Modeling Good Behaviors in the Classroom

Recently I came across this image on my Linkedin feed. I liked the content in the image so I gave it a thumbs up and reposted it without thinking twice. It looked good and the message kind of resonated with my personal experience of being a High School teacher. Often I find myself reflecting on my role in the classroom and I realize that I do a lot of parenting along with teaching. Students come with multiple home experiences and teachers often become role moles during the time they spend with students. This made me rethink the concept that even though teachers will never replace good parenting, our role in the classroom allows us to model behaviors that may have a lasting impact in the life of students.



How do I think I have modeled good behaviors in students?


1) Using kind words. Even in the midst of the most challenging situations, I always try to treat students by using respectful words such as Sr., Mss. sweetie, honey, or other ways that tell my students I respect them and I expect respect in return. Not only do I respect my students but I care about their future as responsible citizens of society.

2) Setting boundaries and clear expectations for behavior or academic work. Many of our families are led by a single parent, a foster parent, or another family member. Discipline and expectations for behavior may be unstable or unclear to our students. Children need stability and consistency in their lives; it makes for safe places. Despite the conflict that high expectations for behavior and academics may create in my classroom, students know that there is consistency.

3) Allowing opportunities for non-academic interactions. Just as students need clear expectations for behavior and academics, they need to know that someone cares about them. Getting to know the students, asking questions and opening classroom spaces during no instruction times allows students to feel welcome. It makes me so happy when my classroom door is open and I get students from other years come to say hi and share their new endeavors or accomplishments in life.

Often I find myself eating breakfast during instructional hours. I allow students to eat in the classroom as long as they clean up after themselves. It makes all of us feel more relaxed. One of my favorite breakfast items is a greek protein yogurt with added cereal or a peanut butter sandwich with almond milk. It is amazing to see some of my students replacing the morning chips and unhealthy food items with yogurt, cereal, and peanut butter sandwiches! I know students are watching and it makes me feel good to model good behaviors.

My Student Journey Comes to and End

I am only one week away from finishing my learning theory class in the master's for technology program. I know that many students feel a sense of relief and joy when a class is about to come to an end. This is my case to a certain extent as I know that hopefully some peace will come to my life as my days will not be as hectic. Being a high school teacher, a mom, a wife, and a student has proven to be a challenge. One of my colleagues that wrote a letter of recommendation to join the master's program was concerned about the workload coming my way balancing these many hats for two years.

It has been two years already... On December 16th 2016, my journey through the Master's Program comes to an end. I am graduating in a week and this completes a 17 year old dream in the making. When I decided to get married and move to California (I am a Mexico City Native) in January 1999, I was unable to complete my thesis project to graduate with a master's degree in Latin American studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I never finished my thesis project therefore I never got a Master's degree. Seventeen years later, this dream comes to a completion. I am supposed to write my last reflection about learning theorist Paulo Freire and his pedagogy of education. Paulo Freire reminds me of that journey I started in college as a sociologist of education. Back then, I studied several of his concepts for popular culture, theology of liberation movement, and breaking the culture of silence. I was a dreamer with strong opinions and a desire to use education to change the world. Seventeen years later, my dreams have not changed, they have only become clearer. As Paulo Freire states, education is a vehicle to transforming the world. I would add that education transform us (Piaget), impacts our environment (Dewey), and gives us a sense of identity through the communities that we get to interact with (Wenger).

After two years involved with great people and great educational endeavors, I feel empowered to become a servant leader. I am not sure where the next journey starts and ends, I only know that just as when any other cycle in our lives closes, there is learning and sadness, joy and fear, expectations and disappointments. I will have to find a passion in education to continue moving this blog along. I will try to continue setting high standards and expectations for my own critical thinking and professional development to hopefully continue making an impact in the real and the virtual world of education.

A forever thanks to all my professors and colleagues at Fresno Pacific University. I will be looking forward to our paths crossing again.... may God bless!

Grit: A Personal Story

Recently I have heard the word GRIT as something that education professionals should be teaching to students. It seems to be a buzzword that people are writing about, talking about, and marketing as one magic pill to make students succeed in the classroom. As part of one of my projects for the Masters in Educational Technology, we were asked to create a digital story using a digital media platform of choice as well as a topic we could use for educational purposes.

