Teacher’s Appreciation Week: Favorite teachers remembered

I can’t say I’m where I am because of me.  I can’t say that at all.

At first, I was going to post a quick response to this facebook post:

Harvard Graduate School of Education

In honor of National Teachers Appreciation Week, the HGSE community reflects on their favorite teachers. We encourage you to leave comments below for any HGSE faculty, college or K-12 teachers that you would like to thank on this special week: http://youtu.be/F3p3szwo46U

Our Favorite Teachers Remembered

www.youtube.com

During ‘National Teacher Week’, members of the HGSE community reflect on their favorite teachers over the years.

But then, it got too long.

Kindergarten, I had Mrs. Gerard. She was amazing and super intense.  I knew no English but somehow I still remember Presidents James Monroe, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.  I remember random letters.  I remember money.  I remember a treehouse inside the classroom where we had an astronomy unit.  HOW DO I REMEMBER ALL THIS? My mom says this was also her most intense year of school.  (I moved in the end of Kindergarten, and went on to some other teacher, who was a boo.)

First Grade:  Mrs. Pamela Hayworth. The strictest, scariest, tiniest teacher I ever had.  She stayed after school with me and another group of kids and practiced reading.  She taught me how to pronounce Eugene.  She was a scuba diver and was really scary.  I have very positive feelings though

Third Grade:  New school (again). Mrs. Beck. Magical. Taught me to love fairytales, Roald Dahl, and multiplication.  She modeled awesome teaching.  I love her. One bad thing: I had to sit next to Ian Jennings often, a crazy boy with behavioral problems who wiped boogers on me and tried to cut my skirt with safety scissors.  ***FAVORITE TEACHER ***

Sixth Grade:  Independent study. I met with Althea once a week.  She taught me how to learn by myself.  She stopped me from saying “like.”  She helped me to become an independent thinker.  Seriously set the foundation for the rest of my life. And that is huge.

Eighth grade:  Algebra.  My second year at a new school, in junior high, was miserable.  Mr. Tsuruda taught a traditionally difficult, leveled, high-stakes class in an interdisciplinary, engaging way that acknowledged different learning styles.  He was great, caring, and “cool” (for an old man. ).  Most thankful though for the fact that he took me from the dead-end math track to the one that ended in Calculus.  I think that also changed my academic trajectory.

Junior Year Lit:  Mrs. Klein. She taught me how to read and write. Like, really read and write.  This set me up for college. I swear, most useful class ever. Also, introduced me to my favorite author: Toni Morrison.  Inspires and finds time for me even today.

Junior and Senior year Math:  Ms. Chute.  I was in the depths of math despair, and this lady can teach.  And by teach, I mean that she can teach calculus so that I understood it, loved it, and owned my standardized tests…. she did all this without teaching to the exam. Awesome.  Also, she knew how to be a mentor even if she wasn’t in the “official” position as one.

Sophomore, Junior, Senior Years: Mr. Camner.  I think I took like, 7-8 classes with this man.  Ceramics, Advanced Sculpture, Independent AP Art Studio, and Yearbook.  He created our art lab and pushed me artistically and as a person.  So grateful for the opportunity to learn how to make glazes, put on an exhibit, cast bronze, and of course, blow glass.

Spanish: Sr. Vericat.Honestly, not the best spanish language teacher.  GREAT literature teacher.  Amazing, caring, kooky, crazy man.  Artist.

Professor Celeste Langan: Taught me to hate and then to love Romantic literature.  How is that possible?  Also, taught me how to write better.  Her person also just inspires me.

Professor Julio Ramos: Understanding, compassionate professor who cared for me as an individual, and not just as an academic pupil.

Professor Tim Hampton: So smart, so humble, so down to earth, so supportive.  Love how he conducts seminars and love his brains! haha.

