13 minute read
Building Resilience Through Shared Voices
Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria G. Dove, Audrey Cohan, Carrie McDermottGoldman, Molloy College
Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld is Associate Dean and Director of the Doctoral Program (Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities) at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English as a Foreign Language teacher in Hungary (grades 5-8 and adult), an English as a Second Language teacher in New York City (grades K-3 and adult), and taught Hungarian at New York University. A Fulbright Scholar and sought after national presenter, Andrea is the coauthor or coeditor of 20 books on education and numerous chapters and research articles related to the needs of diverse learners. Andrea is coauthor of the Core Instructional Routines books with Judy Dodge.
Maria G. Dove, EdD, is professor in the School of Education and Human Services at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, where she teaches preservice and inservice teachers about the research and best practices for developing effective programs and school policies for English learners. Before entering the field of higher education, she worked for more than 30 years as an English-as-a-second language teacher in public school settings (grades K–12) and in adult English language programs in Nassau County, New York. In 2010, Dove received the Outstanding ESOL Educator Award from New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (NYS TESOL).
Dr. Carrie L. McDermott- Goldman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York with concentrations in action research, cultural and linguistic diversity, ESOL methodology, theory, and language acquisition. Prior to entering the field of teacher education, she was an educator for over twelve years and previously worked in the business industry. Her areas of expertise include teaching English to students of other languages for grades K-12 and adults; elementary, middle, and secondary education; PBL; Science; Technology; Entrepreneurship; Response to Intervention; Curriculum Writing; New Teacher Mentoring; Learning Styles; and College and Career Readiness.
Audrey Cohan, EdD, is senior dean for research and scholarship at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. During her 25-year tenure at Molloy College, she has served as professor, chair of the Education Department, and interim dean for the Division of Natural Sciences. Cohan has taught in the undergraduate and graduate programs and is currently teaching critical issues at the doctoral level for the EdD Program. She began her career as a special education teacher in New York City, working with students with special needs in both self-contained and resource-room settings.
Nadia K-R, High School English Teacher, NYC DOE, Journal entry #1
Most students have returned to in-person learning, however Juan, who lives with vulnerable family members has chosen not to return. His first language is Spanish, and he often chooses to remain silent for the majority of the period. During our lesson today, students were working in small groups. One group worked with my special education co-teacher to close-read sections of our class novel. The independent group read and completed tasks that did not require additional teacher support beyond the embedded scaffolds. And a group of newcomers worked with the ENL teacher on acquiring key vocabulary that appear in the novel we are reading. Juan was working in my heterogenous online group on comprehension. The novel is written primarily in English but has a smattering of Spanish. Juan used our class calendar to look ahead to what we were reading today. He pulled out all of the phrases in Spanish in advance and used them as anchors to guide his comprehension of the chapter. During the group’s read aloud, Juan demonstrated an incredible confidence that I had not seen him exhibit previously. Though he only correctly answered about half of the questions he attempted, his participation in the small group discussion was indicative of a fully engaged mind. When class was over, I asked Juan privately what inspired him in our discussion today. He explained that being able to understand some of the text made him more interested in finding out more about the story. He found that the phrases throughout the chapter helped guide him, the same way context clues can guide readers to comprehend a sentence. Juan’s work today was a moment of true learning for me. I never thought about using a comprehension strategy I applied only to one sentence at a time, to the structure of an entire chapter. Moving forward, I plan on having him teach it to others to further increase collaboration and engagement in our class.
Nadia K-R, High School English Teacher, NYC DOE, Journal entry #68
We have peeked into a high school English/English as a New Language (ENL) class in New York City through two reflective journal entries of a teacher, Nadia K-R, who recorded her thoughts during the pandemic. What moments do you recall that are outstanding in some way? Moving forward, what needs to be accomplished to best support students as they return to our classrooms?
Nadia’s two journal entries and her portrayal of Juan’s experience in her class tell the story of the significant learning that continuously occurred and the resilience both teachers and their students demonstrated throughout the pandemic. Teachers have been a lifeline for students both before and during the COVID-19 crisis and will continue supporting students once it passes. As educators, we need to find the value in and the purpose of our own strengths and others to provide safe spaces for students to remain resilient to succeed academically, as we all figure out a way forward. When we begin by looking at students’ strengths rather than deficiencies or perceived learning losses, we can learn from our students and have a more balanced view of their skills and abilities that we can complement and enhance. Then we all benefit.
Why Build Resilience?
We each experienced hardships in our home and school communities during the pandemic. Some communities were harder hit due to repeated or lengthy lockdowns, lack of or limited access to high quality healthcare, services, and available resources. To further magnify the disconnect, some students were separated from parents, guardians, family, friends, and others due to hospitalization and quarantine. Many families faced devastating losses—of work, living space, stability, their perceived sense of ‘normal’, independence, and in so many cases, a loved one. Immigrant youth and children of immigrants experienced many of these issues and found the complexity to be more acute and prevalent during the pandemic. Even as circumstances surrounding the pandemic improve, many students remained fearful of the future, wondering what’s next?
Key Responses
To support the academic achievement of our students, it is imperative that we focus on creating safe learning environments that foster high expectations and promote positive relationships with all members of the school community. Recognizing how crucial it is to sincerely connect with our students and their families and how important it is to build and maintain safe learning environments has never been more necessary than during or immediately following a time of crisis. Therefore, let’s commit to:
• Examining our curriculum and instruction closely to understand how Multi-Language (MLs) are represented and included in our classrooms.
