Maslow: Not Just for Our Students by Jacqueline Ahlborn

 Maslow: Not Just for Our Students

Whether you are teaching in a physical classroom, virtually, or in a hybrid mix, it’s safe to say, if you are like me, you are in the thick of it by now.  Educators carry a heavy load, and it is critical that we maintain a healthy balance between work and home, especially if we are teaching from home.  Now more than ever the lines are blurred.  Educators are always encouraged to take time out for self-care, and now more than ever this is vital.  Self-care can help to provide harmony in our lives and reduce tension.  Here are a few strategies in order to help us become more attuned to our needs as teachers in both a remote learning environment and a physical classroom so that we may be mentally and physically prepared every day to meet our students’ needs.  

Teaching from Home:  A Starting Point

Hopefully everyone by now has designated a dedicated work space within their homes.  This is an important step in teaching remotely that may not be viewed as an essential aspect when discussing self-care.  Not only can a designated work area help to support functionality and productivity, but it can assist in clearing that blurred line between work and home.  A clearly defined work area allows you to leave your work whether it is for the day or for a few moments to stretch and take a breather from teaching.  Your home still needs to remain your sanctuary, so defining an area for work can help you separate your work demands from the place where you relax and unwind.

Work Zone:  Do Not Disturb

When working remotely, it is essential that you set guidelines with your family.  There are crucial times that you cannot be available, and there is a need to communicate this in order to prevent interruptions.  You can plan a set of scheduled breaks or create subtle cues as to when you are available within your work day.  If you cannot be interrupted, you can express this by posting a sign that indicates you are busy, closing your door, asking the person to text you their needs, or connecting during one of your planned breaks.  If there would be an urgent or specific need, define what that would be and the protocol for addressing it.

Are Your Needs Being Met?

I tuned into a podcast recently which had me thinking about self-care during this rare moment in our history.  Tina H. Boogren, Ph.D, addresses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in her webinar “Self-Care for Educators in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond”.  She referenced a survey from Yale/CASEL that indicated 5,000+ teachers listed anxiousness as one of the top feelings they are experiencing right now.  

The strategies she suggests align with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and begins with Level 1(Physiological): Getting back to the basics in reference to diet, sleep, and exercise.  She reminded us of how very important it is to drink lots of water.  Level 2 (Safety): Order, predictability, and fairness.  When there is not a sense of safety, it can bring a feeling of anxiety.  We need to remember to engage in breathing exercises during these times.  Level 3 (Belonging and Love): If level 1 and 2 are not met, we will have a difficult time obtaining Level 3.  We need to remember to engage in social connections with others.  Level 4 (Self-Esteem):  We may feel like first time teachers during this unique time of teaching.  Try not to compare yourself with others and utilize positive self-talk.  Level 5 (Self-Actualization):  Find your best self and reconnect with yourself!  Focus on gratitude and altruism.  When we ask ourselves if these needs are being met on a daily basis and we are finding that the answer is an astounding “no”, we need to employ strategies to make it a “yes”.  If not, we can experience negative emotional and physical consequences and will have an adverse impact on our motivation and creative thinking.  These needs allow us to feel fulfilled, so it is important to determine what our needs are and how we can proceed in having them met. 

It is critical that educators maintain a healthy balance between work and home, especially if teaching from home.  Taking time out for self-care is more vital than ever and can help to provide harmony in our lives and reduce tension.  We are in a unique teaching situation, and we need to remember to care for ourselves so that we may be mentally and physically prepared to rise up to meet our own students’ needs every day.  To listen to the podcast in full, the following link is attached: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/pd20200522/.

Author’s Bio: Jacqueline Ahlborn’s teaching experience spans over private and public schools where she has been a teacher for a total of nineteen years.  Currently, she is in her sixteenth year teaching special education in Pittsburgh Public Schools.  She has earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University.  Jacqueline enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family, especially with her five-year-old grandson.