At HGSE, there is an abundance of amazing, supportive professors.  I have a hard time though.  Some professors, I’ve been less than pleased about their instructional style (especially, since I like smaller classes where we delve… which is not the nature of education), but then I love how they care.  I think I’ve loved or found a reason to respect all my professors here.  However, thankful for Dr. Pamela Mason, my program coordinator… because she’s a woman who’s been there, and done that. Really thankful that I’m in close quarters with someone who has not just studied education, but who has been IN the schools.  Thankful also for Jenny Thomson, Lauren Capotosto, and Christina Dobbs in being so gentle in walking me through increasing my scope of understanding literacy.  Loved Kay Merseth and Vicki Jacobs’s helping me understand just education and pedagogy.  Mad respect and thankfulness for Fernando Reimers and Monica Higgins in inspiring me just about… entrepreneurship and leadership.

Inspirational Words from a Teacher of Reading

I’m slogging through writing my last paper for HGSE.  I read this for my paper and I’m, well not completely rejuvenated, but my interest is re-piqued.

“I am not a machine. I am not a silver-bullet reading program that will sit on a table in room 165 and wait for Alvin or his mother to push the “on” button to tease, push, cajole, nag, nurture, and so much more. Nor am I just anybody. I have energy and expertise. I know language, writing, and reading, especially as they concern adolescents. I understand the importance of phonemic awareness, phonetic connections, morphemic knowledge, textual organization, metacognitive awareness, contextual strategies, critical literacy, and multiliteracies. I appreciate the value of struggling and succeeding by our own efforts and of being able to say, “See, you could do it,” whatever the task, and then watching pride grow into a smile. I read professional literature daily and reflect on current research and practice that encourage literate thinkers and learning strategies that are effective and com- pensate for student strengths and weaknesses. I create a curriculum that is responsive to the students who come into my charge, and I make hundreds of decisions and adjust lessons on the spot according to my assessment of student learning. I am aware that there are social forces in the community and at work—cultural differences, school structures and politics, and teacher variability. And I acknowledge that I have deficiencies; some I don’t recognize and others I work to repair.

I am all of these things, for I am a teacher. I am also dispensable—easily replaced by another READ 180 teacher. I am gratified to believe that I am not so dispensable to Alvin and his mother. Apparently, they are looking for a teacher of literacy, not a manager of computer disks and discrete skills, such as those set forth in a reading program. I have them to thank for reaffirming what I know and feel: pride in being a teacher of reading. Of greater significance, however, is that Alvin and his mother, by recognizing their challenges as readers, have brought the response to compre- hensive reading instruction into focus: the place for the teacher in reading.”

Lupino, E. (2005). Taking place: The teacher in reading. International Reading Association, 49(1), 4-10.

First last class of the semester

Yesterday I found out that today would be my last Writing Development class at HGSE.  I mildly flipped.  Okay fine, I just flipped.  I really loved this class.  I learned so much, but one of the main things I learned from this class and from Jenny Thomson’s Reading Difficulties class is that you don’t have to be intimidating to inspire hard work.  Or, the way a teacher approaches my work really affects the way I work.

Does this make sense?  Let me backtrack.

One of my favorite classes in high school was with Ms. Klein.  She was a tough woman and her reputation was that of a tough-grading feminist.  She was awesome and I learned so much.  I was deathly afraid of her piercing green eyes but over time recognized that she was just as passionate about us as she was about literature and writing.  Because she was so tough, I felt all the more gratified by that B+ or A- than I did by an A from other English teachers.

I think something about this rubbed off on me.  As a teacher, I wanted to be real with my kids and not just compliment them on effort but to push them to great writing that they could achieve (if they stopped being weenies!).  I thought of my scary bio, chem, and math professors and subconsciously, I assumed that acknowledging a tough subject matter is serious by also being tough and serious when approaching the subject would really inspire and encourage students when they conquered such subjects!  I can see how this isn’t totally off, but this year, I discovered something different.

This year, I think, was the first time where I physically panicked over a paper, and this was the first time where I really felt like I was faking my way through certain topics (more about this later).  My teachers were far from harsh, but they weren’t necessarily soft and chummy.

