During my doctoral studies, I taught teachers how to use action research to study their classrooms of multilingual learners; teachers initiated and directed action research projects to improve their teaching and students’ learning. Action research, as a form of professional development, is a part of a larger movement to counteract the de-professionalization of K-12 educators, which is often defined by prescriptive approaches to teaching and learning (Sagor, 2009).

In designing the endorsement program, I integrated a year-long action research course into the TEL minor and the endorsement program. Teacher candidates and practicing teachers conduct action research in their own classrooms as part of the course. The teachers are mentored into the systematic inquiry process of asking questions, collecting and analyzing data and taking action or making change in their classrooms, schools and communities.

I realized early on, however, that although they identified the action research course as important to their professional growth, and teacher candidates seldom continued to conduct research after they graduated. Schools and districts didn’t encourage nor support this type of professional development either.

To help teachers make action research part of their teaching practice, I needed to create a network to ensure teachers had the support they need during all steps of the research process. 

An Action Research Network is Born

The Teacher Research Network became a reality in 2018. That year, Michael Meadows (SEC Math EDU, 2016) helped create the EC Teacher Research Network as a Facebook Group to support alumni’s desire to continue their action research work after graduating. This had nearly eighty alumni participated in the Facebook Group, with seven presenting at national and state professional conferences. However, Facebook as a platform was not meeting our growing interests.

Research I conducted in 2021 provided evidence of the efficacy of action research in ESL and bilingual classrooms. It also showed that teachers working with multilingual students shared a wide range of common interests and concerns across the Network. Key among them was the desire to find colleagues who share a common interest in reflecting on practice.

The findings suggested that a digital platform could support teacher retention and their sense of efficacy, while also the platform could provide a virtual space for teachers to share what they have learned and to hear what other teachers are doing.

In 2023-2024, Dr. Simeon Stumme (Education), Dr. Dean Jensen (Computer Science), and I received an imagining Elmhurst Innovation grant to create that digital space for education graduates. We unveiled that space—the Virtual Teacher Researcher Network—in Spring 2024. The website is the next stage of the Network and the most visible representation of what it does.

What is the Research Network

The website will extend the outreach of the Network by increasing research opportunities and the professional development of our alumni. The website will serve four purposes:

• It allows alumni and faculty to create a supportive professional community of teacher-researchers, with the ability to share materials of all types, including digital.
• It provides a digital library of completed Action Research projects, accessible to all members of the Network, with featured work available for public view.
• It is the hub for our annual conference. This year we held our first annual digital conference where undergraduates, graduates and alumni shared findings from their action research projects.
• It is a social space for alumni to connect and form support and working groups.

For Elmhurst alumni, this past year we offered two 12-week professional development sessions: one in the fall and one in the spring.

Six alumni participated: Lily Valazquez Silva (ECE, 2015), Michael Meadows (SEC Math EDU, 2016), Marjeta Bejdo (EYC, 2017), Esther Pereira (ELM, 2018), Niki Neuman (EYC, 2019), and Jenny Pina (ELM, 2020).

The Network brought these graduates together, many of whom didn’t know one another and some of whom have moved across the country to support their day-to-day classroom teaching.  As Marjeta, one of the participating teachers, said: “Action research is so much easier to do when you are part of a group. Teachers want a safe place to share ideas and receive and give feedback.”

Niki Neuman, another teacher, said she would not have done action research without the Network’s support. The group allowed her the space to bounce ideas off each other and grow her undergraduate research project on fostering students’ funds of knowledge into a full-blown curriculum where families regularly sign up to share their cultural and linguistic practices in her first-grade classroom in Reno, NV.

This year, we also provided our TEL minor undergraduates a mentor teacher researcher during student teaching. Marjeta Bejdo was the first of what we hope are many mentors. Exemplary undergraduates action research projects were recognized at our first annual Multilingual Teacher Researcher Conference in May 2024.

What is Next for Action Research

The Network provides grass-roots professional development, with relationship building at the center of what it does. The value and importance of these types of relationship was instilled in me my mentor and friend, Dr. Aria Razfar, when I was a doctoral student at UIC. My hope is that the Network will continue to grow and connect alumni with teachers and scholars both nationally and internationally, broadening the opportunities for meaningful professional engagement for years to come.

To learn more about the Education Masters programs at Elmhurst University please visit our website.

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Imagine a fifth-grade teacher focusing on the Egyptian pyramids as a part of a social studies curriculum unit. It is impossible to physically take the whole class to visit Egypt, so the teacher instead uses virtual reality goggles for each student to put on and feel as if they are there in Giza. If a teacher wants students to better understand American history, they might use the latest edition of the Oregon Trail software program to recreate the historical event through game simulation. If a third-grade student is learning to read, a teacher might have the child put on some headphones and use a reading software program that asks the child to read the words into the microphone and then the computer’s algorithm can ask the child to reread words that were decoded incorrectly.

AIML have been used in classroom settings for a long time as supporting tools for teaching and learning; however, the current wave of AI-supported academic technologies is bringing up ethical concerns regarding usage. There are fears that students may use AI tools to produce work that they did not originally create and the potential harms of AI in the K-12 classroom.

Large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT made an impact recently on the education sector, notably the emerging problems of cheating. Teachers are proposing strategies to navigate these issues in their classrooms and school districts are drafting policies to prevent academic cheating and the consequences, if and when students are caught plagiarizing. The undetectable misuse of AI tools for academic cheating poses a significant challenge to educators, especially if they are not familiar with the student’s voice. The problem becomes overwhelming by the ease of access and rapid improvements in AI technology, outpacing the capabilities of detection technology, which is why many school districts have banned AI entirely.

For example, ChatGPT was first released in November 2022 and opens up a chatbox in which you can ask it anything you would like to explore. A student can ask the AI tool to write a paper on any historical event, solve a math problem of any size, summarize class notes or even generate an outline for a long-term project in a matter of seconds. Teachers have to use their sixth sense to determine whether the work submitted by the student is truly their own or AI generated, perhaps leading to further subjective bias and misconceptions of student ability.

AIML – Five Big Ideas

However, teachers also recognize the potential benefits of embracing such technologies in education, suggesting that they integrate AI into their curriculum and instruction practices. As AI technology advances and becomes more integrated into our daily lives, the need to enhance our K-12 students’ AI literacy has become more relevant. The Artificial Intelligence for K-12 Initiative is a website that provides national guidelines for AI education for K-12 teachers, an online, curated resource directory to facilitate AI instruction and a community of practitioners, researchers, resource and tool developers focused on AI for the K-12 audience. Illinois is a participating state in this national discourse in which there is a shared belief that “AI education is important for students of all ages, albeit for different reasons” (AI4K12, 2023). The website shares five “Big Ideas” for how to view the use of AI in the classroom.

