Suburban Visit

I recently received permission from my principal to spend a day observing teachers in my content area in a local high performing district. In our part of the state, one particular school district stands out. It is within an hour of the city, but as is often the case, the environments are dissimilar. The town in question is home to a major University and has a decent amount of diversity, with about 1/2 of the student population being students of color. As is the case in my school, the socioeconomic status of the students is very consistent - the difference being that in the case of the town, the vast majority of the students are very well off.

After an hour delay due to a bit of snowfall, I arrived at the Middle School, which serves only grades 7 and 8. Over the course of my day, I took several pages of notes, both on the classroom environments, the school culture, and the how the students and teachers got their jobs done.

My objectives for my visit stemmed from frustration in my current school environment, with the school, the faculty, and the students alike. I am now in my 3rd year in city and I worry that I have lost perspective of what a 7th or 8th grader should be able to do. If I lose sight of that I worry that my expectations could be skewed and may cause me to do a disservice to my students. I desperately wanted to see what a functioning school was like and what high performing students were like. I wanted a chance to observe someone teaching the same topics I taught. It isn't often I have a chance to do this since I am the only History teacher for grade 7 and 8 at my school. I wanted to see if I was doing something wrong - if my whole school was doing something wrong. Are my students so different than the suburban youth? And I will be honest about an unspoken underlying motive for the visit - Is this my destination? Would this be a place I could be more effective and feel better about my career? Am I just another teacher who floats through the city and then leaves for greener grass or is my passion truly urban education, as I have insisted so many times before. I secretly hoped that today's visit would move me forward toward a better understanding of my own needs and provide me with a bit of direction.

My day started in the main teacher who I was visiting's homeroom. He is a seasoned veteran teacher who is a Doctor of Education and used to teacher in Long Island. He also is an education Professor at a local college. I certainly found his position to be quite appealing and it made me curious if I would ever be in a similar position. His relationship with his students seemed to be fairly decent, but his lack of discipline problems made me curious as to whether he would be able to adjust to teaching in an environment similar to mine. His homeroom time was very laid back. Students chatted quietly, both with one another and with their teacher. 10 of the 12 students were white and 7 were boys. We conversed during homeroom and he told me that 90% of the time students completed their homework and that students could check their grades online. Homeroom was mostly just the teacher explaining to the students what their day would be like, and then explaining to me what my day would be like. I spent the first block with the teacher and his first period US History class. From the moment class started until the end I was completely floored. Every student had all of their materials on their desk and was ready to go. The students were working on presentations about the causes of the American Revolution. Each student had to present one aspect and then field questions from her or his classmates. The vocabulary and control were incredible. Every other student was silent, intently taking notes during the presentations. Notes were taken from listening alone, as their were no visual aides - yet no student complained or failed to complete their work. Any questions were fielded professionally, and if any information was stated incorrectly, at least 1 or 2 (if not more) students would immediately, yet politely correct the presenters' slip-ups. All questions that were asked show deep understanding of what was being presented. At one point a student said they were presenting the Quartering Act and one student said "Ooooo my favorite!" and another said "Me too!" without an ounce of sarcasm. The teacher did very little as the students cleared up any points of confusion and made very full and detailed presentations.

The second block I visited another seasoned veteran teacher in the 7th grade. The 7th grade immaturity in comparison to 8th grade was still apparent, but their was certainly much more work going on than in my 7th grade. They worked in groups on individual map projects (a 5 to 7 class assignment). Once they finished, their was a significant amount of group work in the center of the table that they needed to complete. These are often called "sponge activities," and they occupy and keep students engaged after they finish the given assignment. This classroom also seemingly had no discipline problems whatsoever.

Third period I went back to my host's class. This time it was an ELL inclusion class, with 11/20 students of color. The teacher threatened to send one student to the principal simply because he was out of his seat, and was later spoken to 1 on 1 in the hallway. The skill level in this class was not as shocking as the first class, but was still impressive.

Fourth period I visited another teacher. Similarly, discipline was a non-issue. I did take a lot of ideas from her classroom and write them down, in hopes that I will be able to take them back to my own school, but I won't bore you by listing them out here.

Last block I went to a computer class. In computer class the students were working on making online portfolio websites of their work in each of their classes. The process was really impressive. They first took photos of their work and put it onto the computer. They then edited the photos and cropped them to fit onto a powerpoint slide. The slide described the work and why it was important in the real world. The students then converted the slide to a pdf and transferred it to an online shared folder. They then added a link to the pdf onto their webpage using frontpage. It was really amazing to see the information presented by the teacher one time and then watching the kids get to work. They were so motivated it really was inspiring.

In reflection, I feel even more confused and more torn than I did prior to my observations. While I feel like the kids in the city have many more needs, I question whether or not these needs can truly be met in a meaningful way. No teacher is going to solve poverty on their own. Perhaps it is even delusional to think that poverty is something that can be solved, at least within the context of a capitalist society. Relocating my job to a suburban school feels like giving up, and I am not one to quit something. Teaching in the suburbs and teaching in the city are two completely different professions. I wonder if skills are even transferable. I worry that if I decide to shift to a more suburban district, that I will be ineffective, as I am not accustomed to teaching such students. I also am curious as to whether I would be more effective in a different profession within an urban settings - if I could make more of an effect for more people. The difference in skill levels and social skills between those students and my students are so drastic that it makes the outlook for my students seem even more hopeless than I had previously thought. I am not even certain that my highest performing students would be able to compete with the students at the suburban school - and that is so upsetting. I think everyone wants to think that what they do for a living is meaningful - that they reap some reward or some sense of satisfaction with their work. It is difficult for me to gauge which of the two options would be more rewarding for me, and which position I would be providing a more important service.

Is urban education hopeless? Will there always be ghettos? Will things ever change?