What Matters Now: A New Compact for Teaching and Learning

I graduated from high school in 1994 and that same year the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) was founded. Two years ago I became a NCTAF commissioner and joined former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, Linda Darling-Hammond, Jeff Duncan-Andrade and other education leaders in an effort “to engage policy makers and practitioners to address the entrenched national challenge of recruiting, developing, and retaining great teachers in order to ensure that all students have access to quality teaching in schools organized for success.”

In 1996 NCTAF released the report “What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future,” where they provided a “blueprint for recruiting, preparing, and supporting excellent teachers all across America in an effort to ensure that all children can learn.” Tomorrow – 20 years later and 17 years into my teaching career - we release “What Matters Now: A New Compact for Teaching and Learning” that looks at our country and schools today and provides a series of recommendations for how we can support all teacher to support all students.

If you’re not in Washington, D.C. tomorrow you can definitely be part of the event through a live stream. I’ll be giving the keynote entitled "Leading from the Classroom" and we’ll have a panel of teachers and other stakeholders share their perspectives on what needs to happen in schools today to ensure that all of our students are able to learn and thrive.

Check out the live stream here on Wednesday, August 10th from 10-12 noon ET and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

Seventh Grade Reflections on Stereotypes and Assumptions

People assume that I’m going to steal something because of my race.

People assume that I am Mexican when I am Ecuadorean.

People assume that I speak Spanish because I am Puerto Rican.

People assume that I’m older than I am because of the way that I look.

People assume that I don’t exercise or work out because I’m bigger.

People assume that because I look like a girl and have a high-pitched voice, I am a girl.

People assume that I am heterosexual when in fact I am gay. 

People assume that because I have pit bulls I am a vicious person. 

People assume that I am Latina because of my skin tone. 

People assume that I am Puerto Rican, when in fact I am Dominican.

Today I experienced the most insightful dialogue I’ve had with my advisory students all year. We are starting a multi-week series on identity and what makes us who we are. Our opening activity asked students to reflect on and answer the question: What is something that people assume about you but isn’t necessarily true?

One student asked, “How can I know what people assume about me?” Great question. I responded with a personal example. In New York City where there is a large Afro-Latino/a community because of my appearance many people often assume that I am Latina and speak Spanish. I know this because they come up to me on the street and ask me questions in Spanish. I do actually speak Spanish but my ethnic roots are African American and Irish American.

I wasn’t sure how my advisees would respond to the prompt but we took 20 seconds of silence to think about our experiences and when that time was up one student raised his hand to share that because he looks like a girl and has a high-pitched voice, people assume that he’s a girl, when he’s not. That started the dialogue and each student who chose to share had something insightful to say.

When K said that most people assume he’s Mexican when in fact his parents emigrated from Ecuador, another student asked what it means to be Ecuadorian. He had never heard of Ecuador and was curious to learn more. When a paraprofessional shared that he is gay but many people assume he is heterosexual because of the way he speaks and because he doesn’t “act gay” a student asked, “How can someone even act gay?” That opened a conversation about stereotypes that we hold about each other.

Before sharing, one of my advisees prefaced his comment with, “Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.” He then proceeded to share that people assume he’s going to steal because of his race. He is African American. This sparked a dialogue about skin tone and how we have different expectations for people based on their skin tone.

I was blown away by what my students shared and their respectful and genuine curiosity to learn more about each other. I was also reminded of how important it is for us as educators to not only know our students but also create regular spaces and structures for them to know each other – and themselves.

As testing season approaches the pressure my colleagues, students, and I experience every day is real. In this hyper raise-your-test-scores-or-your-school-may-be-closed culture it’s easy to forget our roots and why we come to school every day. Today’s advisory conversation was a needed reminder for me. I’m grateful for these gems that remind me how important, critical, and precious our work is.  

Video as a Tool for Reflection

It’s been quite a start to the school year. Yes, I know it’s almost December and that we started close to three months ago but that’s how busy the year has been. This is my first “Back to the Point” blog post of the 2015-2016 school year!

I’ve been moved to write often but haven’t found the time to sit down and actually make it happen. Today I received an email from a friend and former colleague who was with me last year when I gave a Moth Radio-inspired talk at a gathering of National Board Certified Teachers in Albany through the National Board Council of New York.  It was an 11-minute talk about how hard my first year back in the classroom was after being out for three years. I watched it afterschool today and it almost brought me to tears. That year was a tough one, no doubt.