One Big Idea to include in the AI curriculum is to teach students that computers perceive the world using sensors and that perception is the process of extracting meaning from sensory signals. This allows computers to “see” and “hear” well enough for practical uses, such as helping children to read.

Big Idea Two is that computers construct representations using data structures, and these representations support reasoning algorithms that derive new information from what is already known. While AI computer programs can reason about very complex problems, computers do not think the way a human does in infinite ways.

Big Idea Three is to teach K-12 students that people learn by observation, by being told, by asking questions, by experimentation, by practice and by making connections to past experience. People are natural learners, while computers have to be programmed to learn the way we learn. There are two ways that computers can be programmed to learn: they can learn by finding patterns in human-supplied examples, or they can learn by trial and error. Children as young as age five can understand that the type of learning that humans engage in can be replicated by a computer.

Big Idea Four focuses on how computers try to imitate human language such as when you ask ChatGPT to write an essay for you; however, the finished essay that gets generates in seconds may sound more like a robot than a human being because computers have difficulty understanding and producing text that makes use of metaphor, imagery, hyperbole, sarcasm, humor or word play.

Big Idea Five is that AI can impact our society in both positive and negative ways. AI technologies are changing the ways we work by helping us write emails, telling us if our flight is on time, translating documents quickly, converting our speech to text and then text to speech and self-driving cars to move us around across the country.

At the same time, students need to learn about the harms that can potentially occur such as racial and gender biases in the data used to train an AI system as well as human interference that can cause the AI system to malfunction. When you ask AI to generate images of a doctor, for example, most likely it will spit out images of older white men in lab coats. AI is created by human beings who are biased themselves and so AI generated images and texts will also be biased. Thus, it is important for teachers to develop criteria for the ethical design and deployment of AI-based systems in their classrooms.

How Can AI and AIML Be Used in Curriculum Planning?

Universities are providing professional development for K-12 teachers to integrate AI into their curriculum and instruction such as appreciating AI, understanding AI and utilizing AI strategically. Many teachers are using AI to generate lesson plans that would have taken hours for them to develop individually on their own, thereby reducing labor costs. Instead, teachers can now spend their time focusing on the execution of the lesson plans and the skills needed for successful implementation of lessons and activities.

Teachers are using AI tools in diverse ways, including as an information provider, an ideation machine and a customizer of lesson plans. Teachers are brainstorming more lessons and activities with ChatGPT than in individual brainstorming and to support reflective practices toward developing design expertise (Campos, Nguyen, Ahn, & Jackson, 2023).

In terms of AI curriculum resources, a team of researchers at the University of Florida designed and developed a conversational AI (ConvAI) using both rule- and generation-based techniques to facilitate math learning for high school and college students (Li, Zhu, Xiang & Guo, 2024). Eye-tracking data revealed that participants in the ConvAI group generally exhibited higher attention levels than the control group. StoryQ—a free web-based machine learning and text mining technology for K-12 students—explores the historical topic of redlining.

A team of researchers from North Carolina State University developed and implemented a week-long curricular intervention for high school sophomores using StoryQ to examine hundreds of neighborhood descriptions produced for the Home Owners Loan Corporation’s “residential security maps” in the late 1930s (The Concord Consortium, 2024). The researchers argue that it is possible for teachers to construct historical inquiries that aim to identify patterns in a large set of primary sources with the aid of AI (Nocera, Newton, & Shiang, 2024). Integrating AIML into history classrooms could potentially engage students in critical inquiry and develop their analytical skills, in particular, skills in recognizing biases in data sources and understanding the importance of context and language nuances in historical analysis.

A Healthy Blend of AI and Human Thought

AI has also been used to develop individualized assessments such as having an algorithm evaluate a piece of student writing using a prototype and then providing immediate feedback to the student based mostly on syntax. Grading student papers can be time consuming for teachers; however, if AI can help provide feedback for the student’s initial draft based more on grammar and sentence structure, then the teacher can spend more time on meaning making and the semantics of what the student is trying to convey in writing.

Utilizing AI to sort student data to identify trends and patterns may be helpful to teachers who may then need to differentiate their lessons based on the summative overview in front of them. The human perspective that a teacher provides is essential and can never be replaced by an algorithm.

Teachers also have that practical wisdom that can never be replaced by a computer and know how much AI should be integrated into their classroom, when and why. If students are chronically dependent upon AI as a substitute for learning, they will lose crucial opportunities to develop knowledge on their own and hone their critical thinking skills. Thus, teachers must intentionally create classroom lessons and assessments that force independent thinking and reflection in their students for their long-term success and ethical growth and development. The integrity of student outcomes needs to be at the forefront of our national discourse on how and when to integrate AI into the K-12 classroom.

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A majority of children in the United States spend their formative years in a classroom. This is where many children are exposed for the first time to the diversity of the world around them. Through their interactions with others and the curriculum, children develop a greater understanding of both themselves and others, and hopefully learning the importance of representing everyone.

Therefore, the classroom is an important place for helping children understand and value diversity such as race, religion, sexual orientation and socio-economic status. These discussions need to begin with young children, considering that researchers have found that three to five year-olds not only categorize race, but express racial bias. Children of color as young as preschool show evidence of being negatively impacted by stereotypes about their race (Hirschfeld, 2008).

Children’s Literature as a Conduit to a Worldview

Children’s books are some of the most powerful tools in the classroom that can be used to positively shape students’ attitudes. However, to do this, our classrooms need to be filled with books that reflect the world our students live in, which will allow them to learn, grow and appreciate the diversity that exists around them. Children also need to be able to see themselves, their lives, their families and their communities positively represented in the books that they read.

Historically, the world depicted in children’s literature has predominantly focused on portraying American families as being White, upper middle class, English-speaking, and able-bodied, led by heterosexual, happily married parents. This message is limited in scope and clearly excludes children and families who fall outside of this cultural identity.

As educators, we need to counter this narrative and embrace children’s literature that accurately portrays the diversity of the people, cultures and experiences represented in our classrooms.

Reality Check

Today, many children are living in single-parent households as divorce, remarriage and cohabitation are all on the rise. Four out of every ten babies born are to single women or women living with non-marital partners (Pew Research Center, 2023). The number of children living in poverty continues to rise, and the number of children growing up in LGBTQ+ families has increased dramatically over the past few years (Carone et al., 2021).

Furthermore, over half of public school students come from families of color, many of whom do not speak English in the home. These are just a few of the realities about the lives of America’s children that need to be reflected in children’s literature.

Children need literature in their classrooms to provide mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors (Bishop, 1990). Mirror literature reflects students’ lives and cultures. Providing children’s literature in the classroom that reflects students affirms their cultures and experiences, helps them understand that their stories matter, shows them positive examples of what they can be and celebrates the importance of their cultural heritage.

Literature as a Window

Literature that allows students to gain a view into the lives, cultures and experiences of people that they identify as different than themselves provides a “window” into another part of their world.