I thought about it several times. I really did not know what to do. I did some research in digital storytelling and I came across Adobe Express. I had used Adobe Express briefly on my Ipad just to try it out. I really liked it back then. I explored it again and I realized that Adobe Express can be used on any device. I tried it on my Chromebook at work and I like how user friendly it is. I can use this tool when we get a Chromebook cart in the classroom. Students can use digital stories to create content in all subject areas through fiction, historical narratives, personal stories, the teaching of a new concept, comic strips, or to explain processes in  Math and Science. Story Center. Listen Deeply. Tell Stories is a free online platform that offers access to many stories created around the world. It is worth checking if you are embarking on a digital storytelling project. 

This is an example of a personal story I created using Adobe Express. This is my personal opinion on GRIT. The transcript for the presentation can be found at Google Docs Grit: Personal Story Transcript. 

Disclaimer: This video contains a couple of religious references. Please watch from beginning to end. Showing religious content in a public school setting might not be acceptable under school district policies. Please reference your school policies if using this video in public school settings.  

Vlog#8: Multimedia Learning Reflection

Vlog #1 Reflections on Multimedia Learning

Albert Whitehead: Implications for Second Language Learning

“Whitehead's famous pedagogical trilogy - Romance, Precision, Generalization - provides a nice symmetry to the discipline/freedom paradox.  It neither denies the role that choice plays in embracing an educational arena nor does it let us "off the hook" when it comes to our responsibility to come under a discipline's "discipline." (Gramenz, 2015)

In this blog I take one area of scholarly endeavor and "walk it through" the three stages. I discuss how I "fell in love with this area (Romance), the steps I took to learn the details (Precision), and how I have practically applied this area (Generalization). 

Learning English as a Second Language is the perfect example of how I became passionate about a subject.

Romance: When I was an adolescent, I was a hopeless romantic (I still am!). I always listened to romantic music and I was in love with the concept of love. All romantic music would speak to my heart and I wanted to meet prince charming. I went to see the movie Footloose with Kevin Bacon. I was young and the movie spoke to my heart. The rebelliousness, the love, the music, it was the perfect movie. I bought the sound track. I felt in love with the music. I wanted to sing the songs. The sound track came with the lyrics, I learned the basics of the English Language because of I fell in love with music. I wanted to learn more.

Precision: There comes the hard work. I asked my dad to help me pay to take English classes. I was in college. The more I learned English, the more I was able to sing popular songs. I studied English as a Second Language for 3 years. Hard work, lots of grammar rules but I loved it. I had to apply myself to learn the language well. The more I knew, the more I wanted to know.

Generalization: As a professional at one of the largest universities in Mexico City, I needed to have an academic experience abroad. I was able to get a scholarship and I became a Junior Research Scholar at the University of California in Irvine. I met my husband to be there, who doesn’t speak Spanish. I got married and I moved to Fresno more than 16 years ago.

Not a long time ago, I watched again the original Footloose movie. That was such a completion of a cycle. I am a Seventh Day Adventist (liberal), I speak English, and I love music. The movie was such a piece of art in my own perspective! I never realized that the language that I learned for the love of music, served as the language of love for my particular circumstances. I am married to an American citizen who only speaks English. I love the English language. Yes, I do have an accent and it gets me into sticky situations at time but in general, people love that I sound different. I was very dedicated trying to learn a second language because it spoke to my heart. Interestingly enough, life came to a perfect circle when I fell in love and married someone that spoke the language that I had learned with so much dedication and patience. You never know how second language learning might change your life.

The Power in You: Teachers Influence in Students’ Lives

It’s that time of the year: Back to School after a lengthy summer vacation. Teachers truly appreciate well-deserved time off to pursue personal interests, hobbies, and other personal goals. Vacation spots are a treasure and having free time is a precious commodity. I love summer time. It is a time to slow down and recharge. There is a certain sadness when summer time is over. I love being a teacher but it is a very demanding and sacrificial profession with very little personal time.This summer I had a chance to reflect upon my career as an educator and what impact it has on my life and the lives of others. I received a call from a student that reaffirms what teachers do and why they do it: because it matters!

