Monday, March 5, 2018

Shanda Jones - Classroom Spotlight


                Module 6 was quite convicting for me.  I’ve spent so much time gathering data, academic and personal about my students, but when I saw the Deep Data at a Glance chart, I realized I still knew very few positive things about my children.  Knowing their struggles isn’t difficult.  They all have at least one.  Knowing their passions and favorite foods… Well, I honestly never considered that missing information.
                As a result of my revelation, I went back to school determined to “fix it.”  I sat both my classes down around me and confessed my mistake.  I told them how sorry I was that I was so focused on problem-solving that I missed what was just fine and even awesome.  I then asked my kids if they would help me do better.  (You’d be surprised how forgiving 36 justice-driven fourth graders can be when you humble yourself.)
                I gave out paper and asked them to share with me “what’s good” about them, what they’re proud of, what they like.  At first, they were confused about why that wasn’t going in their writing notebook so I had to explain that this had nothing to do with assignments and grades.  Then, there were questions about what form of writing it had to be.  Every shred of me wanted to say, “Complete sentences, paragraph form,” but I resisted.  I took off all the obligations and pressure.  What I got in return was stunning.
                I learned about sports I never knew kids played.  I found out that many of them really are planning for their futures.  I even discovered that several of them have a better chance of surviving than I do because they can cook!  (I did NOT inherit that skill.)  One student is proud of herself because she conquered her fear of the family dog by training it.  Another that I truly believed was completely school-minded is actually quite a soccer star and has a fun little streak of sarcasm I had never heard before.  One boy even said he loves ME being his teacher because I “teach hard.”  A few students also took the opportunity to ask me for help.
                This would have been great in and of itself, but it has grown into something I can’t quite name.  I wanted to communicate to my students that I truly valued what they said.  It wasn’t just a sneaky assignment.  There really is no judgement or “wrong” so I wrote them back.  My students were so surprised.  Several said they had never had a teacher write them a letter.  Some learned surprising facts about me.  Another girl said, “I thought I was the only one who messes up their writing.”  (I had scribbled out a misspelled world when I wrote her back.)
                Stacks of paper can be overwhelming, and I really have no idea how this will turn out.  I just know we’re communicating as PEOPLE now.  We’re all complex and walking through this year together.  I’m definitely blessed to be on this simple little adventure.






5 comments:

  1. This was an incredible idea! I love that you allowed them to share about themselves and that you wrote them back. The point your student made about seeing that even teachers make mistakes in writing convicted me. One year I took on the task of writing back and forth with students but haven't done so in a long time. It's a great idea to model writing but even better to build relationships.

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  2. I also learned a lot from this activity. I went back to my classroom and tried the same thing. I learned that one of my students can figure out a Rubik's cube in under one minute. She also demonstrated for me. I also learned that some really like to share information about themselves. I love that you learned that some of them like to cook and one student even appreciates you "teaching hard" in class. We can learn so much more about our students from doing this "Deep Data" chart.

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  3. I admire your courage and commitment to your students, and how quickly you were able to implement this strategy into your classroom.
    Without meaning to, you have now given your students an authentic purpose for writing to you, their real audience! Plus they know you as a person and as a demonstrably caring teacher !! What a great testimony to the power of this activity.

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  4. I love that you went back and did this activity with your class!! This was also very eye opening for me as well. I realized that I knew so much from my talkative students but that I never really encouraged my shy students to open up and talk about things. I love that your one student shared their Rubix cube skills and even demonstrated for you! I think this was a great way to show your students you care about them, want to get to know more about them, and a great way for you to learn.

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  5. Oh my goodness Shanda! I absolutely love that you took the "Deep Data At A Glance" chart back to your class and worked to learn more about what you didn't know about your kids. I appreciate that more than you know and I am 100% sure that your students not only learned about themselves through the process but they learned a lot about you and who you are and that their teacher values who they are not just what they know academically, but who they are as people. Thank you for your willingness, for your honesty, and for your continual growth process to as a teacher. I am thankful to do this journey with you.

    Sincerely,
    Dawn

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