Heraclitus Got It Right!

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“The only constant in life is change.”

We all know that no two school years are alike.  Students and situations are always changing. That being said, I keep a checklist throughout the school year of tasks I would like to add or update in the following school year.  Toward the end of the school year, I begin to make the necessary changes.  I try to do this before school ends because I know that by the time fall comes around, I will have forgotten the purpose of the changes.  

I use the Notes function provided in my Outlook email.  It appears as a virtual post-it.  I use it to jot down my ideas throughout the school year.  Usually, my notes consist of basic items such as updating parent/student letters, submitting print requests for the start of year math units, buying needed class supplies, and creating or updating classroom visual posters.  

I finalized my semester grades yesterday. In reviewing the online program my students used, I was surprised to see that out of 108 students, I only had 11 who were unable to access the online resource during distance learning.  My initial thought in reviewing this data is that during distance learning, students will always try to do the work, but this is dependent on their availability to do it.

Recently, I have been reflecting on my teaching methods and past practices.  This coming fall’s school start-up will be dependent on what phase of reopening our county is in. Currently, my county still hasn’t progressed out of phase 1. So how do I best prepare for the unexpected?

My new checklist: 

  • Mentally prepare that school might be 100% distance learning.  
  • Create student and parent tutorials around my core 4 platforms of Teams, One Note, Stream (for asynchronous video), and Zoom (for Synchronous video that I will use to deliver instruction and create community).
  • Begin to merge school adopted curriculum to these platforms.
  • Create a video tutorial on regular and sketch note-taking for students.
  • Create a logistic questionnaire for students and parents on wifi/internet availability, cell phone reception, meal access, adult help with school work, and environment to do school work.
  • Create a teacher account on various social media platforms to distribute information to parents and students.
  • Participate in professional development that will strengthen my skills in teaching during distance learning. 

The challenges I have faced during distance learning will help me plan for the following school year.  When you begin to prepare for the fall 2020-2021 school year, ask yourself these few questions.

  1. What is working?
  2. What am I learning?
  3. What do I knot know yet?
  4. What should I continue to do?

By actively engaging in this process of learning, reflection, and planning, you will have laid the groundwork to emerge stronger in the year to come. Remember, everyone’s process will be different. I hope in sharing mine, it will help you formulate what will work best for you, your students, and their parents.  And if, as you read this, you have begun or already have plans in place, please comment. Because through collaborating and sharing with others is how we all learn and grow.

Real Student Conversation

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Current Affairs, Education, Equity, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Social Issues, Uncategorized
Cartoon of student images

I started last Wednesday’s zoom office hours assuming that my students would most likely ask questions around their statistics math work.  I spent the earlier part of the week predicting which questions they may have complications with, creating problems with step-by-step explanation, and jotting down my calendar availability in case students needed extra support sessions.  

I start all zoom meetings asking my attendees how their weekend was. Delightful conversation usually occurs around how we are all keeping busy while staying at home.  Once all the students have had an opportunity to share, we switch topics and discuss math.  This last Wednesday was NOT business as usual.

My first student asked, “Mrs. Eaton, did you hear there is going to be a protest down at Winco?”  

I said, “Yes, I heard about that.”  

The discussion quickly unfolded into a slew of questions.  Math wasn’t spoken of at all during the day’s sessions.  

Some of my students are very confused and scared about what is happening in our country.  There were varying opinions on what students have been seeing on TikTok. It was interesting to discover that students receive much of their news from TikTok, the social media platform where people are sharing funny dance moves, challenges, and jokes. 

Students discussed different TikToks they had seen and how they were affected.  I asked students to think about the accuracy/validity of what they were viewing. Students defended TikTok and expressed they felt it was “unfiltered real news”.  When I asked them what they meant by that, they unanimously replied that you can’t trust news from the television.  

The conversation then switched to racism.  Some of my students vocalized they wanted to demonstrate their support while under quarantine (still in phase 1 where we live.)  Others were scared because undocumented older siblings were going to attend the protest. They feared the police would catch them and send them to a detention facility.

Many of my citizen students never considered that some of their classmates were not documented.  An eerie silence filled the zoom room when a student asked another if they were born here.  I interjected and asked my students to think about whether it is okay to discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or national origin?

I can’t help but wonder what this would have looked like in a regular classroom.  Would students have been shy to speak up?  Does the stop video function act as a courage button in allowing students to be more vocal?  Does the chat function facilitate hearing the voices of students who, in a regular classroom setting, would have been overshadowed by outspoken students?