Black Students Need their Teachers to See Color; White Students Need it Too by Janel Prinkey

Black Students Need their Teachers to See Color; White Students Need it Too

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo has been flying off of shelves, sneaking into mailboxes, and lighting up eReaders ever since the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. It seems as though America is ready to face some of its subconscious racism, consciously. But where does that leave teachers, and what is our role? What stance should we take when everything about our careers has been politicized, and even weaponized, since COVID-19 has stopped the world from turning? WPCTE chose White Fragility as the September Book Club selection.

Black Students Don’t See Themselves Reflected in Schools

Pennsylvania’s teachers are overwhelmingly white, and this impacts the way that Black students and staff experience education. Only 4% of teachers in Pennsylvania are Black, which ranks the state 47th in the disproportionality rate between Black students and white teachers in the United States of America according to Research for Action in their April 2018 policy brief. If teachers in Pennsylvania adopt the fear that DiAngelo refers to when discussing race, whether it be fear for their jobs or fear of being labeled as racist, all students lose--but Black students lose the most. Worse, if white teachers are subconsciously racist by expecting less from their Black students, treating them as different from the “norm”, or asking them to represent all Black people in their viewpoints in class discussions, they are alienating and discriminating against them. DiAngelo emphasizes that racism, contrary to popular belief, does not have to be intentional. It is not enough for teachers to not be racist. Instead, we must actively be antiracist.

Doing Antiracist Work is Uncomfortable

Teaching is a profession that prides itself in caring for children and wanting them to be the best possible versions of themselves. This requires not only professional development in the form of learning more about your subjects and classroom management, but should also include adjusting the perceptions we have about our students. Are we surprised that one of the few Black students we have turned in an assignment? If we are, why is that? What have we been conditioned to believe about Black people and how successful they are in school? In life? By examining these beliefs head on instead of pretending to not know that they exist, we allow Black students to receive the same quality education that their white peers receive.

Additionally, white students have similar misconceptions and sometimes voice blatantly racist remarks. Time should be spent to explain to students why the terms they are using are inappropriate and cause harm, and why they should not feel slighted by programs like Affirmative Action. White people have many challenges in life. One of those challenges, however, has not been the color of their skin. That is the point that DiAngelo is trying to make, and that we should illustrate for all of our students. Systemic racism exists, and pretending that it does not makes us complicit in its inequity and the benefits that we receive from it.

“Reverse Racism” is a Dangerous Myth

Oftentimes white students in my classes are heated about the topic of racism because they believe that they or their families have been the victims of racism. They mention instances of not getting accepted into colleges that their fellow Black students are going to, being denied a job that ultimately went to a person of color, or experiencing discrimination at the hands of Black people from a social view. This is dangerous thinking, as DiAngelo explains only whites can be racist. This is due to the source of power and who can be denied a voice or a position of power by those people. Because Black people do not fill the majority of these positions of power, you cannot be a victim of racism at the hands of a Black person who cannot fundamentally change your life. Explaining this to students will be uncomfortable at best. But to continue to allow students to believe that the reason that they have not achieved their goals is because a Black person took their spot, is insulting and entirely erroneous. It also never allows for a situation where a Black student would outperform a white student, and that perpetuates white supremacy. Interceding on the behalf of Black people, even if you do not have Black students, is important to the development of your white students’ viewpoints as well.

Conclusion

As teachers, we have a responsibility to all of our students to prepare them for a life in America, one of the most diverse countries in the world. To not refute racism in all forms, to not blatantly teach antiracist ideas, is to condone them. It is a harmful methodology to “not see color” because you are ignoring a fundamental part of a person’s experience. Do you also not see low socioeconomic status? Gender?  Hair color? It would be absurd to ignore these things with our students, so we must see color. We must teach our students to reject the noxious fumes of racism that is in the very air that we breathe in America. Remember to put your oxygen mask on first.

Author Bio: 

Janel Prinkey teaches 7th and 8th grade Reading for a rural school district in Western Pennsylvania. She is an avid reader and writer and enjoys spending time with her Yorkiepoo, Arya.

