(Re) Imagined Classroom

1. Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?

My classroom will have desks and chairs the students sit in. The room will not be perfectly decorated, but it will be a comfortable and happy place to be. There will be an inspirational quote that is on a central wall in the room about using your education to help others. A)There will be an inspirational quote about the importance of education in several different languages to represent many different cultures. Another important part of the classroom will be a GLSEN Safe Space sticker put in a prominent part of the classroom. One wall of the room will have a bookshelf with many different types of books. Historical fiction, autobiographies, etc.  These books will be available for students to check out and to read when they finish their assignments early. B) These books will illustrate different cultural narratives. They will not just be historical fiction novels about white guys in history, but they will be about many different groups. These books will also have varying difficulty levels. The books will also be available in English and Spanish (and other languages if they are available). The room will be VERY organized and not cluttered.C) I hope to also have a cool poster or bulletin board that represents many different cultures and beliefs (for example, it could show different ethnic groups during history, different religions, etc.) I could place a cool quote around this about how important different culture are to the study of history and NOW.

This is a good example of a classroom that is organized and not cluttered Source: Shaver, Lauren. Bless'er House. 23 February, 2014. https://www.blesserhouse.com/2014/02/creating-cozy-classroom-on-budget.html D) I still think this picture is fine to show how my classroom will be not cluttered and organized, however I would add another picture of the desks in groups instead of single individual desks. It would help immigrants who are learning English or other students who may be struggling in the class if they had a table group who they can get to know well and ask for help when they need it. Group work has been proven to be beneficial to all levels of achievement among students.   Source: Desk Arrangements, Pinterest. Accessed 14 April 2018.  https://www.pinterest.com/kimberlynjs/classroom-set-up-desk-arrangements/?lp=true

Places to turn in assignments will be labeled clearly and in an easily accessible place.  Classroom policies will be clearly posted on a wall.E) After reviewing classroom policies, students will write about them in a reflection. There will be questions like, “What does respect look like?” and “What does being helpful to other students in the classroom look like?” Though I may have policies posted on the wall, the most important thing is to show my expectations so that everyone can understand them. This places the burden on me as a teacher to model the behavior that I want, instead of the burden on the students to read my policies and understand exactly what I want because of them. Resources for students will include chrome books that they can use during lessons to do historical research or to do learning as a group (watching videos, doing research, etc.) There will be a projector and a computer. I will use the computer to project PowerPoints that will help lead our discussion. I also hope to have pencils available as resources for students who don't have any. Another resource I hope to have are some snacks in my desk. When students are falling asleep or seem disengaged, I may offer them a snack as a resource to help them pay attention. F) I also will have a part of the room with pamphlets. These pamphlets will discuss things like suicide prevention, clubs available around the school, resources for LGBTQAI+ students, tips for ELL, etc. These pamphlets will hopefully open up important conversations and be a good resource for the students. They will also lead to having a conversation about students being activists and allies in their communities.

An example of what my book shelf might look like in my classroom. Source: Holland, Mary. Creating a Classroom Library.  https://www.tips-for-teachers.com/classroom_library1.html

2. Describe the students in your classroom. What are their backgrounds? What are their interests? What are they doing during the lesson?

The students come from diverse backgrounds. Many come from low-income homes and are dealing with the problems that come from poverty (lack of food, arguments, a non-ideal housing situation, disengaged parents etc.). Some of their homes may be high-income but they also may struggle with issues (parents fighting, disengaged parents, etc.)  High school students may come from diverse backgrounds and have different ideas about life.G) Because of this I will have to make sure they have safe chances in my class to discuss their differences and get to know each other. but they do normally have common interests that can help to bring them together. Despite the fact that many of them have interests in pop culture, sports, music, or art. Or like playing the same video games and watching similar TV shows, it is important to realize they also have very important and distinct cultural and religious differences. All of them have people they care about in their lives. I hope to use their interests to connect my material to their lives, and to do this I will have to know their individual interests by getting to know them through get-to-know you surveys and interviews. During the lesson they are active! They are discussing, participating, writing and thinking. My classroom will NOT be a place where the students number one job is to listen. Listening to me talk will for 50 minutes straight will not help them pay attention or learn. H) Because discussion is such an important part of my classroom, I will have to make the opportunity to discuss available for all students. Students with disabilities will be paired with a specific student to help them with discussions. When discussion is part of a grade or a huge part of class that day, ELL will be placed with a peer who can help translate for them, so they too can participate in the discussion.

