Dessert with Ms. DeBose

One of my students started staying afterschool last week to help out in our classroom. It’s been wonderful to have her around because of the extra set of hands teachers don’t normally have but more importantly, because I’ve gotten to know her better.

As a teacher I know that relationships are key. The better I know my students, the better I can understand them. The better I understand them, the better teacher I’ll be. With close to 90 seventh graders on my roster it’s been tougher that I expected to build community with each of them. So, I decided to start a “Dessert with Ms. DeBose” ritual for the next 6 weeks.

Each day I invite one student from each of my three blocks of classes up for dessert after lunch. The selection of students is random and the four of us are tasked with coming up with four things we all have in common – an activity I stole from another NYC National Board Certified teacher.

Over cookies and sparkling water we talk, tell stories, get to know each other and learn things we never knew about one another. On Friday, Naralee, Brendan, Suzanna, and I discovered that we all like to sleep in, love weekends, have a strong desire to travel, and share (or shared in my case) bedrooms with our siblings. Earlier in the week, with another group of students, I learned about cultural norms in Yemen, that older/younger sibling dynamics never seem to change, and that one of my students felt relieved that I didn’t have a boyfriend in middle school either.

Some days I wish I had that 30 minutes to make copies or look at student work but Dessert with Ms. DeBose has been pretty amazing so far. I will continue until I have cookies with all of my kids and am hopeful that by learning more about my students – and them learning more about each other – we’ll build a safe, supportive, and engaging learning community where we take risks and grow.

How do you learn about and build community with and between your students? Please share your wisdom in the comments section.

The table is set - complete with my Cali love tablecloth, sugar cookies, and cups just waiting to be filled with sparkling water.

My New Union and Our New Chancellor

I’ve only been a member of a teachers’ union once before. My first two years in the classroom were spent in my hometown of L.A. at Samuel Gompers Middle School. By default I was part of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). I wasn’t an active member by any means, mainly because I was a new teacher trying to keep my head above water. We had an awesome chapter rep at our school who encouraged us to be more engaged but I just couldn’t make it happen. As a first year teacher I was trying to figure out what the heck I would do with my 6th graders the next day! I spent the next eight years of my career in charter schools in California and New York and none of them had a unionized staff – even though in one of them, we tried to organize. One of the many reasons I wanted to return to a traditional public school district was to be part of a union. My three years in the education policy world expanded my knowledge about the work that teachers’ unions and education associations do and I wanted to be engaged in that work. Today I started that journey.

Afterschool I attended the United Federation of Teachers Meet and Greet for new teachers in the borough. UFT President Michael Mulgrew and NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña were both there and I left feeling inspired, humbled, and reminded that I’m in the right place. While the event was geared towards first year teachers I learned a ton. There were booths set up with information about professional development, National Board Certification, pensions, Homework Helplines, health insurance, you name it. I met some other Bronx teachers and almost won a prize in a raffle. (Better luck next time!) What I enjoyed most was watching Chancellor Fariña and Michael Mulgrew engage with each other and with us. From an audience member’s perspective they seem to have a strong rapport and comraderie and it’s so clear that Chancellor Fariña is an educator. Her advice to us as teachers was practical and clearly from someone with years of experience in educational practice.

I loved what she had to say to us and the close to 7,000 new teachers in New York City this school year. Some of her nuggets are below.

·      On staying positive - Stay out of the teachers’ lunchroom.

·      On learning from each other - Be humble and ask for help from a colleague.

·      On parent teacher conferences – Role play parent teacher conferences so you’re prepared for all kinds of conversations.

·      On parent teacher conferences - Have an index card with 2 positive comments for each of your students so you have something to say about each of your kiddos.

·      On supporting each other and teacher retention - Write a kind note when one of your colleagues has had a hard day.

·      On supporting each other and teacher retention – A regular Friday check-in based on two questions: 1) What’s the best thing that happened to you this week? 2) What was your biggest challenge? 

·      On schools with silent hallways -  “I judge a school by the buzz.”