During distance learning our priority, as educators, has been intensely focused on providing equitable instruction.  I have been researching best practices, planning, and preparing what the start of 2020-2021 will look like. It is easy to forget, at times, that our classrooms were safe spaces where students were able to ask non-academic questions.  

The best thing I could do was listen and allow an open forum for their discussion.  The honest truth is that in today’s society, teachers are assumed to be viewed as neutral or as a moderator when discussing such topics with students.  Students look up to their teachers and are influenced by our views, regardless of how we stand on any issue. 

I understand that there are many ways to dismantle institutional racism and other controversial issues affecting our country.  However, let’s not forget that space must be provided for students to question and discuss these issues in a non-threatening environment.  It is through moments like this that understanding occurs, unconscious biases are discovered, bias starts to be extinguished, and our society begins to change for the better.  

“Political Speech”

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It is abhorrent that openly stating “Black Lives Matter” in your classroom or with your students could get you disciplined or your license revoked.

Teachers and the education system are part of the problem that perpetuates not only systemic racism in public institutions but also the individual racism of American citizens. One of the hopes I have about the current outrage over the murder of George Floyd is that our school systems will start to see that saying “Black Lives Matter” is not a political statement. It is the philosophy every school and educator should adopt and promote.

However, some educators do fear being “too political.” That fear, to this point, has been justified as there are examples where teachers have not been supported when deviating from approved curriculum to address supposedly “political” issues. The Washington ACLU has this site I’ve referred to often both for my own self-check and to support fellow teachers. From the link:

School districts have the authority to control course content and teaching methods. You are generally considered to speak for the school district when you are in your classroom. Therefore, your speech in the classroom does not have much First Amendment protection.  This can be a murky area, however. Some courts have ruled that schools cannot discipline teachers for sharing words or concepts that are controversial as long as the school has no legitimate interest in restricting that speech and the speech is related to the curriculum. In general, you should exercise caution so as not to give the appearance that you are advocating a particular religious or political view in the classroom.

Washington ACLU

A review of teacher free-speech cases in the Phi Delta Kappan included that the US Supreme Court in 2006 “held that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes; as such, the Constitution does not protect them from employer discipline. For example, when talking to students during classroom instruction, teachers cannot assume their speech is protected. ” Further, the article noted that “the First Amendment does not entitle public school teachers to cover topics or advocate viewpoints that depart from the curriculum adopted by the school board.”

This is why I asked my district leadership to develop a public statement that explicitly supports and defends teachers’ use of proactive antiracism in curriculum implementation and pedagogical choices.

I do not pretend to be an expert on antiracism. The kinds of things I’m thinking about, though, include teacher moves like these below. This is a woefully incomplete and potentially misguided list, of course, but I’m brainstorming…these are also admittedly “secondary” as that is my limited experience. Teachers of other levels or content areas, please share ideas in the comments.

  • In an English or Social Studies class, explicitly instruct about out how white privilege impacts the context in which a text was created, particularly if the author is white.
  • In English or Social Studies, explicitly teach about systemic injustice and racism to help establish context for text; assign work to students that requires them to confront present day evidence of systemic racism.
  • In math or statistics: Use the concept of composition index or disparate impact to teach about percentages as a segment in a data literacy unit.
  • In health or PE, teach how stereotypes about black athletes or that “white men can’t jump” is rooted in both systemic disparities in access to education as well as historic white fragility and fear of any challenge to white social dominance.
  • In art, deliberately explore how visual/performing arts have been used throughout history to express calls for justice, and how the censorship or control of arts (including deliberate propaganda) have been used to reinforce a racial hierarchy.

Teachers have a lot of work to do on ourselves, of course. White teachers in particular need to come to terms with our own privilege and how it manifests in what and how we teach. If our systems are working, every teacher would be able to explain the nuance between “Black Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter” and how the latter deflects from urgent issues and instead perpetuates injustice. Every teacher would be able describe ways their own race, gender, or socioeconomic privilege manifests (which means deeply understanding that privilege is an observable, documentable, study-able reality, not a political construct). These stances, whether deliberately woven into curriculum or addressed in-the-moment as situations arise, should not be considered political speech, and should receive the explicit support of our employers.

There are individual classrooms where all of this is already happening, of course. Many teachers are doing the good work of antiracism and have been for a long time thanks to the implicit support of their departments, schools, or districts…or their sheer strength of will and character. I’ve spent the last few years striving to shape my classroom practice and content toward overt antiracism. I have a long way to go still, and I make plenty of mistakes.

Now, though, is the perfect moment for districts to make perfectly and unequivocally clear that they will back their antiracist teachers.

Roll Up, Roll Up!