I wouldn’t say Jenny and Christina are soft and chummy either.  However, they did have a way of making their materials approachable.  For example, in Reading Difficulties (with Jenny), I never feel stressed.  I was learning about stuff I’ve never even tried to approach before (i.e. brain stuff, dyslexia stuff, assessment acronym stuff).  But the way she conducted office hours was in a very understanding way – she acted like my ideas are good and I felt confident in my work.  Sometimes my grade was good, sometimes it was not.  Regardless, I still felt good and still felt able to go and talk to her about it, and I realized that the work I gave her was actually good work.

Same thing goes for Christina’s Writing Development class.  She doesn’t go for this intimidating, “let me establish myself as a knowledgeable teacher,” but she acknowledges what we bring to the table.  Her and Beth’s (the Teaching Fellow) comments on my writing has been the sweetest, most sincere words I have ever received and they made me want to think and write and respond more – which is what teachers should be inspiring in their students anyway! 

You don’t have to make a feat appear great just so that kids feel great after accomplishing the feat.  If the purpose is to learn something, then we should make it easy to learn it.  If the purpose is to teach the kid to persevere, then let the kid know that this about teaching him/her perseverance, not necessarily the topic at hand!  (This epiphany came from another wonderful class with Vicki Jacobs).

I remember a class where although I respected the teacher, I hated to ask questions, I felt overwhelmed, and when I left the class, I realized that YES I had learned a lot, but it wasn’t a gratifying experience.  I got sick.  I felt sick.  I was scared for the full class, hoping she wouldn’t call on me.  Everyone else acted like they knew what they were doing – we all did.  It cultivated a classroom of pretend.

I know we don’t want to coddle students, and we want to teach them to live in the real world, but really, also part of it is making sure they learn.  Why make it harder emotionally or mentally when the final output is just as good or even better if we give the students the confidence that they do know what they’re talking about and their thoughts and questions are just as valid as the ones we present?

I don’t want my future students to scramble unless the purpose of my lesson is to teach them to scramble (in which case I would let them know that yes, they are scrambling, but they’re supposed to be).  Does this make sense?  No more surprises, mystery, or posturing.  There’s other ways to maintain order in the classroom and inspire great accomplishments.

“I used to think that to validate students and to inspire in students a sense of accomplishment, you needed to give them large, slightly intimidating goals.  But now I think that being open, understanding, and providing positive, encouraging feedback does not communicate a “this is an easy class” vibe but actually empowers students to accomplish more.”

Class picture on the last day. It moves just like those in Harry Potter!

George Zimmerman Charged: Not a night of celebration

I was on my way to Washington DC, taking advantage of JetBlue’s free TV when I saw Breaking News: George Zimmerman Charged with Second Degree Murder.

I watched bits of this news segment and below is one thing a pastor with Trayvon Martin’s family said that really got to me.  While saying that what they hoped for was a fair trial, I was struck by their lack of this push for retribution.  I was also struck by the humility of allowing the judicial system (that in a sense, initially betrayed them until they rallied media support) to continue its work.  I am glad that they reminded the world that this isn’t a viral hype, but the start of a movement that requires sober discernment.

“There are no winners here. There are no high fives tonight. They have lost a son. We will not be gloating around here. We are still mourning with this family. We will monitor this trial every step of the way. This is not a night of celebration, it is a night that should’ve never happened in the first place.  We are trying ot make sure that something happens so that this will not happen again.“

Personally, I am not very “PC.”  I get irritated when people don’t give others the benefit of the doubt or too quickly label something racist or culturally-insensitive.  I wonder if instead of hollering about race, why not just shrug it off, keeping living, and respond to ignorance gently?

I wonder about George Zimmerman. Is he a product of racism or ignorance?  Both?  Does the latter breed the former?  I don’t believe he is an anomaly.  I don’t think humans are naturally good and Zimmerman is just a bad egg.  I wonder what the outcome would have been if Trayvon Martin’s story didn’t become viral.  Perhaps because the nature of the death was so violent and because the actions so blatantly stared us in the face, we were forced to take action.  But so many things like this happen every day (albeit at a milder part of the spectrum).

I still have plenty of thoughts but I’m rambling, and I’m trying to learn to cut myself short.  I will end with a few words from Trayvon Martin’s mother.

