Here is the final draft of my teacher story. It was wonderful to learn more about the ways my teachers- especially Mrs. Reyer- impacted the way I teach.
With love,
Libby
Lesson on Hand-Drawn Animation
This is my lesson on hand-drawn animation. Hand-drawn animation is a low-tech animation method that allows you to watch your drawings come to life through an artistic and meditative process. The lesson guides the student through understanding how individual drawings can produce motion, how motion can be broken down into still moments, and how to produce drawings to view your own animation sequence.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFEaKjPh2-q-4lGkK8H9Lb5tfs9VXZvqquQxW6kEqo0Z0LMQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
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How to Make a Zine
This lesson will discuss what a zine is, how to make one, and all the materials you need to start making and sharing your own zines.
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Beauty Standards of Social Media
This lesson is intended to help young people make distinctions between what they see in the media and what they consider to be beautiful. This lesson is for students ranging from 10th to 12th grade.
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An Unmatched Spirit
It was the fall of 2004 and I was about to start my first day of high school. The freshmen class entered the gym that morning where there was an air of excitement and energy being projected by the one and only Mrs.Podgorski. There were balloons, music, and us freshmen taking seats in the bleachers. Mrs. P was yelling encouraging words into the mic as we walked in and I remember thinking “Wow this woman has a lot of energy for 7am” but honestly, I was captivated. She had spearheaded this new program for Rubidoux High School called Link Crew. Link Crew was a program designed to have Juniors and Seniors form a team of mentors for a small group of freshmen for a year to help their transition to high school. Experiencing its impact firsthand, I knew that I would one day be a part of Link Crew because I believed in its mission and was inspired by the type of change Mrs. P wanted to bring to the campus in terms of belongingness and the power we had as students to bring on that change.
Since I wasn’t going to be able to be a Link Crew Leader until my junior year, I thought I wouldn’t see much of Mrs. P until then, but she was a strong force on campus and I saw myself involved in other social justice projects she helped students organize. I remember Mrs. P opened her home to a group of us that led a big social justice project. In dedication to the Invisible Children campaign, we organized a 12 hour famine in order to collect funds for the organization. The day of the famine over 100 high school students were on campus since 8 in the morning. There was no eating throughout the whole day so we had planned a way to distract everyone from hunger for the next 12 hours. In the middle of the quad we had arranged a battle of the bands line up where musicians offered their time and music to the cause. Throughout the different classrooms you would find students playing video games, in the nap room, the homework room, the karaoke room etc… We provided lots of water so nobody would get dehydrated and were on call for any unforeseen problems that came up. It took months of planning together trying to anticipate all the different parts of this endeavor. At the end, it was all worth it as we all came together to break the fast and reflected on why this was an important cause for us. This rally for social justice was to help the fight against the use of child soldiers in Uganda, and its lesson went beyond learning in a classroom. We organized this event and took leadership roles where Mrs. P gave us full reign and it was an amazing experience. We could use our mentorship and organizational skills to encourage one another and join together for causes that went beyond our community to help make an impact in the world we share with others. We did not need to wait until we were adults because we had a teacher that took us seriously and knew that coming together, we would make a difference.
When my junior year had finally arrived,I was able to join Link Crew! Mrs.P was always willing to listen to and encourage our ideas to change how we approached our mentoring. She gave us lessons on how to communicate with teens that are younger than us from a teen perspective. We were grouped into a Link Crew team of four that would go into the same English freshmen class once a month, where we were then each responsible for a group of four to five freshmen. We would do a whole class lesson and then met with our individual groups to continue with an in depth part of the lesson that ranged from social skills, learning how to interact with teachers and administration, and problems that faced us as teens. We were there to help support these freshmen academically and emotionally and to remind them that there was a network of support they could always rely on. If the problems that were shared to us as Link Crew Leaders were too heavy for us to handle alone, we knew we could go to Mrs.P to help us navigate our guidance or intervene with the next level of professional help the student may have needed.
It felt that as a school there was a greater sense of community thanks to Link Crew. The part that was so awe inspiring was that Link Crew Leaders were formed from every possible type of student you can imagine. It was made up of AP students, nerds, band geeks, athletes, cheerleaders, choir nerds, “trouble makers” and every kind of student possible. We all came together because we were all influenced by our own mentors or really believed in this collective response to mentor others. This program and the versatility of Mrs. P’s teaching really broke down so many stereotypes among students because we were brought together by this motivation to be a part of something special.
