for America will no longer need to exist, because all students WILL have access to an excellent education. Based on my two years in the Mississippi Delta, however, Teach for America was a valuable asset to many schools and communities, a fact that could be confirmed by many teachers, administrators, and community members in the region.  

In terms of a response to the specific arguments against Teach for America,  Justin Fong wrote a relevant and straightforward blog entry stating the facts. He points out TFA’s emphasis on continued teacher growth and development, the large percentage of alumni who DO stay in education (myself included), and the organization’s commitment to recruiting a diverse selection of corps members. I encourage everyone to read his thoughts in detail here:  http://fongalong.com/2014/02/19/my-response-to-the-resisttfa-chat/ .

Am I taking the whole #ResistTFA thing personally? I try not to. I know that I truly cared about my students and their success, and worked hard to teach and guide them in any way I could. Now, if my commitment to their learning, growth and success is contested  because I was a Teach for America corps member-- I do take that personally.

The Necessity that is Internet

Today I got home to find that my Internet wasn’t working. And I was NOT HAPPY.  In fact, I was incredibly perturbed by the inconvenience of first having to shut down and restart my computer to see if that was the issue (it wasn’t). I then grumpily attempted to navigate the system preferences to fix the connection, which left me with that annoying loading circle for twenty minutes (ultimately unsuccessful), and finally, with much more force than was probably necessary, unplugged and re-plugged-in our internet modem (which eventually seemed to fix the issue).

It’s incredibly common to hear about the woes of our dependence on technology, but I still find it crazy how much I take my Internet access for granted. Not only that, but it seems I’ve almost reached the point where I feel entitled to this privilege. I deserve this! How dare my Internet not work for me when I get home after a long day!

Beyond this entitlement, I realize, too, the extent to which I simply NEED this access to survive. As a graduate student, the majority of my readings are posted online for me to access, as are assignments and notifications from professors. As a classroom teacher, I relied on Dropbox to save lesson files from my home computer in order to access them at school the following day. Assignments are sometimes submitted in a hard-copy format, but more often than not are submitted online. And would my life be complete if I couldn’t check Facebook at least once a day? No way. The extent to which we rely on multiple aspects of the Internet on a daily basis is truly phenomenal.

This universal dependence shows in the increased accessibility to Internet access. Wi-Fi is offered on planes and trains in addition to a plethora of public venues. And if all else fails, thank goodness I invested in that data plan!

Is all this connectedness bad? No. There are tons of benefits. But are these benefits so essential that, rather than embracing my broken connection as a chance to catch up on good reading, I proceed to have a minor conniption fit? I’m not sure. 

And So It Begins-- An Introduction

Hello All!

Starting a great blog is a challenge, and I’m honestly not sure where this writing will take me. I can, however, say that this blog will most likely involve ideas with regards to:

1) Education in general

2) Digital literacy in the English/language arts classroom

3) New teaching resources and ideas

4) A plethora of my own opinions/opinions I find intriguing (surrounding education of course)

I can’t make any promises, BUT, as I learn and grow as a teacher through my graduate course work this semester and into the future, it is my hope that this blog may lead to collaboration, inspiration, and excitement about learning! So here we go…

To start off, I just want to give major props to a couple of digital resources I’ve learned about recently, and LOVE—especially for their potential to be incorporated into the classroom (a shout out to my DigLits classmates for introducing some of these)

Easel.ly- http://www.easel.ly/ - there’s so much potential here for posters and projects

Weebly- http://www.weebly.com/ - a website builder I can’t wait to try and share with students

Booksource- http://classroom.booksource.com/ - a fantastic tool for organizing classroom libraries

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/ - Students at my fieldwork site write reviews of books and read those of their peers through this website! Each class has a private group where they can share their recommendations with the classroom community.

I know there are many other fantastic resources out there! Feel free to add to this list—I know I will be.

Here’s to blogging and learning!

~Mallory