The Kennedy's

The partnership with Deerwood Elementary has been truly amazing for UCF students and for the students at Deerwood. I get chills as I watch these preservice teachers interact with young people at Deerwood. My philosophy is 'teach them all like they are the Kennedy's".  Too often we tend to 'major' in the 'minor' and focus too much on what the students don't have, rather than focusing on the things we can control from 7am to 3pm, during school hours. Sure, some of the UCF students were hesitant to walk into a title one school, primarily because of all the misconceptions regarding low income schools and communities. But it's amazing how much teacher expectation can impact academic progress. And, it's even more amazing how much we could accomplish during the school day if we didn't give so much weight to external variables such as homelife, background, and/or ability- the tone of my classroom and the culture at Deerwood. The service learning hours for this course only impact me to the extent that student's in my own course are impacted by working in diverse settings. Here are some reflections from my students regarding our volunteer hours at Deerwood Elem.

Reflection #1
I volunteered at Deerwood Elementary school with my group. I wasn't nervous until i found out that we would be teaching the students new lessons that they have never seen before instead of just tutoring them on what they need extra help with. After the first group came in and we saw what we would be teaching them I wasn't nervous about it anymore. All the students we worked with were very kind. They were definitely a diverse group of kids. One group that we had, were all Spanish and told us they were in ESOL together so we applied ESOL strategies in the lesson. The school over all was very nice and well maintained. They had smart boards in every classroom. Being a title 1 school I assumed they wouldn't have such great technology as they did. Everyone who was at Deerwood that day was very nice and helpful. I wouldn't mind going back for other classes in the future.

Reflection #2

Besides commuting to the school itself, my service learning experience with my group members was a good experience. I was nervous when I showed up and they told us we would actually be teaching to a lesson plan. Either I forgot about that or I didn't fully understand what was expected of us. I thought we were going to be tutoring at the Saturday school, but luckily, everything worked out. We had a basic lesson plan, some work sheets and taught the students about the mean, median, mode, and range for the math portion, and helped them answer multiple choice reading questions using evidence from the passages. After the first group we taught, the assistant principal pulled us aside and said we were doing great, but reminded us to really get the students more involved by having them come up to the board and do the problems, or make suggestions. This was different from what I was accustomed to when I was in primary school. Deerwood has a really hands on approach for the students, which I think is a good thing. The school seemed pretty mixed as far as the different demographics, and though it was classified as a title 1 school, it seemed pretty nice to me (they even had a smart board, which my high school didn't even have except for one or two classes). Overall, I enjoyed my volunteering time with my group at Deerwood Elementary. It took me out of my comfort zone, and gave me more experience with getting up in front of the class and teaching.

Reflection#3
My service learning experience was at Deerwood Elementary with some of my group members. We were assigned with Mrs. Santiago's 4th and 5th grade math and reading students. I was kind of nervous going into the school at first because I haven't worked with elementary students in quite a while, but I became quickly acclimated to the children and my surroundings. The students' ethnicity was pretty diverse, and I didn't have any preconceived ideas held towards a specific ethnic group because they are all just students' there for extra help. There shouldn't be any stereotypes held against a child. Since we were volunteering at the elementary on a Saturday, the students involved in the school program were those that needed a bit more help in certain areas of study. It was helpful with the program leaders there to inform us of which students were struggling with certain subjects. The students that were confident in math for instance, were eager to shout out answers. So in order to make sure that the students who were having difficulty with a problem got the help that they needed instead of just hearing another student call out the answer, we had the students write down their answers on a white board and cover them up when they were finished. It was nice to be able to talk to Mrs. Santiago and get some of her insight about teaching and what to expect. I also happened to know one of the girls working in the program, so I got to pick at her brain too about the "dos and donts" of teaching. Service learning not only helps you to be able to work with students more efficiently once you become a professional, but also helps you to network.

For these are all of our children: Deerwood Elementary School

A few words from the late James Baldwin can sum up my experience at Deerwood elementary "for these are all of our children. We either 'profit by' or 'pay for' whatever they become" . I was afforded a good opportunity to partner with Deerwood elementary school's principal in order to prepare aspiring teachers to work in diverse settings. By all rights, Deerwood is considered a title one school. The students represented are from culturally diverse backgrounds, but the majority population is hispanic. The good thing about this experience is I get to volunteer with my students. The day was spent in a 3rd grade and 5th grade classroom working on math and reading skills. i also got to observe some of my university students in action. I have a class of 80 students. In the past, my students would volunteer at various sites in multiple school districts, so it was difficult to manage the quality of their service learning experiences. this partnership is an intentional strategy to monitor and assess students' preparedness to work in diverse settings. It is amazing to see how much the students at Deerwood enjoy working with UCF teacher candidates, and vice versa. Many of my students indicated that they would not have selected a school like Deerwood. Now, they get to see that parents send the best they have to our teachers and trust that the teachers will return their best. One of the most profound statements I heard today was "I don't know what I was thinking about a title one school, but kids are just kids. When I graduate, I want to work at a school like Deerwood, a school where I know they kids truly need me". I do not doubt that some schools are more challenging than others but I am a firm believer that if a teacher is ineffective with a certain population it's because he/she (1) does NOT want to work with that population or (2) can NOT work with that population. In most instances, the former statement is true.