What I Wish I’d Known Before Teaching Online by Hannah Lewis

    At this point, most Western PA teachers have been conducting at least a portion of this school year’s instruction online for a week or two, in addition to teaching online at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. This is the perfect time for me to provide the second installment of my discussion of remote learning for the brick-and-mortar teacher.

    When I first began teaching online in 2012, I had never even entertained the idea and really didn’t know what it was all about. Very early on, I felt overwhelmed, unprepared, and generally consumed with imposter syndrome. What was I doing? I didn’t know enough about web design to create high-quality instructional content. And I certainly couldn’t keep up with the high amount of prep time needed while still reading and honoring IEPs; grading papers with the high degree of feedback I felt was more necessary than ever online; and responding to the higher-than-ever volume of incoming emails and phone calls from parents who had objections to or questions about curriculum items, assignments, or students’ grades.

    I’ve been teaching online ever since, and if you’re feeling those same feelings--overwhelmed and unprepared--I want to send you a reassuring message: this does get easier.

    Preparing to write this, I asked a number of colleagues who teach online what they wish they’d known when they started teaching online. Here are the main points of intersection of our responses:

You Can’t Cyber-ize Brick and Mortar Teaching

    Trying to have a class discussion via Zoom the same way you do in a classroom will likely feel awkward, hollow, and even futile, but there are features of video conferencing platforms that afford new possibilities. Take advantage of them! Students who would never interrupt someone in person, let alone online, might become chatterboxes in the chat box. 

    This is just one example, but think about how enforcing dress codes, asking students to raise their hands, using bell-ringers or exit tickets, or upholding other standard parts of classroom teaching either don’t make sense in a virtual classroom or would benefit from adjustment.

Communication is Queen and Caregivers are Colleagues

    Without fail, everyone I talked to said they spent exponentially more time on communication with caregivers when teaching online compared to in a brick-and-mortar setting. We are on the phone, emailing, even using instant messaging tools or post cards in the mail to reach our families. If you can’t see what your students are doing, their caregivers at home may be able to. They can keep their children off of Fortnite and logged into Google Classroom if you just keep the lines of communication open. 

    As an English teacher, it’s been very important for me to be proactive and talk to caregivers. You may experience a higher rate of objections to stories, novels, or even writing assignments or discussion topics. The parents haven’t necessarily gotten pickier; the curriculum has just become more accessible to them. 

    I’ve started using Smore for family outreach and have started a monthly newsletter that fills caregivers in on thematic units and specific texts, but even just a plain old email will help you to keep caregivers informed. If they feel you’re being transparent with them, they’ll be less likely to object.

Set Healthy Boundaries

    Working from home, although a privilege from a public health point of view, is perhaps the most insidious component of remote teaching for many. It’s easy for work-life balance to become an afterthought when your work computer is casting its electric-blue glow on the wall in the room adjoining your bedroom.

    Teachers are notorious for our struggle with work-life balance. The problem is so widespread we often tire of the old cliche that “you can’t fill another’s cup if yours is empty.” 

    The fact of the matter is, though, that we are all living through a pandemic right now and many of us are teaching in new, unfamiliar, and exhausting ways. It is more important than ever to have a boundary between when you’re “on the clock” and when you’re off. Set a time every evening after which you do not work, forbid yourself from checking emails on the weekends, or make time to take walks during the day. 

    You’ll hear more about self-care in future WPCTE posts, but, especially if you’re working from home right now, find a way to keep work from creeping into every part of your life. 

    I started with the message that this will get easier, but it bears repeating. I invite you again to find someone who has taught online or in a blended fashion and leverage their expertise (you can find me on Twitter if you need a starting point). Trust, too, that, in time, you’ll develop this expertise yourself. 

