Teacher Quality Standard Two
Teachers establish a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students.
Element A
Teachers foster a predictable learning environment characterized by acceptable student behavior and efficient use of time in which each student has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults and peers.
Social Contract Creation
At the beginning of the semester and my time at Berthoud High School, an activity I did with my freshman classes was to create individualized social contracts for each class period. We worked together as an entire class to define the ways we should and should not be interacting with each other and how we can respect not only just the teacher, but each other and the classroom as a setting for learning. I facilitated group discussions and took the results from each period and pasted them onto a cube that gets rotated with every class change to portray that class’s unique social contract.
Element B
Teachers demonstrate an awareness of, a commitment to, and a respect for multiple aspects of diversity, while working toward common goals as a community of learners.
Romeo and Juliet Quick-Write on Name and Identity
One of the things I have my students do quite frequently is Quick-Writes in their Interactive Notebooks. For this one, we were thinking about “what’s in a name?” from Act II scene ii of Romeo and Juliet. I likened names, like the last names that Romeo and Juliet possess that keep each other apart, to parts of our identities deemed at birth unchangeable (or hard to change): similar to skin color, to sexual orientation or gender identity, to ethnicity, etc. In doing this, I brought up that gay marriage was only legalized nationwide in the United States recently, that interracial marriage legalized in many of my students’ grandparents’ lifetimes. I made the comparison of not being allowed to marry someone with a last name deemed “inappropriate” (in the context of our play) to not being allowed to marry someone with a different skin color, or with the same gender. This quick lecture/comparison made many students start to see the trials Romeo and Juliet face with much more empathy and critical thinking.
Element C
Teachers engage students as individuals, including those with diverse needs and interests, across a range of ability levels by adapting their teaching for the benefit of all students.
Creative Writing Project 10th grade
I introduced a creative writing project for my 10th grade Honors English classes that students with any experience or ability in creative writing will be able to succeed at. By including resources for students to understand the genre of whichever writing format they choose and having ample in-class work time and opportunity to conference with me, even students who aren’t comfortable with personal creative writing can create meaningful products and explore their artistic side.
Element D
Teachers work collaboratively with the families and/or significant adults for the benefit of students.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Included is a reflection on Parent-Teacher conferences I participated in as a student teacher for Berthoud High School. I had to miss a seminar for student teaching to attend the conferences, so to make up for my absence I was assigned to write a reflection on parent-teacher conferences. The role I played in these conferences was largely introducing myself to parents and collaborating with my mentor teachers to ensure a painless transition from their teaching to my own.
Teacher Quality Standard Two
Reflection
Out of all the standards, the second might be the one I consider most important and the one I have truly tried to become accomplished at. With that being said, I believe I am proficient as I can see myself growing even further in this area. At risk of getting too personal, my own K-12 educational experience was not a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students. I went to a private school that exercised regularly their abilities to expel LGBTQIA+ students and was considered unsafe for nonwhite students. As a result of this, I spent much of my own education scared and it hindered my abilities to be the student I knew I could be if I were just understood. This has made my priority as a teacher to never let a student feel like I did: drowning in fear and constantly expected to be something I simply am not. Through social contracts, frequent conferences or less formal conversations, and tailoring what I teach and the words I use to teach it, I have seen apprehensive students blossom because they know that I will never judge them and I’ve truly tried to make our classroom a safe space for them. I have seen myself make mistakes and correct them, in an ongoing cycle that results in me being just a little bit better at this every single day. My professional goals for this standard relate quite a lot to those I expressed for standard one: if you don’t know your students, you can’t reach them. And if you aren’t at all aware of their unique intersectional identity, you won’t be able to create a space that they will exist in comfortably. By knowing them and making conscious, deliberate, and intentional decisions that seek to include everybody, our ability to educate grows exponentially.