Window books can help foster positive intercultural experiences, increase empathy towards others, reduce prejudice and provide a platform for underrepresented voices and experiences to be celebrated. These windows help children get a glimpse of other cultures and build an understanding and appreciation for other ways of life in order to develop a multidimensional understanding of others (Yoo-Lee et al., 2014).

Children’s understanding of the world should also be facilitated by utilizing diverse literature that acts as “sliding glass doors” allowing students to meaningfully connect with lives, cultures and experiences other than their own (Bishop, 1990). These opportunities for learning can help children become more open-minded, inclusive in their worldview and confront ideas related to equity and social justice (Riley, 2016). Unfortunately, children’s literature has historically done a poor job reflecting the diversity of our country.

Progress in Literature: A Timeline

In 2014, several events helped to spotlight issues of inequity regarding children’s and young adult literature. Author Ellen Oh and 21 other children’s book authors and professionals in the publishing industry began a social media awareness campaign called #WeNeedDiverseBooks in reaction to the announcement of an all-white, all-male panel being held at a major book publishing event.

This event, in addition to authors Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers writing columns for the New York Times discussing the “apartheid of literature” helped to positively impact the number of books reflecting diverse cultures being published. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) also released a position statement in 2015 as a call to action highlighting issues of inequity regarding representation in children’s and young adult literature. It stated:

The absence of human, cultural, linguistic, and family diversity in children’s and young adult literature attests to the growing disparity and inequity in the publishing history in the United States. Stories matter. Lived experiences across human cultures including realities about appearance, behavior, economic circumstance, gender, national origin, social class, spiritual belief, weight, life, and thought matter (2015).

As a result of these events, between 2014 and 2018, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a research library that annually documents books by or about  Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) reported books about Black and Indigenous people almost doubled. At the same time, books about Asian Americans and Latinos/Latinas showed an even larger increase, tripling in number in four years. Although the news seemed encouraging, a closer inspection still reflected causes for concern.

For example, even though representations of Latinos/Latinas tripled, the CCBC reported that they still only represented 6.8 percent of children’s books that year. It was found also that part of the increase in books credited for featuring Black characters where actually brown-skinned characters who represented ambiguous ethnicities and promoted stereotypes rather than cultural appreciation or awareness. Also, diversity other than culture was not measured by the CCBC until 2018, when they began documenting representations of disability, sexual orientation and religion.

The broadening of the study of diversity in children’s literature is important as it has helped shed a light on the underrepresentation of many other children and families by increasing representation of LGBTQ+ children, children with disabilities and children of various faiths. This can help normalize these stories, increase acceptance and decrease the feelings of “otherness” children often experience.

The most recent report by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) reported that 46 percent of the books documented had significant BIPOC content, and 39 percent had at least one BIPOC main character. Although these results are encouraging, we still have a long way to go.

A study on the representation in images and text of children’s books just published by the Harris School of Public Policy found children of color are depicted with lighter skin than adults of the same race, female characters are more often represented in images than in text, and there continues to be an underrepresentation of the Black and Latinx community with a “vast majority” of people written about in Newbery and Caldecott-winning books being White (Adukia et al., 2023).

What’s Next?

So where do we go from here? How do we ensure educators understand the importance of representing everyone, and that is portrayed to the students? Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop put it best when she said “We need diverse books because all our children deserve to know that they have a voice in the choir that sings the song of America” (Bishop, 2016). She wrote this more than twenty-five years after her ground-breaking essay, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”. She continued “When diversity is absent from the literature we share with children, those who are left out infer that they are undervalued in our society, and those whose lives are constantly reflected gain a false sense of their own importance” (Bishop, 2016).

Elmhurst University’s School of Education has many professors like Dr. Brannon who are passionate about topics like diversity in literature. To learn more about our programs, fill out the information below.

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Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) in the United States presents a unique opportunity for children to learn reading and writing in two languages and develop bilingualism in school. Unlike world or foreign language classes that teach language as a subject, DLBE immerses children in a partner language and English throughout the school day.

At the same time, these children learn traditional subjects like math, science, social studies and language arts. Teachers address state-adopted standards and follow a standards-aligned curriculum, allowing students to succeed in two languages rather than only in English. During the program, students learn grade-level content while developing bilingual abilities and skills; DLBE aims for all participating students to achieve bilingualism and biliteracy upon program completion (García & Kleifgen, 2018).

According to recent statistics, 44 U.S. states reported having over 3,600 DLBE programs (American Councils for International Education [ACIE], 2021), making them a popular option for families and children now more than ever.

Language Diversity and Bilingual Education in Schools

Federal law requires states to identify students who are developing English and may need linguistic support to achieve grade-level success in the classroom. Over time, educational legislation and policies have referred to these students using categories such as limited English proficient (LEP), English language learner (ELL), and English learner (EL), signaling language difference as a problem and English as the status quo.

However, a more inclusive category – emergent bilingual (EB) – has gained traction in education for its focus on bilingual development over English assimilation and dominance (García & Kleifgen, 2018). Along with expanding their English proficiency, EBs have a wealth of knowledge of languages such as Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Hmong from their diverse families, communities and home countries. In U.S. schools, emergent bilinguals represent over 400 languages (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023).

DLBE Program Models

DLBE can provide students, including those identified as emergent bilinguals, a setting to sustain their home language, develop English and achieve academic goals and outcomes. Research has demonstrated how bilingual instruction helps emergent bilinguals attain more academic success compared to monolingual instruction (Umansky & Reardon, 2014).

Under state laws, EB may be entitled to bilingual education. For example, Illinois law requires school districts to implement transitional bilingual education (TBE) when 20 or more emergent bilinguals share the same home language (Illinois School Code, 2015).

As the state-required minimum for bilingual education, TBE is a subtractive model, meaning teachers use home language instruction but only for a limited number of years. By contrast, DLBE is additive, meaning the program provides instruction in a partner language and English for the length of the program. In this model, emergent bilinguals can maintain their bilingualism and biliteracy rather than gradually changing to only English during the program (García & Kleifgen, 2018).

Most DLBE programs use Spanish as the partner language, but many programs offer languages like Mandarin, Russian, Polish and Japanese (ACIE, 2021). DLBE has the potential to foster bilingualism and promote language diversity across the nation despite the ubiquity of English worldwide.

Different Student Groups in DLBE

DLBE programs differ in terms of which student groups they serve. One-way immersion refers to programs serving emergent bilinguals who share a common home language. This means participating students learn through a partner language like Spanish while acquiring grade-level expectations in English.

Another program model, two-way immersion, brings together emergent bilinguals and English-speaking students who benefit from learning another language. Two-way immersion classrooms typically comprise half EBs and half monolingual English-speaking students. Under this approach, EBs continue to learn using their home language and English.