Hold Your Breath! : Virtual PD by Casey Sirochman

 As a second year teacher returning to the classroom after a decade in public and academic libraries, I have been looking for new and different resources to enhance virtual instruction with my English 9, Research Skills, and Public Speaking classes at Frazier School District. Over the summer, I went swimming in the online deep end of free virtual professional development. While I was wading the waters of online videos, I came across a link in a chat window for an upcoming free experience with the Indiana Connected Educators. If you click on their Facebook page, some of the videos are still available on-demand. I found two workshops particularly valuable.

The first workshop, Remix that HyperDoc for Remote Learning- The HyperDocs Girls, highlighted a concise way to present information to students via hyperdocs. These experts curate, maintain, and encourage educators to use and embrace this format via their website. The presenters were looking at ways to revamp and make old hyperdocs more interactive and engaging. Meanwhile, being new to hyperdocs, I was simply impressed with the idea of creating a single access point via a document, slide presentation, or website of links focusing on one area of instruction. The idea seemed to spark in me a new vision of how students can engage with content in Google Classroom. I had a moment of clarity that I could create a streamlined way of presenting the neverending content stream under the Google Classroom classwork tab. Instead, via a hyperdoc, educators can link to the content in their Google Classrooms in addition to other resources like podcasts, youtube videos, non-fiction articles, and anything else with a link. After listening to this workshop, I signed up for the Facebook hyperdocs group, and created my first hyperdoc creation for the beginning of the school year using the modern teacher format.

The second presentation, “Creative and Meaningful Ways to Keep Students Connected to Learning, Reading, Opportunities, and Each Other,” with Shannon McClintock Miller, sent me down the path of how to make reading more authentic. Last school year, I implemented book groups or literature circles. I put students in small groups that meet each Friday to discuss the same book that they were reading. This school year, I wanted to make these activities more authentic and engaging for students. In addition to several other exciting ideas for engaging readers, Shannon mentioned a list of authors that were willing to speak with classes for free. First, I reviewed the list of authors and searched for copies of electronic or audiobooks online via the library Overdrive system. After about a half-hour of searching for the authors’ books to no avail, I decided to contact the authors of the books available via simultaneous user access on the library Overdrive system or via get epic. After several hours and numerous emails, I am excited to report that I have contacted 18 authors to engage with interviews this Fall. Finally, I have permission from all of the authors to record the interviews and I eventually will post these records on my website, creating a podcast for the class. 

Overall, while I am still wearing water wings when it comes to some online resources, I am thrilled with the ideas that I have discovered in these two virtual workshops. The students will begin online next week, August 31, and by the time you read this blog post, they will have heard about the author interview opportunity and the classroom podcast. If anyone is interested in submerging with me and these ideas or would like to see an example of hyperdocs that I create, please email me at csirochman@fraziersd.org. Let’s all try to keep each other afloat!

Author’s Bio: Mrs. Casey Sirochman’s  teaching experience spans over a decade working in public, academic, and special libraries across Pennsylvania. ​She has a Bachelor's of ​Science​ ​degree​ ​in​ ​English​/ Communications from​ ​The​ ​Pennsylvania State University, a Masters in Teaching English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh.​ ​She is in her second year as a ninth grade English teacher at Frazier School District. 

The First Few Days of School Online: Building Digital Communities by Hannah Lewis

 The First Few Days of School Online:

Building Digital Communities 

English teachers know the importance of community building in the classroom, but this Fall, many experienced teachers are, for the first time, starting a school year at least partly remotely. The stress of planning for the first few weeks of school in this unfamiliar and uncertain landscape hangs in the air, with many teachers mourning the loss of the classroom communities so central to their discipline.

As I enter my seventh year of online instruction, I assure you, just like communities and relationships are the foundation of a great English classroom, they are also vital online. 

My own students come from across Pennsylvania. They represent a range of diverse communities, religions, races, hobbies, levels of ability/disability. Many of my students make friends with people they’d never talk to or even meet “in real life.” 

While friendships developed online might appear hollow to some when compared to the ones they’d make irl, for the foreseeable future, these digital connections might be all some have, making online community building that much more important this year. 

