Meditations on Literature and Literacy...Continued

What do you notice?

The first year teaching is one of the hardest periods in someone’s professional life. If you’re lucky, you have a group of mentors and experienced teachers looking out for you (Thanks, Mr. C, Ms. Brusch, Sonya, Juan, et al). If you’re not as lucky, you get handed books, advice and professional development that never really add up to anything because the whole experience is so overwhelming that you don’t know where to start.

When I worked as a coach for the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), we were given Teach Like A Champion (TLAC), written by Doug Lemov of Uncommon Schools, which is a charter network. We were directed to model and get our Fellows to use the “techniques” in this book. I remember being skeptical when I read the book. This book only seemed to cover what to do if everyone in the classroom complied with what their teacher wanted. I wondered how my Fellows would cope if that didn’t happen. I taught and teach Special Education, and I know that a teacher needs many different approaches up their sleeves to engage students. TLAC did not account for any of the possibilities that things might unravel in the classroom. It was teaching the students these “routines” which are not so much about learning as they are about compliance.

I only worked for the Fellows one summer (another topic for another day), and I hadn’t thought about TLAC in years. Until a couple of weeks ago when I found Ilana Horn’s Tweet about how TLAC “Teach Like a Champion is a carceral pedagogy. Let’s get rid of it (https://twitter.com/ilana_horn/status/1270735671699922945).” Then I had to look up carceral, because I had never heard that before. It means “of or relating to prison.” Prison, I thought? But then I thought more about it and I read her further critique here: https://teachingmathculture.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/what-i-notice-and-wonder-about-teaching-like-a-champion/ . In the videos associated with this post and the book, what the (white) teachers are teaching is compliance. Not engagement. The classes in the video were in these box like classrooms where the students were silent, with their hands folded. It did, indeed, seem somewhat prison like.

There was a discussion on Twitter as to the racism of TLAC. It comes down to this: these techniques in the book are about how teacher control kids’ conduct in school and how they (both teachers and students) are rewarded or punished for the ability to do so. When I originally read the book, I mostly felt that the techniques were reductive at best and poor teaching practice at worst. It was about control and compliance, not about student learning. That is what classroom management should be about; how to maximize student learning in your given environment. Is it always neat? No. Quiet? Of course not. So that is where TLAC fails.

As an experienced teacher myself, I would never hand that book to a first year teacher and tell them that’s all you need to learn “classroom management.” Teachers should not want to control their students, but engage them so they want to learn more.

The Missing Students

I’ve been thinking a lot about my students. The ones who graduated. The ones who improved without the distractions of physical school. The ones who didn’t. But my mind always goes back to a small, specific group. These kids were doing fine while we were meeting in person. They were attending class, making progress. I even had a decent relationship with them. When we transitioned (I say transitioned, but it was more of an abrupt switch) to remote learning, I stopped hearing from them. These were not the kids who just never attended class and did not hand in work (though I had my share of those, too). I’m referring to kids who were doing ok and then disappeared.

Sure, they surfaced and handed in assignments here or there or responded reluctantly when either I or their guidance counselor called their houses. But there was no consistent contact with them, and their progress and grades suffered. The only thing I have to go on are unanswered emails, phone calls and incomplete assignments. Many of us tend to focus on the kids who didn’t have access to a device or internet or who we didn’t hear from at all. However, I think kids who had decent grades in the beginning of the semester and who did not engage in remote learning in a real way are just as concerning. Are they struggling mentally? Is there some factor at home that we don’t know about? Are they sick and didn’t notify the school? I remember one such student confiding that she was taking care of her siblings while we were still in person, so I can’t imagine what her responsibilities were when she was home all the time. Another student initially did not have a device, but did not participate once it was confirmed that he had the device.

If we are to continue remote learning in some capacity in the fall (because let’s face it, no one knows at this point what is going to happen), we have to think about these students and try to understand why participating in remote learning seems to be difficult for them in a way in person school wasn’t. Why are were these students able to obtain above average grades in school, but barely scraped by remotely? There are, of course, more questions than answers right now as we enter our summer of uncertainty. With the looming budget cuts, it’s hard to say the schools need more of anything right now, but these kids need as much attention as the long term absent kids and the kids who were regularly responding to their teachers.

Where do we go from here?