At the same time, monolingual English speakers acquire a language that they would not have exposure to ordinarily within their families or communities (García & Kleifgen, 2018). Proponents of two-way immersion suggest that children from different language backgrounds learn from one another just as they would from the teacher (Howard et al., 2018). English-speaking children in two-way immersion often come from white and middle- and upper-class backgrounds. Many of these families choose two-way immersion for their children considering the many social and economic benefits of bilingualism (Flores & García. 2017).

Equity and Choice in DLBE

Given the rampant inequality and persistent opportunity gaps across the educational landscape, concerns over who benefits from DLBE have come into question. Guadalupe Valdés (1997, 2018) was one of the first education scholars to express concern over power dynamics and imbalances as white and middle- and upper-class families compete for spaces and resources in DLBE against emergent families from working-class backgrounds, a majority of whom are racialized Spanish speakers. Key to understanding these disparities is seeing how language, race and identity intersect to create different bilingual experiences and journeys for students.

For example, emergent bilinguals are circumstantial bilinguals, which means their language practices emerge from complex social and political processes like immigration, colonialism, shifting borders and formation of post-colonial nations. For circumstantial bilinguals, their home language by itself cannot help them succeed in U.S. schools and society dominated by English (Valdés & Figueroa, 1994). In fact, many emergent bilingual families must learn English to not only thrive but also survive (e.g., buying food, paying bills, and accessing medical care).

In comparison, white English-speaking students are elective bilinguals, meaning they join a DLBE program and choose to learn another language like Spanish, positioning themselves purposely in a setting to become bilingual. Unlike circumstantial bilinguals, elective bilinguals do not need another language to thrive or survive in places where English is already the norm.

International students who come to the United States to learn English are also elective bilinguals (Valdés & Figueroa, 1994). Their capacity for choice – as opposed to political condition or necessity – is a powerful privilege (Flores & García. 2017). In these ways, recognizing differences in bilingual identities and pathways is an important first step for shedding light on inequities impacting emergent bilinguals and every student’s potential to learn and grow bilingually in DLBE and beyond.

Prejudice and Discrimination in DLBE

Issues of segregation, racism, and discrimination have persisted in DLBE. Pimental’s (2011) research in a DLBE program found that the school’s configuration segregated emergent bilinguals inside mobile classrooms apart from the main area of the building. This left them with limited access to areas such as the school library and playground. Palmer’s (2007) research in a different DLBE program revealed staff’s racism towards students of color. This  included beliefs that Black students acted poorly and racialized Spanish speakers struggled to learn because of their perceived linguistic disadvantages. Meanwhile, staff believed white students behaved well and achieved academic success. In the same study, the researcher documented how the two-way immersion classrooms was comprised of 45% white students. Yet, Black students comprised 43% of English-only classrooms in the same school, highlighting an insidious assumption that Black children benefit less from bilingual education compared to white ones.

Negative assumptions around emergent bilinguals in DLBE have promoted deficit-based thinking about their identities and ways of being. According to Valdés (2018), “ideologies of language have been defined as unexamined ideas and beliefs that shape people’s thinking about language itself and about those who use language” (p. 396). My research interviewing DLBE staff revealed beliefs that emergent bilinguals’ home languages were low and that their language practices were not educated, broken and not very academic. Not only are these beliefs misguided and wrong, but they are also rooted in a long history of racial and linguistic prejudice.

Moving Forward: Anti-Oppression in DLBE

Given these challenges, how should DLBE stakeholders move forward? Most reforms in bilingual education have largely focused on fixing students and their perceived linguistic, cultural, and racial deficiencies. However, scholars like Flores and Chaparro (2018) have called on policymakers to help fix societal barriers instead of trying to fix children and families who are not broken in the first place. These barriers include racism, segregation, income inequality, gentrification, health care disparities and more. In this way, DLBE programs must prioritize emergent bilinguals from working-class backgrounds over middle- and upper-class white children and families who already possess many privileges. Programs should also create inclusive environments for Black and Indigenous students whose language practices and identities remain on the periphery of society compared to colonial ones like English and Spanish.

Policymakers and administrators in DLBE must promote awareness of linguistic and racial discrimination within program policies and practices. They can foster critical conversations and actions among staff during meetings and professional development to help dismantle oppression and carry out justice. In turn, teachers can reflect on their belief systems and practices to better ensure equity and justice for marginalized groups, including emergent bilinguals.

In summary, DLBE programs and stakeholders must come together to prioritize marginalized students and families first and affirm a commitment that every child deserves to grow bilingually regardless of background.

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-U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2021)

Teachers today have many objectives. They are required to focus on effective teaching, fidelity of curriculum implementation, administering assessments, creating classroom management systems, becoming content experts and practicing pedagogical skills.

However, an essential skill for today’s responsive teacher is knowing how to honor and collaborate with students’ families. Over 50 years of research has shown that strong family engagement in schools is an indicator of effective schools and teachers. “This research confirms that family engagement is one of the most powerful predictors of students’ development, educational attainment and success in school and life.” (Global Family Research Project, 2018)

What are Engaging Families?

To discuss family engagement, we must first define these terms. For decades, schools worked with parents. Today’s paradigm is families. Students today are surrounded and supported by a variety of family structures (e.g., single moms/dads, blended families, foster families, two moms or two dads, grand families, etc.). These structures may or may not include the student’s parent(s). Currently defined, a family might be a group of one or more parents and children, not defined by blood or yet living together. Others might say family is having a relationship with a group that is safe and supportive, with no mention of living arrangements. These broad definitions represent and honor the diverse families of today’s students.

For decades, schools worked to get volunteers involved in classrooms or at school-based events. Involvement implies “doing to” and joining in under the supervision of the teacher or administration. Today’s goal is to engage families. Engagement implies “doing with”. Engagement honors families and their abilities to become the creators of information, the facilitators of knowledge and the designers of activities. Making the shift from parent involvement to family engagement means altering ways of knowing and doing.

Why Is Engaging Families Important?

Family engagement yields many benefits for stakeholders. When families are engaged students earn higher grades, are less likely to be retained in a grade and schools are more apt to have an accurate diagnosis for educational services. When families are engaged students attend school regularly, have better social skills, have fewer negative behavior reports and are more likely to graduate and go on to postsecondary education. Engaged families tend to have more positive attitudes towards schools/teachers, gain a better understanding of their child’s skills and development and experience an increase in their own skills and autonomy related to the educational experiences. Engaged families may even take on leadership roles in the schools.

The benefits to schools include better performance on high stakes testing, more likely to achieve standards and accountability requirements, greater likelihood of having school bond issues approved and involvement in grant-writing initiatives (Grant and Ray, 2024). According to Mapp and Bergman (2021) schools with engaged families more effectively navigated remote learning and school closures during the COVID 19 pandemic. To maximize the impact of family engagement we must acknowledge and attempt to minimize existing barriers.

