“2:40 Flagpole” I say to my students as a way of messing around with them. Side note: at Poughkeepsie High School, we do not have a flag pole.
I am someone who is open with my students about appropriate personal things and I constantly joke around with them. I find that by being open and showing that I am human, it makes them more willing to open up to me and engage with me in the classroom. I own up to mistakes and I admit when I don’t know something so that I can show them that I am just like them, I misspell words, I miss typos, I sometimes do not know the answer to their random question in class that is only tangentially related to what we are doing, but I will always make time to find the answer and let them know. I make fun of them, I make fun of myself, I use humor as a way to build relationships and defuse situations in my classroom. I constantly joke that I should have a side gig as a stand-up comedian and I bring that light-hearted and sarcastic humor into my classroom.
When I was in graduate school, I was tasked with doing an inquiry project but I had no classroom of my own to observe, so instead I decided to look at how teacher/student relationships are formed and how and why they are beneficial to students. When I was in high school, I bonded with two of my English teachers, and they were the people that inspired me to be a teacher. They were the ones who were there when I had my “ah-ha” moments when an idea finally came together, and they were the ones that I shared my writing with when I finally built up the courage to let them read it. The relationship I had with them is a very shallow version of the ones that I have with my students now.
For a lot of my students, I end up being the person that they go to when they are upset, or want to talk, or even just need a place to relax and feel safe. I have students who I had in years past, still come back and talk to me about what is going on in their life, good and bad, and scream my name in the hallway. I build deep relationships with my students and while not every student has the same level of relationship with me, I try to make sure that every student feels seen by me. I try each and every day to make sure that my students know that someone cares about them. I have students yell my name across the mall and run up to hug me even if they have already graduated and moved on with their lives. It is touching to see how much I have effected their lives even beyond their high school experience.
Ensuring that students feels safe and like they have someone to talk to is a huge part of my teaching fingerprint. I teach in a school that has a lot of trauma and instability. Some of my kids are fortunate enough to never have that touch their lives, but a lot of my students are facing struggles that are outside their control. I pride myself on being the person they can come to when they need a shoulder to lean on and a mentor for those who are seeking a good role model.
I became a teacher because I was a shy girl in high school who hid behind my books and my brain as a way to do well in class. I would rush to classes and sit at my desk, silent and reading whatever the book of the week was. But then I had a teacher in 9th grade English who showed me that my ideas were valid and right and I learned to speak up more, if only in English. I want to be that motivating force for my students, I want them to learn and grow and move on from the ruts they are stuck in. I take pride in hearing from my students who graduated about what they are doing now because it makes me proud to see them crossing that stage with a diploma in hand. I will be their one-person cheerleading squad if I have to.
When people find out where I teach, I get a lot of pitying glances and questions about how I could possibly teach at a school “like that” with kids “like them”. And every time I hear those phrases, I want to scream that they do not know my kids. They do not know how hard they work to pass their regents and their classes. They do not know the struggles that my students hide away, pushing them behind false bravado and loudmouths. They do not know that some of my students have siblings who are their responsibility because their parents are constantly working to make ends meet, or that some of my students go home to empty houses, either of family, or food, or both. They do not know that my students have to be careful of gun violence and gangs and food scarcity and housing instability and being told over and over again since they could walk that they are somehow wrong or bad. And maybe they do know all of those things and that is why they pity my students, but they do not know the deep and overwhelming strength that my students possess. And then I have my students who are so fortunate to not have any of those issues, but they are still struggling with how to navigate being a teen in this new world of social media and no privacy. “These kids” get a rep for being bad or damaged, but all I see are children trying to learn how to navigate an every= changing world and looking for any beacon to help them guide their way. I strive to be that beacon and to shine bright for my students each and every day.
ECLInstitute - HVWP 2019-2020 