·      On multiple adults in a classroom – “It drives me crazy to walk into a class with two teachers and one paraprofessional and only one person is teaching.”

I look forward to getting more involved in my union and in my district. While teaching is incredibly difficult, it’s the exact work I want to be engaged in because the learning never stops. I’m grateful my union recognized the value in bringing together new teachers in the Bronx so we could learn together. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

A not-so-great pic of UFT President Michael Mulgrew (on the right) and NYC Schools Chancellor Fariña (in the middle) from my seat at the event.

"If students enjoy the work, they will do it."

Yesterday I launched a new ritual in my class called Feedback Fridays. It’s an opportunity for my students to give me anonymous feedback about what’s working in our learning environment and what can be improved. Each student completed a short survey with the following five questions:

1. What do you like about our class so far? Why?
2. What could be better about our class? Why?
3. Are you able to learn in this space? Why or why not?
4. What feedback and ideas do you have for your teachers to improve our class?
5. Is there anything else you want to share?

My student responses were eye opening. I learned that overwhelmingly they’re enjoying our first class novel A Long Walk to Water and that many of them appreciate the fact that we welcome them at the door with a handshake everyday. In terms of improvement I learned that they want to do more activities, they want to choose where they sit, they feel I need to loosen up a bit, and they’re bored. While I agree that I need to loosen up - it’s sometime so hard to do! - that last one is especially hard to hear as a teacher.

Regardless of how tough it is to hear it that your students are bored, the timing couldn’t be more perfect because this week I had to let my assistant principal know which of the components of the Danielson Framework I wanted support on this year. As a school we’re focusing on Domain 3: Instruction with an even more specific focus on:

• 3b – Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
• 3c – Engaging Students in Learning
• 3d – Using Assessment in Instruction

(If you didn’t already know, as a teacher in New York City 60% of my evaluation is based on a series of observations where 8 of the 22 components of the Danielson framework are evaluated.) 

After reading the rubric closely and reflecting on my classes and students thus far, I decided that I’d love more feedback and focus on 3c – Engaging Students in Learning. The elements of this component are 1) activities and assignments, 2) grouping of students, 3) instructional materials and resources, and 4) structure and pacing. I could use an extra set of eyes and additional support in all four.

I’ll continue to gather weekly feedback from my students and work to implement some of their suggestions. This week – like most in a teacher’s life – was filled with highs and lows. I had some great moments and some that caused me to closely examine my practice and my actions. I can see that in one of my classes especially students aren’t nearly as engaged as I’d like them to be. I decided that they’ll be my laboratory. They’ll be the space where I focus on the elements of component 3c and see what magic we can create.

Right inside the door of my apartment I have a daily gratitude calendar where each day I record something I’m grateful for on an index card. On Wednesday after a particularly challenging afternoon I made the decision to focus on 3c and that night I wrote, “Today I’m grateful for the ability to embrace a challenge as an opportunity for learning and growth. ¡Que viva Charlotte Danielson!” I’m looking forward to truly engaging my students in their learning and to a series of Friday Feedback forms that let me know that progress is alive and in full effect in Room 413. As one of my students wrote in response to question 5, “If students enjoy the work, they will do it.” So true. So true. Let’s work towards getting there.

If you have ideas or strategies for engaging middle school students in their learning feel free to share them in the comments below. I’d love to learn from you!

Wisdom from one of my 7th graders

Quite the Welcome Back

The first week is done. Well, actually the first two days. New York City students started school on a Thursday so my first “week” back is officially over. I have a ton of reflections from the last two days but I’ll go ahead and say that I’ve been thinking the most about expectations, relationships, and rigor. 

Expectations

Let’s start by saying that middle schoolers ain’t easy. I pride myself on being an educator who holds all kids to high expectations and has a strong command of classroom management. However, I will be the first to admit that my skills were definitely challenged on my first day back in the game. We all know that young adolescents are talkative but two of my three sections of 7th grade English Language Arts would not stop talking yesterday. So much so that it was tough to get through our first day lesson. I am used to being that teacher whose students do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do and yesterday, that wasn’t happening. I was quickly reminded that not only do I need to hold my students to high expectations but that I need to a) know them well enough for them to trust and respect me and b) I need to be transparent about what will happen if they don’t follow my expectations and then actually follow through. I am having a hard time learning all of their names and that’s also holding me back. I’ll definitely be working on that this weekend.