Mrs. P was able to teach us in a manner that respected our creativity, ideas, and she connected to us on a human level. We never felt like we were talked down to and she gave us the tools to learn from experience and taught us that it was okay to fail sometimes as long as we never gave up. Her class was not an “easy A” kind of class, we had to put in the work of learning lessons and implementing those lessons to others. She had high expectations for the quality of lessons we were sharing with others and our mentorship skills that developed throughout the year. We were all comfortable coming to her if we felt we needed her help. Her passion and compassion for others was inspiring. She was one of the first teachers that I had that inspired me to do so much more than receive a good letter grade for a course. She taught me about social justice in action and that people uniting for a cause can be powerful. She taught us that it didn’t matter what social clique you belonged to, your ideas were valid and that human kindness is always possible. We all deserve a voice and being a part of a community that takes care of each other and she gave us just that. I went on to receive the “Link Leader of the Year” award my senior year, an award I cherish to this day that helps me remember all the lessons Mrs. P had taught us.
Years later, I began to work as a Student Attendant Aide at the same high school Mrs. P was teaching at and I was able to reconnect with her. She continued inspiring students and one of their efforts made it to the local paper. For me, she was a source of support and encouragement especially when I mentioned wanting to apply to Smith. She reminded me of her story that she always shares with her students about her starting her journey at a community college. She was the first teacher I had met who was open about taking a non-traditional path towards their higher education. Her story was especially comforting because as an Ada Comstock Scholar at Smith, I too share a non-traditional path, and having her as an example is a true form of inspiration. She is a reminder that it is possible to be an incredible educator without taking traditional or expected pathways; that our experiences should be shared, celebrated and incorporated in how we approach education. She told me she was proud of the work I had done up until that point, but recognized my passion and knew that I was more than capable of reaching my higher education goals. As always, she was right, as I am two weeks away from receiving my Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology & Education and Child Study from Smith College.
As I reflect on all that Mrs.P taught us, I can’t help but be so inspired. Her teachings resonate with me every day and especially in these times where the world is suffering collectively with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Coming together, checking on each other, making any positive contribution are all valid ways to make all the difference for someone. Placing positive energy, compassion, and social activist efforts into the world is what we need now more than ever. Thank you, Mrs.P, I am forever grateful.
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A Light in The System
Throughout my school years, I have had a few influential teachers who impacted my educational interests and made me who I am today. Sir Damdul is one of them; he was one of my favorite teachers in high school. He taught us mathematics in eighth and ninth grade and had an efficient teaching style. My first memory of him, which is still a source of joy during conversations with school friends, is his “hair flip.” Sitting in his class, we would wait for his hair flip. He is of average height. He wears glasses and had silky black hair that he parted in the middle. When he was about to sneeze, he would go to the corner of the classroom, facing his back toward us. Then, he would sneeze and bend his head a little and then turn around with a hair flip, moving his hair back from his face. The hair flip with his slow and calm personality would look like slow motion in a movie. Whenever it happened, we would be quiet and amused. Our funny friends would giggle and anxiously wait to copy his hair flip. Right after he left the class, they would go to the corner to copy him and make everyone laugh. This impersonation is still popular among our friends.
I attended a private school in my hometown, and we would have new teachers every year, which is common in India. Sometimes good teachers would leave. Between elementary and middle school, we had a new math teacher every one to two years; by the time we would be acclimated to a new teaching style, the teacher would leave. I was very frustrated with changing teachers for my most challenging subject. But when Sir Damdul became my math teacher, I was relieved to finally have a good teacher and to witness myself doing well in math. I am a slow learner, especially in math. From middle school to college, I always felt anxious before each math class or assignment. However, in Sir Damdul’s class, I used to score A’s, which is a big accomplishment for me. Sir Damdul was very patient with his students. He modified his teaching style for each student and understood the way we learned. I asked a few of my schoolmates to write about him, and Phuntsog wrote, “What I like about him is his patience towards understanding and accommodating all kinds of students while teaching”. Sir Damdul would first teach us the lesson, and then give us a worksheet based on the lesson. He would go through each student’s worksheet; if some students still did not comprehend the section, he would make them sit in a circle in the front of the class and teach them again while the other students hung out in the back. The number of students sitting in the circle would decrease slowly. I felt comfortable not scoring correctly the first time; I could try again and get it right. I was also comfortable sitting in the circle even if my friends were relaxing in the back. However, his teaching technique gave me the incentive to pay attention and work hard so I could hang out in the back.
In the Indian education system, most teachers would use rote learning and the “sit and get lectured to style,” and only the top three or four students would be able to keep up with the work. Naturally, some teachers would feel that the rest of the students were inattentive and incompetent. But the truth was, there was only one teaching style for the different types of learners. Sir Damdul was engaged with every student though. He didn’t judge us by rank or grades, and he addressed each student equally, trying to bring them all to the same level. I hope to teach for a few years before going into educational policy in India, and I am fortunate to have experienced Sir Damdul’s alternative teaching method to this rigid education system.