An example of students working together to learn! Source: Grabau, Christopher. Incorporating Principles in Cognitive Psychology...2nd October, 2017. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/incorporating-principles-in-cognitive-psychology-to-improve-student-learning/

3. Describe your classroom policies. What are your classroom rules? What is your discipline plan? What are your homework policies?

My plan for discipline is to have my classroom policies clearly posted in the room and to makes sure my students are familiar with those policies. I) Before I make a policy I will make sure there is a good reason and that I’m not just following white codes of respect. Policies will be consistent and I will constantly assess myself through keeping a good record of my classroom discipline (office referrals, etc.) so that I can make sure I am disciplining all of my students in the same way and not discriminating.  There may be times where I can adjust policies based on the situation (students with illnesses or who need extra help may turn in assignments later than the deadline for late work, etc.). For classroom rules a main rule will be respecting others.J) As discussed earlier, part of the first days of school will be filling out a policy worksheet where students talk about what respect looks like to them (and other school policies). Also as mentioned earlier, an important part of students understanding policy will be me modeling what I want them to do, instead of just expecting them to completely understand based off reading the policy. I also will only allow cell phones during certain times. I hope that one of the most important parts of my discipline plan will be prevention. I hope that class will be interesting enough and organized enough that it will prevent most behavior problems. I hope to have good relationships with my students in order to help resolve behavior issues.  Late work will be excepted for two weeks after an assignment is due but deductions will be given. After two weeks the late work will not be excepted unless there are extenuating circumstances.

4. Describe a typical lesson you will teach in your classroom. What will you teach? What is the topic? Why did you choose this topic? How will you teach it? What is the main thing you want students to learn during this lesson?

During a typical lesson I will present some material in a lecture-style for a brief time to give background. The subject will be history, and the topic will probably come from the common core. K) An example topic could be a discussion about the Bear River Massacre in a Utah State History Class. Instead of just teaching this event from the perspective of the White settlers, I will also teach it from the viewpoints of the Native Americans who were part of the event. Through this lesson I will teach students about perspective taking and how different one event can look to different groups of people. With the message of perspective taking as a take-home lesson students will feel that what they learned is more applicable. I will also remember as I teach the lesson that this is many of my students “secondary discourse” and that history is a language that they need help learning. I will be patient with this.  I hope to center my lecture around interesting, opinion-based questions that the students will discuss throughout each lecture. I hope that students will learn how to articulate their ideas, debate respectfully, and that by discussing and interacting with the material they will understand it and remember it better.L) I also realize that my classroom will probably be naturally very Christian-centered. When a discussion of religion is pertinent I hope to bring up religion in a respectful way and illustrate how religion may have changed the way people acted in history. This will keep talking about religion relevant but will also help students to realize that all religions have value.

5. Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson. What are you doing during the lesson?

I see myself as leading a discussion. During the lesson I will present content but will let the students debate about and discuss the content. I am therefore a mediator, facilitator and a source to look to for help.M) I also am the “expert” in the room, but not just on history.  I will be well-informed about different cultures and experiences of immigrant students, LGBT students, students from different religions, students from different socioeconomic statuses, etc. I will be an ally and a friend to these cultures and will correct students when they inappropriately talk about these groups.

6. Imagine your students again, what are they doing during the lesson?

The students are talking, debating, and working together. They are also listening while I am giving some context to the material and the historical question we are discussing. They are engaged and having a good time.  They are smiling and laughing! N) Students are helping each other, and table groups will be strategically assigned.

I hope to make my classroom a place where students smile! Source: Elias, Maurice. Helping Your Students Identify Their Values. 3rd July, 2017. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/helping-your-students-identify-their-values-maurice-elias

7. Imagine how you will assess your students' learning and achievement. How will you know they have learned?

I imagine I will use some common assessment tools like multiple choice and short-answer tests. However, I also hope to use other tools. For example I will have students read historical documents and give them written exams that test their ability to go through a historical-thinking process.  I also hope to include self-chosen projects as assessments so students can have a chance to express themselves in the way that they choose. O) If students are assessed the same way every time, this could be unfair to one specific culture group or minority. As I vary assessment strategies I can make sure to not be stuck in the “white way” of doing things.   I will know students have learned when I see improvements in not only their test scores, but their ability to participate with their peers in class. 

