Reflectiveness--a Center Achievement

No, not that kind of reflective.

I’ve taught for twenty-seven years in an urban environment.  Urban education is the only thing I know.  In that time, I have seen many teachers embrace the essence of urban education and discover a passion.  I have also seen a fair share try it and leave, seemingly incapable of comprehending what skills are needed to be successful in an urban classroom.  Why are some teachers capable of success in an urban setting, while others inexplicably do a face plant?  Are some teachers so much more talented?  Do the teachers in the urban setting who, by all appearances, knock it out of the park everyday have that much more “junk in their trunk?”  Study the research and you’ll find that there are a myriad of factors that experts believe contribute to the success of teachers.  For the past fifteen years, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with numerous teaching candidates from Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Center for Urban Teaching.  I have found one characteristic present in every one of their candidates: the ability to be reflective.  Candidates from the Center for Urban Teaching bring this significant asset to their classrooms.

Reflective teachers leave little to chance.  They demonstrate a serious passion for their craft.  That passion is contagious—everyone that encounters it experiences a positive vibe.  Reflective teachers are problem solvers, analyzing the challenges of the classroom as theirs to influence, shape, and facilitate.  They take ownership of the learning environment. 

I’ve had the pleasure to work with a number of candidates from the Center for Urban Teaching, and I continue to be impressed with their reflective nature, an obvious outcome of their educational experiences, as well as their knowledge of educational best practices and their own personal experiences.  Should you have an opportunity to work with one of these young educators in the future…prepare to be impressed.

Live and Love your Life

Through God’s immeasurable ways, the educational career chose me (Ephesians 1:4).  With undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Marketing and the hopes of being a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, WI, how did I end up in Phoenix, AZ, teaching 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders?! 

God is truly amazing and always gives us abundantly more than we can ever ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20).  The journey from the summer of 2007 to now has been filled with challenges, tears, joy, sweat, mistakes, and changed lives: none of which I would change.  Currently, I am teaching 9^th grade English at HOPE Christian High School, and through God’s grace, I have grown beyond what I could ever imagine.  Yet, I have an incredible amount of learning and growing to do!  Here is something that I have learned that I would like to share with anyone who has the slightest urge, feeling, or knowing from the Holy Spirit to teach our future leaders. 

            The Word tells us that out of Faith (substance of things hoped for and believing in the things unseen), Hope (a confident expectation), and Love, the greatest of these is Love.  It is no coincidence that love is the formula for reaching our students, connecting with them, and ultimately helping them achieve success.  We add value to the lives of others when we care: as John C. Maxwell says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” 

So how do you demonstrate that love?  Love is communicated through passionately serving others.  We must learn our students’ language, their love language.  We must be great listeners to their nonverbal actions.  We must have high expectations for our students—they’ll reach to wherever the bar is set.  We must inspire, through our passion, to move our students from knowing to doing because, “a true test of inspiration is action.”  All in all, caring for our students + knowing our students + listening to our students + high expectations for our students + inspiring our students = serving in love. 

Jesus said He didn’t come to be served, but He came to serve (Mark 10:45).  Are you willing to do the same?  If the greatest of virtues is Love and we become great by serving (Mark 10:43), then ask yourself earnestly, are you willing to live the life God has called YOU to live?   

Castenzio Venegas attended Carthage College in Kenosha, WI for his undergraduate education, receiving a dual major in Business Administration and Marketing.  While attending Carthage, Castenzio was recognized for the United States National Collegiate Award in Minority Leadership.  Upon graduating with his Bachelor’s degrees, Teach For America partnered with Arizona State University; Castenzio pursued a Master’s degree in Cross Categorical Special Education (K-12) in the College of Teacher Education & Leadership program (CTEL) while teaching 6-8^th graders in a Special Education setting in Phoenix, AZ.  Furthermore, in his third year teaching, Castenzio obtained a certification to teach English abroad in over 65 countries, enabling him to move to Italy and teach English as foreign language.  While in Italy, HOPE Christian Schools recruited Castenzio to teach 9th grade English at the High School.  Over the past academic school year (2011/2012), Castenzio was the recipient of the "Faith-In-Action" award at the HOPE Schools’ Fall Celebration. 

Using Music in the Classroom

In the 1960s, parents and teachers feared the influence of rock music, like Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones. Today, the music that strikes a similar amount of fear and contempt is rap. It has many alarming qualities; however, my scholars at HOPE: Fortis love it.  It’s what you hear bumping from car stereos all over the neighborhood. If a rap song is played, all my scholars can sing along with every word.

And can you blame them? I love it too. Who doesn’t love a great beat and a catchy hook?

As teachers, we strive to contextualize our lessons in order to energize and excite our students to learn. Even though Milwaukee test scores show otherwise, my students are brilliant! If they can memorize every word to a Drake rap, they should be able to learn anything!

