Yes, You Can!

Advice for Teachers Who Want a Great Start and a Great Finish With Their Students of Color

Gail L. Thompson, Rufus Thompson

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781452291710
• eBook ISBN: 9781452291703
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

An all-in-one toolkit that empowers new teachers to meet the needs of diverse learners 

When novice teachers are assigned to teach disadvantaged students, the results are predictable: growing tension and frustration on both sides, leading to disengaged students and disillusioned educators.

Gail and Rufus Thompson are renowned experts on bridging the instructional gaps between teachers and students who don't look like them. In this book, the authors show new teachers how to flourish by building on the assets of their students and the students' families. 

Yes, You Can! holds up a mirror to deeply-held beliefs about race and other variables of difference. Through interactive exercises, readers gain confidence and empathy that translate to success for students. The book includes:

•  Powerful vignettes about real teachers and students that help promote teacher empathy and understanding
•  Original research conducted by the authors on the confidence levels of new and experienced educators 
• Targeted strategies for many student profiles: African American, Latino, Asian American, White, high-achiever, low-achiever, and more

Before learning can take place, there must be mutual understanding and respect between student and teacher. Yes, You Can! ensures these critical links are strong.

"This is one of the most useful books I have read in some time! Whether novice or veteran, if one truly wants to be successful in teaching children of color, this exciting book is an invaluable tool. From their extensive experience as successful classroom teachers, researchers, and leaders of professional development, the authors combine authentic scenarios, reflection activities, and suggested strategies that empower educators in being effective with students at all grade levels and from all demographic groups in our society."

—Randall B. Lindsey, Professor Emeritus
California State University, Los Angeles 

Part I Do You Really Love All of Them? Assessing Your Teaching Self-Confidence About Working With Various Types of Students

1 Fear, Income, Gender, and Other Issues Why Your Teaching Self-Confidence Matters

Meet Michaela, A Frustrated New Teacher

In August 2012, Michaela was frustrated. The previous June—at the end of her first year of full-time teaching—she had received a “pink slip” notifying her that she would be laid off. Although the principal at the underperforming urban high school where she had worked had told her that she had done a great job, budget problems forced school district officials to lay off Michaela and all of the teachers who lacked seniority. For 24-year-old Michaela, the pink slip was the final slap in the face.

Michaela was disappointed and wondered if she’d have a job during the next school term. She was also angry. Her first full year of teaching had been extremely difficult. In one of her classes, two pregnant ninth graders almost had a fistfight one day. Furthermore, several of her students were arrested during the school year or were placed in her class after they were released from a local juvenile detention facility. No matter how hard she tried, some students refused to cooperate and defied her class rules. None of her teacher education training had prepared her for this! In fact, during the school year, Michaela often wondered whether or not she had chosen the right career. By the end of the year, she was even thinking that she would eventually change careers and abandon teaching completely.

But in August, Michaela received the great news that school district officials would rehire her. One official informed her that her former principal had requested that she be reassigned to the same high school. A few weeks later, the principal notified her that once again, she would be teaching freshman English. However, she would also be teaching eleventh-grade English for the first time. Although Michaela was happy to have her job back, she was terrified about teaching a higher grade level, especially when she only had a short time to prepare lesson plans and move into her classroom before the first day of school arrived.

Exercise Now It’s Your Turn

1. If you were Michaela, what would you do to make the beginning of the new school year as stress free as possible?
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2. If you were one of Michaela’s colleagues, what advice would you give her about teaching a new grade level for the first time?
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Chapter Highlights

In the previous exercise, we asked you to put yourself in Michaela’s shoes and to think of advice that you could give her, because as a teacher—especially if you are a beginning teacher—there will be times when you will feel just as Michaela did: uncertain about one or more aspects of your job. Also, after you gain more teaching experience, you might be asked to serve as a mentor to one or more beginning teachers or you may voluntarily choose to mentor new teachers at your school. Throughout this book, we will give you advice that can make your teaching career (especially your first years) less stressful. In this chapter, we will share some basic facts about teaching, describe the Teacher Confidence (TC) Study, ask you to complete several professional growth exercises, and explain why you need to examine your confidence levels about (a) your ability to treat all students fairly, (b) your ability to teach students from various income levels, and (c) your ability to teach males and females. We conclude the chapter with a summary and practical advice pertaining to the main topics of this chapter.

