True classroom culture cannot be engineered on a spreadsheet.
The first thing students see when they enter my classroom is an Alex Ross poster of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern. Green Lanterns are everywhere, reminders of the “WILL” power we find when we need to persevere. Add my faith, my inner nerd, the ongoing DC/Marvel debate (Simonsen's Thor and early Dr. Strange helped my youngest learn to read; they are also represented within my Sanctum Sanctorum), and allegiances to the Lakers, Dodgers, and assorted World Cup teams, and the room develops its own wonderfully ridiculous mythology.
But none of that becomes culture merely because I put it on the walls. Culture develops when there is enough trust, safety, and mutual respect for students and teacher alike to remove their armor, remove their power rings, and embrace the crazy together.
Your tiny figurines reminded me that the glorious nonsense is not a distraction from classroom culture. It may be the clearest evidence that genuine culture exists.
Good article. I have a feeling we would get along.
Fellow comic nerd! (I was ½ of Newsarama back in the day, if that means anything…). I’ve got Back to the Future, Riri Williams (from the comics), Miles, Rogue One, all the fake magazine covers from Marvel movies framed, and (mail permitting) a Project Hail Mary poster. Oh - and the 6’ cardboard standee of Alex’s Captain America.
My classroom is an extension of me. It’s my home, and it’s authentic. My kids see that, and I think it helps a lot of them to feel safe when they come in.
As I tell all my baby teachers (or at least the ones they allow near me) - make the job fit you. We’re stuffed to the gills with people who’ve fit themselves into the job.
Two quick stories: I have an uninterrupted run of Green Lanterns (including offshoots: Mosaic, GL Corps, etc.) from 1967 through 2014 (Last time I went to Comic-Con I got Scott Snyder and Neal Adams to sign a couple of books). My boys lost interest so I went back to baseball cards. In the long run, it was cheaper and Geoff Johns went on to other things...Can't Wait for Lanterns in a couple of weeks.
Re: Thor and Dr. Strange. We were reading some early stories (the ones in the back of Fantastic Four...that early) and my boy's kindergarten teacher calls me to recount the following conversation:
Elias: Mrs. M, did you know I was your disciple?
Mrs. M: Yes, Eli, that's right, you are my disciple.
Elias: Just thought I'd let you know. I won't disparage you any more.
Score one for Dr. Strange and the avuncular relationship between him and the Ancient One. She said, "I don't know what you're reading at home, but keep it up!"
Those books were written at or near late high school/college.
I could totally see us nerding out in hallways or running a club...
This was a delight to read. I have a essay brewing in my head about floating pens, not the same as plastic Jesus'....but your story has encouraged me to write that one next!
Some were, but there were a bunch of sophomores. A couple had me last fall for chem and then in spring for physics, and I had two who had me first period for physics and then second for chem.
And now some are threatening to come back for AP Physics.
Teacher here with the funny last name again…you are spot on that it takes time to “grow a teacher”! This kind of creativity and openness does not come immediately.
It. Takes. Time!
It takes trial and error.
It takes a willingness to be open to what your students are thinking and what they believe.
It takes an administrator open to this kind of learning experience.
I see fewer and fewer of teachers like you. The institution of canned lesson plans does not allow for this kind of creativity.
Thanks for the super-kind words, my probably cousin somehow….
I’ve had so many conversations with new and incoming teachers over the years that have ended in quiet tears as I go over my materials and talk about how I do my thing in my room. My wife and I used to do presentations about using pop culture in STEM classrooms, and in both cases, the reactions we saw were coming from the same place - we were giving teachers permission to be themselves. I guess no one teaches that in any prep program, and it certainly gets beaten out of you in the trenches.
I just think we need more people in teaching who let people know that YOU don’t make yourself fit the job; you make the job fit YOU.
This reflection is brilliant and I thank you for sharing it! Happy Birthday! Safe Travels! And keep this up - you make too much sense in a profession that’s largely become unrecognizable!
This is another solid case for experience being the BEST teacher. I loved reading this whole article and just enjoying every piece of this classroom culture that you built (allowed?, curated?) "This class was infected by authenticity, creativity, trust, inside jokes, and shared stories. My room was filled with students feeling safe enough to be themselves." The posters, the puns, the inside jokes....it all takes on a life of its own, and how fun it is to have that with the students! Thanks again for sharing your work and experience as a teacher....a breath of fresh air, and if we can get real cool with a bunch of stuff real quickly, there is so much treasure out there in the kids. Glad you found it.
Thanks for the kind words! I really enjoyed telling the story to friends initially, but as I realized, this was something that went deeper than “my kids did a funny thing.”
And you’re right - this is an experience thing, in a field where we’re being told that experience isn’t valued.
In this field, the experience in the classroom is the MOST valuable thing. You created so much engagement and meaning for those students. How fortunate they are to have you as their teacher.
True classroom culture cannot be engineered on a spreadsheet.