Relationships

Relationships are the core of what I do and after being in a smaller school setting for 5 years I realize how much harder it is develop close relationships with the nearly 100 students I see for 45 or 90 minutes a day. That being said, I am committing myself to building those relationships with my kids. I’m thinking of creating a cheat sheet for myself about each class so that when I greet them at the door each period I can greet them by name, shake their hand, look them in the eye, and ask them about something they shared on the “Who Are You?” survey I gave them on the first day. I forgot how much time it takes to build those relationships and I need to be easy on myself a bit. It’s only been two days so it’s OK if I can’t call every student by name yet. If that’s still the case in a week, we’ll have a problem.

Rigor

In my last class of the day I noticed that some of my kids were visibly bored. Negative behavior was stalling our lesson and I started to lose some of my kiddos. This is one of the toughest things for me as a teacher. I never want to be the cause of any student’s boredom. It made me stop for a minute and reflect on the fact that I need to ensure that the content and activities we’re doing in class are challenging and engaging to kids. An afterschool conversation with my assistant principal about the day also got me to reflect on pacing and how I can keep our lessons moving so there is less down time for students to be bored and/or act out. I am committing to stepping up the rigor in my classes for all students. I’ll take any and all good vibes you send my way on this one.

I’ll end by saying that during my first “week” back I was reminded that incredible educators are incredibly patient. I forgot this on day one and talked to a good friend and fellow educator about this. We started a new ritual to call each other each morning at 7:40 – before we pick up our students - to say the following mantra to one another and into the universe: May I be blessed with patience, loving kindness, and compassion. May I bless others with patience, loving kindness, and compassion. I was much more patient, kind, and compassionate with my students today and in turn they were more patient, kind, and compassionate with me. I wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be and they weren’t where I wanted them to be but it’s a process and we’re getting there.

The Power of Leadership

I’m on the 2 train headed from the Bronx to Manhattan after my first official day at my new school. What a day it was! I stepped out of our colorful building feeling inspired, humbled, and with a lot on my mind. Today was the New Faculty Institute for those of us joining the staff this year and I took away quite a bit from the day but what sticks most with me is the power of leadership.

My school is in its 11th year with just over 600 students grades six through twelve. Our principal is from the neighborhood and founded the school with 77 sixth graders and six teachers in 2004. First off, the fact that he is still there is powerful. It may sound sad to say but in education having a principal stick around that long in a high-need school makes a statement. I strongly felt that today.

Second, our principal, assistant principals, and fellow teachers kicked off the institute in a welcoming and inspiring way. Sharing the history of our school and sending a clear message that they valued the choice we made to join their school team set the tone for a collaborative and safe space. Teachers played a role throughout the day and it was clear that while there are set protocols and expectations for certain things, if we have a different idea or way of thinking that is also encouraged and welcomed.

Welcome to your new professional home and family.

Your success is our success.

We’re all about the three Rs: Rigor, Relationships, and Respect.

We tell our students that learning for learning’s sake is not good enough. You have to give back to the community.

I need you, when appropriate, to share your successes and your achievements.

Take the risk. You will reap the rewards.

These were some of the messages that were shared and stuck most with me throughout the day. The last one was in reference to asking for help when we need it and being an authentic and genuine part of the learning community that is our school - an incredibly powerful message to teachers, especially in the current educational climate. After being out of the classroom for three years, and re-entering as the teacher of a tested grade and subject in this era of Common Core implementation and new evaluations I am definitely taking a risk. It’s one that I know I need to take, one that I want to take.  And after today, it seems that I’ll be supported by my administration and my colleagues in taking that risk. I’m looking forward to the many rewards headed our way.