Blowing Glass

When working with my mentee this past Friday, we were working on FCAT math practice.  This student has a very troubled background and is pretty far behind his peers.  As we've worked together over the last few sessions, I developed some level of trust with him, but this week he really opened up.  He noticed that I had a "blown glass" charm around my neck and he asked me who made it.  I told him I wasn't sure, but had purchased it locally.  He preceded to tell me how the process takes place and the care involved with blowing out the glass to be sure it didn't break.  He went on to explain how each piece was unique and special.  I was pretty amazed.  A student who is described not so positively by his teachers, had an amazing talent.  He works with a family that makes blown glass jewelry.  I was excited to hear his thoughts but also a bit saddened because I was pretty sure that those teachers did not know that information about him.  I used that connection to strengthen our relationship and kept referring back to it as we did math problems.  This made our session progress even more effectively than normal.  I guess our urban students are just like that blown glass jewelry.  Each one is unique, but delicate.  If we choose not to work with them effectively through our relationships with them, we can "break" them.  We can discourage their participation and shatter their confidence.  I appreciated the lesson he taught me.

A new perspective

After my trip to California, I began documenting a volunteer tutorial program that I have participated in for a while and took on an additional student from my former middle school.  Working with students one on one offers a perspective that teachers don't always pick up on when teaching the group.  Both students that I started working with are African American students of low SES.  Although I am not amazed by their potential, I am excited as they feel comfortable sharing some of their hopes and aspirations.  When I think of these students, I can't help but place myself and my own children in their shoes.  If not for my parents committment to my education and the support of church and other family, would I be in the position that I am in.  As for my own children, I love to brag on them, but they are not rocket scientists at 2 and 6 (but maybe they could be one day).  They are well adjusted, smart kids because I know how to advocate for their education.  Are kids who don't have that support system any less worthy of what I desire for my own children?  Of course they aren't.  Although I already knew this, I am reminded of how children from backgrounds similar to my little mentees crave relationship.  They want to know and experience their teacher on a deeper level.  These relationships formed are so important.  As we worked through math, I began to ask the student I am working with about his family and his future aspirations.  This broke the ice and better facilitated our work in math and gave him the confidence to ask me questions when he did not understand.  Some schools have mentorship programs where students are assigned such an advocate.  Possibly, more programs like these would help some studnets become more invested in their schools and help them position themselves along higher continuums of perceived ability.  I go to visit my student again tomorrow and will update further.

Can't We all Just Get Along?

This past week, I had a great time in San Franscisco at the NSTA conference.  I learned a great deal and met some amazing people.  I was truly inspired by so many people dedicated to seeing that students master science concepts.  The one "downer" of my trip was having to defend my research to one of my colleagues.  Being an African American, I take the low levels of achievement that many African American students experience to heart and am committed to "finding a cure."  Most people are intrigued by what I do now and plan to do in the future and enjoy hearing me talk about formative assessment practices of these students in classrooms  (Don't laugh . .. most people really are interested) . This week, I felt as though I had to defend what I'm doing to a fello grad student who discounted my work by saying, the ideas you are planning are important to all kids . . . why do you keep focusing on African Americans?

Before getting quick tempered and saying something that I was sure to regret later, I reminded her that African Americans are at least 30 points behind everyone else in Math, Reading and Science and more African American men are in jail than in college.  I'm sorry, but that's a sound for alarm in my book.

Her reply, "Is it really that bad?. . . . I think it's all traced back to the parents.

Is this what I have to look forward to?

Sports

My 6 year old daughter has just started Spring soccer.  Last season was her first season and although she's my pride and joy, she's no Mia Hamm!  Although it's probably quite certain that she won't make a career out of playing soccer, her excitement is fascinating to watch.  Additionally, the friendships she is building and the team work she is learning is wonderful.  So, you might ask what this has to do with Urban students?  If I had a dollar for every student that I've taught that wants to be a professional NBA or NFL player, I would actually be able to survive on my teacher's salary. (I don't hear you laughing, but that was supposed to be a joke).

Seriously, when a student tells us of such future desires, we cringe a bit because we know they probably have a better chance of hitting the lottery than acutally making it into the pro's.  Instead of giving students like this a dose of reality, I think we need to learn to work with what motivates them.  If a student is motivated by football, an effective teacher can use that motivation as a means to help that student perform in the classroom.  Sure, we'd all love for students to be instrinsically motivated to learn and grow, but that doesn't always happen.  Hopefully we can use sports as a way to encourage the same team building and frienship created on the field in the classroom and provide some students who may not have had the opportunity otherwise, to attend college.

So my daughter will stay on the soccer field and even if she never scores a goal I think that what she'll learn on the field can help her achieve her goals.

