One of the most interesting things about subbing during my semester two student teaching has been never knowing what I am walking into or how the students are going to behave. One afternoon, I was filling in for a seventh-grade science teacher who needed to leave in the middle of her fifth-hour class for an appointment.

As I enter the classroom, the students are busy working on their laptops. The teacher explains that the students are working on a project on wildlife populations in various biomes. For the rest of the hour I was to monitor the students, which included making sure they were working and answering any questions that arise. She left an answer key for the questions the students were attempting to answer and headed out the door.

As I walked around the room, the students worked in pairs or small groups utilizing a computer simulation to explore how changing the population of one grassland animal, such as prairie dogs, effected the population of other animals, such as ferrets and foxes. I answered a couple of questions, unrelated to what the students were working on, before pausing to watch one student adjust the settings on his computer simulation. I watched a couple of other students work when suddenly I hear a loud “hello” behind me. I turned around and could not believe what I was seeing.

Phones ringing in a middle school classroom is not uncommon. Most of the time the problem is dealt with the same as if a phone rang in a college class, the phones owner apologizes and silences the phone. I was flabbergasted that a student actually answered his phone. As I approached the student, he held out his phone and asked, “do you want to talk to my friend?” I accepted the phone he was holding and promptly pressed end call.

“What are you doing?” the student asked.

“I am putting your phone on your teacher’s desk, you can collect it at the end of class” I responded. “Please, get back to work on your assignment.” The student complained a little under his breath before going back to his assignment.

Reflection:

This experience was eye-opening. I am used to students testing substitute boundaries, trying to see just how far they can push a new teacher or substitute. I am also used to the barrage of unrelated questions students ask. However, I have never seen a student answer their phone in class. Thankfully, I am in a unique position as I student teach at Tibbetts in addition to subbing. Farmington Municipal School District policy states that substitutes cannot take phones away from students. Because I student teach as well, I am able to follow the district’s teacher policies instead of the substitute rules. Which is why I choose to take the phone from the student. However, I was also sure to keep an eye on the phone so that I would not be financially reliable if it disappeared off the desk.

I firmly believe that rules and policies are put into place for a reason. School district policies are in place to protect teachers, substitutes, and other staff members. However, protecting subs by limiting what they can do in the classroom is also difficult. If I were subbing in another building, or not in the position I am in, I would have had to radio down to the office for an administrator. The student would then be removed from the room, and corrective action would be taken. This could include in-school-suspension or even actual suspension. Instead, placing the student’s phone on the desk enabled the student to continue working on his assignment. I returned his phone just before the bell rang and we discussed making better choices in the classroom. I made sure to discuss the incident with his teacher as well.

A Unique Classroom

On a windy Tuesday morning, students in Dr. Stone and Ms. Ring’s eighth-grade math class are working on solving equations. This third-hour math class is unlike any other, as there are four teachers responsible for instruction. Two of the teachers are special education teachers. Dr. Stone has 18 years teaching experience, and I am lucky enough to learn from all three. Together we work with 30 students, most of whom struggle with learning math. We utilize a co-teaching model, which enable’s us to work with small group instruction and meet individual student needs. Along with teaching math, we strive to encourage a growth mindset and confidence in the classroom.

Minor Freak-Out

As the students work on solving the equations, the four teachers walk around the classroom helping individual, or small groups, of students as they are needed. One of the first students I worked with was Jones, who was convinced she would never be able to “get it.” I began by modeling how to solve an equation with the first equation. Then we went through solving an equation together, with Jones doing most of the writing. Then I watched as Jones solved an equation before moving on to helping other students. Towards the end of the hour Jones approached me. Her face was slightly red and she looked like she was ready to cry. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” I ask.

“Ms. Ring, there is no way this is right. I keep trying to find what I did wrong, but I can’t find anything. I know it’s not right” she said, every word bringing her closer to tears.

“Let’s sit down and take a look” I replied, leading her to my desk. As I looked over her paper I didn’t see anything wrong. “Which problem are your struggling with?” I asked her.

“That one, number seven. I worked on it forever, I know it’s wrong” she said. I looked at number seven again. She had taken a couple of extra steps that weren’t necessary, but her answer was correct.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, Jones. Your answer is correct, and your work looks good. Why do you think it’s wrong?”

“Because it can’t be right, I can’t do math. Plus, plus it was easy. Math is not easy. I did it wrong.” She no longer looked as if she was going to break out in tears any moment, now she appeared frustrated and a little confused. I reached behind my desk to retrieve the answer key, placing it next to her paper. I pointed to her answer on her paper, and the solution I had gotten on the answer key. Jones quietly contemplated her work, then snatched her paper off the desk.

“Yeah, well, I’m still frustrated” she said as she walked away.

“Because you did it right?” I replied, very confused.

“Yes.”

Reflection:

Being an effective teacher means a lot more than just crafting good learning experiences. One of the biggest aspects of my job is cheer-leading. The students I work with have no confidence in their abilities, which traps them in the endless cycle of a fixed mindset. Jones getting upset because she was successful, while most people would find this amusing, I think it is a testament to the math instruction students have been exposed to. My students are convinced they cannot be successful. We need to stop telling students that any content area is hard, or that failure is okay. More than that, we need to work to increase the confidence level of our students, in all content areas and in themselves. If we want our students to be successful in the future, we need to show them that they are capable. We must show them we believe in them. We must show them we care, even if they are going to get upset with us when they are successful.

