Let's Talk

It's been 10 weeks since I been teaching and something I have noticed is that each class is different. Sometimes we wonder how can one class be great and yet another be so different? I know I ask myself this all the time. 

Moreover, I observe and listen to my students discussion in all of my three classes and one thing I have noticed is that they all have different levels of discussion. Class A goes in depth in during discussion which causes the students to think and discuss furthermore while adding their style i.e. humor, sass etc. Class B has the same intensity but its the same people participating all the time or goes a little bit off topic. Lastly, Class C has very minimal discussion the students are quiet and very few participate. I have tried asking followup questions to the whole class in general but they often seemed to group think or not respond at all.

Recently, I read Palmer book and one quote that stood out to me was, " It is our commitment to the conversation itself, our willingness to put forward our observations and interpretations for testing by the community and to return the favor to others." This quote made me think of my students in each of my classrooms. How can I play that into action? What changes can be made? These are the questions I'm currently asking myself, since I would want for my Class B and C to be as Class A in their discussion because I believe that everyone has a different opinion/perspective on subjects. Therefore, the conversations in class can be interesting and full of richness. No to mentioned, the benefit the students can get from their classmates, they will gaining knowledge and hopefully understand the subject better.

None the less, I am still thinking of a process or possible solutions I can experiment, in the hopes to have a slight improvement from students participating during class discussion. 

#WhatAmIDoing 

Oppression & Stress

Throughout the semester, I have noticed particular students opening up more. For instance, one student (Garret) has substantially opened up more since the semester started. He has asked more questions, I can feel he is comfortable, and he really feels like he is a part of the class. Like anyone, however, Garret has been oppressed. Across Garrett's Online Activities, Garrett talked about how he was bullied earlier within his academic life. Garret's experiences with bullying is one reason that he, usually, does not speak in his classes. 

After our pedagogy class discussed the oppress-oppressor relationship, i found that this model really explains Garret's, and other student's, predicaments. At some point, an individual or group of individuals dehumanized Garrett. This caused Garrett to start to shut down. However, that changed as he started coming to my comm 1010 class. I always allowed him to ask any question, regardless of the repetitive nature. I always allowed him to say what he wanted to say without any backlash. One of the ways that I got Garrett to start speaking out was through critical thinking excersises. 

For instance, various days I ask students to dig deeper about why a problem might arise. There was a conversation during the conflict week where someone brought up bullying. As Garrett started to talk about the issue, he talked about his experiences with bullying. Resultantly, other peers and students began to give him tips and advice. Through the process of peer and pedagogue liberation, Garret started the transformation process. 

I often think back to my hashtag, #SoMuchStuffSoMuchStress. Although this may apply to us as teachers and graduate students, I have to remind myself that it applies to students like Garret. Like his peers, Garret has a million things going on in his life: school, family, work, and so on. The least that I can do as an instructor is provide him, and his peers, with a safe and comfortable classroom. Through critical thinking and problem poising education, I can offer my class that comfortable and safe environment. 

I think that this meme accurately reflects the above. Not only is the semester stressful for the students, but it is also stressful for the instructors as well. #SoMuchStuffSoMuchStress

Does Heartwork Count as Exercise?

Phew, I'm tired! I've been exercising this young heart of mine in the classroom...maybe too much.

Is there such a thing as too much though? Don't we all just care about our students and want them to succeed in our classes? Not according to Fish we don't, but to me we do.

I believe in the idea of Palmer's "heartwork" and I believe that for students to succeed in my class, they need to know that I care about their work ethic and that I want to see them succeed. But there comes a time when that mentality may be too smothering. For example, in the beginning of the semester, I was extremely strict about my students being on their phones. Afterall, they were watching sports, playing games, and who knows what else. I wanted them to focus and be engaged in my class so I snapped. To be exact I said, "If I see one more person on their phone, I am kicking you out of my class" in the scariest mom voice I could impersonate. They all quickly put their phones away in shock.

The ambiance in my room and the days that followed carried distance. They were not engaged, they did not care about the material. I felt like a monster. The heartwork that I was trying to possess ended up being me smothering their freedom. So I took a different approach. I told them that if they wanted to be on their phones then by all means but they were prohibited from asking me questions because they did not take the liberty to put their phones away and listen.