I want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. It is not black nor white, it’s red. So I want to say thank you from my heart to your heart.

In all this pain, I am amazed and encouraged to see this family glorifying God in their responses of grace and trust.  We can know that even in this, God is still good.

Just another day for thinking and creating

Today was an inspirational day.  I met up this morning with Dr. Reimers to discuss a class project and some personal ideas.  He is seriously one of my favorite teachers here.  Then, in my Charter Schools class,  there were a slew of great speakers with practical advice.. it was so jam-packed.  And then, oh, Mike Feinberg (cofounder of KIPP) decided to swing by.  Regardless of my personal feelings about KIPP schools, it’s times like these where I am amazed and thankful to be at HGSE.

Today I’m working on my Business Model Canvas since tomorrow I’m meeting with a friend to discuss a nascent business plan for The Mind Garden.  Wheeoo wheeoo.  Should’ve started this earlier!

I’m also eating Mike’s Pastry, Ben & Jerry’s Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Snack Ice cream, and Haagen Dazs five’s coffee ice cream.  :)

Just read the following article to pump myself up.  An oldie but a goodie.

Disruption is coming, there is no doubt of it! Will it be soon? Will it be virtual? We have little idea at this time as to how it will eventually turn out. What is also clear, however, is that the technology revolution taking place means that when disruption does come, it will be more than mere operational rearrangements; it will be profound and revitalizing.

- Disruption: Coming Soon to A University Near You [forbes.com]

Thyme Ms. Stick King | Three Random Vignettes

Do any of you guys play Mad Gab?  I love Mad Gab.

TIME IS TICKING!

The Charles, right before it starts to bloom.

Anyway, this semester, I spent a good four hours consolidating all my syllabi into one master syllabus.  It took a loooong time since only one prof gave me a MS Word documents and the rest used PDFs.  But it was so worth it.  I’ve been relatively on top of my projects and readings!  It’s come to a point though, where all I’m realizing is that it is week 10, I have projects and papers due in the last week of April and the first week of May, and then it’s o v e r .

Second semester was so much better in figuring out how to end, but it could always be better.  I sort of gave up some areas of my life to prioritize for others and of course, leaving a lot of time for play.  I’m a sentimental type of person, and sometimes, I see people in the library or walking down the street and I feel this urgency to meet up for “one last time,” study together for “one last time,” and then I feel very very weepy.

One of my hopes for this blog was to explain the name and the title.  I thought it was a clever way of incorporating this “search for the elusive  snark” and little witticisms.  Recently, as I’m trying to figure out where to go after graduate school, how to plan my ideas for The Mind Garden or whether to jump head first into different nonprofit start-ups, this chunk of Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark resonates more deeply.

” ‘But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!’

I have goals and I have dreams that I am hunting.  But if it’s the wrong Snark, if it’s a Boojum, “you will softly and suddenly vanish away, / And never be met with again!”  I feel that although I’m surrounded by much passion, sometimes, I feel sad at the meaninglessness of being only full of passion, even if it is properly guided or stems from well-meaning thoughts.  I wonder a lot for myself, what does it matter if I gain my whole world, but then lose that which put meaning into it in the first place?  (Mt. 16:26, Mk. 8:36, Lk 9:25).

Voices, privilege, and cultural context in writing instruction in the USA

“Too often, those teachers who do feel some level of confidence about the assessment of students of color, have been shut out of the conversation. Their voices have been silenced by bureaucratic procedures, lack of inclusion, and lack of acknowledgment for the resources they can bring to the discussion. In order to remedy this situation, not only must we “learn how to better privilege the voices and interpretations from teachers most knowledgeable about the context of students’ assessment” (Huot, 1996), but we must learn how to better privilege the voices and interpretations from teachers most knowledgeable about the cultural context of students’ assessment. Unless we accomplish this task, writing achievement for underachieving students will, quite likely, continue to decline.“

-Excerpted from Arnetha Bell’s “Expanding the dialogue on culture as a critical component when assessing writing”