Dr. Stone’s fourth-hour eighth-grade math class is working on solving systems of equations. After going over several problems on the board, taking notes on the examples, and trying several problems on her own, Brownie came to me for help. She was struggling with moving through the steps to graph the lines in the system.

I began working with her by asking “what do you do first?”

“I know this is like the y inter-something, it’s five, so I go to the y line and put a dot at five.” She replied.

“Very nice, and what do you do next?” I asked.

“I use the slope to find more dots. The slope is 2 over 3, so I start at the dot and I go up two and then over three. Then, I can do it again to get another dot.”

“It looks like you’ve got this, what do you do next?”

“I use the dots to make a line, then, I put arrows on the end of the line.” She responded. We worked several more problems in this fashion before I headed back to my desk. A couple minutes later, Brownie was standing in front of me again. “I’m stuck again," she declared.

“What are you stuck on sweetheart?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I feel lost when I look at them by myself.” She stated.

I pulled a chair up to my desk and invited Brownie to sit by me. For the rest of the hour, every time she sat up and looked lost I would ask “what do you do next?” For most of the problems, this was all she needed. When questions arose, or problems she was not sure what to do with, she asked for help. By the end of the hour, she was much more confident in solving and graphing equations, and I was ready to record “what do you do next” so she could hear it when she needed it.

Over the next several days, I encouraged her to think about what I would say when she was stuck. Most of the time, this was all she needed to be successful.

Reflection

Working with Brownie was another experience that demonstrated the lack of confidence students have in themselves. As can be seen in our discussion, I did not need to tell Brownie what to do next. She already knew what to do, she just lacked confidence in her choices. Over the last ten weeks, I have had the pleasure of observing Brownie as her confidence has grown in the classroom. While she still struggles with math, she is more confident in her ability to work independently.

Additionally, even though Brownie is a shy student she has started to come to me for other life events she finds stressful. Building a rapport with Brownie has enabled me to become a positive influence in her life. When she has a problem, she knows she can come to me, regardless of what the problem is. Building this type of relationship with students is not easy, but it is worth the effort. Yesterday she trusted me to help her with her math, today she trusted me enough to share her personal struggles; what will she trust me with tomorrow?

My first day in the classroom this semester, I met a student who has since shown me the importance of caring and supporting students. Christina is a sweet girl who was making a series of bad choices. This included disrespecting her teachers, other students, and herself. A couple weeks into the semester, Christina got into a bad fight. The students were sitting in the bleachers waiting for the assembly to start. Just as the principle started to speak, Christina jumped over the students in front of her to attack a young lady sitting a couple of rows in front of her. The story about what caused the fight was unclear, but I felt disappointed as Christina was led out of the gym.

When Christina returned to school after her suspension, she was a week behind. She was required to come into the classroom at lunch each day to get caught up on the work she had missed. It was during one of those lunch sessions that the following conversation occurred.

“Ms. Ring why is math so hard?”

“Math is not hard, but like anything else you want to be good at, you have to practice. In order to do that you have to be in class sweetie.” I responded.

“It’s not my fault, I was suspended.” She stated.

“And why were you suspended?”

“Because I got in a fight again.”

“And whose choice was that?”

“Mine, but she had it coming.”

“That’s not what I asked. You made a choice, you got in a fight which resulted in getting suspended. So, doesn’t that make it your fault that you were not here?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She went back to focusing on her graphing project but appeared to be considering what I had said. After several minutes she asked, “how can I do better?”

“Well sweetie, the first thing you need to do is keep your hands to yourself” I replied, smiling. “Then it is about the choices you make. If you want to get better at math, then you have to make the choice to learn and practice math. What you get in life and where you go is a result of the choices you make. If you choose to put your friends before your studies, then you will have a great social life, but your grades will suffer. If you choose to put your studies first, then your grades will improve. But it all starts with the choices you make.”

A few minutes later the bell rang, Christina headed off to her next class without commenting. However, since that conversation Christina has started putting more energy into all her classes. Most days, she comes to my classroom for lunch so that I can help her with school work. Other days, she just comes in to talk.

Reflection:

If you had told me that first day that I would be voluntarily spending my lunch helping Christina with her work for all of her classes, I would have told you were crazy. There is no way the disrespectful young lady in front of me would ever come in for help that wasn’t required. And, there is no way I would sign-up to be treated the way she treated her teachers. However, the changes Christina has made since that conversation have been remarkable. Not only is she making better choices, but she is also encouraging others to make good choices. I have also learned about the struggles she faces at home and the obstacles she has had to overcome. She is a remarkable young lady that is now on the right path to accomplish anything she puts her mind to.

Seeing the positive impact that I have made in Christina’s life has reinforced my drive to be a great teacher. Inside each and every student is a remarkable young person, with unlimited potential and a caring heart. I have had the privilege of seeing Christina discover the impact her choices, realize her potential, and turn it around.