American English File 1 Teachers Book

[Rachelle Kun]

Onthe trip, I met teachers, principals, superintendents, and professors from all across America who are passionate about improving education for the better. The level of discourse was invigorating for me, a relatively young and inexperienced teacher. I was able to hear about perspectives from all different kinds of education, from huge urban schools, to elite private schools, to rural, small schools. This was enlightening because I began to realize that no matter the type of school, many American educators were experiencing many of the same issues that I was facing.

Trust

As we visited Finnish schools and met with Finnish educators, I saw some stark differences between their system and the American system. It must be noted that Finland is much smaller and more homogenous than the United States, and due to their social safety net, they do not have as much poverty. This, however, does not mean that American teachers should disregard any lessons we can learn from the Finns.

In my teaching experience, the state has very specific, detailed standards that are measured by the state end-of-course exam, which begets a system of implicit distrust. The standards and exams imply that the state does not trust districts to do an adequate job educating students and relies on the state test to ensure compliance. The district then provides mandatory benchmarks, implying that they do not trust that the students will have success on the state exam or that the principals can run their schools adequately. This results in the teachers being hounded by their principals over data analysis from the benchmarks.

The Whole Child

The Finnish educational system focuses much more on the non-cognitive skills of their students, as opposed to the content knowledge. The attitude of America is much more competitive than Finland, and this is deeply ingrained in our culture. Teaching in Finland is not about creating the best students with the best SAT scores who know the most about history, physics, or algebra. It is about creating globally competent, critical thinkers who are ready to be successful in their post-graduation life. In my mind, the Finns grow their children as if they were plants in a garden. In order to produce well-rounded students, they focus on many disciplines that will help them become well-rounded adults.

Folklore is a mandatory class every year, because the Finns want their students to have imaginative thinking and a sense of national cultural identity. They have cooking class every year (for all students), because being able to cook and knowing about nutrition is essential to a happy, healthy adult life.

Challenges

While the Finns have gotten a great deal of what they do right, it made me feel relieved to see that American schools are not behind in all aspects of education. In the U.S., there has been an increasing investment of time and money to prepare our students for the global market by teaching them how to use technology. Here, teachers go to trainings to learn the most innovative new ways to use laptops, discussion boards, and digital learning to engage their students. At my school, in which 93 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch, every student is issued a laptop. Teachers post e-books, the students do research, and they use digital tools to create interesting products for projects.

Overall, my trip abroad was an enlightening experience. I can honestly say it changed my outlook on my profession, and this school year has been exponentially less stressful for me. Not because my school changed or my students are smarter, but because I have changed. I rearranged my classroom to foster more cooperative learning and organic communication. I added more art and music to the environment of my classroom and in my lessons, which make the day more enjoyable for teacher and student alike.

All references to party affiliation include those who lean toward that party. Republicans include those who identify as Republicans and those who say they lean toward the Republican Party. Democrats include those who identify as Democrats and those who say they lean toward the Democratic Party.

Assessments of student performance and behavior differ widely by school poverty level.1 Teachers in high-poverty schools have a much more negative outlook. But feelings of stress and dissatisfaction among teachers are fairly universal, regardless of where they teach.

Majorities of teachers say parents are doing too little when it comes to holding their children accountable if they misbehave in school, helping them with their schoolwork and ensuring their attendance.

Chronic absenteeism (that is, students missing a substantial number of school days) is a particular challenge at high schools, with 61% of high school teachers saying this is a major problem where they teach. By comparison, 46% of middle school teachers and 43% of elementary school teachers say the same.

Anxiety and depression are viewed as a more serious problem at the secondary school level: 69% of high school teachers and 57% of middle school teachers say this is a major problem among their students, compared with 29% of elementary school teachers.

In addition to their teaching duties, a majority of teachers (58%) say they have to address behavioral issues in their classroom every day. About three-in-ten teachers (28%) say they have to help students with mental health challenges daily.

Experiences with cellphone policies vary widely across school levels. High school teachers (60%) are much more likely than middle school (30%) and elementary school teachers (12%) to say the policies are difficult to enforce (among those who say their school or district has a cellphone policy).

Among teachers, women are more likely than men to say work-life balance is difficult for them (57% vs. 43%). Women teachers are also more likely to say they often find their job stressful or overwhelming.

And very few are optimistic about the next five years: Only 20% of teachers say public K-12 education will be a lot or somewhat better five years from now. A narrow majority (53%) say it will be worse.

Among teachers who think things have gotten worse in recent years, majorities say the current political climate (60%) and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (57%) are major reasons. A sizable share (46%) also point to changes in the availability of funding and resources.

The AATF is the only national association devoted exclusively to the needs of French teachers at all levels. Our community of French educators at all levels works to promote and defend French programs, create and disseminate useful materials for the classroom, and provide opportunities to recognize professional excellence and student achievement. We sponsor the National French Contest, French National Honor Society, and National French Week and publish the French Review and the National Bulletin.

Textbooks written by African American teachers as early as 1890 represented the story of Nat Turner and the Southampton Insurrection of 1831 in heroic fashion. Between 1890 and 1922, there were four textbooks written by scholars who also taught in public schools. Edward Johnson, who was born enslaved in North Carolina, published A Short History of the Negro in America in 1890. Leila Amos Pendleton taught in Washington D.C. public schools and published A Narrative of the Negro in 1912. John Cromwell a formerly enslaved man who also taught in D.C. published The Negro in American History in 1914. Carter G. Woodson was a schoolteacher for nearly thirty years and published seven different textbooks. His first textbook, The Negro In Our History, was published in 1922 and became the most widely circulated of any that preceded it.

These teachers did not shy away from discussions of violence in representing the story of Nat Turner. At times the narrative is even presented in epic fashion. John Cromwell provided vivid descriptions of specific incidents:

Engaging radical aspects of Black political history became an opportunity for students and teachers to engage in a shared critique of their Jim Crow confinement. It also indulged a persistent desire for redress (even revenge) on the part of Black communities (re)encountering the trauma wrought by white supremacy. Even as African American teachers navigated constraints imposed by white Jim Crow school authority, they were also forging an interior world in their own souls and the minds of their students, through their writing and in the private spaces of their classrooms.

Black resistance to racial oppression was omnipresent in many of the classrooms and pews of Black schools and churches. Prof. Givens has provided great insight into the ways in which Black teachers, contrary to popular assumptions, promoted that resistance in the minds of their students that built up over time and culminated in the modern freedom struggle. My maternal grandfather who did not advance beyond eighth grade passed on these lessons that he learned from his teachers in segregated southern schools. His stories sparked a curiosity about Black History that influenced my trajectory socially, politically, and intellectually. Thanks for this fine piece that reminded me of my grandfather and that should remind us that like the river described by Vincent Harding, the struggle ebbs and flows, takes unexpected turns, but continues inextricably toward freedom.

Texas AFT works to better the profession of educators by promoting effective public education policy to improve the pay and working conditions of teachers, nurses, counselors, and other professionals.

AACT is a community of teachers of chemistry who share strategies, find support, ask questions, and overcome classroom challenges. Join AACT to access resources, professional development, and other member benefits.

In a follow-up to their September 2023 article, two high school chemistry teachers explore the integration of ChatGPT (a tool for artificial intelligence, or AI) in their classroom. While AI has helped the authors with instructional planning, they have also found challenges with its accuracy and the ways students use it.

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