Will Superman Ever Rescue Us?

For my Science Curriculum class this week, we were asked to watch the film Waiting for Superman.  For those who haven't seen the film, it was created by Davis Guggenheim’s and begins with Geoffrey Canada’s recollection of the 1938 superhero.  You may have seen Canada on CNN speaking of educating lower income children in Harlem.  Canada is held in high regard as a social activist, educational reformer and successful charter school CEO and he opens the documentary through a description of his less than adequate childhood school and neighborhood.  For Canada, his poor upbringing in the Bronx, NY did not become problematic until realizing that his fictional superhero Superman, would not rescue him from his failing school and crime ridden neighborhood.  Knowing that the wait for superman would be indefinite, Canada’s family took matters into their own hands and sent him to a more successful school. 

            If every American parent had this option, the ability to situate their child in a highly successful school, there would be no need for films like Waiting for Superman and educational reformers would probably have already seen many of their desires for education realized.  In reality, great disparities in education exist and a gap in achievement between less affluent and more affluent children continues to persist.  Unlike Superman, the American educational system has been unable to dodge bullets nor has it successfully shattered the mountain of troubles that plague us all.  Instead, bureaucracy and poor decisions have acted more like kryptonite allowing the arch-nemesis of poor achievement to win the battle. 

As an answer to the problems stifling the education of our American children, the director of the film offers the charter school concept and effectively puts the spotlight on a few that have been highly successful.  Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone and the KIPP School are just two examples of numerous charter schools throughout the country that have defied the odds and provided to children educational readiness and experiences necessary for high achievement beyond the K-12 setting.  Additionally, the documentary highlights parents very engaged in their children’s education and eager to place them in schools that will “guarantee” their success.  All of these tactics drew me into the film and I resonated with the desire to want the best experiences, opportunities and schools for my own children.  What is stated but not emphasized in the film is that most charter schools are no better than the public schools they set out to replace.  In some cases, they are in fact worst.  On the same token, the rates of success rightfully celebrated by effective charter schools represent but a fraction of students across the country.  Although the film does an excellent job of bringing awareness to the inadequacies of American Education and offering charter schools as an appropriate alternative for some students, the charter school concept is holistically an unrealistic fix and as evidenced by students in the film who did not gain admittance to the charter schools for which they applied, is not a viable option for most American families.  For the film Waiting for Superman to shift beyond a mere topic of conversation at the water cooler, I argue that public schools themselves must be strengthened by cutting through red tape, and focusing on teacher quality and curriculum. 

Can Young African American Males Be Reached?

I hope the answer to that question is yes.  I have a two year old son and I often wonder what he will grow to become.  After I had my son, I remember feeling anxiety that I didn't feel with my daughter.  Although I know several successful African American males, we cannot deny the difficulty that some African American males face in this society.  Although the abundance of African American males in the justice system is not the only hurdle they must cross, it alone is enough to cause others to develop perceptions about their educational attainment, work ethic and even patrotism. 

Let's face it.  When we think about African American males in the classroom, the words high achiever don't come to mind.  How will I help my son overcome these labels and how can I keep him stay motivated even when he is doubted by teachers, other African American males and even himself?

If teachers subscribe to these notions about the African American male and therefore use sterotypes to make jugements about them, will the cycle ever be broken? 

Classroom Observation

Whenever I told people that I taught middle school science, I would always get such responses as "Oh you poor thing" or "You must really be brave."  I guess people who decided to teach America's children have to be somewhat courageous.  Now that I've left the classroom, some of my family members think I've finally come to my senses.  I've just realized that I have a new mission. 

Just to give you a bit of information about me, my name is Jennifer and I have decided to go on leave from my middle school teaching job to pursue a PhD in Science Education.  As part of my responsibilities, I supervise student teachings and that landed me in an Orlando classroom earlier today.  When I walked into the class, the teacher I was observing apologized profusely for what I would soon witness.  "Houston, we will soon have a problem!"  As the class came in completely off task, I knew this teacher and lesson were headed for trouble.  Don't get me wrong, the teacher really, really tried and his lesson was actually great.  These kids were turned off from the beginning.

As I sat watching the classroom (Boy A was combing his hair, Boy B sneaking chips out of his book bag, Boy C fixing his new outfit and shoes, Girl D talking to her group mate) my mind really begin to wonder . . . How can these kids not just be brought into this lesson but become more engaged in their total educational experience.  Somewhere along the lines we have lost an entire group of children.  It's easy to point fingers and say things like "It's their parents, they don't care" or " These kids are so low; they can't even read."  The bigger question is will we have the courage to save them.