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Current Affairs, Elementary, Life in the Classroom

For years I taught a 5/6 split. The students I had as fifth graders “graduated” into being sixth graders in my next year’s class. Half my class each year was made up of returning students; I called them my “vets.” Half my class was made up of incoming students; they were my “newbies.”

Now I teach a straight fifth grade.

Boy, I miss having a consistent roll up.

There are so many advantages to having a roll up or “looping” classroom.

ONE

When I taught in a roll up, I had every student for two years, increasing student-teacher connections. I saw more improvements. Kids who might be quiet the first year came out of their shell more the second year. They blossomed! They went from not wanting to answer a question in class to clamoring for us to take our class poetry readings on the road.

I remember one third grader announcing to me on the last day of school, “I hate doing work!” I watched him run to the bus and thought, We’ll see how long that lasts. It actually lasted all of fourth grade, but by fifth grade he turned the corner. He became a diligent student, happy to put in the effort because he loved seeing all the great things he could accomplish.

I can make a big difference in a single year. In two years I can do magic.

TWO

Students hit the ground running.

You know how you spend a long time in the fall teaching your class the routines and protocols of your classroom?

With a roll up I could do that so much faster.

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One Last Lesson: Mindfulness in Trying Times

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I cannot begin to tell you how special my 2020 seniors are to me. I feel like writing them a mass letter of recommendation, pinning the hopes of the world on their amazing shoulders. They are the inspiration I need these days, because their cleverness, their resilience, their awareness, and their kindness are what we need to solve problems and hold each other up.

Last week I had one more online class with them to plan, and I had to make it matter. They have been my students since seventh grade. They’ve heard all my stories; they know all my opinions. I’ve presented them with hundreds of lessons on literature and composition. If I haven’t taught them a skill by now, it really is too late, right?

2020 Mossyrock Seniors in Junior High

Bell to bell. I like to fill my students’ time with learning, which makes me an exhausting, high-energy, way-too-intense teacher for some folks, but they know to expect my expectations. And we were going to learn on the last day, too.

What was the lesson they still needed? We had dedicated most of the last semester of their dual-credit composition class to “skills for success”. We brainstormed what successful adults had learned – outside of school. We compared that to their collective knowledge, and then they dug into some research to create projects to share with their peers to expand their knowledge in the homestretch. They created research papers, multimedia presentations, and blog posts (see them here), as individuals and groups. It was relevant, dynamic, timely, and successful. And, in the middle of it, the pandemic happened.

Some of the Girls (Photo Credit: Amy Fitzhugh)

So what was the lesson I still owed them? It is one I am working on myself, and one we all need, especially with the isolation and the unfamiliar challenges of distance learning. I announced that I (their least relaxed teacher of all time) was delving into mindfulness techniques to manage stress in these strange times. I have been reading about stress and mental health all year, and I had just attended our CSTP Happy Hour that focused on mindfulness with special guest Christy Anana. All of the signs led to this topic. This topic chose itself.

I let my vulnerability show, telling my seniors I knew my mindfulness skills were awful, and my “vibe” was not the sort that a mindfulness teacher would have, but I also knew that it was a skill for success that we had bypassed in our research. It was too important to leave out.

Some of the Boys (Photo Credit: Sage Pereira)

So, we watched some videos: an explainer on stress and the brain; some videos of a high school teacher who helps her students “arrive” through mindfulness; and a video that led us through a mindful minute. We discussed how we felt about it, how our conservative community would react if teachers started teaching mindfulness regularly, and how we could use it in our lives to stay grounded and present.

And, as usual, like every other time, these kids impressed me. They were amazing, and already better than me at mindfulness.

The Home Team (Photo Credit: Amy Fitzhugh)

So, at the end, I gave them instructions as to how to write their final reflection and submit their portfolios. There was an awkward pause. I struggled to find some witty way to say my final goodbye, and I failed.

I just said, “I’m going to let you go.”

Pause. Long pause.

“Are you going to cry Mrs. Olmos?”

“Yes.”

That was the last lesson, the last gift I had to give those students. But, next year’s students, no matter what next year looks like, are going to get a more mindful teacher from the get-go.

One More for the Road (Photo Credit: Amy Fitzhugh)

Resources:

How Our Brains React to Uncontrollable Stress

Harvard Researchers Study How Mindfulness May Change the Brain in Depressed Patients

The Mindfulness Skill That Is Crucial for Success

Arrive – A Mindfulness Minute

Mindful Minute – Beach

Christy Anana on YouTube

Where is the Student Perspective?

