This post from BCE contributor Casie Jones appeared original in the commercial appeal and was republished on Education Week’s Teacher page. It was also named as one of the Huffington Post’s top 12 must read teacher voice stories of the year!
From Edweek:
Memphis residents cannot go far without seeing a billboard or image on the side of a bus featuring an “irreplaceable,” one of the city’s most effective teachers. These teachers rank in the top 10 percent of teachers based on observations and student-achievement data. However, according to recent comments by Memphis Education Association President Keith Williams, these teachers and their colleagues will not be able to “make a substantial difference” with our students because of poverty.
Williams’ comments unfortunately echo the same kinds of remarks we’ve heard for years from all corners of the country. I’m a teacher who knows that poverty presents many challenges, but it does not prevent teachers from making a substantial difference.
In response to Williams, Tennessee Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffmanpublished a guest commentary in The Commercial Appeal, and I was honored to be one of two teachers featured in the piece. I appreciate the commissioner’s accolades, but the “proof is in the puddin’,” as they say. I know that effective teachers can make a difference with low-income students because my students show me every day that I am doing just that.
At my school, an alternative program that serves youth who are expelled or recently incarcerated, a “substantial difference” is necessary. My students struggle with poor attendance, behavioral issues, emotional challenges, and below-grade reading levels. Many students enter my classroom with failing grades and apathetic attitudes toward school.
However, I make contact with parents and demonstrate to students that I care about them personally, and this year I have even seen a drastic reduction in discipline referrals in my classroom. I also watched my seniors create four-page research papers after saying they couldn’t do it. Now, many of them are graduating when they thought they’d already missed their last chance.
My juniors conquered the state writing assessment this year. Their initial response to our practice writing was absolute dread, but we toiled together, and I refused to let any of them quit. I called their parents to ensure they would be present and graded their revised essays every night. On test day, attendance was higher than ever before, and I was awed by the students’ eagerness to get started. They struggled with the new Common Core State Standards-aligned structure of the assessment, but the scores revealed that more than half of the class scored proficient or higher. That is a “substantial difference.”
Above all, I try to embody the core belief Commissioner Huffman addressed: optimism. Students, teachers, and administrators cannot use poverty as an excuse. We have to see through it and teach students how to maneuver around their obstacles. Our optimism becomes their hope.
Transcending Barriers
Williams’ comments also remind me of another claim I’ve heard before in Memphis: That many teachers cannot relate to their students’ backgrounds—cannot understand their poverty and what it means to have their skin color—and therefore cannot teach them. I suppose this means that as a middle-class white teacher who currently teaches disadvantaged African-American students, I should transfer to a school where I will be more beneficial to “my own kind.” But if you visit my classroom on any day, you will not see disconnect. My students respect me because I respect them; the economic and racial barriers are down because we chose to take them down. I refuse to leave because my current school is indeed where I am making “a substantial difference.”
After 11 years of teaching, I have learned that there is a secret ingredient to effective instruction that transcends barriers. When students recognize that a teacher is genuinely interested in their present and future, a desire to learn emerges. As teacher and students interact daily, relationships begin to work in both directions. The students want the teacher to be proud of their accomplishments and the teacher wants the students to believe that they can achieve any goal.
Regardless of the challenges my students face outside school, they hear the word “college” come from my mouth daily. We are always prepping for that place that was once so elusive to them, assembling a reality in their minds. They know that I will smile and welcome them to class, that I will expect the bell work to be done immediately, that I will walk around the room to reach out to each one of them during the lesson, that they will have to complete their work and answer questions, and that we will discuss and argue over the day’s topics. When we are finished for the day, they know that we will do it again tomorrow.
I challenge them to focus on their opportunities instead of their “lack of privilege,” as one of my students refers to his situation. I challenge them to address the needs of their community and understand where the obstacles come from. I challenge them to stop thinking with a “privilege vs. poverty” mindset. I challenge them to learn what they can because knowledge is power.
I teach. I am making “a substantial difference.”
Casie Jones teaches at MLK Student Transition Academy in Memphis City Schools. She is a Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellow.
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Meghank
December 29, 2013
Too bad she’s not teaching in the classroom anymore. Why don’t we hear more from the voices of teachers who still ARE, the ones who intend to do this difficult work for years and decades?
bluffcityed
December 29, 2013
A couple thoughts Meghan. First, I believe that everyone who works in or has ever worked in the education profession has a valuable contribution to make. Many educators leave in their first 3 years which is certainly a trend that we want to reverse. Many educators also take time off to work as instructional coaches or pursue additional education or teacher fellowships. Still others chose to leave the classroom to become administrators or work in policy roles. They have just as valuable of insights to give us as do those educators who chose to stay in the classroom their entire career. If we don’t hear from these individuals the result is a myopic view of the education profession that fails to take into account the perspectives of the entire scope of those that work within the teaching profession.
Second, I know Ms. Jones personally and I can tell you she struggled with her decision to leave the classroom. However she felt she could make a greater impact as a curriculum coach. This is something I hear from many younger teachers (those who have worked under 10 years). Many early career educators leave the classroom because our profession is not currently designed to encourage us to continue teaching AND seek out additional leadership opportunities and our impact on students. Educators that want to expand their impact face the difficult choice of continuing to teach but not being able to expand their influence or leaving the classroom. Instead of criticizing individuals who make the second choice, we should focus our energy on fixing a system that isn’t designed to develop educators full potential while encouraging them to remain in the classroom.
Third, it sounds like you believe that currently we do not have enough older or career educators expressing their opinions, either here at bluff city ed or in the collective teacher voice movement. If you meet our contributor guidelines by either working in or are directly connecting to the education profession I would love to publish a piece that discusses this deficit as long as it is solutions oriented and talks about the valuable contribution that long term career teachers can offer to the greater education discussion. Please reach out to us by email or fill out our contributor form if you are interested in writing such a piece.
Meghank
December 29, 2013
I don’t meet the guidelines. I was forced out of the school I intended to teach in long-term by state takeover of that school, and just didn’t have the heart to risk my sanity again by interviewing elsewhere in the public schools. The “reform” work going on now is a concerted effort to drive teachers to despair.
The reason, by the way, that you don’t have enough older or career teachers expressing their opinions is the well-founded fear those teachers have of losing their jobs. The reason I am willing to write as much as I have written on this site is actually because I no longer fear this.
bluffcityed
December 29, 2013
If you’re a former teacher who has classroom experience that would meet the criteria.
Meghank
December 29, 2013
Could I contribute anonymously? I may want to teach in this state again. If I can’t contribute anonymously, I’ll just stick to the comments, if you don’t mind. But if I ever do make a definite decision not to teach public school again, I will take you up on this offer.
Meghank
December 29, 2013
By the way, I am not criticizing Ms. Jones. I meant exactly what I said: It is too bad she is no longer teaching in the classroom. No criticism of her was intended.
bluffcityed
December 29, 2013
Understood. Its tough to read emotion online, sorry if I jumped down your throat. And you can absolutely write anonymously. Shoot me an email and we will get it going