I taught English as a Second Language to this Spanish speaking student more than 10 years ago. At that time, she was well into her 70’s. It was a pleasure to see her come to class, sit there while paying close attention to instruction, and being happy by being able to say: “Hi, my name is Maria”. It was a great accomplishment for her to say her name and age in English. I treated her kindly. She was sweet. I knew she was in class to be with her daughter and to get some companionship.

Fast-forward 10 years. I got a call from a woman asking for me in Spanish. After wrestling with my memories I identified who was on the phone: “Mrs. Mari, how are you, so pleased to hear your voice” I said.  We started talking and bringing back the memories. And then there it was, a few words that made me tear up and choke up on the phone: “Mrs. Castillo, I truly liked being in your class. You saw me for who I truly was. You looked at me with eyes of love”. Wow, what a great testimony to the power of kind words: I will remember her kind words. It was pay-it forward time. “You look at me with eyes of love”

My words of encouragement to veteran and new teachers is that what you do is important and it matters. As school resumes this fall, please remember:

The Power of Kind Words

You never know the impact that your words will have on a student. Make a commitment to lift students up and see them for who they truly are. Many of our students lack affection, positive encouragement, a role model, or an adult that cares.

The Power of Listening

It is ok to take time to slow down to listen to students’ concerns and for teachers to take time to stop teaching content to teach life lessons. What you say at the right time in the right place can affect a student’s future.

The Power of Caring

Students may hardly remember what you taught but they will never forget how much you cared. Assume best intentions, teach with a giving, caring, and forgiving heart. Even in the worst days, when students turn your life upside down, give them the benefit of the doubt. Offer them a clean slate the next day. In this day and age of internet access, no one needs to sit in a classroom and interact with people. Knowledge is readily available. Use the power in you and the great opportunity you have of influencing a real person’s live.

The Power of Love

Look at students with eyes of love. They needed it. I attended a Better Together California Teachers Summit and the keynote speakers highlighted how teachers influenced their lives. I listened to a famous actress and singer as well as an astronaut. They are who they are today because along the way, a teacher said a kind word, listened, cared, and loved. This is the power in you. Teach… and transform a life.

Golf and Teaching: The Challenges of Being a Rookie

The Players

Just like in teaching, golf can be either a group activity or a solo endeavor. Even though a group of people can be there to help you play a good game, they cannot do it for you. They give you advice and techniques, they keep you company and encourage you but they cannot get the ball in the hole. It is up to you to learn from advice, observe, and apply in order to improve. Golfers watch out for other players just as our teaching buddies will be willing to watch out for you.

The Golf Course Map

This is our curriculum map. Each area represents a skill we need to master in teaching. Each poses its own challenges, has specific characteristics, and we have to use appropriate tools to be able to master that particular area. Each area looks different and in order to get there we are required to have achieved and master other areas and skills

The Holes

The only purpose of golf is to navigate a vast and beautiful landscape in order to put a ball in a small little hole….. And so is with teaching. There is so much preparation, sacrifice, training, focus, and skill put into one objective: the learning objective. When we as teachers see that something clicks in a student’s mind, that’s it! We put the ball in the hole or in teaching terms, we have made the learning process come to life!

The Clubs

This one was hard for me. When I learned to play golf, nobody was willing to teach me which club to use for which purpose. I had 12 clubs and they all kind of look like the same. I was using all of them trying to find out which one did what. Just as with our teaching skills and tools, during our first years we are just using whatever we feel might work in order to accomplish our learning objective. After I played golf a few times with some not so newbies, they noticed my mistakes. They told me the rules of choosing the right club for the right purpose. Wow, that hurt my ego, but it did surely improved the way I played. My newly found confidence in playing golf by using the right tool allowed me to keep trying. Just as in teaching, when I am willing to set aside my ego and watch and learn from the pros in teaching, everything becomes clearer and I experience success.

Sand Traps

No golfer, new or experienced likes sand traps. When your ball falls into a sand trap, it requires a certain skill and a particular club to get it out to the faraway in order to keep playing. Your ball can be stuck in there for a while…. Just like in teaching. Challenges, problems, lack of motivation, tiredness, belittlement, gossip, lack of recognition. It is hard when you fall in that place and harder to get out and keep going. Use the right tool and the right technique. Surround yourself with other professionals that will teach you the tricks to move on. 

