Building Community and Administrative Support through Professionalism

Pre-planning time for a first year teacher is always hectic. There are faculty meetings to attend, lesson plans to finalize and a classroom to organize. Yet, in the middle of the preplanning frenzy, the principal of my first school loaded all the teachers up on school buses so we could spend a few hours traveling the area where our students lived. I had an image in my mind of what all the homes in Orlando, Florida would look like, but these homes were much different from what I had expected. The homes ranged from small, dilapidated houses, to crowded apartment complexes, to extravagant homes with well manicured lawns and swimming pools in the backyard. It wasn't until after classes started, that I finally realized the importance of taking the time to begin to acquaint the teachers with the diverse backgrounds of our students. Taking a look at their home environments was just the beginning. My classes were a mix of students from different cultures, family structures and economic backgrounds. Teachers must realize that most students and families may not reflect our own cultural experiences, beliefs, values or economic privileges (Brown, 2002). However, I was not fully prepared for just how many differences there would be between the school I taught in and the one where I grew up. I attended high school in a rural Ohio county where the student population was 99% Caucasian and only 12% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch. I found myself teaching in a school with a student population made up of 42% African American students, 33% Caucasian students and 23% Hispanic students. Over 50% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunches. The daily challenges my students faced were issues I never had to deal with. I had students with fragmented families, several with only one parent or no adult role model. In many of the homes, finances were tight and there was no extra money available for field trips. I never had to assume the responsibility of raising younger siblings or using the money I earned at my part-time job to help support my family, I found myself asking the question: Was the dissimilarity of my upbringing going to prove to be an obstacle in my classroom? If so, what could be done to overcome these obstacles? I quickly realized there was much more to being an agriscience teacher than just meeting the curriculum benchmarks. I had to take extra time to develop an understanding of the various backgrounds of my students. Due to all of the FFA activities in which my students participated, I had many opportunities to begin meeting family members after practices or contests or when I would drop them off at home after a camp. I also spent time on the weekends attending sporting events, church services, or piano recitals to which my students invited me. More than once, I found myself in situations where I didn't understand the language or I didn't know anyone else in the room, but the initial uneasiness was well worth the rapport that I built with my students. However, appreciating diverse backgrounds was simply not enough. I was faced with the challenge of establishing and maintaining a classroom community. The classroom community provides students with a sense of connection, value and influence among their classmates and teacher. Students with a high sense of community feel personally known and respected. They believe that they have a significant say in class planning, decision-making and problem solving. And they believe that their fellow students care about them and care about learning (Schaps & Lewis, 1997) Initially, I had to evaluate my instructional methods. What I found is that I was primarily concerned with the academic aspects of teaching, due to the emphasis from my administration on preparing my students for the state standardized test. I made the decision to implement methods of teaching that addressed not only the academic needs of my students, but the social and physical needs as well. …