Students may choose to present information as a form of assessment. Source:  British Council. Teaching English. October 2006. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/student-presentations

Reflective Piece:

For each change that I made I have placed a letter in front of it! Here are my reasonings behind my changes (and things that I kept the same)

A)      Originally my inspirational quote that was large on the wall was going to be just in English. Because of how important language is, I think that placing this quote in many different languages will show that 1) My classroom is open for many different cultures and ideas and 2) I want students to be able to read things in their native language.

B)      Originally, I hadn’t even thought about my books being in different languages or discussing different cultural narratives or being in different difficulty levels. This is an important part of differentiation and having an effective multicultural education class. If the books are accessible to everyone and on a variety of subjects, I will be teaching not just my cultural narrative, but many different narratives.

C)      Having a classroom decoration that show diversity and different cultures will establish the same purpose as letter A. It will show the importance of different cultures, languages, religions, etc.

D)      I added the picture of groupwork for the reasons described in my imagine classroom…. Groupwork can greatly benefit English language learners, those from lower abilities, and even those of different socioeconomic statuses.

E)      My classroom policies needed some work. I learned from class that things like “respect” can mean different things to a lot of different people. As I recognize different cultures and help to get to know what my students believe about respect (for example) based upon their life experience and culture, I can learn how behavioral policies will look to them and even amend some of my policies with the help of the class.

F)       As stated in the imagine classroom assignment, I think adding pamphlets as part of the decoration and set up for my classroom will not only allow students to get resources if they need them, but will also tell students that I am aware of these issues and willing and ready to talk about them. This can help students from different cultures, LGBTQ students, students suffering with mental health challenges, etc.

G)     I assumed too much in my original imagine classroom that students will have common interests that will bring them together. Though many of them may have common interests, I think it is important to realize their differences. As I understand my students’ differences instead of seeing them as all the same (for example, “oh, he’s a middle school boy. He probably likes playing Call of Duty and eating pizza) I can teach to them individually and have a nurturing pedagogy.

H)     In my original imagine classroom I focused on group discussion, but didn’t even think about the fact that some students might not be able to participate in lots of discussion (ELL learners, students with special needs, etc.) This time I made sure that discussion would be something accessible to them.

I)        In my original plan for discipline I didn’t think about monitoring myself for biases. I think this is a super good thing to do and I am thankful we discussed it in class and that I could add it into my reimagined classroom.

J)        J is discussed in letter E.

K)      When I initially did my imagine classroom I missed putting in an actual lesson plan, so I made sure to add that this time. I made sure to add in my lesson plan that I will have to be focused on teaching my students this “secondary discourse”. I also made sure that my lesson would teach things from two different cultural narratives so I am not just teaching the “white guy” version of history.

L)       I hadn’t mentioned anything about religion previously but after taking this class I realized it is really important to address different religions, especially because many of my students in Utah may be Christian and may never have been exposed to different types of religion.

M)    I wasn’t sure where to put this in my re-imagined classroom but I wanted to make sure I would be a teacher that is well-informed about different communities and folks of all types. If I am informed, my students may be more motivated to be informed.

N)     I’m glad that I put in my original imagine classroom that students would be working together, but in order to facilitate that and help students engage with other students they possibly wouldn’t have engaged with on their own I need to strategically make table assignments.

O)     It’s good I have a variety of assessment strategies, however I decided to add in that my assessments shouldn’t just be the “white way” of doing things. As a diversify my assessments I can have a multicultural pedagogy.

Things I didn’t change: I’m glad I decided to have snacks on hand for students that may come for a low SES and be hungry. It’s almost impossible to learn while you are hungry! As for the resources I have listed, I know which class I am teaching in next year so I am not assuming I will have these resources, in my case I know I will. I am glad I described the students as having different backgrounds and coming from many different life situations. My pictures in general were pretty good, though as mentioned I added one picture. I liked how my pictures showed students working together. I felt my late policy was acceptable and not too harsh. I also didn’t change it because I figured that most schools actually have their own late policy that is school-wide. The school I will be teaching at has a late policy that I will be required to implement. It is good that my original imagine classroom had a variety of assessments. There were a few other things I didn’t change because they seemed to fit in well with a multicultural classroom.