It’s been hard for me to write the last couple of months. Partly because of time constraints…who knew I would have to be both a working mom and a stay at home mom during a quarantine? Partly because I wasn’t sure I had anything original to say. So many others had covered the difficulties facing teachers trying to tackle remote learning and the inequities facing many students as roadblocks impending their learning. I do, however, feel compelled to write now as our school year draws to a close and as we prepare for our virtual graduation, and as the pandemic and racial unrest continue to swirl around us and impact us in so many tangible and intangible ways.

Here, in New York, we are at a crossroads. Can we safely open schools in September? Can we give our students the much needed in person instruction and face to face interactions that have been so sorely lacking in our current state? As the city begins to stir and wake up, these are the questions that are facing our leaders. Our mayor has put together a committee to advise him on what to do about the schools, but the team appears to be lacking the teachers who will be the most affected by whatever decisions get made. Our UFT president is on the committee, but he hasn’t been in the classroom delivering instruction for a very long time. Our governor has tapped Bill Gates, long known to be a questionable resource at best, and dangerous to public education at worst, to help “re-imagine” education (Side note- If you haven’t read Diane Ravitch’s opinions on this you should, and I will refer you to her site:https://dianeravitch.net/). But no one really has any answers.

I also can’t help feeling that, heading into this summer, my students need their teachers more than ever. They need to forum to discuss and process the losses they endured this spring as they were isolated from their communities. They need to make sense of the horrific and public murders of people who look like them. School is where these things happen and yet, the interaction provided by the screen is lacking. It is not the same. And though, as a high school teacher, I actively avoid physical contact with my students, I can tell they need to feel a supportive presence in the room with them.

And so, we find ourselves at this crossroads. Can we make it safe for students, teachers, staff and families to feel comfortable with re-opening in person school? I certainly hope we can make something work.

This is not a vacation

As NY stops just short of a lock-down amid the spread of the Coronavirus, many of us teachers worry for the future. Sure, we’ve been instructed to commenced “remote learning” for the next month, but no one knows what that really looks like until it’s up and running. Many of my students have made contact but not all and I am concerned for those I have not yet heard from (if you’re out there, give me a shout). I would sometimes joke about wanting to “work from home,” all the while knowing it was impossible as I needed to see my students in person everyday. Learning is not a solitary act; kids learn from each even as they are learning from their teachers and when that piece is absent, the experience is not as rich or fulfilling.

Many of my students don’t have access to devices to engage in remote learning. And while my school and the Dept. of Education are making an effort, some kids are going to fall through the cracks. As teachers, we will do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen, but we can’t always control these circumstances. Plus, the message about devices…was made online. So that means if someone doesn’t have access to a device, they don’t know where to get one as the information…was emailed.

And all of this doesn’t event take into account what all of this is going to look like as I’m working double duty as a working mom and a stay at home mom. My daughters are 2, and they need supervision. I can’t do all of the things I would normally do at school at home while they are with me. We are trying our best to make sure they are engaged but it is hard when there are demands coming from every which way.

For anyone who still thinks this is a vacation, it is not. Please take all of the guidelines seriously.

An Ode to Judy Blume

Yesterday was National Women’s Day so I was thinking about the influential women in the world and especially the ones who write YA books. There was one who came to mind as she was a trailblazer in this genre and is having a resurgence of popularity just now. Judy Blume was one of the first YA writers that I was conscious of, that wrote books about tween and teen girls that I could relate to. Recently, it was announced that Are You there God, It’s Me Margaret is being adapted into a movie and Summer Sisters is becoming a Hulu series. I am there for both of these things. (And if you haven’t read “Everything I Learned About Being a Girl, I Learned From Judy Blume”, you should.)

When I was growing up, YA existed but was not nearly as popular as it is today. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret was the first Judy Blume book I read. My mother told me to buy it at our Scholastic Book Fair (remember those?) I asked the librarian if she had it and she did not want to sell it to me. She told me it was too “advanced.” My mother visited parent’s night at the book fair and brought it home. It was not until later that I learned that the book had been banned and that my school librarian was doing her own censoring of content. But I read it anyway. And I was hooked. I loved Just as Long as We’re Together and read it so many times that my copy was falling apart. I read the juicy parts of Forever with my friends and then the whole book. And no book I read about complicated female friendships measures up to Summer Sisters.