For some reason, a disconnect exists between learning the verses of a song and learning the periodic table of elements. So in my classroom, it’s important to put a rhythm onto our learning objectives. Adding rhythm makes things exciting and easy to memorize, and also adds energy to classroom activities. We rap our multiplication facts and vocabulary words.  We build school culture by rapping about our expectations. HOPE: Fortis is most famous for our “Scholar Ladies” music video, a remake of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” We have found that there’s no rap song we can’t change to make it applicable to our classroom.  Take, for instance, “Teach Me How to Dougie”, a popular song in 201: we changed it to “Teach Me How to Study”.

The songs and rhythms we create only aid in the learning that is taking place at HOPE!

 

Megan Heinen is an alumnus of the Center for Urban Teaching and in her 4^th year teaching at HOPE Christian School: Fortis where she specializes in teaching English Language Arts to 5^th and 6^th grade scholars.

Email her at Megan.heinen@hopeschools.org

Happiness Is Not Found In "Stuff"

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Kenya; it was an extraordinary trip of a lifetime! Most of my time was spent visiting schools. We spent time in elementary, secondary, and special needs schools. The one thing that really resonated with me was how happy and engaged the learners and teachers were, despite having very limited quantities of “stuff.”

 

If you are like me, I can’t count the number of times I have added one more item to my “wish list” thinking… then I’ll have all I need.

However, most of the schools I spent time in had dirt floors, no electricity, and no running water. Children would walk miles (some up to 7) a day to get to a school that had four tattered text books shared among 23 students. Five fifth grade boys sit all day long in a desk designed for two students, switching turns at partially hanging off the edge of the seat. Despite these challenges, they were happy and engaged learners! 

Teachers made due with no classroom decorations, teacher manuals, smart boards, white boards, or manipulatives – they used the same hole in the ground as the students for their bathroom. Despite these challenges, teachers were excited about teaching and dedicated to their students.

 

These dedicated teachers understand that good teaching does not come from having stuff, but in engaging learners in the wonder and amazement of God’s creation. These children understand that if they want a better life, education is their one chance. They have spent time and energy building relationships with each other, challenging each learner to reach to his or her highest God-given potential…and they are happy!                                                                      

What a privilege to witness this. I am so very thankful for all the comforts and toys I have been blessed with. But I need to be reminded that they are just that…blessings to be enjoyed and shared. I have not earned them and do nothing to deserve them; they are simply mine by God’s grace. That grace and mercy is the true source of our happiness. Our relationship with HIM and with the people he has placed in our life—that is the source of happiness. The constant pursuit of “stuff” will only leave me with a longer wish list, and a longing for what always seems to be missing. Lasting peace and happiness is mine, and it does not pass through the free market.

Dr. Rhoda Wolle is an Assistant Professor of Education and the Director for the Academic Success Center at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. Rhoda has been awarded her BS in Secondary and Primary Education, her MA in Education with an emphasis in students at risk, and her PhD in Educational Psychology.  Her areas of focus include student success and faculty professional development. Rhoda has spoken internationally to educators, parents, and teens on the topic of education. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, music, and walks with her dog.

Hey, It's Me...

It is not a career. It is not a job. It is not a responsibility. And if others look at what I do, they would hardly call it a life. But urban education is me. Somehow the lifestyle of an urban educator has raptured my being, so now my identity has been morphed into: Mrs. Weber, an educator in the inner city. I never would have chosen this for myself. But you don’t choose the circle, the circle chooses you.

As educators, we must transfer knowledge from one brain to another, which in and of itself is a feat.
Think about it. When you are teaching, you must take what you have come to know and understand,
engrained inside of you by experience and exposure, and somehow take that something inside you and
move it through space and matter and skulls and nerves and hurts and pains…through all of that - and
try to get it inside of someone else’s brain. And it isn’t just knowledge: it is life skills and emotions and
priorities and values and beliefs.

How is this possible? How can I get someone to feel accomplished for understanding the classifications of triangles? How can I get someone to understand the joys of the agonizing relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, transcending out of their own body and language and country and time to fully appreciate their love story? How can I get a 12-year-old to understand the purpose of sitting still and listening so that they can learn when I, a 28-year-old, can’t even track my own colleagues’ dialogue if it does not interest me? How can I infuse a child with knowledge and understanding so when I am calling him or her a scholar, I actually believe it?

Teaching is not the type of job where you could ever keep an accurate time punch card. You could
never quantify nor qualify its value. You can’t master it. You can’t replicate it. And if you are doing it
right, I don’t even think you can ever really leave it. It happens to you. It becomes you. And soon you
are wrapped up in the impossible task of infusing knowledge and understanding to young minds... And
if you are doing it right, you find that you are actually giving yourself away. You share your experiences,
life, stories, personality, and being. You come to learn and understand your audience, connecting
with them so that the transfer can be complete. If this connection is not made, then the transfer of
knowledge and understanding will never happen. We must make the connection.

So, just like the rest of effective urban educators, I give myself away. I connect. And it will never be the
same for you as it is for me—but we all do it. Because, well, you know, it’s more than just me. It’s we.

Bio:
Sarah Weber is a teacher at St. Marcus Lutheran School. When Sarah is not teaching, she loves writing, hiking, reading, and enjoying coffee.