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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Philosophy of Teaching: Community of Learners - Guest Post by Melissa A. Smith (Part I of III)

Guest post by Melissa A. Smith, AP Literature and English 11 Teacher, Lake Norman Charter High School

Melissa is in her 8th year at LNC and her 12th year of teaching overall.  She was recently named the Lake Norman Charter School district Teacher of the Year.  You can follow her on Twitter (@MelAlterSmith). This essay was included in the Teacher of the Year portfolio.  
Philosophy of Teaching
Part I

by Melissa A. Smith

Part I of III

Belief:  I believe in building and supporting a community of learners who feel safe, respected, and valued.  

Evidence:  As students approach my classroom on the first day of school, one of the first things they will see is a Safe Space sticker on my door, allowing them to understand before even meeting me that ALL students are welcome. But this is only a sticker. I have to prove to my students that I do, in fact, care about them as people, and respect them as unique individuals. This begins with treating them like the young adults they are, and taking personal vested interest in them. My Professional Learning Network colleague and educator friend, Karla, puts it best when she said, the classroom is a “we” space, not a “me” space. And with so many diverse voices and personalities in one room, my first goal is to make sure everyone feels heard and valued.

One of the ways I accomplish this goal in an English classroom is giving students access to a wide range of quality books from diverse authors. William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Robert Frost, the typical names seen on syllabi - they’re all great authors, no doubt. But there’s a problem. They’re all white. And male. And Christian. And cisgender. How many students are sitting in my class who would check all of these same boxes? A handful, no doubt, but certainly not all. I believe that ALL students should be able to personally identify with authors, poets, and/or characters in literature. They should be able to see themselves in what we study in class. Therefore, I make it a point to include multiple authors who are African-American, Muslim, LBGTQ+, Latinx, you name it - voices from all over the spectrum - along with the usual dead white guys. Through teaching a wide variety of diverse texts, it gives students the opportunity to expand their worldview.

Having open and honest discussions about tough topics like social injustice (as it comes up frequently in American literature) or gender identification, or whatever it may be, is not shied away from in my classroom. While I don’t announce, “We are talking about racism today,” and force a conversation, which would seem disingenuous, it undoubtedly comes up when we read certain texts, and I always take the time to seize upon the organic teaching moments. Having built a friendly, but still professional rapport with my students and a safe environment in my classroom, they feel comfortable sharing their personal opinions and beliefs. We may not all agree all the time, but we can all respect each other and listen.

One of my students’ favorite activities is independent reading time. When they see it on the whiteboard agenda when they walk in, I hear them say “yessss!” They LOVE it. Students are given about 10 minutes at the start of class three days a week to read any book they want, as long as it is reading-level appropriate or higher. This time is sacred. We aren’t finishing homework or making up a missed test. Everyone is reading. And I read with them every single time. Independent reading time is one of the strongest ways I have succeeded in building a community of readers. First of all, we are all engaged in the same action at the same time, and this action of reading is seen as special time. On the inclement-weather E-Learning Day, their assignment was to create a quick video in a Schoology discussion thread for their classmates. In the video, they shared a book recommendation - a book they love and why they love it - for their peers. Several students actually ended up reading books that their classmates had recommended as an independent read. Lastly, on the top of the whiteboard at the front of the room, we keep a tally of how many books we completed during independent reading time only. Last year, over 100 books were read during 2nd semester only. These are books that probably wouldn’t have been read otherwise. It’s not a race between classes; there’s no reward for reaching a certain number; and yet, students get so excited to change the number on the board from 41 to 42 or 99 to 100 as they finish a book. It is a team effort, a team of readers. Independent reading time, along with other activities I am about to mention, successfully create a classroom culture of shared ownership. Students feel encouraged to read and proud of themselves for adding to the ultimate accomplishment. And all the while, they are unknowingly improving their reading fluency and vocabulary, but I will keep that as my little secret.

When it comes to novels that we read as an entire class, one of my favorite ways to approach the text is with literature circles. Once a week, students meet in their literature circle groups to discuss and analyze a book together as a team. Each group member has a certain role when it comes to analyzing the book that they have prepared over the course of the week, and when they come together and share their roles out, the different roles come together like a jigsaw puzzle. Through their group observations and discussions, they discover knowledge and deepen their curiosities about the book. Again, collaboration and teamwork allows students to take ownership of their ideas.

Writing instruction is more of a challenge to see as a community effort, but there are several ways I also build a team of writers in my classroom. Early in the year, we do a lot of collaborative brainstorming for writing pieces. For example, with my juniors, I start the year off with a writing workshop in which students write a critical review. I utilize my alternative seating options to create writing stations for peer support. In the stations, students are all working on a similar part of their critique. One group may be looking for web pages to hyperlink in their review, while another group is bouncing ideas off each other as to how to organize their paragraphs. I do very little direct instruction in this workshop. We study several current mentor texts before we write, through which we identify the components of an effective professional review, then try to model those components as best we can in our own review. Students use the mentor texts and each other to accomplish their first major writing assignment of the year, thus setting the tone of a collaborative community right from the start.

In AP Literature, students write a group essay as one of their assignments. They work in small groups for two days in class to compose an essay together. The finished products always end up great, but it’s not the end-product that I see as the teaching goal for this activity. The reason I have them write a group essay is because of the conversations they have about writing while they are in the process. The writing skills we use and the decisions we make while writing are all voiced out loud when collaborating on one essay. As a team, students have conversations and make group decisions that may help a student in the future on an individual essay. In addition, when it comes to AP essays, I try to write an essay along with them whenever I have the opportunity. I am part of the team, too. We are equals. Furthermore, by writing the essay myself, it truly allows me to see the nuances of the prompt, and I am better able to discuss the process of writing that particular essay with the class.

Finally, I sought ways to increase community and togetherness amongst students this past year outside of the classroom, as well. For example, I started the Cosmetology Club. I kept noticing the fabulous makeup skills of some of our students, and saw it as an opportunity. The makeup gurus were thrilled to share their knowledge and talents with their peers. And the less experienced members who were there to learn soaked up the skills. We had over 40 members at the first meeting; the environment was supportive, fun, and relaxed. There were several male members as well, who were part of the fabric of the club. We had a special guest, a Cornelius salon owner, come in to share her experience. Members who are looking at Cosmetology as a potential career choice had lots of questions for her! She was helpful in showing us that this, in fact, can be a career, and gave the group fantastic advice on how to be successful. Every other Friday after school, I experienced an invested, caring group who were excited to share our interests and help each other to look and feel our best.

On the other every-other-Fridays, I opened my classroom for the brand new the Rap & Poetry Club. Here again was a group that offered students a safe space to be themselves, and share their interests and talents without judgment. We listened to rap lyrics and beats, watched spoken word performances, and wrote our own raps and poems. They felt comfortable and performed their work with the club. A guest speaker (a former student from my previous school) who is involved in the Charlotte hip-hop scene and has recorded songs, came in to work with our students. His mentorship and positive encouragement resonated with the students, and allowed them to see where their passion for words, music, and crafting language can potentially take them.


Thank you for viewing,

See Part II: Student Choice

Part III will be posted soon.



The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith (or guest blogger) and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

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