Now there are many more women who write in authentic female teen voices – Angie Thomas, Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, etc but back then…it was only Judy Blume. As we celebrate women and Women’s History, Judy Blume deserves a special place among female writers as one who spoke directly to teen girls honestly about difficult topics when no one else would.

The Intangibles of Teaching

I went for a massage this morning (self-care is important, people) and as I was checking out, this m an was telling the receptionist about how his teachers influenced his life. About how he was a “bad kid” but they still supported him and how he didn’t really realize it until later how much his teacher meant to him. I didn’t catch the beginning of this conversation, but I said to him that it was great to hear something positive about teachers, since we’re so used to negativity. I hope his teacher knew what an impact they had on him. And that, friends, is why we do what we do. But it is also the hardest thing to measure. And we know that everything teachers do must be measured in some way. There is a time and a place for rubrics, but this, clearly is not it. This was actually the topic of an article I read recently: https://medium.com/@mrtomrad/i-love-teaching-for-all-the-reasons-that-cant-be-counted-33568cd96b97, which basically talks about the same thing. About relationships and trust and how as a teacher, you have to build both in order to get the students to buy in.

I have been teaching my 11th graders for a year and a half and in November, I left the script behind and began reading Fences by August Wilson with them. They loved the book and were motivated to learn more about the themes and topics addressed in the book like racism in sports and the Great Migration. When I got observed, my marks were ok, but not as high as they were when I was following the script. Now, I can follow the script all I want but I would not have the same buy in that I had when reading something I knew the kids enjoyed. And again, how do you measure that? You measure it in: “Miss, are we reading the book today?”; “Can I take the book home?”; “I can really relate to Cory because I’m an athlete too and Troy is just blinded by racism.” There is a space on the Danielson rubric that measure student engagement, but I still argue that this is not measurable, but is most definitely what makes it successful. Now, would my life be easier if I followed the script and just did what everyone else did? Sure. But would it be at all interesting or engaging for my students? No. But as a 12 year veteran, I can pick and choose where I do these things. It is harder for a newer teacher to to make these decisions because they feel they have to live and die by that rubric. And they know what the right choices are but they’re not always supported in them.

I did a project in my 11th grade AP English class that I remember to this day. It was unique and spoke to my creativity. Was there any mention of passing the English Regents? No. There didn’t have to be. The teaching climate was different then, and teachers were allowed much more freedom than they are afforded now. But I would like to be able to have at least a little bit of that impact on my students, even given the parameters of “good teaching’ that exist today.

Literature for a change…

Part of the reason I started writing here was to discuss literature and books, especially for young adults and middle grade readers. However, I’ve gotten away from that, having been inundated with the politics of teaching. I have read a couple of really good YA books recently and while they don’t seem similar on the surface, their themes definitely tie them together.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33294200-the-poet-x?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4fEHw6oL9q&rank=1) is the story of Xiomara, a young woman who is at odds with her religious mother and writes poetry. She eventually finds slam poetry as an outlet, but not right away. Calling My Name by Liara Tamani (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33829748-calling-my-name?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PN5q6sO9z8&rank=1) is also a story of a young woman, Taja, from a religious family who is questioning her upbringing and yearns for more independence. Both of these books tell very specific stories but the stories are also universal in their coming of age themes.

Both books are about diverse characters with religious families. While Xiomara’s mother’s behavior is more extreme, both feel stifled by their home lives and are looking to increase their autonomy. They also both have brothers who are treated differently from them. There is a scene in …Name where Taja asks if she can have her own phone line and cites the fact that her brother had them. Her father tells her that he needs to know who’s calling for her and that boys and girls are different. When I read that, I was upset on Taja’s behalf but the sentiment was true to the characters.

Xiomara is finally able to express herself through slam poetry performances which start leading to healing with her mother. Taja doesn’t really get a moment with her parents where she gets to speak her mind, instead her outlet becomes being accepted to college and leaving home.

Both of these stories are great examples of diverse characters and good role models for students. I would recommend these stories as independent reading or literature circles though because they are so specific, I don’t know that they would be appropriate as whole class novels.