Exercise Exploring Your Fears and Concerns About Teaching

1. What aspects of being a teacher do you fear or are you most uncertain about and why?
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2. Whom, if anyone (parents, specific types of students, other teachers, specific types of staff, school leaders, etc.), do you fear and why?
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3. Where did these fears come from?
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4. Now, examine your answers to the previous questions and explain what you can learn from them.
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Six Basic Facts About Teaching

Before we describe the TC Study, here are some basic facts that you should keep in mind:

1. Yes, you made a wise decision.

In case you are wondering, as Michaela did, whether or not you made the right decision by becoming a teacher, we can assure you that you did. During the time that I (Gail) was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, the Peace Corps’ motto was “The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love.” We believe that this motto also applies to teaching. Teaching is difficult for many of the reasons that we mentioned in the Introduction and others that we’ll explain later. However, if you stick with it, you can definitely learn to love it, and you can have a very rewarding teaching career. In fact, it can become “the toughest job that you’ll ever love.”

2. No teacher is perfect.

If you strive to do your best and refuse to give up, you can become a good teacher and possibly even a great teacher. However, you will never become a perfect teacher, because no human being is perfect. In fact, when you read stories about mistakes that we made and that other educators have made, this will become even more apparent to you.

3. No teacher knows everything.

Good teachers realize that life is a learning experience, that they don’t know everything, and that no matter how long they’ve been teaching or how much experience they have, they must be willing to learn new information, strategies, and so on.

4. Through hard work, you can become an outstanding teacher.

The strategies and professional growth exercises throughout this book will move you closer to the goal of becoming an outstanding teacher of all students, especially African American students and other students of color. So don’t take shortcuts. We hope that you will complete every exercise and be as honest with yourself as possible.

5. Choosing to become a successful teacher of all students, especially African American students and other students of color, is a great confidence-building mindset to adopt.

A good foundation can be built upon many times. As a baseball player, I (Rufus) failed seven out of 10 times. Nevertheless, for a hitter in baseball, that is considered to be very, very, successful! It is all about how we view success. We pay millions of dollars per year to watch players fail seven out of 10 times! In education, we can’t let this happen. My point to you is that from the very beginning of your teaching career until the end, success should be your goal. Striving for success will build your self-confidence. However, it is important not to have unrealistic expectations. Your bar should be very high for situations that you have control over: how you treat and view students, the quality of instruction that you provide to them, developing a fair and effective classroom management system, how you treat and view students’ parents; and so on. Adopting the correct mi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I Do You Really Love All of Them? Assessing Your Teaching Self-Confidence About Working With Various Types of Students
• 1 Fear, Income, Gender, and Other Issues Why Your Teaching Self-Confidence Matters
• 2 Teaching in a Racially Diverse World Examining Your Teaching Self-Confidence About Working With Students of Color and White Students
• 3 “Oh My Gosh, He Can’t Even Read!” Examining Your Teaching Self-Confidence About Working With Struggling Students
• Part II Student Empowerment–Teacher Empowerment Increasing Your Teaching Self-Confidence and Your Teaching Efficacy
• 4 This Stuff Is Hard! Improving Your Classroom Management Skills
• 5 A Recipe for Success Effective Instructional Practices
• 6 Can’t We All Just Get Along? Using the Curriculum to Improve Race Relations in Class
• Part III Getting Help From the “Village” How to Maximize Your Relations With Parents, Colleagues, and School Leaders
• 7 Bridging the Great Divide How to Create a Win-Win Situation With Parents, Especially With Nonwhite Parents
• 8 Ties That Can Bind Forming Strong Working Relationships With Colleagues of Color
• 9 Ask and It Might Be Given Getting What You Need From School Leaders
• Conclusion Don’t Throw in the Towel—How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up
• Appendix A Background Information About the Teacher Confidence Study
• Appendix B Demographic Information About the 293 Teacher Confidence Study Participants
• Appendix C Questionnaire Results From the 293 Teacher Confidence Study Participants
• Index
• Publisher Note