Barriers to Engaging Families

For families, time is a huge obstacle and can make engagement difficult. Limiting the hours of an event to the traditional school day make it impossible for some families to attend. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (2004) also captures the “ghosts in the classroom” that exist for some family members. These “ghosts” are personal, negative school experiences which make going back into schools and engaging in activities less than desirable. Across the country, school policies and procedures supporting engagement often reflect the dominant culture’s Eurocentric middle-class values creating uncertainty or unwelcoming feelings for some families. For example, including meals may eliminate a family’s participation when their culture or religion does not allow them to eat certain foods; holiday celebrations of the dominant culture may not coincide with a family’s beliefs or religion thus prohibiting them from attending. Some cultures also believe it is the responsibility of the teacher to educate. While the family’s responsibility is to rear the child at home thus limiting their presence or engagement.

For schools, one long standing barrier to engaging families is an administration that does not prioritize engagement or possesses a “deficit-based view” of families. The deficit perspective includes believing that families are not able to do, do not know, or do not care about their child’s education (Mapp & Bergman, 2021). School personnel’s lack of trust or respect for families’ choices also creates negative attitudes (Adams & Christenson, 2000). It is also noted that middle-class teachers tend to view low-income families negatively as far as valuing the family’s contributions or child-rearing practices (Arce, 2019; Edwards & Young 1990). Some teachers also fear families will judge their teaching abilities if they are present in the classroom. And for some, the teacher’s mounting responsibilities makes finding time to engage families a low priority.

Communication

Communication is a barrier that exists for both schools and families. The diversity of languages and delivery modes present in society offer both obstacles and opportunities for communicating and building relationships today. Some school districts are serving as many as 90 different languages. Although this presents challenges when communicating, it also presents rich opportunities to learn about the cultures and traditions.

Security Barriers

Albeit necessary, today physical barriers are present on campuses and in school buildings. Locked doors and the expectation family members present specific identification (e.g., state identification or driver’s license), criminal background checks or evidence of vaccinations lessens the number of families coming into schools. Additional school procedures may limit the number of family members (e.g., only one family member), or the ages of family members (e.g., no younger siblings) attending events.

Working Through Barriers

Recognizing these barriers exist and bringing all stakeholders together with the goal of creating inclusive, responsive learning environments are the first steps to fostering a culture of family engagement. Prioritizing families and looking beyond the walls of the school to seek cultural brokers (Lightfoot, 2004) within the community helps cultivate understanding among stakeholders. Developing an opportunity versus obstacle perspective will help generate new ways of knowing and doing. Providing professional development, adding resources and roles to fortify relationships among stakeholders and ultimately greater family engagement will generate more positive outcomes for students and support the development of a community where everyone is learning. Working with students’ families is not an option. Research has confirmed that “educators need to know how to work with families and communities”. These competencies are required every day of every year of every teacher’s professional career (Epstein et al., 1999, p.29).

Get Involved

At Elmhurst University students majoring in early childhood education take a semester long course centered on working with families. Other education majors take this course as an elective. If you would like to learn more about the Education Department at Elmhurst University, please fill out the form below.

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The current wave of legislation is asking us to return to a core of instruction based in phonics and phonological awareness and teaching students to sound out words as opposed to the use of a balanced literacy approach and its emphasis on word walls, leveled books, guided reading groups and encouraging children to guess what a word might be using cues rather than decoding it precisely. The reading instruction should focus on a systematic teaching of phonics, understanding essential vocabulary, and the comprehension of content knowledge such as non-fiction texts in science and social studies. The emphasis is on the child being able to connect sounds to letters, decode which letters make which sounds in that specific word order, blend the sounds together smoothly, and then step back and see the word as a whole.

The science of reading debate is focused on how we should teach children to read and whether teachers have the knowledge and skills to help children who struggle with reading; however, the debate also creates a false binary and pits phonics instruction against whole language instruction (Yaden, Reinking, & Smagorinsky, 2021). It argues that reading instruction should be explicit, repetitive, and systematic since the act of reading is how we access information in our society and thus has a lasting impact on a child’s life.

What is the Science of Reading?

The “science” part of the debate is based on the current surge in cognitive science and neuroscience research. This research focuses on showing us what is happening in our brain as we try to read and how all of us undergo the same processes as we read. The one exception to this is for those who have dyslexia, for example, which can cause difficulties (Dehaene, 2009). The science of reading legislation is also being pushed forward by political activists. These include the parents of children diagnosed with dyslexia as well as disenfranchised communities in which mostly Black and Latinx students are leaving school with low levels of literacy (Shanahan, 2020).

Bilingual education advocates also fear that the science of reading platform is pushing for more direct instruction of the English language as opposed to teaching a child to read first in their home language. English is also an opaque language in which there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. Because of this, we have words like “freight” with seven letters and four sounds. In contrast, languages like Italian and Spanish have transparency so that each letter makes a distinct sound. A word with four letters will have four sounds such as “mano” (hand) in Spanish (Share, 2021). Yet, researchers continue to reinforce the idea that 80% of children who fail to read by the third grade never really catch up. They continue to fail and drop out of school as the reading texts become more complex (Miles & Stipek, 2006).

All of these issues are pushing us to ask how well reading is taught in schools and how schools of education are preparing future educators to teach reading with struggling students. Meanwhile, states are also trying to develop literacy plans and literacy frameworks to guide school districts on best practices and create a universal approach toward curriculum and instruction.

Instructional Reading Strategies

From a research-based lens, it is challenging to determine what methods of instruction are best when teaching a child to read. One has to consider so many variables, such as the child’s individual traits (levels of literacy at home, multiple languages, learning disabilities such as memory, spatial and visual reasoning, metalinguistic awareness, motivation and confidence in reading) as well the pedagogy of the classroom (basal readers, scripted curriculum, book choices, phonics and phonemic awareness primers) and the teacher’s own background and expertise (levels of education, years of experience, professional development). We do know that a singular approach to reading instruction does not catch all the different types of reading styles and student backgrounds; rather, a multi-prong approach can start the day with phonics, phonemic awareness and phonological awareness; move toward reading high-quality books aloud to students and posing critical thinking questions after the reading; small-group work at tables for students to learn specific interventions that can help them become fluent readers as well as better comprehend various texts; and integrate writing in purposeful ways so students connect what they are reading with a written response as well as see themselves as writers of fiction, poetry and non-fiction.

Teaching all children in the classroom to read is quite complex and the curriculum should reflect that degree of complexity. At the same time, research studies are often plagued with “overgeneralization, misinterpretation, or premature application of basic research” that can make it challenging to find one form of instruction that works for all children, especially when earlier studies are overturned by new studies since it is hard to compare different groups of teachers, students and classrooms across these studies (Shanahan, 2020).