Guess what happened...they started to pay attention. I hardly have a phone problem now.

The moral of the story here is that maybe we shouldn't over exercise our hearts into policing our students. It is important to care about them and want them to do well but our "heartwork" should not turn into "heart overexertion". If they want to learn, they will, if they want to be there, they will be. The best that we can do is to engage with them and try to be as connected as we possibly can. 

#pedamorgie #heartwork

I Would Like to Make a Withdrawal

I always ask my students a question on their roll sheet. The questions are meant to be fun. I usually ask them about their favorites or ask them light questions about their lives. The other day I asked my second class what they wanted the question of the day to be. One of my students jokingly responded that I should already have the questions prepared. I responded I was trying to give them agency in their learning. Several students then commented I should just come to the class and give them information while they sat there. I went into full-scale pedagogical scholar mode and said, "actually that's called the banking model of education and Paulo Freier in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed strongly advocates against it." They laughed and we moved on. The exchange was light-hearted, but I knew my students really did feel that way about their responsibility as learners.

bell hooks also agrees with Freier that the banking model does not promote student engagement. I was especially interested in hooks' take on engagement. She does not judge engagement solely on how interested the students are in the material. Instead, hooks comments engaged pedagogy empowers both the students and instructors, accounts for the well-being of both the mind and body, and encourages genuine dialogue. Dang. That’s a lot to ask. It would be much easier to just speed through some PowerPoint slides and send them on their way. But I never once imagined teaching would be easy. If I was only interested in easy I would not be a graduate student (let's be real). Freire and hooks both believe educators have the potential to help students grow as people. To support this process, I have begun to give my students more leadership roles in the classroom. I now ask for volunteers to write things down on the board or ask a volunteer to lead discussions. It has honestly been a slow and painful process. My students are not accustomed to this type of learning. However, I am encouraged by the subtle changes in their engagement. I hope at least of few of my students will leave my class as more active and passionate participants in their own learning

#hookedonlearning #reengage

Cool costume bro... Now take it off!

Happy Halloween everyone! I'll see you all on fry street...(Yeah right, rough drafts are kicking my tush! The turn up is at Club Willis this weekend... HMU).

With Halloween right around the corner, lately there has been off-topic discussions amoungst students in our classrooms regarding how each student might celebrate the holiday. Discussions include what costume they are going to wear, where the pre-game party is, where the party is, where the after party is, where the after after party is, and whataburger, wafflehouse, or ihop after. There is one student in particular who has been ready for Halloween ever since he stepped foot in my class. He wears his costume every single day and it pisses me off.

On days that the student decides to show up to class, he is often late, he always sits in the back of the classroom, and is either asleep, on his phone, or is reading his fraternity manual; never, is he engaged. In fact sometimes he distracts other students. This student makes teaching this class a living Hell, he is a demon if not Satan. Education scholar, Palmer (1998/2007) describes students like mine, "Student(s) from Hell". Like Palmer I too am guilty of becoming totally obsessed with this student partly because I have a soft spot for Greek students. A soft spot because I was one of them when I was an undergraduate. I feel like Greek students have a special opportunity to be one step ahead of the game after graduating. Greek life students have various resources that are accessible to them through an affiliation of a successful and supportive community; an opportunity that most students don't have. So why squander it in the classroom? Brotherhood/Sisterhood is about making each other better, yet it frustrates me that this student refuses to take his education seriously.

I find myself strategically finding ways through class prep to get him engaged and focused. In a way, one can say my lesson plans are often centered around him. Everyday after class I am re-evaluating how the class went due to his participation. If one method worked, it meant that the student from hell was engaged, and I often stuck with that method(There literally has been two classes where he was fully engaged). The days that some teaching methods were ineffective, according to his engagement, I would switch it up(I do this quite often). I feel as though, if he is not paying attention, neither is the rest of class. I feel as though if the student from hell likes the activity, so does the rest of the class. I know this to be NOT true!

But, every class period I find myself concerned for his attendance; part of me wants him to miss days so I may take off points, you know teach him a lesson; and part of me really wants his attitude to completely change because I want to see young Greek men break the stereotype and negative ideologies assigned to them; I want him to change because his attitude sucks. I get it, some people are not interested in Communication Studies. I get it, some people are in college for other reasons beyond education. I find myself constantly repeating in my mind as if the student from hell could hear my thoughts "I get it, but for now, could you not.".