What I learned:  This experience was humbling. I realized that there are many things I can do to improve my teaching! Though my original imagined classroom wasn’t necessarily bad and I didn’t cross a lot of things out, there were MANY things that needed to be added that I hadn’t even considered when I first wrote this. I am glad to have this re-imagined classroom and will refer back to it as I begin teaching and want to remember everything that I learned in multicultural education. I am excited to reach out and love all my students, no matter their religion, culture or sexual orientation.

Book Club Portfolio

Katie McGuire

"The New Kids" 

Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens

Brooke Hauser

(1) Your points of disruption--places in the book that cause you to feel uncomfortable or angry or curious.

I had a disruption in the book when Yasmeen got married so young. Though I realize it’s a part of her culture, this goes against my cultural beliefs, so I had a really hard time with it. It made me think about to what extent immigrants should be able to live their own cultures. Should immigrants have to assimilate to American culture? Many Americans believe so. What are the benefits and costs to letting immigrants live their cultures, even if they are very different from our cultures (like in the case of Yasmeen)? The costs are that they might be things (like young marriage) that we disagree with. The cultural practices of immigrants may make us feel uncomfortable or even angry. The benefits to accepting this is that immigrants can feel more welcome here. They will realize that they are free to practice their cultural beliefs in America without being judged or harassed. This will help to make American a more wonderful place to live.

I also had a disruption with how they taught sex-ed in the book. A huge part of my culture as a member of LDS church says sex is very sacred, and the way the instructor talked about it definitely clashed with the way I have talked about it growing up. What are the benefits and costs to accepting that sex-ed maybe should be taught differently to different audiences? The benefits are that students may be more receptive to what they are being taught if it is taught more at their level and in a joking manner instead of in an embarrassing way. This could lead to them having safer sexual relations. The cost could be disrespectful conversations or not learning to talk about sex in mature ways.

Another disruption I had was around how much time the teachers had to spend to help the immigrants. I’m sure they weren’t being paid a lot, but they were spending TONS of time and energy on seeing to their students’ success. This stresses me out because sometimes I feel like the only way I can be a good teacher is by spending every waking moment helping my students. Obviously, I want to help them, but I also have my own family to take care of and love. What are the benefits and costs to accepting that helping students may take a lot of time and energy. The costs are, as mentioned before, that this is just time consuming and can be really difficult mentally and physically. It can also lead to children at home feeling somewhat neglected. That being said, the benefits of this are the success of students. All of the teachers who saw their immigrant students succeeding (such as getting the Jerry Seinfeld scholarship) in the book felt immense satisfaction. The all-nighters they had pulled grading college prep essays and helping them refine them became instantly worth it. Even if you don’t see the success that some of the teachers were able to see teachers who work with their students extensively will feel that they have done all they can to help their students.

I had a disruption with Mohammad’s whole story! UGH. I’m so torn about it. On one hand I was glad he was able to be in America, but on the other hand he had not gotten there in the legal way (plus he had hurt people along the way). I’ve always believed we should help immigrants as much as possible, but I’ve also known that illegal immigration is definitely against the law. What are the benefits and costs to realizing that sometimes illegal immigration might be the best option for someone?  The costs are realizing that the country, and maybe me, need to reevaluate our priorities and how we feel about illegal immigrants. This can be a painful process. The benefits would be that we could see people as humans instead of as “illegal”. We can realize what immigrants have been through and be more loving and caring towards them and their situations.

(2) Descriptions of the stories from the book clarify or provide examples of the ideas we have been discussing in class.

-One of the first things I noticed in the book was the difference between BICS and CALP. Many of the students in the book very quickly gained Basic interpersonal communication skills and are able to socialize with the students around them. However, they struggled with Cognitive academic language proficiency including writing essays and with many of their language skills academically. The teachers mentioned many times in the books the classic English mistakes the immigrants made and when Ann grades their papers she notices that their academic language is far from perfect even in their senior year. As we discussed in class, it can take 5-7 years for students to develop CALP. This should help us as teachers to remember that immigrants may be proficient in basic communication but will need constant support and help as they develop their academic language skills. We must be patient with this.

