Equality.
I joined the Mississippi Teacher Corps with great ambition to be a contributing part of public education in the state of Mississippi, to be a driving force in the quest for equality in the education of Mississippi's youth. What I found out, however, is that these ambitions are naive in the system we have in place and in the world in which we live. My students aren't "equal" because my students haven't been afforded equality in their lives thus far. They come to school hungry; they come to school in the same dirty clothes they wore yesterday; they come to school because the bus stopped on their corner, not because they want to or feel the need to or think that it will in any way help them. I have found that my opinion of equality would change over two years. It's no longer this lofty goal of an equal education for all (although I know that this is what I'm supposed to be striving for); equality means something different to me now.
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Equality means something different to me now." |
Student in middle is eating an apple while reading/listening to "Hamlet" -- my work here is done.
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The biggest way that I try to bring equality into my classroom is by trying to remember daily that each student comes to the table or, in this case, the classroom with not only different abilities but also different levels of interest. In terms of interest, my students vary from just trying to pass my class and graduate to semi-interest or to mild annoyance at having to sit through another English class. I also have to remind myself that for some of my students (at least twenty), they are enrolled not only in my English IV class but also in English III and, to my amazement, even English II, all at the same time. How the system "works" (laugh) will, at times, blow my mind. In terms of my students' different abilities, I've got students that read on a first grade reading level and kids that read at a junior/senior reading level and a whole bunch in between. So when we read (see left), we are reading along with audio so my visual learners can learn and my auditory learners can learn.
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So how do I include everyone; how do I provide as much equality as possible to my students? I watch, I observe, and I am patient. I watch: I watch as many students as possible each class period, looking for faces that tell me "I can get this" or "What in the world is she talking about?" I observe: I observe students' answers to questions, I observe their hesitations, and I observe their misunderstandings, trying to note the place we need to go back to in order to get back on the same page (sometimes literally). I am patient: I am patient (or try to be) with my students that don't pay attention and then two weeks later want to know what the test will be on; I try to be patient with the students when I bend down to help them with their writing and I realize that they can't even comprehend the question. I try to watch, observe, and maintain patience with one hundred and fifty students who are all over the chart on reading level, vocabulary, energy, interest, and motivation (see right).
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Patience. Patience. Patience. When they are asking all the questions and turning in all the makeup work and doing all the most.
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So what happens when my students don't meet my expectations for learning in my classroom? Honestly, it's the exact same principals that I use for including the whole class. I have to watch and observe my students to see where we are missing each other. Is it because I wasn't clear enough in my directions? Is it because I have overestimated their prior knowledge? Is it because it's raining outside and it's Tuesday and my kids need to just vent or be still or just be kids? I have to be patient because I often push the deadline instead of the understanding. I have to be patient because they're just kids.
Sometimes, equality meant giving everyone more than one chance, and even more than what I would have once thought they deserved. For some students, goodness only knows what they are going through. I was talking to someone recently and I found myself having to defend my students with IEPs and special needs. The person asked if they were just being lazy. And at one point in time I might have thought that myself. But being with the students day in and day out proved to me that my attitude had to change. Some students might be faking it, sure, but I had to change my approach and give them the benefit of the doubt. I did this by giving makeup work (see right), giving extra time on tests, giving the opportunity to take the same test multiple times, and giving choices (like different prompt options for a writing assignment, see right).
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For my high students, some of which withdrew from AP English to take my class (for a multitude of very complicated Meridian High School reasons), I gave them extra books to read in their spare time and we would have informal discussions after school (yes, this sounds ludicrous, I know). I somehow managed to inherit a pretty decent classroom library, and some of my top students have been combing through it, book by book, learning from the classics (see left).
I have yet to get anyone interested in Harry Potter, sadly, but Life of Pi, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Color Purple have all been read, and I like to think that's because of my influence (toots own horn). |
When we read Beowulf, I had a student request to read my copy of the much less abridged version than in our (Pearson, Common Core) textbook, and she actually got it (see right).
It truly gives my heart joy to talk to them about the different characters, plot twists, recurring themes, and way, way old British text, but it also does my heart good to sit with a low student after school and work on a test together, crossing out each wrong answer as we go and trying to figure it out together. |
Equality is different to me now. Equality doesn't necessarily mean that each student will leave my classroom knowing the same things or feeling the same way about British literature. My definition of equality has changed. Equality is treating each student like a human being; equality is being here for my kids each day and giving them everything I can to help them succeed, and knowing that they can each succeed in their own unique way.