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Breanna Jackson

Description:

During the past few weeks of the Fall semester, I have been observing in a school located

in Washington Heights, New York called: Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School

(WHEELS). This particular community that the school is located in is in a predominantly

Spanish speaking neighborhood which seems to influence the culture of the school. With that

being said, the demographic makeup of this school predominantly caters towards Black and

Brown students ranging from Black-American, Caribbean and/or Latinx backgrounds (i.e.

Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, etc). The faculty is diverse as well in which there are Black, White,

and Latinx teachers. The mentor teacher that I shadow is Latinx and she is of both a Dominican

and Puerto Rican background. The size of the school is pretty big, but does not seem

overwhelming in regards to overcrowding during transitional periods/ classes. The two main

languages spoken at the school are English and Spanish. In regards to the classroom that I

shadow in, the class is made up grades 6-8, and the students are bilingual. There is one student

who requires a 1:1 nurse due to his developmental delays. The main language spoken in the

classroom is English, however, Ms. S (my host teacher), does incorporate Spanish into her

lessons and when she makes fun jokes with her students. So far during my observations, I have

not met nor interacted with any parents, however, I have become acquainted with some of the

teachers whom I have met during the first period of “team meetings,” which are groups of

faculty that meet together and discuss students’ academic progresses and regresses, new

curricular activities, what works and doesn’t work in regards to the class lessons, field trips, and

so on. I have also met the classroom paraprofessional(s) and nurse who speak Spanish and English as well. In regards to the overall vibe and formality of the school, I would definitely

concur that the school environment is laid back and casual. For instance, most of the students'

school attire consists of a navy blue sweatshirt that represents the school, and then they wear

their own individualized style of comfort (i.e. sweatpants, sneakers, Crocs, etc.,). The attire of

the faculty leans more towards the casual side as well (i.e. jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, cardigans),

which again speaks volume to the sense of comfort and inviting learning environment that the

school embraces.

Discussion (Analysis):

For the topic of this paper, I want to focus on the classroom strategy of Empowerment

that I have observed Ms. S praise and practice to her students, in which a course article by

Marilyn Price-Mitchell (Metacognition: Nurturing Self-Awareness in the Classroom)

supplements my observation as well.

To jump right off, the environment of a school and its culture can have a great impact and

influence on how students feel about learning. In regard to my observations, being that the

school falls towards the more chill and laid back vibe, the students seem to fit right into place

with the curriculum. That is not to say that the students think learning is easy based on the

environment of the school, however, the laid back, yet open minded, and considerate way of

teaching that Ms. S runs her classroom, speaks volumes as to how the students interact with one

another, and herself as a teacher. To me, this is one form of empowerment exemplified in the

classroom because the relationship between teacher and students is a relatively positive one.

Traditionally speaking, most students view the teacher as the focal point of attention and

authority. However, for Ms.S she does not make comments on her students’ work to put a student in their place, or to embarrass them, but more so to praise them for their effort to have the

courage to raise their hand, even if they answer the question incorrectly.

Another way that Ms.S empowers her students is through collaborative work. In other

words, she emphasizes that they are a “team” (Ms. S- WHEELS) when they step into her

classroom. For instance, when reflecting on the class’ progress on their writing skills she makes

it clear that “we all could use a little more help in that area” (Ms.S). By Ms. S using the word

“we,” she is creating a collaborative and team effort based curriculum which does not make any

student feel singled out. Even if some students may excel in this area, Ms. S makes sure that

everyone is on the same page before moving on with the curriculum. In reference to the course’s

outlined articles, Marilyn Price- Mitchell’s article states that the “act of being confused and

identifying one's lack of understanding is an important part of developing self-awareness”

(Price-Mitchell, 2015). This particular quote resonates with Ms. S’s style of teaching because

although her students learn at an individualized level, she makes an effort to acknowledge their

collaborative struggles and makes it a classroom effort to overcome, rather than just making it a

single student’s effort to achieve.

Another important aspect of empowerment in the classroom is allowing “confusion to

[become] an integral part of learning” (Price- Mitchell, 2015). During the daily team meetings,

Ms. S and the other faculty discuss that they remind students of the” effort over accuracy”

(WHEELS faculty) motto. This particular WHEELS motto corresponds with the teaching style

of Ms.S when the projected goal for a writing activity was for students to work on using because,

but, and so clauses. These clauses were to develop critical thinking in their writing, and Ms.S

emphasized quality over quantity. In fact, Ms. S encouraged her students to write 3 sentences

worth of effort, rather than a paragraph that does not answer the question at all. Although this style of teaching may not apply or work for every student, or teacher, I do think this motto allows

students to feel less pressured to perfect their writing, as well as allows them to think critically

and become more aware of the lesson so they are not just writing something just to fill up space

on the paper.

Being that I am a person/ educator of color and come from a Black and Puerto Rican

background, I believe that instilling empowerment within not only the classroom, but throughout

the school, is such a vital and necessary strategy in the learning process. Personally, I believe that

empowering students should be seen as an integral part of the learning process just as much as

memorization, testing, classroom etiquette, etc are. Whether it’s an act of complimenting a

student on their natural hair, or how they styled their outfit, or encouraging perseverance through

a challenging lesson; these are all key components that matter in letting students know that they

matter.

References:

Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. (2015). Metacognition: Nurturing self-awareness in the classroom. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-metacognition-in-classroom-marilyn-price-mitchell

Sepulveda, A., et al. (2022). Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School

(WHEELS). In person observations.

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Hi Breanna!

First off, thanks so much for writing this. You give a good introduction to WHEELS and Ms. S as well as her efforts at meeting her bilingual community members where they reside. Please read my comments above for more specific feedback. I also raise a number of issues to hopefully consider (e.g., re. dress code).

I think you have done a good job of identifying the various issues that come with, in your words, developing empowerment in classrooms. Specifically, thanks for incorporating Price-Mitchell’s “Metacognition: Nurturing Self-Awareness in the Classroom.”

I also appreciate your incorporation of quotes. They really help provide context and motivation for various thoughts you raise.

In terms of suggestions, try to provide just a bit more evidence for some of your claims. The school seems to have an admirably “chill vibe.” Try to give more direct evidence of that when you write this claim. Also, please re-read your concluding paragraph for when you have your own classroom. In short, how can the future Ms. Jackson follow in the footsteps of Ms. S and have an equally, or even more, empowering classroom? It sounds like you will get many welcome hints during your fieldwork!

Thank you so much for writing this Breanna! Thanks for connecting the readings to your fieldwork. It was a pleasure to read! Thanks again!

Dino