I also noticed that many students in the book gained cultural capital, but at what cost? One specific part of the book mentions Chit Su and how she had become accustomed to eating pizza at lunch and fries. For some reason this made me sad. It was as if she had lost her culture. As immigrants gain cultural capital in America, they may lose their own culture in the process. I hope to find ways in my classroom to preserve the culture of my immigrant students, whatever it may be. I also learned about social capital through reading the book. Students had a very difficult time developing social capital. The only people they were around with the social capital to help them move up the economic ladder were their teachers. Though people like Dariana Castro (who has incredible social capital skills) attempt to help the students get internships, etc., the development of social capital and making good connections is really difficult for these students.  

I loved observing the teacher’s inclusive pedagogy in the book. They were able to incorporate strategies to help many different learning styles and had great multicultural content. I thought a great example of inclusive pedagogy was when the English teacher took the time to talk through writing essays with the students who she knew had a very difficult time with English. She could have just let them struggle, but she took the extra time to help them, even though she had many students to help in the class and a huge list of things to do. I was really impressed by this!

I thought about our discussion of poverty as I read through the book as well. Many of the students had been homeless in their lives and were now part of the poor or working class. It was touching that Dariana Castro kept snacks for students and was so willing to give these to them. The teachers themselves were obviously struck by the living conditions of the students. It takes a team effort to get Mohammad out of his horrible living situation and into Cindy’s home. Ann Parry is shocked to find that Jessica is living on her home. We as teachers need to be aware of our students who are living in these conditions.

3) How the stories from the book will influence your thinking about your future work as a teacher.

As I read the stories of the immigrants, especially the undocumented immigrants, I realized how much stress being an undocumented immigrant can bring. Mohammad’s story especially sheds light on the fear that comes with being an undocumented immigrant. He is constantly worried about getting taken back to Sierra Leon. Those students in our schools who are undocumented are constantly worried about being caught and kicked out of the country. They have to always be careful around law enforcement. It is even mentioned that they always make sure they don’t use their student pass on the metro during the weekends in fear of getting caught and then deported. This would be so stressful. Undocumented immigrants today live in even more fear, as our current President has been very vocal against immigration and has tried getting rid of programs like DACA. As teachers we must realize this is a reality and support our students in whatever way we can, just as the teachers do in the book.

 Not only do these students have the stress of currently being undocumented immigrants, but many of them have been through traumatic situations to get to where they were at. When I learned of Ngawang and his experience in the suitcase coming to America I was shocked. Though most of our students won’t have this extreme of stories, many of them (immigrant or not) will have had incredibly hard life experiences. Do we teach them like that? Do we treat them like they are struggling? Because they likely are! I hope as a teacher that I can look out for my students and help them. I hope I will realize all of them are passing through something hard and treat them in this way.

-The stories in the book also inspired me to be a better teacher because of the examples of the teachers in the book. They are incredible! The students love them and trust them. The teachers do all they can to help ensure the success of their students. They invest time, energy, money, and much more to help them. When I think about my future work as a teacher, I hope to realize that I have a job to not only help my students develop academically, but also in other ways. I can help by making dispositional objectives for my students to ensure they develop the skills necessary to not only succeed academically, but in all other aspects of their lives. A good story from the book that illustrates this is the interest the teachers took in Yasmeen, even coming to her bridal shower and always talking to her about her marriage and supporting her, despite their misgivings about the situation.

(4) Ideas from the book that you believe must be shared with the other members of the class. 

I think the most important thing to understand is that no matter WHAT your position is on immigration, these people are PEOPLE. Immigrants that come to the United States illegally are PEOPLE. Immigrants that come to the United States legally are PEOPLE. As teachers, I think it is our job and duty to love ALL of our students regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. I have heard so many comments that are inappropriate towards Hispanic immigrants during my life. I was shocked when the first couple of days of my practicum one of the teachers told a terrible joke about Hispanics. I wanted to ask, “Would you want your Hispanic students to hear you say that?” I should have had the courage to ask him that. I hope that in the future as a teacher I can be an advocate for any student. One of the greatest parts of this book is when the author is talking about immigration. She talks about how many people believe that immigrants lack grit or work ethic. That’s why they miss school. She slams down this falsehood and tells the story of students who are going to school full time, taking care of their little siblings, and working a part time job. She declares that these students do NOT lack work ethic or grit. I hope to remember this as I am teaching and see my students for who they truly are.