The first thing students see when they enter my classroom is an Alex Ross poster of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern. Green Lanterns are everywhere, reminders of the “WILL” power we find when we need to persevere. Add my faith, my inner nerd, the ongoing DC/Marvel debate (Simonsen's Thor and early Dr. Strange helped my youngest learn to read; they are also represented within my Sanctum Sanctorum), and allegiances to the Lakers, Dodgers, and assorted World Cup teams, and the room develops its own wonderfully ridiculous mythology.
But none of that becomes culture merely because I put it on the walls. Culture develops when there is enough trust, safety, and mutual respect for students and teacher alike to remove their armor, remove their power rings, and embrace the crazy together.
Your tiny figurines reminded me that the glorious nonsense is not a distraction from classroom culture. It may be the clearest evidence that genuine culture exists.
Good article. I have a feeling we would get along.
Fellow comic nerd! (I was ½ of Newsarama back in the day, if that means anything…). I’ve got Back to the Future, Riri Williams (from the comics), Miles, Rogue One, all the fake magazine covers from Marvel movies framed, and (mail permitting) a Project Hail Mary poster. Oh - and the 6’ cardboard standee of Alex’s Captain America.
My classroom is an extension of me. It’s my home, and it’s authentic. My kids see that, and I think it helps a lot of them to feel safe when they come in.
As I tell all my baby teachers (or at least the ones they allow near me) - make the job fit you. We’re stuffed to the gills with people who’ve fit themselves into the job.
And yeah, we’d be BFFs
Two quick stories: I have an uninterrupted run of Green Lanterns (including offshoots: Mosaic, GL Corps, etc.) from 1967 through 2014 (Last time I went to Comic-Con I got Scott Snyder and Neal Adams to sign a couple of books). My boys lost interest so I went back to baseball cards. In the long run, it was cheaper and Geoff Johns went on to other things...Can't Wait for Lanterns in a couple of weeks.
Re: Thor and Dr. Strange. We were reading some early stories (the ones in the back of Fantastic Four...that early) and my boy's kindergarten teacher calls me to recount the following conversation:
Elias: Mrs. M, did you know I was your disciple?
Mrs. M: Yes, Eli, that's right, you are my disciple.
Elias: Just thought I'd let you know. I won't disparage you any more.
Score one for Dr. Strange and the avuncular relationship between him and the Ancient One. She said, "I don't know what you're reading at home, but keep it up!"
Those books were written at or near late high school/college.
I could totally see us nerding out in hallways or running a club...
This was a delight to read. I have a essay brewing in my head about floating pens, not the same as plastic Jesus'....but your story has encouraged me to write that one next!
Awesome! Can’t wait to read it!
I loved this story. I'm wondering if these were juniors. The 8th graders I loved a few years ago were just juniors and they had such a good vibe.
Some were, but there were a bunch of sophomores. A couple had me last fall for chem and then in spring for physics, and I had two who had me first period for physics and then second for chem.
And now some are threatening to come back for AP Physics.
Haha! Threatening! It’s so helpful having students again in the classroom though.
Teacher here with the funny last name again…you are spot on that it takes time to “grow a teacher”! This kind of creativity and openness does not come immediately.
It. Takes. Time!
It takes trial and error.
It takes a willingness to be open to what your students are thinking and what they believe.
It takes an administrator open to this kind of learning experience.
I see fewer and fewer of teachers like you. The institution of canned lesson plans does not allow for this kind of creativity.
Kudos to you!
Thanks for the super-kind words, my probably cousin somehow….
I’ve had so many conversations with new and incoming teachers over the years that have ended in quiet tears as I go over my materials and talk about how I do my thing in my room. My wife and I used to do presentations about using pop culture in STEM classrooms, and in both cases, the reactions we saw were coming from the same place - we were giving teachers permission to be themselves. I guess no one teaches that in any prep program, and it certainly gets beaten out of you in the trenches.
I just think we need more people in teaching who let people know that YOU don’t make yourself fit the job; you make the job fit YOU.
Keep up your work. It is important.
This reflection is brilliant and I thank you for sharing it! Happy Birthday! Safe Travels! And keep this up - you make too much sense in a profession that’s largely become unrecognizable!
Awww - thanks. I try. :)
This is another solid case for experience being the BEST teacher. I loved reading this whole article and just enjoying every piece of this classroom culture that you built (allowed?, curated?) "This class was infected by authenticity, creativity, trust, inside jokes, and shared stories. My room was filled with students feeling safe enough to be themselves." The posters, the puns, the inside jokes....it all takes on a life of its own, and how fun it is to have that with the students! Thanks again for sharing your work and experience as a teacher....a breath of fresh air, and if we can get real cool with a bunch of stuff real quickly, there is so much treasure out there in the kids. Glad you found it.
Thanks for the kind words! I really enjoyed telling the story to friends initially, but as I realized, this was something that went deeper than “my kids did a funny thing.”
And you’re right - this is an experience thing, in a field where we’re being told that experience isn’t valued.
In this field, the experience in the classroom is the MOST valuable thing. You created so much engagement and meaning for those students. How fortunate they are to have you as their teacher.