Letter To Me - Online Reflection #3

Dear Past Caitlin,

          I know you're worried about changing your major, but you make it to graduation, so don't worry about that. The only thing you should be worrying about at the end of it all is how you're going to pay off all of your college debt. You should really think about applying for more scholarships.

          I think the biggest thing you need to remember through off of this, and really, through all of life, is that your path will never look like someone else's. You have picked a degree in which all of the students will travel with you. You will see a lot of the same faces from class to class and from year to year. Make friends with those people. At the end of it all, they will save your life. They will support you and complain with you and study with you. You will meet people that you wish you could be friend with for years to come.

          The biggest problem that will come with being the same classes with a lot of the same students is that you will start to compare yourself to them. Don't do that. Everyone is unique, and everyone deals with the same situation and the same environment in different ways. Don't beat yourself up about not doing as well as someone else, or not getting a concept as quickly as someone else. Learn from them.

          Always ask questions. Always speak your mind. Don't worry if it seems like others are annoyed that you're always talking in class. This is your education, and you owe it to yourself to make the most of it.

          Make friends with your professors. Some will be easier than others, but it will be important in the end. It's the most validating feeling to have a professor come up to you and tell you that you're a "bad ass", or have another professor tell you how trilled they are that you're going into education.

          You will feel like you are on the right path. There will be so many things that will reassure you that you have made the right choice to become an English Education major. You will rejoice when a concept clicks and you will grin when a teachers tell you that you came up with something that they had never though of before. The learning will come naturally, and it will be obvious that this is what you were supposed to be doing the whole time.

          Remember that the working world is different than the world of academia. You will go out to teach, and you may stumble, but always pick yourself up with a smile. Care about those students, they need it. And you will grow to love each other.

          At the end of it, you will feel like you have lost your way a little. But that beautiful and fruitful path is still right there behind you. You're headed in the right direction, your path just doesn't look like everyone else's.

          Sincerely,
                    Caitlin Doolittle

P.S. To future Caitlin: Do your best to keep in touch with everyone you meet along the way.

A Time of Tears - Online Reflection #2

If you are anything like me, and you're a teacher, you're probably experiencing a whole lot of  stress right now. You're halfway through your student teaching and the 3rd quarter has just ended (meaning you probably just spent a lot of time recently catching up on grades and making sure they are entered). Also, your KPTP (or Kansas Performance Teaching Portfolio) due date is looming around the corner.

If you're nothing like me, then you don't have any of this to worry about. But, as a teacher, the biggest thing on my mind right now has been mental health. I'm feeling it, my colleges are feeling it, even my students are feeling it.

Last week I assigned a project that involved each student getting up in front of the class and practicing their public speaking skills. For one student, this tasks proved to be too much, and as she turned to address the class, she had tears streaming down her face. My wonderful mentor teacher stood up with her and helped her present her project. She calmed down and was able to answer students question. I was so proud of everyone in that situation. I was proud of this student for going up to present, even though she was clearly overwhelmed by the thought. I was proud of my mentor teacher for knowing how to quickly address that situation and support her. And I was unbelievably proud of my class, because even though there was some gasps when they noticed she was crying, not a single one of them made fun of her or expressed any sort of negativity.

I felt for her. Many times over the past weeks, I've gone home and have been asked about my day. In response, I've burst out in tears myself. It's so easy at this point in the semester to feel overwhelmed by everything, so I feel like I may have a small idea of what she was feeling.

The main point of me writing this is to say that paying attention to our own mental health during times like this is tantamount. There are some amazing resources online, and even in the school around you to help you with this. I found this article by Isaiah Pickens Ph.D. called "The Brief Wondrous Life of Teachers' Mental Health: Supporting teachers experiencing emotional burnout". There are several good points this article makes that you should keep in mind if you're feeling like there is stress building up in your classroom.

Point 1: "The journey leading teachers to emotional burnout is multifaceted and influenced by both how teachers deal with stress and how stress shows up in the classroom".

• If you are feeling stressed out, there's a good chance your students are too. It may be best to hide your stress as much as you can from your students. If your students can tell that you're not in top shape, it may change their own mood, or your whole classroom environment, which could just add to your stress. 

