By Jenni Glenin of
the Daily News
A gift to the
future and a glimpse of the past united alumni, retirees, students and faculty
at Siebert Elementary School. The group
gathered Friday afternoon to view the contents of a time capsule buried in 1976
and replace it with a new one representing the present school year.
Retired teachers
and students from the 1975-1976 school year returned for the opening of the
time capsule. Most of them couldn’t
remember what they contributed to the capsule, but the former students recalled
it as an important event in their school years.
The unveiling of
the 1976 time capsule revealed a collection of newspapers, letters,
photographs, and stamps. "It's
really cool what they did because you can look back at the past and say
"This is awesome," said student council secretary Adam Clements.
The current
students selected the items for the new time capsule by class votes. The new time capsule contains Pokémon cards,
Jolly Ranchers, a Siebert T-shirt, and a yearbook, among other items.
The current student council officers and the other students aren't sure where they will be in 25 years, but several of them want to return to see their time capsule opened. "I'm hoping that I'll come back because this year's been one of the best," Clements said. "Our fifth grade class is like one big family."
That young fifth grader, famously quoted in his hometown
paper, was me.
Fifth grade was a very special year for me. It was the year that I memorized every state
and its capitol. It was the year I
dissected a chicken wing and figured out how tendons work. It was the year that I expressed myself
through similes and metaphors. But above
all else, it was the year that I felt a part of a family. The community that was cultivated in that 5th
grade class was unlike anything I had experienced in school. Being dyslexic, I could write freely knowing
I wasn't going to be ridiculed for spelling beautiful
without the a. Being quite
uncoordinated, I could play basketball at recess and feel like a part of the
team even though my skills rarely aided in any victories. I was valued for my unique capabilities of
creativity. I was accepted for being me.
As I entered my collegiate study of education, much of my
tasked reflection of my own schooling experiences centered on this unique ideal
learning environment. I pulled forgotten
memories to the forefront to analyze looking for some answer to how this
classroom family was created. I quested
every aspect of that year. Why did this
class have such a strong sense of inclusion, acceptance, and comradery? What did the teacher do to impact this? Why was this year of my elementary education
so vividly memorized? Was it just the
make-up of students in that class? Had I
simply romanticized that year and those interactions?
Looking for more concrete answers to these questions, I
reached out to my 5th grade teacher asking her about how this sense
of community came to be.
She responded:
"So....your
question about classroom community....it is a question that I am not sure how
to answer...It seems to just evolve around the way that I do things...I think
that having fun together in a classroom builds that sense of family, along with
role modeling respect for one another. I have zero tolerance for tattling,
drama, bullying, hurting feelings, etc. I have always tried to talk to the
students in the same way that I would talk with a grown up. It is important to
me to have the classroom be an emotionally safe environment, as that is the
best environment for learning. I share things that happen in my life so that I
seem like a human being to the kids. I would have to ask you what you remember
about that feeling of "family" - how that felt, what it looked like
to you as a ten-year-old? It really is a great compliment to me and I thank you
and apologize for not having a better answer for you!"
Following this response, she invited me to come spend the
afternoon in her classroom. As I entered the room, my soul went into nostalgia
overload. Floods of familiar feelings
filled my heart and forgotten memories came to my mind. It was as if time had stood still, and yet
nothing felt outdated. Watching her
teach was a surreal experience. No
longer was I viewing her through the eyes of a student, but instead, now I
observed through the eyes of a colleague.
In language arts, they continued a shared reading of the
text "Rules" by Cynthia Lord.
Before starting, one student expressed that they didn't have their book
and without pause, multiple other students offered to share or to get them an
extra copy from somewhere else in the room.
After finishing the book, the class engaged in a deep conversation about
empathy, understanding, and appreciation of differences that would rival any
college lecture hall. They willingly
shared personal feelings and connected their life experiences to the text. Their discourse was respectful, yet they still
managed to critically challenge ideas.
At the end of the day, after students had gone, that
teacher and I had time for a conversation.
I was so amazed at the mastery I had just witnessed and I was looking
forward to finding out how she was able to create this learning
environment. But what followed was not
the conversation I had anticipated.
Instead of a teacher who was aware of just how unique and special her
teaching was, I listened to a teacher inundated with stress from an overly
demanding and demeaning administrator, overwhelmed by ungraded standardized
assessments she hated giving, and plagued by frustration for refusing to teach
"the given curriculum" that did nothing for her students. Here was my introduction to the reality of the
current education system - one overrun with conflicting policies and purposes progressively
conforming to a business or industrial model that treats students as scores in
a gradebook and neglects the artful teaching that skilled educators are capable
of.