Perspectives on Regents Scoring

Yesterday I, along with many other teachers in New York State, administered the Common Core English Regents. I proctored students who had extended time and require scribes and the test to be read aloud to them. Many have taken the Regents before but were scheduled for it again anyway to see if they would reach that elusive and arbitrary mark of “college and career readiness.” Today, I had to report for Regents scoring at a different school. This is a process that is so heavily micromanaged that the teachers scoring were assigned seats. Of course, we spent the morning going over the rubric and norming ourselves. I always find this process eye opening because the state seems to grade much more leniently than we normally would in our classrooms.

I believe this is for two reasons. The powers that be want as many kids to pass the Regents as possible, so we are instructed to score somewhat differently than we would grade classroom assignments. If it matches the criteria on the rubric, err on the side of the student. Of course, as a special education teacher, I would do this anyway because I hope to pay it forward. If I give a student the benefit of the doubt, I hope that someone else at another scoring site is giving my student the benefit of the doubt.

The other reason that the essays are scored this way (that I believe) is that on a state level, they want the scores to be good so they can say their education policies are working. That the testing is justified. That it’s fair. Except, many of us educators know in our heart that isn’t true. But we put on a brave face for our students and administer their modifications in hopes that on an individual level, they will progress and be able to move on from these exams.

“Free tutoring” isn’t free

One of my former colleagues (Hi, Mista C) shared this article: Stop Making Teachers Feel Guilty for Asking to Be Paid for Their Work (https://www.weareteachers.com/wont-work-for-free/?utm_content=1576178876&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Tk9Kq4yxCciKZ0PUEyxqGDB7Fjublgm0qWANO-TtQnVd7U1LLvzO6nuQ) and I’m kind of worked up about it. I am in my 12th year of teaching. Over this time I:

ran clubs
stayed late to meet with parents
graded papers at home
met, emailed and texted with co-teachers on my own time
fielded calls and emails from concerned parents and students

Now, one might argue that these things are part of the job. And they are. But if they are part of the job, why are some schools so reluctant to pay teachers adequate over time to do these things? As it said in the article, “I care about my students but I also care about being able to pay my mortgage too…” And this is true. Some teachers make so little that they need to take on other work just to make make ends’ meet…and yet they’re expected to do extra things at their schools for no compensation? That’s utterly ridiculous. Teaching is intense enough that teachers can use all of the down time they get and shouldn’t need tow worry that their full time job doesn’t pay the bills.

When teachers have kids of their own, it adds a whole other layer to this dilemma. While I am invested in my students, I did not give birth to them. Any extra time I spend with them is time that I am not spending with my own kids. Unfortunately, I can’t do this without getting paid. It is simply not fair to my own kids.

A Perspective on the MOSL

Measures of Student Learning or MOSL as it is called most often, is the part of our teaching evaluations that are based on student test scores. Some school use their own testing for this, but many others use the NYS Regents exam for this. My school does the latter. While on the one hand, it seems like a good idea to measure a teacher’s effectiveness on “student learning,” for teachers of some populations this is inherently problematic. As a Special Education teacher, I don’t believe that student scores reflect my best teaching self. These students are in these classes because they are in some case, significantly below grade level. Now how is it that I am to be measured by my students scores by a grade level test that does not reflect their actual ability?

Then there are the circumstances beyond my control. I teach an early class and while I have 9 students on my roster (it’s a 15:1 class), I average about 4 kids on a given day. All of the 9 kids in my class are required to sit for the Regents. I have done the following for the students who routinely do not show up: I have called home, I have contacted their guidance counselors on more than one occasion and I have written anecdotals about their absences. And yet, even with all of that effort, the students still do not show up. My question then is this: How can I possibly be measured by their test scores when they haven’t been in class enough to learn the material? This is a dilemma I know many teachers face and there is not an adequate answer.

Can the school do more to make sure students make coming to all of their classes a priority? Sure. But where does that still leave the students who even if they attend every day and attempt every assignment are still below grade level and unable to pass the exam? As a 12 year veteran of the NYC Department of Education, I have come to accept that I have no control over this part of my rating. I do my best during classroom observations and I prepare my students for these exams whether or not I know in my heart that they’ll pass. But there still h as to be a better way to measure teachers’ effectiveness than an exam on one day where there may be many different factors at play as to why any student might score poorly.