Golf is not easy, and neither is teaching. Will you persevere? 

Photo Credit Vallarta Golf Castillo 2015 

Photo Credit: Whisper Creek Golf Club, Huntley, Illinois via photopin (license)
Photo Credit: Too good for your home? via photopin (license)
Photo Credit Golf Set Castillo 2015
Photo Credit: Dornoch Golf Bunkers via photopin (license)

Latina Educators: A Personal Perspective

I have been invited to be a guest blogger on Latina Ed Tech Educators by Cindy Escandon. Cindy is a passionate educator who is focusing on Latina educators and educating children of poverty. Her passion and commitment to education is contagious. Here is a transcript of my blog.

I am really excited to be invited to be a guest blogger for Latina Tech Educator. It is not an old cliché but it is certainly a reality that being a Hispanic Educator in the U.S. offers a different perspective for educational settings. As teachers, we strive to create a learning environment where all students feel free to express and learn from each other’s identities. There is inherent passion in being a Latina educator in the United States. We have faced the challenges, some of us have grown up poor and we see education as the only way to improve our lives. We are passionate about education and helping English Language Learners and students of poverty because we were once there. As a second language learner, many Latina educators know what it feels like to sit in a classroom where you understand half of what is being taught; we know what it is like to be among people who makes fun of you because you don’t speak English well or because you have an accent; and we also know what it is like to live in a place where you always try to fit in. In the movie Stand and Deliver with Edward James Olmos, the main character states that we, Latinos in the U.S., have to work twice as hard. We need to speak English well but we also need to speak Spanish well and we need to fit within two cultures. He ends his statement by saying: “It is exhausting!”

When I was a professor at the School for Foreign Students in Mexico City at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), I had a student that considered himself to be a Chicano. He was born in the United States in a Mexican family who always talked to him about the wonders of having Mexican roots. His family had idealized their Mexican roots therefore this student’s dream was to go live in Mexico for a few months to discover his roots. After a few weeks in Mexico City he was devastated. He confided in me that he was distraught and disappointed. People in Mexico City were cruel to him. He looked Mexican but his Spanish was broken. People were rude to him and continuously made fun of his lack of fluency skills in Spanish.

As a Latina educator, I advocate for teachers to go beyond the stereotypes and the popular culture and traditions of a specific place. If we advocate a multicultural approach to education we need to step beyond the clichés. It is our responsibility to offer an honest perspective of the current state of the culture that we will be teaching in the classroom. Even though it is true that Hispanics eat tacos, listen to Mariachi music, and dance a lot, it is important to take a broader look at who we are in order to avoid stereotypes.  

The Power of Self-Directed Learning

It has truly been a challenging task to shift towards becoming a connected educator through Blogger and Google Sites. I have spent several days figuring out how to work with both, Google Sites and Blogger. Interestingly, I found Goggle Sites to be rather self-explanatory and easy to use. Blogger really posed a challenge to me. I faced a huge obstacle (of course, huge in my own limited mind). I was focused so much into learning Google Sites that I missed the live explanation in my class as to how to add a navigation bar to your Blog. Seriously, overlooking 5 minutes of class while paying attention to my Google Site cost me four days in Blogger. I was frustrated, I played around with the features for hours, I stayed past midnight, and nothing…. My blog did not look the way I wanted it to look. The lay out and format was a challenge. I was ready to quit. I had settle for a simple looking blog, no navigation buttons, and I was going to stick with Google Sites. I was going to use Blogger just for that, blogging. I could not go to sleep because I needed my brain to tell me what I was doing wrong. My brain did not help. It just went to sleep. That’s it! I need to figure this one out, if I can’t do it by myself, I am sure I can find a video to teach me. There it is, the power of sharing, the power of social media, and the power of being a CONNECTED EDUCATOR! I persisted, researched the topic, and I got it. My first accomplishment in Blogger is completed. My advice to anyone that has the desire to learn to apply technology is not to give up. Keep playing around, stay put to your computer, research the topic and ask the experts on You Tube, Twitter, and other Social Media. This is precisely the essence of becoming a connected educator and to build a platform to tell the world what you know. You might just become someone’s hero on line with your knowledge.