I don't necessarily think that my heart is wrong for being invested in students and being upset that individual continues to choose to be excluded in the class community. However, my mind is not in the right place. When I focus on the "Student from hell" other students suffer. I tend to exclude students from the community because I am concerned with one learning style, one method of engagement, and one desirable interest regarding success. And although my students might never read this blog, I want to apologize to them. It's not fair that I let him get under my skin, it's not fair that I have 'come to Jesus' moments for the class because of him, and it's not fair that I let my passion for his success hinder my passion for other student's success. I'm sorry. I understand that I need to get back to focusing on the bigger picture.

                                                       #studentfromhell

Zombie Outbreak

Well friends,

It's the middle of the semester. You know what that means - zombie-like students in the classroom - unwilling, perhaps even unable, to engage in the course materials. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was an 8am 3 hour lecture course, but a quick glimpse at the clock reminds you that you teach in the afternoon and this class only lasts 50 minutes. Lively in the hallway, they fall quiet as soon as they enter the classroom, choosing only to indulge into technology or doze off with one single hand holding up their head.

Interesting. I remember my class being more lively and engaged? #dontpanic



Since it's the middle of the semester, I want to be understanding (after all, I'm a student still myself, I feel the struggle), but perhaps it's that desire for understanding that has lead to week 3 of seemingly brain-dead 1010 students. As Palmer (2007) states, "the way we diagnose our students' condition will determine the kind of remedy we offer... That caricature highlights a truth: our assumption that students are brain-dead leads to pedagogies that deaden their brains" (p. 42). Despite me wanting to empathize and be understanding with my students, I cannot and will not settle for accepting "brain-dead" as the new norm in classroom participation. My subconscious caution may accidentally be preventing me from upholding a high expectation from my students within the classroom.

Since this epiphany came to me, I have spent quite a bit more time planning my classes for the upcoming week. I want to continue to encourage and push my students outside of their comfort zones and into realms of critical thinking. I need to remember #dontpanic when my students are unresponsive. Instead I should approach engagement from a different pedagogical perspective. I encourage you all to join me in assessing this part of the semesters' student engagement levels & associated reasonings - is it midterms or pedagogies that deaden the brain?

Be Your Own Teammate: Take Care of Each Other

An aspect of teaching we have not discussed in depth is the importance of preserving our physical and mental health. In one of our very firsts blog posts, Rudi gave us tips and tricks on how to stay healthy in graduate school. She gave us insight on easy ways to protect our health, such as taking mental breaks to do things we enjoy as well as simply just drinking water.

Before starting the semester, I ran a couple miles a day, cooked healthy meals three times a day, and made sure I had at least 8 hours of sleep every night. I made it part of my daily routine to choose an activity, other than running, that involved me being outside and underneath the sun. To foster my personal relationships,  I allocated time to make phone calls back to California to check-in with my family, friends, and significant other. I watched documentaries that inspired me and I journaled quite a bit about my future plans. Life was great and I felt even better. Fast forward to today: Life sucks and I feel like dog crap. I haven't worked out since the semester started, I'm eating at Pot Belly's everyday, I sleep irregularly, and I'm semi-monthly binge drinking. I haven't talked to my family in weeks, I've forgotten multiple friends' birthdays, and I feel absolutely defeated.

However, this feeling is very familiar. I remember my last season of soccer, I was performing terribly. My coach, who was not from the U.S. told me, "You need to lose weight. Eat only salads. You are fat."

You can imagine how I took that. I began working out before and after practices, eating minimal meals, forgetting about my social life, and cramming any free time to finish my studies. My physical and mental health were terrible. It wasn't until I started to perform worse that I realized obsessively focusing on improving my job (at the time, being an athlete) was actually making me perform my job worse.

Moral of the story: Get your shit done, but don't devote your entire existence to being a teacher and/or student. It's so important to immerse yourself in the graduate student lifestyle and learn how to prioritize your time. I mean if graduate school were easy, everyone would do it, right? However, there is a difference between abusing your body (and mind) in order to get the job done.