Reading Research

As a former classroom teacher and literacy specialist, I had a folder for each student profile in which I assessed students and determined where they were in their reading ability. This assessment included items such as their fluency rates and how many words they could read per minute, decoding skills and learning to sound out unknown words, the comprehension of what they just read and the ability to answer questions from the text, vocabulary knowledge both from the text and outside of the text and the writing response to what they were reading. Suffice to say it was an overwhelming amount of data! Some students did decode words letter by letter and from left to right while others could look at the whole word and sound it out correctly without the rote decoding skill. At the same time, we do have a strong body of research that points to the fact that students who struggle with reading often need more systematic instruction on decoding and learning how to pronounce unknown words as well as master common, high frequency words that do not look like what they sound (Duke & Cartwright, 2019). There is also research that focuses on eyesight and decoding and the importance of tracking text with coordination between visual, cognitive and oral processes that interact when reading. Research also shows that students who struggle with reading have less efficient eye movement and need to be trained on how to track text (Murphy, 2017).

Reading Assessments

Assessment also needs to be discussed in the science of reading debate and how often we assess an individual student reading aloud to us. As a professor of education, I provide professional development on conducting “running records” of children reading aloud at least 100 words, examining how often they are making errors and what kind, whether they are learning to self-correct based on the context of the reading exercise, and how well they were able to comprehend what they just read through questions at the end (Chall, 1996).

We should assess multilingual children in their native languages as well as English to determine whether there is a language difference and whether their reading ability varies from one language to another. Based on the errors a child makes when reading (i.e., replacing the word “butcher” with “grocer” because they have similar meanings), an instructional reading coach can work with individual students and small groups of students to get them to use specific strategies, interventions and methods to self-correct and/or to use cognitive devices to help them remember what they just read such as stopping after each page and drawing its meaning. Children who struggle to read benefit from one-on-one tutoring with a skilled instructional coach who can help provide individualized interventions such as enhancing visual perception (i.e., Does that say “butcher” or “grocer? Can you go back and see what sound that word starts with?) and visuomotor processing (i.e., That is a letter /b/ and do you know what sound that letter makes at the start of a word like “ball”?).

In the end, a classroom teacher needs to identify the type of reader a student is and how they learn to read best, whether it is through a visual method or an auditory method and what modality works better—this task can be daunting when the class size is large and this approach cannot be the sole driver in determining the reading curriculum and instruction (Rogowsky, Calhoun, & Tallal, 2020).

How to Move Forward

What the science of reading debate is failing to acknowledge is the digital literacy of Generation Z and the younger generations to come who are fixated with their phones, iPads and computers and are challenged to sustain reading stamina with a printed book in their hand. The focus should perhaps be instead on how to motivate students who can read to sustain their interest and eventually confidence in reading, as well as how to support the smaller percentage of students who need systematic instruction in phonics and decoding. The research also leaves out secondary students in high school who struggle to read and what type of curriculum and instruction is developmentally appropriate since many decoding programs target young children. In the end, we do know that children need to learn to read by the third grade as well as read to learn in our information society which requires us to decode words but also to think critically about what we just read.

Be Part of the Solution

Elmhurst University has several graduate-level programs in Education. These master’s and endorsement programs are aimed at helping teachers increase their leadership skills and take the next step in a career in education.

Want to learn more? Request more information about Elmhurst University below.

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An instructional coach acts as a mentor, working with teachers to improve their effectiveness so they can raise the achievement level of their students. They leverage their classroom experience along with their textbook knowledge to pass on guidance to the next generation of teachers.

What Does an Instructional Coach Do?

The main goal of an instructional coach is to enhance the quality of teachers’ lessons and practices in ways that lead to improved student achievement. Instructional coaches guide teachers to greater effectiveness through a variety of methods, including:

• Observing and evaluating instructional methods and materials
• Developing and implementing teaching strategies and curriculum
• Modeling teaching techniques
• Motivating and encouraging teachers
• Providing feedback
• Monitoring student achievement
• Providing teacher training and development sessions

An instructional coach learns to think on their feet and rely on their creativity as they adapt their coaching methods to specific teachers and situations. They will collaborate with students, teachers, and administrators to identify problems and find solutions. They will also keep abreast of current and best practices in teaching by regularly participating in professional development activities and learning opportunities. Schools are increasingly turning to instructional coaches to improve teacher effectiveness and student success.

Research shows that instructional coaching influences the practices of teachers through relationship building, self-reflection and goal setting, data analysis and progress monitoring, and individualized professional development and professional learning (Frazier, 2019). As a result, demand is growing for instructional coaches, especially as we come out of the pandemic when schools are focused on closing the academic gaps due to years of student learning loss. At the same time, teachers need professional learning that supports accountability demands from the pandemic and empowers them to be active participants in their own learning and growth (Puntin, 2023). The intentional use of instructional coaching with novice teachers has been shown to increase self-efficacy and the differentiation of instructional coaching with veteran teachers has shown to increase the value of the coaching process for this subgroup (Walsh, Ginger & Akhavan, 2020).

Skills Necessary for Instructional Coaches

Instructional coaches must earn a teacher’s trust in order to create an environment in which positive change can take place. To succeed, they need a strong set of skills, including:

• Interpersonal and communication
• Analytical and technological
• Decision-making
• Leadership
• Goal setting
• Time management

Instructional coaches work cooperatively with teachers and administrators to develop teaching strategies, lesson plans, and opportunities for co-teaching. They might also model strategies and lessons, giving teachers the opportunity to see how the new approaches can be implemented. They will reflect on the effectiveness of their instruction, as well as on the teachers’ responses to their recommendations, and be creative in making adjustments when necessary.

A commitment to lifelong learning is essential to successful coaching. Both mentor and mentee will benefit from the knowledge of best practices, current research, technological advancements, and curriculum design. Furthermore, The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 7% growth in the instructional coaching profession through 2031 and has calculated the median salary to be $63,740.

Requirements to Become an Instructional Coach

The best first step you can take toward becoming an instructional coach is to earn a master’s degree. In most states and schools a master’s degree in education, curriculum and instruction, or leadership is required for you to be employed as an instructional coach.

A master’s degree in leadership provides you in-depth knowledge of curriculum, best practices, teaching strategies, and coaching techniques, as well as a set of skills that will serve you throughout your career.

Typical requirements for entering a master’s degree in leadership program include:

• Bachelor’s degree in education or a related field
• Several years of teaching experience in a PK-12 setting
• Knowledge of practices in instruction, curriculum development, and assessment

Some states and schools require an instructional coach to hold a teaching or education administrator license. It is important to review your state’s requirements as you begin your journey to becoming an instructional coach.

Exploring Your Leadership Potential

At Elmhurst University, the Master of Education in Teacher Leadership (MTL) degree and the Teacher Leader Endorsement (TLE) program prepare you to become an instructional coach and leader who encourages high achievement from teachers and their students.