Leadership: Trait or Skill?

My Definition of Leadership

I used to think about leaders as people who had been born with an incredible amount of good luck and charisma. Leadership to me seemed to be a lottery where only some fortunate ones were able to reach their dreams, become extremely successful and popular, and navigate through life effortlessly. I guess I had adopted the idea that leaders are born, not made. One of the most determining factors that has changed my perspective on leadership is not academic knowledge but rather personal experience. 

As I work in different educational settings, I have always felt attracted to work with strong, charismatic people who know who they are, who display and live by strong values, and who consistently demonstrate that they care about who I am as a person in addition to my abilities as a professional. The people that have changed my perspective on leadership have always been those who get to know me and the ones who have taken the time to invest in me by taking the risk of allowing a work environment where failure is a learning experience and a place to grow and praise for work well done is abundant.

Since I have noticed that there is a specific type of person I am always willing to work for, come on board and share visions with, I have come to the conclusion that a leader has the following attributes:

1) Honesty: It doesn't matter how hard a conversation has to be in order to promote growth and positive change. When it comes to establishing a parallel healthy relationship with a leader, I need to know that a person has my best interest in mind and a higher goal and purpose for the well being of the community. As Secretary of State Collin Powell stated in his video about leadership at Colgate University, "it is ok to hurt people's feelings". I don't mind hurt feelings when the greater good is at stake and I know that a leader has my best interest in mind. 

2) Positive & Enthusiastic  Attitude: A person with a great attitude and a positive outlook on life is always easy to work with and easy to listen to. It doesn't matter if the task at hand is challenging, a "let's do it" kind of person is always an inspiration for others to follow.

3) Ability to connect:  A person who encourages the heart encourages the way (Posner & Kouzes, The Leadership Change, 2012), and a leader who truly cares about their people earn respect from others and lead by relationships, not by commands. 

4)  Ability to Articulate and Share a Clear Vision and Mission: In order to enlist others to accomplish a common goal, a leader needs to be able to communicate and influence others to work in the same direction with passion and a sense of community rather than individual gain.

5) A Strong Work Ethic and Commitment to Personal and Community Values: I once read that a leader needs to watch his/her reputation as the most precious asset, which is what I compare to what Posner and Kouzes call "Model the Way" (Posner & Kouzes, The Leadership Change, 2012). A person that leads by example rather than leading by title always commands respect and has the ability to influence others.  

I have come to the conclusion that everyone can be a leader. Leadership is rather a set of acquired life skills rather that a natural predisposition obtained at birth. 

Blogging Challenges: From Private to Public

Lately I have been reading about the importance of using online tools to launch a professional platform to participate in the bigger community of connected educators. This has truly been a difficult concept for me to grasp since I grew up in an educational system where someone else is the repository of knowledge and the only skill I needed to develop well is that of understanding the lecturers' perspective and crafting my knowledge to match that of the lecturer's expectations. I used to work for an audience of one. I am now an educator that is witnessing an education reform with a strong focus on technology integration. Well, needless to say, I am learning in the process, facing challenges, and trying to overcome obstacles in order to help students transition to the 21st Century.

Considering that I have been an educator of 20 plus years, how do I integrate technology education reform from an ethical perspective? My first dilemma is becoming a public figure online. How do I keep my privacy and the safety of my identity when I have to talk to the world through a Blog to become a connected educator? I understand the importance of exposing my ideas to the public and inviting the community to collaborate and wrestle with cognitive endeavors. The ethical issue for me as an educator, a private person, and a concerned citizen is what to share, how to share it, and whom to share it with? What is it that others want to hear that they don't already know and what is it that I can share that will become a professional platform and not a record of wrong doings? 

At this time, I am thinking that my plan of action to become a participant of the virtual community is summarized through the following thought process:

1) When Blogging, find a meaningful connection between what I am learning and what I think is relevant to others with similar interests.

2) Carefully review every aspect of my online platform to find out which details are too private or too revealing.

3) Think from the perspective of my audience. If I am reading someone else’s blog, am I really interested in what they have to say or am I just venting out in public.

4) Write every post assuming that every single person in this planet earth will be reading it (I know that this is pretentious but better safe than sorry)

5) Exercise political correctness while striking a balance between being truthful and kind