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.