Students in the MTL degree program complete twelve courses in assessment, collaboration, school culture, professional development, leadership, advocacy, and research. The M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program is designed for licensed teachers who want to move into leadership roles such as:

• Instructional coach
• Curriculum specialist
• Mentor teacher
• Department chair or team leader
• Content specialist

For students who have already earned a master’s degree, Elmhurst’s Teacher Leader Endorsement program can be applied to their license and open up new opportunities, including instructional coaching. Teachers without a master’s degree can complete the Teacher Leader Endorsement while completing the MTL.

Improve Educational Outcomes as an Instructional Coach

As an instructional coach with a master’s degree, you will be a sought-after leader and agent of change in the educational arena. You’ll be working with individual teachers and impacting the achievement level of multiple students.

Take the first step to becoming an instructional coach by requesting information about Elmhurst University below.

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Just like back-to-school activities, end-of-school activities are seasonal and nostalgic for families, students and educators. These rites are perennial, like tulips peeking out from the soil in our yards and gardens.

And yet, amid all the rituals, amid all the thinking about what we’re doing, we teachers often forget to stop and think about how we’re doing. We must center our wellness and strive for the elusive work-life balance.

This is especially important in light of the burnout many teachers have continued to experience since the dual pandemics of the COVID-19 virus and racial/social injustice took a toll on their mental health.

Teaching is a caring profession, and every interaction with a student, colleague or family requires energy. By the end of the day or work week, we may feel drained and exhausted. Near the end of the school year many experience burnout.

So, as most of us approach the end of our school year, here is a checklist for teachers to remember as they continue to engage in the important task of educating the next generation.

Activate the Senses for Teacher Mental Health and Well-Being

Do not wait to get overwhelmed with grading, parent-teacher conferences and administrative demands. Activate your senses now to head off the impact of work-related stress. Here are some  tips to keep self-care at the center of your professional practice while teaching and caring for others.

Use the “Big Five” — touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. Choose one or more of these senses daily as areas to remember your well-being and mental health.

1. Touch: Give a big hug to someone you love or care deeply for. A recent study cited in the magazine Psychology Today (November/December 2022) reported on the benefits of hugs. The study found that hugging provided a mood boost for some groups of people, affected the well-being of certain demographic groups — and that people who hugged had a more positive mood.
2. Hearing: Develop a trusting support group inside and outside the school setting. Talk about your feelings, doubts, concerns and stressors with others in the field who understand the demands of the profession. Colleagues inside the school setting may have shared experiences and advice that can ease the burden of stress. Family and friend groups outside of the school setting may also provide support. Talking and receiving support can make you feel better. Finally, listen to music or sounds that bring your joy.
3. Sight: Visit a museum, art gallery, play, dance recital or movie to view something aesthetically pleasing. The visual and performing arts open our hearts and minds to creative expression in a way that activates all our senses through sight. Embellish your workspace with pictures, drawings and paintings that bring about a feeling of joy. Get outside and view the natural world around you. Visit a park, forest preserve, lake or natural setting. Spending time in nature has proven to support mental well-being for some.
4. Smell: The sense of smell activates regions of the human brain. Use aromatherapy in your workspace to create an environment pleasing to smell. Keep small vials of essential oils near your desk and take a whiff from time to time when feeling stress. Essential oils like lavender and peppermint oil have been found to reduce the symptoms of migraines and headaches. If possible, use a small diffuser in your workspace.
5. Taste: Be careful not to overdo this one! Whether you like the sweet taste of chocolate, or the smooth buttery taste of mashed potatoes, our sense of taste brings about a sense of well-being. Have your favorite meal or snack.

My Open Letter to Teachers

Many of us returned to our classrooms, offices and students after a year of isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. The social/emotional impact this had on us and our students was longstanding and unpredictable. You became the front-line workers during and after the pandemic. From retirees and those leaving the profession nationwide, our ranks of teachers are down by approximately 300,000.

Let us not forget ourselves in the process of educating a nation. In the midst of emails, upset and sometimes screaming parents, syllabus-writing, room changes, roster changes, supply lists, meetings and general lack of respect for the profession, let us not forget: Without the profession of teaching, no other profession is possible. Only a few are called to do this important work, and you have been chosen to stand for children and young adults.

Be of good cheer and encouraged by the words of the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman: “If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much.”

The post 5 Things to Put on your Teacher Mental Health Checklist appeared first on Elmhurst University.

Once I discovered picture books written about math concepts, I was excited to blend my two passions. I began collecting books about math concepts covered in the elementary grades (such as geometry, place value, fractions and the four operations). And I made sure that my classroom library always included a section with content area picture books to supplement my lessons.

What happened when I mixed books and math? I started seeing students make gains and enjoy math.

All children have subject areas in which they excel, as well as areas of interest. When teachers demonstrate how math can be used in real-world situations, children discover how math can connect to other subject areas. In turn, children become motivated to learn more about those math concepts. Teachers will find that integrating math into other content areas can enhance elementary students’ understanding of math concepts.

How Other Content Areas Boost Math Education

I taught first and second grade for 12 years before I accepted a full-time faculty position at Elmhurst University in 2005. I was hired to teach math methods to teacher candidates in the early childhood and elementary education licensure programs. I brought children’s literature and other resources for integrating math into other content areas.

As I worked with teacher candidates, I quickly realized many were anxious about teaching math concepts to children. As we began unpacking the Common Core Standards, the candidates’ anxiety increased as they were learning methods and strategies with which they were unfamiliar. I then wrote a book about using children’s literature to teach problem-solving with the Common Core Content and Mathematical Practice Standards.

I knew that in order for the teacher candidates to be successful teaching math, they had to find their passion in the subject, as I had done as an elementary teacher. I asked the candidates to name their strongest content area, then I would spend the semester helping them find ways to incorporate math into those areas. They learned that math can be integrated into science, social studies, literacy and the arts.

Math and Science

Integrating math into science is a natural place to start since they are both STEM areas. Students become accustomed to measuring, graphing and counting as they engage in the exploration of science concepts throughout elementary school.

Teachers can be more explicit about helping students see the connection between math and science by conducting a math mini-lesson about measuring with metric tools, for example, before students use meter sticks. Children can graph the results of data gathered in science experiments and then analyze their results to discover patterns.

Math and Social Studies

Math is easy to link to economics, but it can be connected to history, civics, and geography as well.

When holidays, birthdays or other special events occur during the school year, challenge students to find patterns to predict when those dates will fall on the same day of the week again. During election season, students can create surveys and ballots, then build systems to determine the “winners” based on the choices made by their classmates.

Students can find their favorite place to visit and use maps (virtual or paper) to calculate the distance from their home to their destination.

And of course, students can find math in their study of economics, such as learning how banks, loans, interest rates, taxes, and national debt affect our everyday lives.

Math and Literacy

In addition to the use of literature books, literacy skills such as writing and learning vocabulary terms can be connected to math concepts.