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Student Perspective

The 4th annual Washington State Teacher Advisory Council (WATAC) Spring Conference was held virtually on May 3, 2020. In this conference, educators learned from their colleagues, got to network, and shared with one another. WATAC provided a full day of sessions starting with opening speaker Amy Campbell, Washington State Teacher of the Year. Lynne Olmos, CSTP blogger’s article, “This Is Heavy: The WATAC Conference and Finding Meaning,” focuses on the presentations from the session speakers.

One of the few great things that have come from this pandemic is the shattering of distance boundaries with professional development. As an eastern Washingtonian, WATAC meant at least 20 hours of road travel, costly hotel stays, and an entire weekend away from my family. I want to say THANK YOU WATAC for doing the impossible and providing a virtual conference in such a short period of time. I hope the option to join conferences virtually continues post-COVID.

The WATAC break-out sessions offered a depth of perspective from multiple stakeholder panels. The student panel interested me the most. It was broken up into three student panel sessions, K-5th grade, 6th-8th grade, and 9th-12th grade. I attended the 6-8th grade student panel because I wanted to better understand the student perspective during this unique period of time. Students discussed what is and isn’t working during distance learning.

What Is Working
Students enjoy the control of waking up when they feel like it. Having the flexibility in allowing their bodies to receive adequate sleep without the pressure of needing to be at school by a certain time. This makes it easier for students to concentrate when they begin their school work.

Students appreciate when teachers respond quickly to emails. We have to remember, as adults, we have become accustomed to giving colleagues a 24-hour window to respond to our emails. However, we must not forget that students haven’t experienced frequent communication via email.

Suggested schedules were also requested by students. Many students feel somewhat lost since distance learning began. Students felt it would be helpful if a simple schedule were created by their teachers recommending when to work on lessons throughout the day or week. A recommended schedule would provide structure, limit student stress, and help them organize their ideas without having to scroll through assignments or emails.

What Isn’t Working
Too many technology platforms are being used. Students are frustrated in learning various ways to submit work, communicate with their teacher, and/or demonstrate their understanding. It has become a juggling act to remember which platforms to use for each teacher. They wish all their teachers would collaborate and decide to use the same platforms.

Students don’t feel they are getting enough work. Some students expressed that they are only receiving review work and haven’t learned anything new. Other students said they aren’t given enough work to do. This has been very irritating to them. Their big question was, “Why aren’t my teachers assigning new work?” Students want to be challenged.

Overwhelmingly, the student panel also let us know that they have friends with limited internet capability. Their friends aren’t able to receive the same level of education as students with no internet complications. Yes, students see the inequity in distance learning.

There are many workgroups forming that are focusing on the 2020-2021 school reopening. Remember it is vital to have representation from students and parents. This reminds me of what an 8th-grade student panelist said, “If teachers just understood us.” Moving forward, all educators need to make a concentrated effort in listening to the needs of students and parents.

The first step in understanding them is to talk with them and ask for feedback on what is and isn’t working. This knowledge will help educators tailor their teaching to better fit students’ needs. Their stories and feedback should be what we, as educators, listen to in order to determine the next steps in creating their best future.

Like Doc Brown said in Back to the Future: Part III, “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has! Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one!”

Letting Go and Leaning In

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Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Social Issues

Covid-19. Quarantine. Social Distancing. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

At the beginning of May, I went into my building for the first time since the initial announcement of the 6-week school closures. I walked through the eerily quiet hallways looking at all of the artwork and school announcement posters still hanging. Everyday items clinging to life, waiting for the halls to once again flood with children to justify their purpose.

I meandered up the stairs and finally arrived at my classroom. Our painted hearts from Valentine’s Day sitting frozen in time on our display wall. I opened my door and was hit with hot, stuffy air and silence. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Water bottles sitting on desks waiting for their owners. My daily schedule still set on March 12th, patiently waiting for the 13th to take its place.

Crayon boxes open on desks, books messily shoved into book boxes, and pencils everywhere. Centimeter cubes sitting in the random spots where kids had left them after a busy day of math workshop. Pillows askew in the classroom library and papers shoved into desks. The stuff of everyday learning filling every inch of my classroom but no longer having any purpose because time has stopped in Room 205. 

What began as weeks has now turned into just over two months of distance learning. As I attempt to continue teaching and give my students feedback, I can’t help but think: Do I even really know this child anymore? It’s been over a summer break’s worth of time since I have seen them in person. Are they still obsessed with Pokemon? Do they still like to eat jelly sandwiches for lunch? Is this feedback going to resonate with this version of them? The faces I now see in front of me feel like a virtual simulation of the students I used to have. I feel incredibly guilty for thinking this way but what we had together in our classroom feels like a lifetime ago.