Beyond grad school, we will be incredibly busy. Some of us will have jobs, be married, and pop out a bunch of those gross little humans- I mean babies. We must to be passionate about our roles in life, but also remember that there is a beauty in balancing these roles.  

As a teacher, we are expected to wear many hats. There is a phrase in soccer called "a hat trick" that we use to indicate when someone has scored three consecutive goals by one person. Therefore, no one except for that person can make a goal in between the goals that they have scored. Although I was a goalkeeper and wasn't able to have an opportunity to make any goals, being a student-teacher has allowed me to create 3 new goals to achieve, one after the other: Body + Mind + Soul.  

#Pedagoalie

#DoYourJob

DO YOUR JOB.

I’m sorry y’all. Being the crazy Boston sports fan that I am, I had to talk about this little piece of wisdom that our pal Fish gave us. “Do Your Job” is the trademark motto of the New England Patriots, aka the greatest professional football team there is. It can be seen in bold letters and heard in loud (and proud) voices all over Gillette Stadium, used as a hashtag by players and fans alike on social media, and plastered on t-shirts being sold on street corners all over Boston and in every Patriots merchandise shop. Whether you’re watching from the 50 yard line or your couch, you will know that the Patriots are here to do their job.

I think one of the biggest reasons New England fans like this phrase so much is because it brings us a sense of confidence and stability. The Patriots know what their job is, and they know how to do it. As fans, we know that they will succeed. The job of the New England Patriots is to win, and they are expected to do anything and everything to get that done. Patriots fans are so used to winning, that anything less is a complete disappointment. We’re taught that the Patriots will always come out on top, because that’s their job. And that’s what usually happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

via GIPHY

In class, we asked ourselves as teachers, “what is our job?” When Fish says “do your job” to educators, what exactly is he saying to do? While Fish defines our job as basically to teach and do nothing else, we defined our job as something more than that. Our job is much more than just giving students the analytical tools that they need and just dumping information on them. Of course it is important to give them these tools, but it’s also important to show them how to use them in ways that are moral and ethical so that they may grow to be socially responsible and just overall better people.

Teachers play such an important role in the lives of their students. While teachers have many students, students only have a small number of teachers. For a portion of their day, two or three times a week, every week for 4 months, students look to teachers to deliver course content, while also making it interesting, fun, and worthwhile. Our time with these kids is limited, why waste it being boring?

There’s always going to be people who tell you to just shut up and do your job. When this happens, ask yourself, what exactly is your job? What is it that people are telling you to do? And once you figure that out, ask yourself what YOU think your job is and how you can go above and beyond these job requirements to make a difference. Don’t let the skeptics of this world get you down. Tom Brady sure doesn’t.

via GIPHY

#keeponkeepinon

Finally :-D

I don't know about y'all but sometimes when y'all are talking in class, I feel like I don't know what the hell is going on. I seriously think, how did I even get to Grad school? lol

As the weeks go by, though, I have been feeling a bit more confident after receiving a few grades back. Maybe I do belong here. I must be doing something right. Although I did get 1 B, I feel like I can work harder and do better. I can get things done!
This goes along with the classes I teach as well. In the beginning I didn't think that I would do great, but as of right now I think I have done as much as I could to help my students out (at least the ones who are motivated to do good). I always have so much to grade since everyone does their assignments, 90 times how many essays??!! I think I am finally catching up y'all! I will be doing a lot of that tonight for sure so that I don't have things piling up. Luckily, a lot of students were absent during essays #HoustonWeHaveAProblem (Not good for them, but good for me), so that helped speed up the grading process, yay! My point is, I am finally feeling like I am in a good position. The only thing that might have me stressing a little is my adaptation performance. Hopefully by forcing myself to use Fish's ideas, I can focus on just getting that assignment done and moving on. I probably won't retain any info after the class is done (#DebbieDowner) but at least I will learn it for the time being. I can be on the Banking model temporarily, can't I?
Just 7 more weeks of school right? I can do this. I am doing great and the finish line is almost in sight. If I just keep motivated and get my shit done, no one can stop me. I got this!