STAR Teachers: Our Hope for Tomorrow

Wow! I have never encountered a more profound piece of literature than Haberman’s (2004) description of a Star teacher.  Every teacher should read this article and ask the question - Am I a STAR Teacher? And if the answer is no, then why am I choosing to not be? 

The article has so many nuggets but three particular attributes stood out to me, so much so that I held back tears as I reread the description of each. The first attribute of a Star teacher that I found particularly interesting were (1) Star teachers are nonjudgmental. Too often are students are victimized by their teachers own ethnocentric approaches to learning. As a guidance counselor, I often had teachers discuss aspects of a child’s home life that appeared to be judgmental and/or critical. I can recall one day we were giving out thanksgiving baskets and I wanted to decorate them in pretty baskets with colorful paper. One teacher asked why I put so much effort in the baskets rather than using the standard boxes left over from our copy paper. She further explained that the parents only wanted the gift card anyway. I wish she could have seen the gratitude expressed by the parents or read some of the thank you cards. Too often, teachers tend to ‘major in the minor’ and focus on things that are totally unrelated to learning and teaching. (2) Star Teachers respond as professionals and are not easily shocked- I really appreciate this attribute for sure. Teachers often respond in shock when they encounter aspects of their students’ home life that differ from their own or when they cannot relate to certain scenarios. Many students, for example, could encounter violence and/or crime on a regular basis. Teachers need to seek to broaden their world view and understand that life happens to all of us, in one form or another. My reality may not be my students’ reality, but I am wise enough to know that we all experience adversity in life. I am not too shocked when students share various experiences in their lives, families or neighborhoods.  (3) Teachers see themselves as teachers of children as well as teacher s of content. This attribute is most profound to me.  I am a firm believer that if you truly understand your role as a teacher, then you can teach any kid from any background. Haberman provides an effective strategy for doing so- taking charge of your own professional growth and development to ensure you have the skill set to work with the students you serve. 

All I can say is WOW! I wish every education major would begin their coursework with the heart and mind of a Star teacher- with the intent to enter this profession to truly serve All children well. I pray the day will come when teachers no longer prefer one type of classroom over another- a day when they understand the enormity of their responsibility enough to find a way to reach any kid who shows up to school.

Nothing New Under the Sun

This week we read a very interesting article titled Urban teacher’s use of cultural management teaching strategies. I walked away from the reading with the infamous question we all ask from time to time: Is there anything new under the sun? What I am really getting at here is ....do teachers in urban settings need a different set of classroom management strategies than teachers in other settings. And, if so, what are those strategies? the reason I ask is because the authors suggested strategies such as caring for students, being assertive and communicating effectively. Not sure about you guys, but I worked in Boca Raton, quite the suburban area, and I needed those skills as well. I am very reluctant to share much more than this blurb but my mind is all over the place regarding the author's interviews and findings. The title suggests that the reader would be given a specific set of strategies to work effectively in urban classrooms, but after reading the article.....I was left feeling like there is truly nothing new under the sun.  Do children in urban classroom require a different skill set or tool kit or do teachers in urban settings need a good crash course in ethnocentrism? Now that's another blog. lol.

Teachers Just Don't Understand

In Milner's text, Start Where You Are but Don't Stay There, he proposes several mind sets and practices for teachers to employ when working with students in urban or marginalized communities. For the most part, Milner contends that teachers should seek to enter the world of their students' and allow students peek into the windows of their teachers' lives as well. I used to be on the fence and had mixed feelings about teachers allowing students access to their personal lives, however, I definitely believe teachers should make every effort to build meaningful relationships with their students. Often, students tend to group teachers with other adults, mainly parents, and conclude that they just don't understand. Because the purpose of schooling means different things to different students, teachers are in a unique position to have a significant impact on a student's life. For some students, the caring and support they receive from a teacher, is just as powerful as that from a parent or family member. One way teachers can show their concern for students is by providing opportunities for students to share their world view and concerns. Whenever possible, teachers should show students they understand the world from their student's point of view, which is an effective strategy towards building meaningful relationships with their students.

I still have a dream

In this course, I've come to realize that a teacher's definition of 'urban' is a matter of life or death for children growing up in poverty. Education is still the great equalizer and we need teachers who are prepared to teach 'everybody's child'.