Point 2: "Having difficulty connecting with students, classroom behavior problems, perceptions of limited support from administration, and little time to recharge outside of work can undermine the most resilient teachers’ mental health".

• Be patient and honest with yourself. Look for support from the people around you. Even if you feel like you don't have the support you need from you administration, look to the teachers around you, or even support systems outside of the classroom. I tell my students that there is no reason they should have to deal with a problem all of their own, and I feel as strongly about that sentiment for my fellow instuctors. 

Point 3: "At minimum, training on basic classroom management is already integrated into teacher’s professional development, but what if a holistic approach was adopted that addressed how healthy management of behavior and emotionally overwhelming situations impacted both teacher and student mental wellbeing?"

• I cannot tell you how many fellow teachers I have heard say they are worn out and stressed. We address students concerns at team meeting, and I truly believe that teacher concern are just as valid a topic of conversation to talk about in group. It may be that other teachers have some tried and true methods for addressing mental health, or it could be that a small group would be willing to take extra time to exercise and talk about good mental health practices. 

The article makes several great points, so I highly recommend everyone going over to check it out. 

Also, I truly believe everyone should try yoga and meditation in their classrooms. What a great way to promote both student and teacher mental health! But that's a post for another time...

"I actually really enjoy parent teacher conferences." - Online Reflection #1

As someone who works at a school that is predominantly Hispanic, I understood many of the reasons talked about in Samway & McKeon article "Involving Parents and the Community" for why it may be that some parents don't show up for parent teacher conferences. A huge problem that was brought up in this article was the language barrier. A good majority of teachers in America, or at least in Kansas, speak mainly English. Well, a good chunk of our students only speak Spanish at home, so the problem may be that parents don't feel comfortable talking to any school staff.

Teachers call home and invite parents to visit for conferences, but it can be intimidating or inconvenient for parents on many different levels. When parents don't answer phone calls or come to talk to us about our student, we think "they just don't care", and that simply isn't true. Along with the language factor, the authors of this article point to other reasons that may cause parents to not have much contact with teachers. Lack of child care for children that would have to stay home is a real reason that many parents wouldn't be able to make a meeting that a teacher set up. Work hours may also be a huge factor in finding it difficult to meet. No access to transportation is another factor that may be getting in the way. And finally, it may be that parents who primarily speak a language other than English may not be literate in English, and properly translated information is not being provided to them. There are steps that can be taken to fix or accommodate all of these situations, and it is important to keep them in mind when communicating with students' parents.

My favorite point brought up in this article is that we can help parents feel more welcome when we include them in the school and the classroom. This means coming up with some seriously cool and creative ways to make them feel, no matter their cultural or social status, like they have a place in the classroom. Setting up a conference environment in which their most comfortable language is encourage is one step towards this. Providing translators in many different language could seem difficult, but it is important for effective and meaningful conversations with parents. Letting students show their parents around and talking to their families in their first language is also a way to built that comfort. Finally, looking towards parents as a resource for knowledge is could be extremely valuable. Whether it be encouraging families and students to talk about their cultures or way of life, or finding out family professions and hobbies that can be used to set up workshops to teach student something new.

I think the most important thing in bridging the gap between home and school is making the students and their families feel as comfortable as possible, and I'm excited about finding ways to do just that.

Breakout EDU

This is my third day of actual student teaching, and tomorrow we are going to do an activity called "Breakout EDU". Now, if you've never heard of this before, don't feel bad... I hadn't either. It's like an escape room, but instead of trying to get out of a room, you're trying to get in to a box.

From what I understand, a lock box is brought into your classroom. There are 7 locks that the students have to work together and try to figure out based on clues. They have to do all of this in a certain amount of time. Once they have broken all of the locks open, inside will be something that goes along with the narrative that the teacher has chosen.

I love this, and I think I may almost be more excited for tomorrow than the students are. I think this is an amazing way to get students excited about teamwork and critical thinking, and an easy way to get them up and out of their chairs. I will edit this post tomorrow after they've worked on their lock box and tell you what I think.  