It also made me reflect on the power of video to record moments in our practice, moments of celebration, moments of reflection. Two weeks ago my co-teacher and I spent a day with a 4-person film crew from the Teaching Channel. I am a Teaching Channel Laureate this year and they came in to film a lesson where we were trying something new. I am focusing on getting better at meeting the needs of diverse learners in my classroom so we were using stations facilitated by the two teachers and two paraprofessionals in our room to teach and learn in targeted small groups. It was a hectic day but once the school bell rang my co-teacher and I had a chance to sit down in front of the cameras and reflect on what had happened in our lesson with our students. I left school close to 8pm that night but I was grateful for the opportunity to have a structured time to sit and reflect on my practice. To have someone ask me targeted questions about the decisions I’d made in a non-evaluative space. To be in an environment where new ideas and strategies could bubble up and grow. It felt like an opportunity that should be more frequent and regular for us as practitioners. I’d like to use video more this year as a way to get better at teaching, as a way to reflect, and as a way to grow.

Do you use video in your practice at all? To record your practice? To reflect on it? If so, please share some of your experiences or better yet, some of your videos!

We Lost a Good One

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the celebration of life for my former boss and friend Ron Thorpe. It was an emotional event, full of tears, stories, and reminders of the work Ron wants all of us to continue while we’re on this earth in the physical.

I know Ron was a great man. I experienced his kindness, his passion, his steadfastness, and his determination almost every day for two years. He really believed in me and for some reason, really loved me. His persistence convinced me to join the National Board staff after I had declined his offer multiple times. He gave me huge projects to lead and shape and even when I doubted myself, he had faith that I could complete them. Because I worked remotely from New York, whenever I was in the Washington D.C.-area office, he always made sure to regularly check in with me about work and about me. He wanted to know how I was doing and make sure I was OK. He was a good man.

At his celebration of life we heard stories from his family, friends, and colleagues about the lessons Ron had taught them. It was wonderful to hear from people who had known him since his youth and those who had worked with him professionally all share similar sentiments. Below I’ve shared a few of Ron's teachings that really spoke to me.

• Just do. Don’t second guess yourself.
•  Work matters. Do good work.
• Take things one step at a time. One day at a time. It’s the only thing you or anyone else can do.
• Teachers should be treated like thought-partners and rock stars.
• Give with no expectation of getting something back.

Ron truly lived each of these. He carried himself with a confidence that was remarkable. He worked incredibly hard – all the time. We had some late nights in the National Board office and some nights when I left well after the sun had set I’d pop into Ron’s office and he was still there, at his computer with his glasses on, plugging away at transforming the teaching profession. He truly believed that, besides our students, teachers are the most important people in the world of education and that we should be treated as such. He would scoff at the mistreatment and de-professionalization of educators and truly walked the walk when he said teachers should lead their profession. He greatly increased the number of National Board Certified teachers on the National Board staff and put us all in leadership positions so that we could use our expertise to influence and shape our collective work.

And Ron gave. He gave and gave and gave. He was so generous with his time, his words, and his actions. He was a wonderful model in so many ways.

Ron, wherever your spirit is these days, please know that you influenced and shaped so many of us. We are so grateful to have shared time with you on this earth and the lessons you taught us will be multiplied, passed on and lived day after day after day. Personally, I will work on not second-guessing myself too much. I will continue to do good work that impacts my kids and community in positive ways. I will step up my push to ensure that teachers are respected and revered as the professionals we are. I will use you as my model for generosity. It’s easier said than done but I will give and work very hard to expect nothing in return. Most importantly, I’ll model and live this for my students. Thank you for being such a wonderful model for me.

11 Lessons from Year 11

I finished what felt like my first year of teaching today. It was actually year eleven but after working in the education policy world – outside of the classroom - for the last three years, this year felt very much like year one. It was my hardest teaching year yet and one of my most rewarding. I learned - and re-learned - many valuable lessons along the way but for the sake of brevity and to have some fun with numbers I’ll highlight eleven of them below.

1.     Race and ethnicity matter. When writing about his most memorable teacher, one of my students whose parents are from Ghana said that one reason his 2nd grade teacher was important to him was because she “respected my ethnicity.” Let’s be real. Our kids know and see race and ethnicity. If we as educators don’t create a space to acknowledge, embrace, and celebrate all of who they are everyone misses out.   

2.     Relationships are key. If I may say so myself, I usually do a phenomenal job of building relationships with my students and their families. For some reason that didn’t happen this year and we all felt the effects. I think I was so overwhelmed with learning how to teach again that I forgot to take steps to create the foundation of good teaching – building strong bonds with my students so they feel safe to take risks and learn.  I’ve already got plans in place for next year to create those connections between my students, their families, and me.