• Shaping the conditions that empower students to excel by setting high expectations and reinforcing their worth and well-being.
• Creating a vibrant, affirming learning environment, be it online, in person or any sort of blended fashion where students are both supported and challenged.
• Amplifying how MLs’ unique contributions add to the classroom culture.
Creating safe and nurturing learning environments for students is certainly not a new concept. What is new, however, is the depth of trauma and loss that many of our students have faced. Our call to action is to create safe spaces for every child, every day.
High School Students Sharing Their Voices
Using post-pandemic and equity lenses, it is important for students to be able to connect to global change. In response to a New York Times open call for college essays, Hartocollis (2021) identified, “This year perhaps more than ever before, the college essay has served as a canvas for high school seniors to reflect on a turbulent and, for many, sorrowful year” ( p. A21). She noted that when reading the over 900 submitted essays there was a mirror to not only the pandemic but the “rise of a new civil rights movement.” The importance of family, love, racial and social justice, and protest were key themes. Using these essays as a springboard for classroom discussion and relationship building (as well as models for students’ own writing) is one key strategy for teachers to personally connect with students in upper grades as well as nurture safe learning environments.
Topics for Writing and Discussion for High School Students
• Share a time when you or someone else experienced inequitable circumstances. How did this experience impact you or the people around you?
• If there is one thing you could tell your teacher about your experiences during the pandemic, what would it be?
• How do you think the events of 2020-21 have impacted your journey as a student?
• What did you learn that surprised you?
• What were you able to learn independently? Skill? Strategy? New passion?
• What books, articles, blogs, websites kept you informed during the pandemic?
Middle School Students Sharing Their Voices
Middle school is an important time in a child’s development, and social interaction is even more critical when students begin to form a greater sense of self. Tapping into students’ understanding about their immediate worlds is one direct connection to their personal histories and what Click to view on Amazon. they are learning. To start the conversation and explore their pandemic experiences, we suggest reading Don Brown’s book, A Shot in the Arm!: Big Ideas that Changed the World #3. This is a graphic novel recommended for ages 8-12. The book is narrated by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), who suffered from smallpox, and focuses on how vaccines were developed and introduces aspects of germ theory for children. As youngsters begin to adjust to new school routines, teachers must support them by providing ample opportunities to uncover and overcome the possible emotional trauma caused by the pandemic and engage in fulfilling, joyful learning with meaningful interactions between them and their teachers and peers.
Topics for Writing and Discussion for Middle Schoolers
• If you were going to narrate your pandemic story, what big ideas and essential information would you include?
• How might your pandemic experience parallel Lady Mary’s, the narrator of the story? How does your experience parallel that of a classmate?
• Compare how people felt about being vaccinated for smallpox with how people generally feel today about being vaccinated for COVID-19. What is the same and what might be different?
• Why are vaccines critical to the health and wellbeing of humans as well as animals? How might the world be different if there were no vaccines?
Elementary Students Sharing Their Voices
Elementary school is a critical time when students first begin to learn about themselves outside their home and develop relationships with their peers and others throughout the school community. Making connections is essential to help students build self-confidence as integral members of their learning community and build or strengthen relationships with those they interact with each day. Pivotal to their success, students learn to take risks based on how safe they feel within their environment. Moving beyond the pandemic, we want to focus on our students, their voices, and how we can empower them in school.
Topics for Writing and Discussion for Elementary Students
• Can you sketch your family or community?
• What are five words that best describe you?
• Can you write a journal entry or draw a portrait that shows how you feel about being back in school?
• How did you feel being away from your friends, or your family members, or your teachers during the pandemic?
What do you want your peers and teachers to know?
• If you were the main character in a book about the pandemic, who would you be and why?
No matter what the age of your students (high school, middle school, or elementary school), we believe that the “pandemic stories” will be a topic of discussion for years to come. The lens with which our students reflect will depend upon their ability to process this unprecedented event. As teachers and students begin to reposition themselves for next year, their shared stories will matter! Therefore, parents and teachers need to encourage open dialogue, shared writing, and oral reflections to shine a spotlight on a difficult passage of time. Dramatic representations, artistic and creative depictions, journal writing, songs, memes and social media posts can all be expressions of students’ lives and part of the healing process that leads to resiliency as we collectively move to the other side of the global pandemic. The ways in which students are encouraged to process their experiences will impact the ways in which we register their “learning leaps.” Let’s move forward together and rebrand this time by encouraging student self-expression within safe learning spaces.
REFERENCES
Brown, D. (2021). A shot in the arm! Big ideas that changed the world. Amulet Books.
Garrett, C. (2021). Relevant curriculum is equitable curriculum. Educational Leadership, 78(6), 48-53.
Hartocollis, A. (March 18, 2021). ‘When a normal life stopped’: College essays reflect a turbulent year. The New York Times, p. A21. https://www.nytimes. com/2021/03/17/us/covid-collegeadmissions.html?searchResultPosition=1
Zacarian, D., Alvarez-Ortiz, L., & Haynes, J. (2017). Teaching to strengths: Supporting students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress. ASCD.
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