In every Indian class, testing was frequent. Our test grades mattered the most and would define us as students. Because of the ranking system, there was pressure and competition to do better than everyone else. And it was stressful, both the anxiety of preparing for and taking the tests as well as being punished or humiliated by teachers and family for getting lower scores. However, in Sir Damdul’s class, tests were less stressful and slightly fun. He used to make students who wanted to score above 90 on the upcoming test sign a “contract” with him. He would go around to each student, getting their signature. If we scored according to the contract, we would get chocolate. Contrary to other teachers, he didn’t punish the students who scored low or not according to the contract. His technique made me aim higher even if math gave me anxiety. One of my schoolmates, Yangdol wrote, “Sir-lay always motivated me”. The contract and the promise also motivated me to study. I was excited by the fact that he had a different approach to testing than the normal, anxiety-producing one. He was as invested in our testing and goals as we were. Usually, tests were assessments of a student’s hard work or cramming, but they didn’t reflect the teacher’s teaching style. I wish I knew more about Sir Damdul’s education background and the pedagogy training he received. I have teachers in my family, and I know teacher training in India is lenient and minimal. One doesn’t need to study education in college and grad school to be a teacher. Sir Damdul was a light in a system where teachers were inadequately trained and “teacher” as a profession is the last option for so many.
There are two types of teachers in Indian schools: those who use corporal and verbal punishment and those who don’t. Students feel distant from the teachers who use corporal punishment, and the punishment gives rise to feelings of fear, anxiety, and shame. The teacher who doesn’t use corporal punishment is liked by most students, and Sir Damdul was one of those teachers. Chosdol wrote, “He was a one of a kind teacher. He had a very calm personality” and adding to that Yangdol said, “Sir Damdul was very calm, he was a full package of good vibes and great positive energy”; and Soni wrote, “Sir Damdul had a friendly personality which is extremely important.” Yangdol wrote, “I never felt demoralised by him.” I remember some teachers would beat us and would personally attack us verbally, and under these conditions, a student does feel the worst, even “demoralized.”
I remember only one time when Sir Damdul used corporal punishment. It was when we weren’t paying attention in class and most students scored low on a test. He was disappointed and upset and hit the low-scoring students. The next day, he brought chocolate to the students he hit. My friend and I didn’t get hit, but when we saw him giving chocolates, we wished we were among those who got hit. He apologized for losing his temper. It was scary to see a different side of him, but it also revealed the human aspect of him. It felt like he also got captivated in a system where students should be disciplined by punishment. I no longer kept him on pedestal in my head or gave him the label of “perfect teacher”; I now see him as a great teacher with intentions and emotions.
Unfortunately, at the end of ninth grade, Sir Damdul left the school. We were heartbroken, and I remember most of us crying in class. Because I was able to do well only in his math class, I learned that a good teacher can change a student. He made me realize that I am not incompetent in math, I just didn’t have a good mentor who was patient with me. As an education major now, I realize how much he has broadened my view on teaching, countering my uneasy feelings and memories of childhood teachers, the ranking system, and corporal and verbal punishment. Sir Damdul is a mentor for the future teacher that I will be in India. He taught me that even if the system is rigorous and one-way, one can use creativity and effort to bring the best from the students. Even though I did not become an engineering, math, or pre-med major, he made me feel respected, heard, understood, cared for, acknowledged, and challenged in his class. There was not a hierarchical division between us and him; we were mutually doing our best work.
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Native Indian Herbal Healing
This lesson introduces five herbal plants that Native Indians used as healing medicine and the role that their practices played in the development of modern medicine. Students will be able to use different forms of art, journaling, and home planting in order to make peace with nature and understand the value of plants in healing physical and emotional pain. This lesson is designed for high school students specifically 9 & 10 graders.
Link to the lesson plan: Native Indian Herbal Healing
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Dear Ms. Bittel
I wish I could share the originals in person with you all as they are a little hard to read online. Here’s the text for each of the three pieces in order!
1.
You can tell in the way that Ms. Bittel floats through her classroom,
noticing and reacting without skipping a beat
that every move she makes holds intention.
The lights turn off
cueing to the students that it is time for quiet voices.
With the sound of a chime
each student recedes to their own space around the room.
To the untrained eye it seems effortless
all 11 learners working at their pace, finding their own rhythm of learning
and feeding off the hum of focus
that resonates in every corner.