Students can write word problems, poems about math topics, explanations of how they found their answers, and journal entries reflecting on their feelings about math in general. They should also be able to explain vocabulary terms associated with the concepts they are learning, so they can create a math word wall, play bingo games (with the words on boards and definitions read aloud) and matching games (word and example).

And here some ways to engage preschoolers in mathematics.

Math and the Arts (and P.E.)

Math can also be integrated into art, music and physical education. Check out these websites for ideas. Your students will be excited to discover mathematics in all areas of their school day!

• Math + Art
• Math + Music
• Math + Physical Education

Become a Teacher Leader at Elmhurst University

Keep up to date with the latest teaching practices while earning a master’s degree at Elmhurst University. Our M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program is designed to make you a more effective teacher—the kind others turn to for solutions.

Learn more today. Just fill in the form below!

The post Integrating Math Education with Other Subjects Adds Up to Stronger Lessons appeared first on Elmhurst University.

Last Thanksgiving and this upcoming one have been enveloped by the unknown—with just-out-of-reach plans for a “back-to-normal” Thanksgiving filled with friends and family in large, indoor group gatherings, without the worry of a pandemic virus. Forgotten in our rush to “return to normal” are the reasons we have these celebrations in the first place. Thanksgiving is a celebration of the harvest and of blessings throughout the year. Key among these thanks should be all the people who selflessly served throughout the pandemic.

That is why this blog is about “How to Thank a Teacher,” especially as these educators navigate a third school year impacted by COVID-19.

In the spring of 2020, teachers were called on to quickly change to online learning and connect with students in an emergency situation. In the 2020-2021 school year, teachers had to navigate myriad changing health guidelines and school schedules. Everyone was hoping this year would be more consistent, but the Delta variant’s higher transmissibility and the return to school put many children and adolescents at the center of the pandemic storm.

Schools, depending on their geographic location, have fared better this year. Teachers are exhausted, while remaining hopeful. Teaching is a profession with intense emotional labor. Emotional labor is common in many professions where the job requires constant care of the needs of others and the expectation of keeping a lot of people happy. This emotional labor often results in hiding personal emotions and experiencing high levels of stress and burnout.

Not surprisingly, the stress from emotional labor during the pandemic brought many teachers to a breaking point.

We need to thank teachers because they are helping our children and youth navigate the pandemic. Being back in school also is helping our society, especially parents, find a path forward.

Meanwhile, teachers have stayed front and center in the pandemic. Although there have been media reports of teachers thinking about leaving the profession—as well as new teachers reconsidering entering it—a pandemic exit has not happened.

Thank a teacher for caring to show up. Before the pandemic began, there was already a teacher shortage, a large group of baby boom teachers were nearing retirement, and schools were having difficulty retaining teachers.

Teachers who are teaching through the pandemic remind us how teaching is a caring profession that puts students first. Teachers know how important it is for students to be back in school for academic and social emotional reasons. And they have shown us this through their actions.

Therefore, this holiday season, consider three important actions you could easily take in thanking the teachers in your lives.

Thank Them with Kindness

Ask any teacher what was the most meaningful “gift” they’ve ever received and it will probably be a “thank you.” It might be a letter or email from a family member telling them how much of a difference the teacher made in a child’s learning, or a handwritten note from a student. Some of us cherish these keepsakes for decades. They are tucked inside our desks and books, pulled out and read whenever we need to renew our dedication.

Kindness comes in many forms—a smile, a heartfelt “thank you,” or a written note, email, or text. Quotes about kindness are everywhere, but the act of kindness requires an interaction. Kindness is powerful in the smallest doses. A brief mention of appreciation during a school interaction or a quick note attached to homework can be powerful acts of kindness.

And kindness should not be random. Let it be consistent and heartfelt. Give a teacher a year of kindness by making the commitment to regularly interacting with kindness to all the teachers in your life.

Thank Them with Patience

Patience is another way to thank a teacher. Teachers have incredibly busy days with little time to take a minute for themselves. From the moment they walk in the school door until they exit, teachers are “on.” Expectations that they can immediately return messages or readily add another “to do” to their lists are not only unrealistic, but they can be unkind.

Patience is a key emotional skill in teaching. When teachers are patient, they make better-informed decisions and respond with more calmness and empathy. Patience helps teachers sustain emotional well-being throughout the ever-challenging and unpredictable school day. When teachers receive patience from others, they can provide a more positive learning experience for students.

Thanking a teacher with patience means interacting in ways that assume the best—accepting that mistakes are common—especially amid pandemic-driven conditions in P-12 classrooms.

To thank a teacher with patience is to carefully think about requests, especially last-minute ones, without jumping to conclusions. Consider showing patience by asking questions instead of making requests, and by not demanding immediate responses. When there is a problem at school, avoid making assumptions, get all the facts, and consider alternate pathways for solving the problem. Patience is a gift that keeps on giving.

Thank Them with Respect

Thanking a teacher with respect, in addition to acts of kindness and patience, expands appreciation to the entire profession.

Respecting teaching means advocating for and supporting better working conditions and professional growth for educators. Teaching in many parts of the world, and especially in the United States, is not a highly respected profession. As a recent report found, “most people underestimate how many hours teachers work, and how much they’re paid.” If this workload was underestimated prior to the pandemic, it is inestimable in today’s climate.

How are teachers shown respect? They are given choice and voice in their teaching and professional decisions. In the spring of 2020, several authors speculated that the rapid move to online learning would promote an increased appreciation of teachers. However, a true show of respect for teachers would be to include them in the high-level decisions being made that impact their students’ learning, their teaching, and their professional growth.

Thanking a teacher by showing respect is complex and requires commitment. Respect means showing teachers that their knowledge and skills are valued. Respect can be shown through interactions in which teachers or teaching are discussed, in advocacy for teachers’ salaries and benefits, and making sure that teachers have the professional development and resources they need.

Respecting a teacher is more than appreciation, it is valuing their time and professional expertise. Teachers feel respected when they are listened to, when they are asked for their professional advice and it is followed, and when they can use their professional expertise to make a difference.

Today’s educators are experiencing huge upheavals in their profession. Everything has changed, from physical classroom spaces and school routines to the selection of instructional content, schedules, and available resources.

But they are hopeful, as shown in their staying power.

So, between now and the end of the school year (not just during the holidays), consider thanking a teacher by adopting three simple goals and acting on them whenever possible:

• Be intentionally kind in person or in writing, and involve your child and other families, as well as the larger community, in these acts of kindness.
• Be patient and show understanding of the complexity and time demands of teaching. Give grace.
• Advocate for teachers in ways that honor their professional knowledge and skills as being among the most important in our society. Counter the anti-educator talk by asking questions and elevating teachers so they can do their best work every day with our students.

Become a Teacher Leader at Elmhurst University

Keep up to date with the latest teaching practices while earning a master’s degree at Elmhurst University. Our M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program is designed to make you a more effective teacher—the kind others turn to for solutions.

Learn more today. Just fill in the form below!

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