I practice a range of strategies to establish classroom communities across distance, which I’ll share.

Start the Work of Community-Building on Day One

Some best-practices for community building in your typical classrooms still apply but might require some fine-tuning for online learning. On the first day, let students introduce themselves not just to you but to each other. Let this first conversation set the tone for conversations you’ll have throughout the year. 

Set Expectations and Ground Rules for Online Discussions

To make the most of online discussions, prepare students for a different type of back-and-forth suited to online environments.  You’ll want to clearly express the purpose of virtual discussions, as well as your expectations. Then, communicate them clearly to students and caregivers, explaining the purpose of each expectation and inviting students to share their own ideas.

Keep Only the Rules and Norms That Build Community

Rules for synchronous instruction have gained a great deal of attention recently. Some of these requirements may come from your district, but some teachers plan to prescribe student attire, camera use, etc., during synchronous sessions.I urge you to consider the purpose of each rule and how it will impact students’ feelings of safety and comfort and their willingness to engage in learning and community building.

For example, why should students abide by certain dress code standards or avoid snacking? Is it to minimize distraction to other students? If so, would it be acceptable for them to just turn off their camera when applicable? I always invite students to use their cameras but never require them for a variety of reasons. 

Keep the rules that will help students to engage effectively and throw out the ones that really don’t make sense. 

Asynchronous Communities Can Be Developed Meaningfully

At least some of students' online learning likely will take place asynchronously; expectations for these types of discussions differ from those for synchronous discussion.

Choosing accessible and engaging platforms for students’ discussions, setting expectations early on, and explaining the purpose of discussions from the beginning of the year will help students to engage more meaningfully. Here is an example I use in my own classroom to set expectations, introduce platforms, and review logistics for asynchronous class discussions. 

Conversations May Be under a Microscope

Students’ at-home learning benefits greatly from caregiver engagement, and maintaining consistent lines of communication with caregivers will impact student outcomes this year more than ever. 

You may not be used to caregivers knowing everything that is discussed in the classroom; they will be much more aware of the content of online class discussions.

I recommend moderating discussions as much as possible to prevent inappropriate content from slipping through. However, there may be times when caregivers object to students’ perfectly relevant, age-appropriate comments. For example, students may share religious beliefs, gender identities, sexual orientations, or political beliefs. 

I invite you to continue to normalize students’ identities just as you would in the classroom. Please don’t let the fear of surveillance stop you from affirming students’ lived experiences. 

Rather, consider a proactive approach in which you share discussion guidelines with caregivers as the year begins. Address the importance of students’ respect for their diverse peers, and invite caregivers to talk openly with their children about the discussions happening in the classroom. You might also consider touching base with your administration so that they are prepared in the event someone raises concerns. 

Don’t Give up on Building Communities

Building an online community takes a lot of work, but not only are communities a cornerstone of a literacy classroom, online discussions happen every day in real-life online communities, sometimes hostile ones. We can prepare students to engage them more effectively.

You might even discover that online learning can create possibilities that didn’t exist to develop relationships that students wouldn’t have otherwise bothered with.  Maybe there is potential to build on something you discover this year even when classrooms reopen fully.

One Final Thought

While this post focuses explicitly on building communities online, there are many other important considerations for starting the year virtually that fell outside the scope of this post; consider finding an online teacher who shares your values to connect with. Any professional organization is bound to include at least a few of us, and you’ll find us on Teacher Twitter as well--pick our brains!

Author Bio:  Hannah Lewis (she/her) has been teaching English Language Arts online since 2014 in the greater Pittsburgh area. She currently teaches eleventh-graders at the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School. She began to serve as vice president of WPCTE in 2022. She is an avid reader, hiker, and traveler who loves poetry and her cats. Find her on LinkedIn or email her at hlewis3@palcs.org [Updated 3/31/23]

Welcome to the WPCTE Blog! by Carol Frow and Amy Bouch

The old and the new…

The changing seasons…

Branching out…

Continuing and evolving... 