Unfinished - Genre Reflection #2

Pick up Fragile Acts by Allan Peterson. Try to read

Some poetry with beautiful imagery before the semester starts.

You found it in a coffee shop full

Of used books. Your choice was complemented by the cashier.

Join a book club. You choose first. All your coworkers recommend

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. You were completely disappointed.

Next up is White Noise by Don DeLillo. Try to read

In snatches on the shuttle on the way to class.

You think if you read it on your phone, then maybe you’ll at least

Have time. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin is what Mark suggests.

You barely even start that one before we move on again. Shalimar the Clown

By Salman Rushdie seems wonderful. You keep meaning to finish these.

Graphic novels at least don’t take much time. Some you can finish

In one sitting. A boy you like gives you Saga of the Swamp Thing.

It’s by Alan Moore, and you soak it up, like you soak up time

With this boy. Then The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman.

You end the semester with a pile of books

You’ve started, but haven’t finished. And with the hopes

Of many more books you’d like to read. How can we expect

Students to do this if we can’t do it ourselves?

The Topic on all Teachers' Mind's: 2016 Election - Online Reflection #3

I know that the current election results is something that is on a lot of our minds, but especially as educators, it's something we may have to deal with on a day to day basis, and it's a topic we can't really talk about. So, what do we do?

Well, I propose that we talk about it anyway.

As teachers, we know that we are not supposed to bring our personal opinions into the classroom when it comes to topics like who our new president is, but I fully feel like this is a conversation we can have with our students without revealing how we feel one way or another.

One of our main goals as teachers is to make and environment for out students in which anyone and everyone can feel comfortable. This means everyone. The biggest result of this election so far is that it has caused so much division in society, and everyone is more concerned with who you supported than what other wonderful traits you have as a person. People are being reduced to "Hillary supporters" or "Trump supporters", and that simply isn't how to world works.

Now, we've all known for a long time that in a culture that is a diverse as the American culture, there is no way that everyone can think in the same ways and believe in the same things, but all of a sudden, we see people who come from different perspectives, and we tell them that they are inherently wrong. This is not something we would ever want to hear ourselves. So of course our students wouldn't want to hear this as well.

As a result of this election, many students are scared. They may be scared because they see the tension that surrounds a situation like this, and it all seems too big for them. Many of us work in culturally diverse schools, so we see students who are all of the sudden worried that they are going to be discriminated against for being who they are. This is the case for all of our students. Hispanic students express fear over the safety of their families in America. Gay students wonder, when things were just starting to look better, if their lives will be increasingly more difficult. And students who are considered more conservative are treated with mistrust when they have never shown any reason to be.

We need to get our students talking. We need to keep them as informed as we can, so they aren't spreading misinformation and just propagating mistreatment on any scale.

An article I read by The New York Times talks about an Iowa school that experienced student protests and student walk outs because they were frightened, and saw this, like many other people in our country, as a way to have their voices heard.

"Like many other schools around the country since the election, West High has become a microcosm of the United States itself, a place roiled by tension, divisions and mistrust. Students in many schools say supporters of Donald J. Trump have felt empowered to lash out at minorities, while outraged backers of Hillary Clinton have been spurred to organize and demonstrate. And teachers have been struggling to provide guidance even as they themselves are processing the election results."

But it wasn't just the minorities who were feeling scared.

"Even Trump supporters say they feel under siege. Two girls walked into the principal’s office after the election and told him that as conservatives, they did not feel safe walking through the halls, were receiving dirty looks and felt they were not “on an equal basis” to other students, the principal, Gregg Shoultz, said."

Students hear snippets. They hear what their parents have to say. They see what's on TV or what's on the internet. But many may not know how to process that information, or know how to sort out the media's wheat from the chaff. As teachers we should be showing them how to keep their eyes open, and how to seek out information and answers. We should be telling them that it's ok to have opinions, but it's not ok to be a bully. We can't just sweep this one under the rug. We need to talk to them.

I don't think I have all the right answers, and I don't think dealing with something like this in the classroom will ever be easy, but I do think as teachers it's important that we face social issues and talk about them with our students instead of ignoring them.