"Adam, it used to be like Disneyland," she
said. "I couldn't believe they
actually paid me to come do this job.
Now, I just don't know how much longer I can do it. I feel okay when I am with the kids, but you
know that is only part of the job. The
rest has just become too much. I feel
like sometimes I just have to close my door and do what I know I do
best." It was disheartening to see
your idol, the model for what your motivation is driven to recreate, so
defeated by the negative restrictions placed on her work environment.
When I returned home, I wrote a thank you note expressing
my gratitude for allowing me to visit.
"Thanks for
letting me visit! I appreciate your
openness and willingness to share. I
know you feel like you weren't doing anything but you really were. I was able to see the exact same respect and
sincerely interested teacher-student conversations that I remember were so
unique to me in 5th grade. You have a
masterful way of connecting to students, making them feel important, special,
and worthwhile."
The sense of hopelessness, the weight of realizing the enormous
task of changing the current system, of impacting it, is not hard to feel. Yet what was apparent was that even though
she felt defeated, the outsider perspective was clearly able to see that
through the tangled restrictions, community prevailed. A sense of home had been established and
profoundly impacted the learning environment.
So many of us recognize the need for our classrooms to be more - to
deliver a quality learning experience beyond just the core academics, but are
lost on how to accomplish this or perhaps dare not to even try for fear of
punitive and disciplinary measures. Yet,
if we fundamentally envision this better schooling, shouldn't we be brave and
simply do it?
This past year, my principal subbed for my class in the
morning after students got back from specials while I stepped out for a 20
minute curriculum meeting. His sub plans
were to run morning meeting - a time in our day where we participate in a
community builder, share lift ups recognizing what others have done well, and
share good news and announcements about our personal lives. When I returned they were in the middle of a
fun conversation about soccer and the nervous energy building inside of some of
them in anticipation for the big tournament that was coming that weekend. The class was alive, engaged, and
connected. As I came back in to take
over and relieve him from subbing, he stayed for another five minutes to finish
morning meeting. As he headed for the
door to leave, he turned and animatedly commented on how positive he felt and
questioned me why every teacher in the school did not do this. A bit surprised and amused by his
uncharacteristically energetic demeanor, I explained that it impedes on an
overly scheduled academic day and can conflict with the demands of completing
all the required curriculum. "I
guess," he responded, "but this just seems too important to
skip."
Small changes.
Hi Adam,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I enjoyed the personal anecdotes you incorporated. I feel that this is one of the best ways to become a better teacher – reflection. And as you reflected on your fifth grade experience, it is great to see how you can connect to the text we read this past week. When Martin started using Maria Montessori as a main reference for her book I was excited because I attended a Montessori elementary school for most of my primary school years. Unfortunately, the ideas and visions Montessori, and even Martin, had for the concept of a schoolhome were not carried out in my Montessori experience. I feel that the increase in standardized testing had something to do with it. As your fifth grade teacher told you, I think my Montessori school teachers were put under a lot of pressure to increase student performance on a standardized assessment while keeping true to the Montessori values. However, most of the Montessori ideals were lost for the sake of higher test scores.
Was the elementary school you attended by any chance a Montessori school? I find it fascinating the memories you have feeling cared for, connected to, and expressing concern for your classmates at such a young age. It seems that many of Martin’s views were delivered in this classroom setting.
To me, it seems more important that skills and traits such as the ones you described learning at age ten are more important than academics. In the American culture, it is usually assumed that it is the parents’ responsibility to raise a child into a well-rounded adult and decent, helpful citizen. However, as Martin discussed in her text, home has changed and is going to keep on changing; the image of home has changed greatly even since I graduated high school in 2010 as a response to the Great Recession. Children are supervised most likely more now than they have ever been before (as we discussed earlier in this course). But this supervision is from teachers, not from the adults in the home setting. Elementary students can sometimes spend 3 extra hours a day in after care and most high school students have sport practice, rehearsals, or club meetings for just as long. With so much time spent at school, students need to find the care, concern, and connection that mold them into respectful, productive adults at school from the adults they interact with there.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI also would like to know if your fifth grade year had a standardized curriculum? I am sure your fifth grade teacher is expected to teach a common curriculum now, which is part of the reason teaching is not as exciting as it was, but I have found a common curriculum does not let the teacher teach the whole child, all of the children, or even grow as an instructor. By taking home out of school, a lot of engaging, relevant, teachable moments are taken out of the classroom. It is no wonder that students do not enjoy coming to school and are disengaged. The classroom is a foreign land. By ignoring current events and acknowledging students’ struggles at home once students come to school, the hidden curriculum teaches our students that the their home experience is not worth the time of teachers and administrators. How can we then expect the next generation to change the world when all of their years of schooling were spent ignoring the exact problems that need to be changed?