Why We Should Care About Our Students (Even When We Don't Want To)

When I played sports as an undergraduate, there was always a time in the semester where everything slowly began to crumble. It was usually right after pre-season had ended, all of the women had become completely comfortable around each other, and games began to count towards our season record. It was at that time that players began to decline in their performance, cat fights would emerge, and we'd usually start losing games in a row. This was my least favorite part of playing sports, so in a way, I was eagerly thrilled to not have to experience all that my first semester of grad school as a student-teacher, not an athlete. 

Siiiiiiike. 

It's Week 8 and although I am no longer an undergraduate athlete, I realized that this "lull" is not limited to the soccer field. My students have become completely comfortable with the climate of the classroom, we've gone through a couple waves of assignments, and I'm starting to input more and more 0's into their grades on Blackboard. I've done my best to remind them every class period (literally, every. Damn. Class. Period.) what is due and what they need to be working on. Yet, I am being bombarded with emails at 11:50PM every Sunday night asking questions I have addressed in class. 

Instead of letting my frustrations take over my teaching style, I took a moment today to reflect on what was actually happening. Everyone (students, teachers, athletes, coaches, employees, etc) will have a time where they need that extra nudge or push in order for them to open up their eyes and get their butt in gear; It's human nature to want to get comfortable! Instead of having a the classic Coming to Jesus Moment that many teachers cringe to think about, I did something much familiar to what I experienced as an athlete.  

After finishing speeches leftover from last week, I took a brief 5 minutes to let my class know how much I genuinely care about them. I spoke about how I enjoy my job  because of them and how they're remarkable individuals and that they're all here for a reason. I let them know what an accomplishment it is to even be sitting in their seats; A luxury many people will never experience. "Essentially, you can try to motivate apathetic or lazy students by consistently reinforcing the idea that they are in charge of their own learning, that they can achieve their own goals, and that there is a reason to do so" (Dannels, 2015). After letting them know how much I care about them, I let them know how disappointed I was in their behaviors. I was completely honest with them about how many of them are on the road to failing this class and that choosing not to turn in their work is unacceptable. I did not nag or yell or threaten their grades. I simply spoke with conviction. After class, many students approached me. Some apologized, some asked what they can do to correct their mistakes, and some thanked me for caring about them. 

I've had a handful of talks with my class about how they need to turn their assignments in or how they need to show up for class. However, this was the first time all semester that I truly felt a reciprocated connection to my students. Not only did I care about them, but they cared about me.

Athletics and academics function in very similar ways. Similar to being a coach, if you are able to connect with your students on a deeper level, they will never intentionally try to hurt the relationship between you and them. Therefore, they will want to try to mend the relationship if they think it was broken. I am looking forward to helping my students achieve their potential while sharing the same bond Mexico's Head Coach Miguel Herrera shares with his team.

#Pedagoalie

Perceptions 101

The other day, I went into a fellow TA’s classroom as an undercover student. I wore a Razorback (Arkansas mascot) hat. Their perceptions of me were: hunter, fisher, and country music lover. To be honest, that is the farthest from the truth.

It’s funny how we have different perceptions of people, especially our students.

When I first started teaching my class, I didn’t know what to think of them. Were they going to be nice to me? Were they going to be respectful? Were they going to like me? Of course, I had my own assumptions but I always thought optimistically.

From here on out, I perceive that my students will be smart, motivated, hard-working, and engaged. So here’s to throwing away negative perceptions and having the best students that a TA could ever ask for.

#pedamorgie #stayinyourlain

Characteristics of a Successful Student

Lately, I have noticed a slew of students that I think will be successful in college. They tend to get 100’s on every assignment, they come to class with great questions, and overall they just do their work. I honestly appreciate their patience and endurance for Comm 1010. I know it might be a little early in the semester and that any student can change their ways but I feel like a teacher can predict who wants to be successful in the course from the students who don’t.

 I solemnly vow to not judge my students. I truly believe that every single student is smart, but some can also be lazy. The students that I think will not be successful are the ones who never show up, are constantly on their phones, and lacks engagement in every class meeting. 

Honestly, I feel for these students. I truly want them to do well, especially for an introductory course. I encourage each and every one of them to come to me if they need help. As a new teacher, I have vowed to myself to always be there for my students and always be transparent.

I hope that these students feel comfortable coming to me and that they want to thrive in this course and honestly, in college in general.

#pedamorgie #stayinyourlain