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“Interrupt the ‘Studenting’”

My nephew, Greg, who just graduated from high school in the pandemic and will start college (University of Michigan) in the fall, shared this picture to represent “engagement.” When I mentioned the word “studenting” to him, he knew exactly what I meant. He even described this phenomenon--when young people appear to be having on-topic conversations in class (but are not) and when adolescents appear to be listening quietly to a teacher (but are really anywhere but in that classroom). His favorite teacher was like this coach: he got and kept your attention with his demeanor, the way he carried himself, and his humor. The pedagogical practice at work here is more of a "stance": walk and talk and face your students with the belief that what you have to say to them and what you will ask them to do are important, and the expectation that they will participate. And be sure to consider your words, content, and methods from their points of view--first.

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“Cara the Brilliant Bear”

Cara shared that her favorite teacher so far in high school was her English teacher. This teacher had a large bulletin board filled with notes and pictures from former students. She highlighted these notes and images as evidence of her success as a teacher, and she  pointed to this board with her current students to make this criteria explicit. An extraordinary teacher gives and scaffolds students into opportunities to communicate about their learning.

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"Teachers Who Trust You"
This is Tony "Fresh" Velez, and he is part of CCB (Cleveland City Breakers), a break dancing group, and he is also in drama club at Lincoln-West.The drama teacher lets him do his breakdancing and plan all the dancing in school plays, even in the Christmas Carol play. Some teachers may not trust you enough to do that.That's what keeps guys like him in school.
--Xidi

This image and writing were taken/drafted by Xidi fifteen years ago, when my dear friend and "Through Students' Eyes" project partner, Jim Harmon, and I began this work. While the image is from Cleveland, I think of this illustration as the starting point for my best teaching/researching self--my home--so it makes sense to connect it to my literal current home in northern Virginia. And the related pedagogical practice? It's about the consideration of students' voices, but as a method (actually listening to them, about things that matter to them and me) and as a content (as they actually know things about things I care about--teaching, learning, school, communities).