It’s a little hard to title this first blog!  I’m Carol Frow, a veteran ELA teacher of thirty-two years at Belle Vernon Area Middle School, so I am one of the old branches on the WPCTE tree.  I have been a member of WPCTE for over twenty years and even brought my students to the very first English Festival way back when.  Through the years, I have been a member of the executive board, the English Festival committee, and at times, simply a member.  Now, I bear the title of president, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the evolution of this group.

Hi!  Amy Bouch here.  I am an 8th grade English teacher looking forward to my seventh year at Chartiers Valley.  My first experience with WPCTE was participating in a conference during undergrad.  I am so thrilled to be the current Vice President of the organization!

Together, along with the Executive Director, John Manear, a veteran English teacher at Seton LaSalle High School, and the members of the Executive Board, we are continuing the mission of WPCTE and rejuvenating the group with membership drives, new activities, and a social media platform.  

We add a new branch to our WPCTE tree today with this first blog topic — one that is near and dear to us, the mission of this incredible group — serving the teachers and students in our region in a variety of ways.

For our teachers, we offer much to feed the mind to grow new ideas!  This new blog is just one way that we can build a professional community of learners and teacher leaders.  We can share ideas and resources to develop sound practice and strengthen our pedagogy.

That leads naturally to our Summer Series that stemmed from polling our members.  The Tech PD sessions presented distance learning tools and suggested techniques to our members!  (Another is scheduled for August 13th!) The Summer Series also included Cheerful Chats and a Book Club which have sprouted into ongoing opportunities throughout the year. 

Through our monthly virtual Cheerful Chats, we have open discussions with members on any topic of interest for ELA teachers.  This open forum is a wonderful place to share ideas and ask questions where we can then plan how to solve concerns with practice.  

Book Clubs are another way that we are networking!  To address current issues, the July discussion was on This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell.  Our rich conversations led to the forming of our new monthly book club!  Join us for these timely discussions that will surely bring about benefits to our practice.  We have even invited the authors of the books to join our discussions!

WPCTE has always served its teachers through conferences.  This networking assists our members tremendously and will continue to grow the knowledge of our members as we partner with professional organizations such as: English Education Collaborative (EEC) at California University of PA, Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts (PCTELA), and Western Pennsylvania Writing Project (WPWP). 

Two main branches of WPCTE involve reading and writing which directly connect to our students!  The English Festival has long been the focus of WPCTE.  The annual competition at Seton La Salle and Duquesne University has a long, rich history of connecting students to great books and enchanting authors.  Our English Festival committee is continually reading potential books and seeking authors for this spring’s festival.  Whether it will be a live or virtual event remains unseen, but we are working on again making this event a reality for our students!  Please keep checking our website for news on English Festival.

A new venture for WPCTE will involve budding writers!  This fall, WPCTE will launch its first-ever Flash Fiction Writing Contest for students in grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.  There will even be a 1-3 option for pictures and storytelling! Not only will school students be involved in this venture, but it will also allow WPCTE to connect pre-service teachers with actual student writing!  Stay tuned for information about the contest and how to involve your student authors!

A tree is only as strong as its trunk, and our membership has great strength!  We seek the knowledge and expertise of those around us — there’s that awesome community of ours! — so opportunities for leadership abound in our organization.  If you wish to get further involved, reach out to Amy or me!  We need and look forward to working with you and sharing exciting opportunities!

We look forward to learning new skills and evolving our classrooms with fresh ideas — our students can only benefit from all that we share here in this wonderful community of teachers.  Thanks for joining us.  Encourage your friends and colleagues to join us.  Let’s grow this community of educators!

Wishing you a smooth and healthy return to the new school year,

Carol & Amy 

On the fifteenth of August, look ahead to the next WPCTE blog entry — a topic of concern to all of us — How do we teach well in an online environment?  Join WPCTE member Hannah Lewis, who has been an online educator for years, to learn some great tips!