Assertiveness within the classroom

As I come off of an extremely challenging week within my own classroom, I found that the journal article for the module in class this week was extremely refreshing and interesting.

One idea that my mind always comes back to (and is mentioned several times in our textbook as well as supplemental articles) is that urban schools have SO many inexperienced new teachers who are working with these kids. In fact, my very first job within a public school district was in an urban school. I'll be the first to tell you, it was one of the hardest jobs I've ever had! Even though my class size was smaller last year, sometimes those 17 students could feel like 50! I started thinking about what is so hard about these urban schools and why teachers use them as "starter schools."

I think most of the issue lies in the fact that these schools rely heavily on government funding through Title I programs, and a lot of that depends on test scores. Be it DE testing, FCAT, FCAT Writes, SRI, and any other type of test the district is responsible for, these schools are HARD on testing. To ensure that students do the best they possibly can on these tests, a lot of rigid structure is laid down on ALL teachers to be sure that all students are receiving the same instruction. At my previous school, all math lessons had to be taught the same way. I distinctly remember a first-year teacher getting chastised because she introduced rulers into a lesson when that was not an approved tool for the lesson. Therefore, all creativity in lesson planning goes out the window. Another factor is that teachers have the pressure to use all of their instructional time planning for these tests. Outside performances, recess, free time, socializing....all of these facets of school are kept to a minimum so that students may "perform" the best on standardized tests. Teachers have administration and the county breathing down their backs constantly, and therefore, the teachers breathe down the students' backs constantly. There is little time for the kids to be kids.

So what is missing? There is little to no room for students and teacher to engage in offhanded dialogue when they can get to know each other. There is little time for students to socialize and problem solve conflicts with each other. There is absolutely minimal time for students to exercise, play, and just be outside in general. Very few outside cultural resources are brought in because it is viewed as wasting instructional time. All of this adds together to create an atmosphere of restlessness and essentially, pointlessness, for the kids.

I work in a school that, while not Title I, has a clientele of students who do not have very many opportunities, and I feel very blessed that I am able to work here. The principal continuously offers cultural programs for the students to enjoy. We've seen Chinese acrobats, a gospel choir, strong man competitions, Mad Science activities, and dance performances. We have a TeachIn once a trimester. There is a plethora of musical and artistic opportunities for students, as well as Runner's Club. Some of my students are living in poverty, but have a chance to experience things that other schools may not have offered. I think the focus needs to get off of the test scores and start looking at giving students opportunities to enjoy the real world!

Family and Historical Roots

As I was reading the last two chapters of our assigned textbook, I couldn't help but think how relevant our family and historical roots are in shaping our beliefs and interactions with others. I think about the 1999 movie American History X when, at the end of the movie, the main character realizes that his virulent racism was initially rooted in his father's offhanded comments about affirmative action and how unfair it was. This seed burst open when their father was then killed by an African-American gangbanger. Although hopefully nobody else's family history is quite this dramatic, I think it is critical to take a moment and look at our own family's beliefs-- no matter how painful it may be to do so.

In my own household, I experienced a type of reverse sexism. I grew up with two older brothers, and seeing as I am the baby of the family, of course I was coddled. When I was young, my parents divorced and my mother had sole custody. As I got older (especially in high school and undergraduate) I was held for more responsibilities than my brothers ever were. I was always expected to pay for my own stuff, do my own laundry, shop for myself, take care of the car myself, etc. Meanwhile, my brothers would leave towels on the bathroom floor, drop clothes in the washing machine and never turn it on, and have my mom cook for them non-stop. By the time I was 18, I realized how unfair it was that they had to do nothing, so when my mom would ask me to toss down the towels I'd always refuse. I distinctly remember my grandmother chastising me one time by saying, "You're supposed to help keep the house clean because you're a girl." Even though I was required to take care of more household duties than both of my brothers combined, I was still treated as a child. Even when I was working and had my own car, my mom would tell me to be home at 10, when my brothers were staying out until 1 or 2 in the morning at the same age. The reason why? Because I am a girl.

I'm reminded of this because in my marriage now, we have very un-stereotypical roles in the house. I manage all the money, whereas my husband handles most of the housework and cooking. We play to our strengths. I'm surprised at how many people have criticisms of this type of relationship. He sometimes gets teased and called a "housewife" while I can be portrayed as "bossy." My mother criticized me for not cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for my husband and said that "it wasn't right" to have him cook. I can't help but think about how much my female students are going to have to deal with this attitude that seem so archaic now but is definitely prevalent in the world.

                As this is the second multicultural education class I am in during my graduate career, there are certain topics that keep coming up in literature that I read. One topic that has surfaced numerous times for me in the last few months is the difference between white teachers and African-American teachers. I moved districts from a mostly white and mostly middle-upper class area into Central Florida’s Seminole County, and my first experience in the public school system was at a Title I school. There definitely was an imbalance of white: black teachers, but in my first few weeks what struck me the most was the interactions between the students in the teachers. I was pretty surprised at how sternly and angrily some of the teachers spoke with the students as I never had to do that in my old district. After a little over a year in this district, I think I have chalked the main differences in interactions up to attitudinal differences.

                Perhaps I am overstepping boundaries by making this assumption, but again, this is just based on my observations with less than three dozen teachers in two schools. I noticed that the African-American teachers who were stern with their students still garnered respect and loyalty from their students, even if they were getting chewed out. However, with the white teachers, whether or not they got respect was always in the air. Sometimes, the particularly stern white teachers caused students to purposely lash out just to get the teacher upset. What I noticed was that whereas African-American teachers had an underlying tone of, “You can do better than this; you are disappointing me and yourself,” white teachers predominantly had an undertone of, “Why are you not doing what I want you to?” Again, this was not EVERY white teacher, or EVERY African-American teacher, but just the generalization I made with what I saw.

                Since observing this, I’ve made changes in my interactions with my own students. I realized that when I feel upset with my students, I really am more upset that they are not living up to their full potential or they are short-changing themselves. Situations like this sadden me. I don’t ever want to convey to my students that I’m sad they are not following marching orders because as a teacher, my goal is for the students to be the best they can be, not only follow my lead.