3.     Trust yourself. When I’m new to a community I often step back and observe what’s happening to learn the norms and expectations. While this is important, it’s just as important to add your expertise to the mix. It doesn’t have to be in a showy way but in a way that is authentic and true to you. I second-guessed myself a lot this year and it hurt my students and their learning. We all have strategies and practices that we know work for kids. Don’t leave those by the wayside while you’re trying to learn about your new community. Respectfully incorporate them so that everyone benefits.

4.     Poverty matters. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. I teach in one of the poorest congressional districts in the nation. Many of our families survive on less than $15,000 a year. Yes. $15,000 a year for a family living in New York City. Some of my students have rats in their apartments and others walk past dead cats and heaps of trash on their way to school. All of these – and the other countless negative effects of living in poverty – impact my students’ ability to learn. We have to acknowledge that. In no way does it mean that they are incapable of learning but we can’t pretend that their financial struggles don’t impact them as learners. As educators we need to help students find the language and the skill set to articulate and change the narrative. This year my students wrote and received a $2,200 grant to reduce the amount of trash and rats in our community. Through this process we’ll acknowledge the impact of poverty and collaborate as scholar activists to create change.

5.     Share your passions. Our kids want to know who we are. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am constant learner who is always trying something new. Whether it’s taking guitar classes, learning how to quilt, developing my skills in capoeira, or growing a mediation practice I love to learn. Good things happen whenever I share my passions and experiences with students. Sharing the lessons I learned as a new capoeira student generated an interest in capoeira and a connection between me and my students. They loved learning that I got kicked in the head when I didn’t esquiva in the roda. (Of course they asked if someone filmed it.) They were so intrigued that we’re starting an afterschool program next year with CAD-NY! 

6.    Students need to be able to connect what and how they’re learning to themselves. Often times we just teach something because it’s “supposed” to be taught, it’s in the curriculum, or because we were told to. These reasons are not good enough. Our kids need to be able to connect to and care about what they’re learning. If they don’t, they won’t learn and grow as much as they can. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be about them or based on their community but as teachers we have to craft learning experiences that allow our kids to see themselves in and connect to the work. This could be through the content, the learning process, the ways they demonstrate their knowledge, anything. What matters is that they are excited about and can relate to what’s happening in our classrooms.

7.    Know your students and how they best learn. I taught three groups of students and my afternoon block was by far the most difficult. There were some serious personalities and needs in that class and it took me a long time (read: the whole year) to figure out how to help them be most successful. I couldn’t give them the same activities and learning experiences as my morning classes and once I figured that out (read: the end of the school year) they were so much more successful as learners. What we do for one class or one student is not guaranteed to work for another so knowing how our students learn as individuals and in groups is crucial.

8.    Building trust takes time. In hindsight, it sounds so silly but for some reason I just expected my kids and colleagues to know that I’m a genuine, kind, and committed educator and friend - one they could trust and build with immediately. Big mistake! How could they know that off the bat when they had just met me? I was reminded that when you’re new to a community it takes time to build relationships and trust. If we are genuine and true to ourselves and our work, that trust will come but we can’t expect it immediately.

9.    All kids want to learn. No matter how many barriers they “put up”, all kids want to learn. My kids “put up” a lot of barriers to learning this year and to some that may send the message that they don’t care about their education or don’t want to learn. Fortunately, I’ve been in the profession long enough to know that’s not the case and that sometimes it takes time to chip away at those barriers and find the spark that’s inside each and every one of us. Take one student of mine who failed our class the first three quarters of the year. An incredibly intelligent young man who didn’t see himself as such and often rejected the idea that he could be smart. After multiple conversations and some serious relationship-building, he started to hang around more after class, put more effort into his work, open up about his fears, and join a voluntary afterschool initiative. He ended up passing the last quarter and is just one representation of the truth that deep down each of us wants to be successful, even if it’s hard to see on the outside.    

10.  Patience. Patience. Patience. Teaching is hard work. Period. Things rarely work out exactly as we plan and we can’t beat ourselves up about it. While this is easier said than done, especially for someone like me who holds themselves – and their kids - to high expectations we have to be patient with ourselves and our own learning process. We’re learning right alongside our kids and just like they don’t get it right every time, we won’t either. We also have to be patient with our students, especially when it seems like their only intent in the world is to drive us bonkers. Whenever I checked myself, took deep breaths, kept an even tone in my voice, and channeled my most patient self, things were better for everyone in our classroom.

11. I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. While this year was my hardest by far, I know I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. There were multiple times I’d break out into a smile or offer a gratitude to the universe for placing me back in the classroom, in an incredible school in a community that I love. There are few better feelings than knowing that you are exactly where you belong. I felt that over and over again this year and while I’m looking forward to a much needed break this summer I’m excited to grow even more as a teacher and learner next year. 

When you teach middle school, you have to get silly sometimes.