Yet to us, nestled between desks, reading over shoulders,
we see the hard work, dedication and strength each student contributes.
Furrowed brows, tapping feet, writing, erasing, re-writing.
I watch how whispered comments, smiles, redirections
like wind across seemingly still water
are enough to make movement
yet not enough to disturb the calm of learning and focus.
I learned that our job as teachers is to create that magic atmosphere
to honor the hard work students do
with patience, hours of preparation and constant flexibility.
It is in those quiet moments that we teach, build connections and grow.
2:
The heart of the classroom is the kindness wall.
Layers of post-its curl up from the wall like weathered tree bark.
Scrawled on each is a noticing of an act of kindness witnessed during school.
Kindness is a practice, like yoga or meditation.
Something you train yourself to notice, appreciate, inhale.
Something you create, share, exhale.
It is woven carefully in the very fabric of the school day.
Just like the students I began to notice kindnesses.
There is kindness in every gentle reminder, every respectful redirection.
Making time to greet each child when they come in and hug them when they leave, answer their questions, learn their siblings’ names,
talk through their fears or anxieties and adapt to their needs
isn’t just good teaching,
it is an act of kindness.
There is kindness in each handwritten comment on the corner of a paper
and every genuinely excited response to a child’s piece of finished work.
Once I was trained to really look, I could see the profound kindness in the way that Ms. Bittel expected each child to work their hardest
and was there, consistently,
to celebrate their successes or support them through their struggles.
3:
Dear Ms. Bittel,
I remember one day that you told me you realized you loved taking care of plants and watching them grow. It was during a prep period and there was that vibrant quiet in the room that I think every teacher learns to soak in.
I remember being so aware of the life in your classroom. In the morning stillness or in the joyous chaos of the school day the room itself was full of air and light. It was full of growing.
It wasn’t until I was leaving after my last day that I realized how much I had been growing all semester in that space. You always said that I would be a great teacher and after a while I started to believe it. I don’t know how many people in my life have expected that level of greatness from me and yet that is the standard you hold all of your students to. Thank you for being the person in my corner. Thank you for being my teacher.
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Manny & Me
My dad owns an upholstery shop. From him, I’ve learned how to repair and restore furniture and draperies. He doesn’t know that these are the little things that matter to me.
The sounds of his nail gun go off from outside our home. I quietly walk towards the kitchen door window and watch him as he covers the surface of a naked chair with the colors of beautifully patterned fabrics.
My dad, the upholsterer, is covered in cotton fuzz and fabric pieces that smell like old books but not quite. His hands are often dry from repairing old furniture pieces- upholstery is the only business he ever owned after arriving in this country. Even though his work is a one-man job he always has a space for me.
He motions for me to come with him and I happily follow. The blue RV hums loudly and it fills me with excitement for the journey we are about to make.
I open the two giant blue doors that lead to the backseat of the blue RV.
Chair upon chair. Tools scattered everywhere. Long rolls of fabrics standing upright in the car. I make my way to my rightful spot, a seat in the back with a whole window exposing the outside world.
We take off and make our way to one of his shops. The place where he is himself the most.
Minute after minute with cars passing by, we glide through the highway. The sky is radiantly blue and the trees fly past us and are never-ending. As we drive towards our destination, bodies of water reveal themselves and start to glimmer. Bridges become taller the closer we get to them.
I know that we are coming near when our car starts to slow down. I rush out of the car doors and race past my dad to the shop entrance. He slowly walks over to open the door and with one push he reveals a part of himself that I don’t often get to see.
His history, his craft, his hard work covers every inch of the room. This is Manny’s Upholstery.
Customers and old friends come through his door. The service bell rings and his wrinkled smile lights up the room. From my own work corner, my kingdom of creations and crafts quakes at the sound of his hearty laugh. This is the side my dad always shows and one that almost everyone knows: his kindness, his laughter, his warmth reaches out and never ends.
He doesn’t know it yet.
He doesn’t know how much it means to me that he shows what is important to him.
He doesn’t know that the little things that he does light a fire in me.
He doesn’t know that I hope to share the warmth he has shown me with others.
He doesn’t know that these little things matter so much to me.
(Other Illustrations will be uploaded later)
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Bird Beak Lesson!
I created a virtual lesson about bird beaks for fourth graders! Birds are fun to observe and there are lots of fun activities you can do at home.
In this lesson we discover:
How much can you learn about a bird just by observing it? How can you learn about a bird just by looking at the shape of its beak?
I’ve included a link to the google form, as well as a PDF version of my lesson.
Link to google form: Bird Beak Lesson!
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