If you're interested in reading The New York Times article, I have linked it here.

KATE Conference 2016

Last weekend was the KATE Conference (or the Kansas Association of Teachers of English) in Wichita. I've known about it for a couple of months, because I was recommended to submit a presentation proposal. If you are a classmate or a colleague of mine, you probably know I like talking about graphic novels, and how they can be used in a classroom. I was told that this would be a good topic to talk about at this conference.

I was extremely nervous about the idea of presenting at a conference - this was something I had never done before, but it was certainly over a topic I talked about a lot. After some encouragement from friends, and a lot of proof reading, I decided to submit a proposal after all. The proposal was as follows:

            "As graphic novels become more and more popular, it is natural for some of our students to be drawn to them. Whenever I am with students in a school library, a handful of them always head straight for the shelves in which they are stacked. Students may love them so much because of their colorful pages, the range of topics they cover, or the ease with which you can get through a story. No matter the reason, it’s clear to me that some students would prefer reading graphic novels to any other kind of print media.

I have been interested in graphic novels myself for many years, so for me, this is where my passions meet. My goal as a teacher is to get books into the hands of children that they are excited about while also promoting their intake of good literature. With such insightful graphic novels such as Koko Be Good by Jen Wang or American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, I believe these two goals can be met at the same time.

If we take the opportunity to teach students how to read graphic novels with a literary eye, we can show them that the comics they love to read also contain a deeper well of knowledge and insight. Teaching graphic novels in classrooms would mean exposing students to texts that deal with cultural and societal issues while also having conversations about artist and author choices within these texts. These lessons would also involve a history of comic books and graphic novels, as well as a tutorial on how to read such forms of media. With such a range of genres and topics, we can use graphic novels to start many different kinds of conversations within a classroom as well as open the door for analysis of literature that may have before seemed overwhelming or uninteresting. If a student isn’t thrilled about reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville, using the graphic novel based on the same story as supplementary material may be the ticket to getting that student engaged."

A couple of weeks later I found out that my proposal was accepted. I was very excited. And very nervous.

It was wonderful getting to attend the conference. Everytime I am surrounded by teachers, it is always so rewarding. I meet people who are really passionate about their content, and really excited about the opportunities to help students. The conference started out with a presentation by author Bill Konigsberg. He is the author of The Porcupine of Truth, Openly Straight, and Out of the Pocket, and he just came out with Honestly Ben, the follow up to Openly Straight. His speech was entirely moving - there was a couple of times I found myself close to tears. He talked about growing up as a gay kid, who didn't feel like he fit in to the stereotype of being gay, and also didn't feel like he could be honest about his sexuality. He grew up liking sports, and according to the stereotypes, gay males didn't like sports. It was years later, when he was a writer for ESPN, that he came out as being gay - and he came out in a very public way. He wrote an article titled "Sports worls still a struggle for gays" in which he talks about how hard it is for athletes to be honest about their sexuality if it does not fit in with that would be considered the "norm". He also talks about how someones sexuality says nothing about how well they can play sports. He says he can relate to this struggle, because until then, he had also said nothing about his sexuality.

"I'm an honest man, I do not lie about it, yet ironically by not saying anything I sometimes feel dishonest. Basically, my choice is either to correct people, or simply say nothing. I've done the  latter. Until now."

The coolest thing about conferences like this one is that you learn so much more than about being and English Language Arts teacher. You also learn a lot of really valuable life lessons. I would say that getting to listen to Bill was my favorite part of the conference. He opened my eyes to the struggles our students could being going through silently. Everyone is trying to figure out how to be their authentic self, while not feeling like they are alone in this journey. He told us about how books can saves lives, and sometimes by getting the right books into the right students hand, we can show them that they are not the only ones like them. 

As for my presentation, it went extremely well. It was a small and comfortable setting. I got to blabber on about something I really love, and I saw the twinkle in a couple of other teachers eyes when I mentioned literature strategies that work with graphic novels. I hope to continue bringing my passion into being a teacher, and to always step outside my comfort zone. Because that's where the growth happens.