The feelings of personal inadequacy are strong too. I find myself constantly thinking about all of the things I could do better. As an educator, that feeling is a constant companion, but in this world of online learning, it feels especially overbearing. It’s no longer a companion, but rather an uncontrollable force. Even with each passing team meeting, staff meeting, or online collaboration I somehow feel more alone. 

We have to keep moving forward, but with the 20-21 school year still hanging in the balance, it’s hard to know what to hold on to. It’s hard to know how to manage expectations or what to plan for the next school year. The thought of possibly having to continue fully online for a new school year breaks my heart. We’ve all been cheated. We’ve all lost precious time in our classrooms to grow and learn and give. 

Teachers work their tails off to get to March. The spring is everyone’s big payoff for the school year. We spend Fall and Winter building community, routines, and foundations so that when Spring rolls around our students can soar. More than ever, the classroom feels like a true family as we come to the realization that this school year is coming to an end and we will no longer be together every day. Teachers and students alike begin to savor and soak up every moment they can. 

Not all hope is lost though.

As I comb through my student’s current work, I am often reminded of Rita Pierson’s wonderfully inspiring TED Talk. Within the first minute, Rita quotes James Comer and it is the heart of her message: “No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship.” I think of this quote often because, despite everything, my students are still growing. With each passing week, I see more legible handwriting, longer fiction stories, deeper comprehension in reading. Math concepts I must have taught about 50 different ways in-person without success are starting to click at home. 

Whether it’s a teacher or a parent, kids learn from the people they love.

While I don’t get my big spring payoff there can still be a happy ending. We can take this experience and use it to better leverage family involvement in the future. Maybe we can finally redefine what a learning community looks like. Maybe when they say “it takes a village to raise a child”, we can start creating a better village and lean into the communities that are often ignored beyond our classrooms. I’ve learned that distance can’t stop love or strong relationships or the ways in which we have positively impacted another human being. Kids will always need champions in their corner, even if that corner is miles away. 

ESSB 5395: Concerning Comprehensive Sexual Education Part II

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In my previous post I discussed the reactions of EL parents about ESSB 5395, the new sexual education law. I interviewed EL parents and my school’s social worker, Janice, to dive deeper into the issues relating to this controversial law. The question remains: how can schools and EL parents reach a common understanding regarding ESSB 5395 with cultural and linguistic barriers in place?

Even though the EL parents I interviewed opposed ESSB 5395 and their children’s participation in sexual education, many felt torn about the law in some ways. They agree with Jancie about sexual health being extremely important in preventing sexual abuse. As one parent said, “Some children suffer horrific sexual assaults and steps need to be taken in order to protect them.” 

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Distance Success

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For the vast majority of my students, distance learning has not been working.

Not just my classes, but the concept in general. Many report that their lives outside of school are often unstructured, unfettered, tumultuous, so the routine and predictability (and accountability) of school was what kept their footing. They miss being greeted by the principal and our awesome secretaries every single morning. They miss our one-hallway community where literally everyone knows your name. They even miss my bad dad-jokes. (I added that last one, because I’m just assuming…)

They share with me that it isn’t the content, or the tasks, or the obscure grading expectations, or the fact that they might spend hours staring at a chromebook. It is the loss of the structure of school, both literal and figurative.

While some are adrift, a handful are experiencing an academic transformation. The numbers are small, but there is something about this distance learning thing that is working for them. Let’s take one student, who I’ll call B*. Prior to March 13th, attendance was spotty. When present, B was physically present only. Despite constant attempts to connect, few of us on staff were able to claim we actually had a sustained conversation with them. In the weeks prior to the shutdown, I received two assignments from B. They weren’t defiant, and to be honest their skills (in my classes, at least) did not appear to be deficient in any significant way. B was, and is, an enigma we are continuing to work to unravel.

Transition to distance learning and this same student had nearly the highest rate of engagement of all my students. This is a student listed as homeless, with a history of bouncing from school to school, and with a outside-of-school life that instantly led to worry every time they missed school. When I asked B why distance learning seemed to work, I parsed out three trends in their (short) reply:

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ESSB 5395: Concerning Comprehensive Sexual Education Part I

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ESSB 5395 first came to my attention this fall. Generally, the Slavic community tends to be apolitical, which stems from generations living in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. There you knew the winner of an election before stepping into a voting booth, which bred distrust in the integrity of government processes. My grandmother, a U.S. citizen for over two decades, never cast a vote. Suddenly, people, who debated the trustworthiness of voting over dinner, protested in Olympia. 

Why?

ESSB 5395.

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