ReplyDeleteLastly, I would like to comment on your principal. Thank you for including that story at the end of your post! It gives me hope that not all administrators out there have forgotten what it is important in the classroom, that students are not meant to be data dispensers, and that even the smallest lessons can have the biggest impact. I clicked through the website you provided to define what a morning meeting is and I love the idea! It is something that should be incorporated at all grade levels because, as your principal told you, it seems almost too important not to. Yes, it may be risky to spend class-time on something that does not directly correlate to a standardized assessment but it may be equally as risky to not allow time in the hectic school schedule to allow students to decompress, express themselves, and learn how to care, show concern, and connect with their peers (especially diverse peers!).
I hope you keep doing what you are doing in your classes to make school a bit more like home! It does make a difference as you personally testified. Even if we do not have couches in the corners of our classrooms, or if our students do not live within close proximity to the school, a little bit of home can always be brought into the classroom if the teacher is willing to rise to the challenge and incorporate it into the explicit curriculum.
Thank you,
Marissa Hoffman
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI think it is wonderful that you were able to reach out to your fifth grade teacher and let her know how much you appreciated her as a student, and to watch her from a teacher’s perspective. I can see exactly what she means about teaching once being like Disneyland and now being oppressive (for lack of a better term). I remember as a student growing up how excited the teachers were to be teaching. As I entered the profession I could see the difference between the teacher’s in my childhood and my colleagues. Just as your fifth grade teacher, they are all defeated. It’s depressing and tragic. A profession that should be enjoyable and rewarding is too oppressive and policy dominate for it to be totally rewarding. The best we can do is, what your fifth grade teacher continues to do, to create a community in our classrooms. How long has your fifth grade teacher been teaching?
To answer your question: We should absolutely be brave and just do it. I think to do the opposite is to compromise students’ ability, desire, and willingness to learn. It makes me crazy that so many teachers are so caught up in complying with policies that everyone knows is contrary to teaching to appease administrators and politicians. What is ethical about that?! Denying children real learning to appease the oppressors, seems unethical. What are your thoughts about this? What advice would you give to teachers about real teaching and following curriculum policy?
I think that it is great that your principal appreciated your activity to build and establish a sense of community. In my experience that exercise would have resulted in a write up. It would have strayed from curriculum and district policy. The districts I have taught in have very strict teaching policies. Any variation warrants public criticism and disciplinary action. It is as crazy as it sounds, but true story. I think it is important that your principals can identify the importance of such activities and be vocal about his support. Too often principals seem so caught up in the rules to see anything else beyond them. Sounds like your principal is pretty cool. How long have you taught in Okemos?
Thank you for sharing!
Richelle
Hi Adam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post and the great and inspiring conversation it generated!
Your post covers a lot of ground. Honestly, I feel a bit conflicted. I do think a previous generation of very good teachers is feeling pretty defeated by the new environment. However, I see some good things in the changes and think that reasonable school leadership can bring together the best of the old and the new. However, it's clear, from posts like Marissa's, that this type of leadership is not necessarily the norm.
Teaching like Disneyland is a super interesting metaphor. Disneyland is fun for kids, and the kid in adults, but it would be a hell, at least for me, to attend each day. So I take that metaphor seriously and wonder if school should be Disneyland? Can it sometimes be a day at the office in Silicon Valley? I don't know, just some thoughts on that one.
I'm struck by how well you seem to be adopting to the new climate and the advocacy you are taking with your own building leadership. I encourage you to push your principal this fall--why not encourage all teachers to take some time for morning meeting? Or at least make it clear that is a perfectly acceptable thing to do!
Family is a good thing, but it's not the only model we can have for a productive and inclusive community. But it is a powerful one. I think we have to be careful with the metaphor, and be careful with the idea that we can provide in schools what parents are supposed to provide at home. As a sharp and critical intellectual, I'm sure you get what I mean by this.
I look forward to reading your final post! Great job on this post!
Kyle