The Product of Learning

This entry is probably closer to the reason why I started this blog at all.

As some of you know, I teach a participatory action research course for seniors. My students choose an individual or group research topic about a social issue affecting youth in Boston today. Once students have chosen their topics, they are required to do a five day research internship with an organization in Boston that addresses students' research interests. After their field research is done, they must come back, compute their data and write a pretty hefty research paper based on their findings.

Many of my students have chosen topics that hit extremely close to home: the impact of drugs and alcohol on teens, the impacts of alcoholism in a family, domestic violence, issues of self esteem, sex education, health, nutrition, the role of fathers, emotional and social support for students, education, the list goes on and on. In meeting with my students, I have come face to face with the reminder that I really want my students to do quality learning around the topic that they are interested with in conjunction with producing a banging paper.
Because internships will be happening this upcoming week, I have been going over research skills with my students, such as interviewing, surveying, field notes/observations, focus groups, and observations. While students have been preparing these tools, I have had the opportunity to speak with them more individually about their research interests.

While speaking to a particular student about her interest in the impact of alcoholism on the family, we were struggling to come up with whether she should stick with that issue because we were having a hard time finding her an internship that would fit the topic perfectly. As I looked at her face, full of concern, I felt that I really wanted her to be able to study that topic, even if she wasn't going to be able to get an internship that matched her topic perfectly. I wanted her to be able to know more about the situation that was/is affecting her life now.

My co-teacher and I face immense pressure to produce high quality papers that look a certain way and there are certainly moments when I'm swept away with the current of making sure each student produces this paper. In that short discussion with my student, I saw a flicker of desperation in her eyes and I recognized how important it was to her to be able to do this work. I began thinking about how she could do the research and still learn even if it didn't look like everybody else's project.

As I thought more about the conversation I had with her, I thought about each one of my students and what I want them to get out of the project. Of course I want them to acquire research skills through this project, but that's not all I want for them. The most important goal that I can't forget is that they understand themselves in the world by doing research around their respective issues. In addition to a strong sense of self, I hope that my students will have a better understanding of justice and the way systems operate so that they can develop healthy habits for working and negotiating successfully in the world. I hope our time together will get them closer to where they need to be.

Babies Making Me Proud

Two of my babies made me unbelievably proud today. I can't even express how much...

Recently, Keith over at Harvard asked if two of my students would come to the Alumni of Color Conference to speak about our class. He was organizing the youth panel for the conference called Responding With Delight: Youth Droppin Knowledge. The goal of the panel was to highlight classrooms that honored student voice, critical thinking, and student leadership while demanding academic excellence. We were on the panel with two of the students and one of the teachers that wrote the SAT Bronx book from What Kids Can Do.

I have so many amazing students who could have represented the school and the class but as I went through lists of students, I tried to think of young peoplewho were not usually asked to speak for the class. Our school has "go to" students in each class. While I acknowledge the strength of those students, I wanted to ask students who don't usually get attention though they have the potential to shine bright during occasions such as this.

I'm so happy I asked the two students that I did. They spoke about the class and discussed how it has helped them learn more about themselves, about Boston, and about other students in their class. I wish I had a video of how well they did. They fielded all questions so well and the audience absolutely loved them.

One of my ed professors at BC is now at Harvard. She came to see the panel and at the end of the question and answer portion of the panel, she spoke to my students about how inspiring they were and applauded the work that they were doing. She told me how proud she was of me and that meant so much.

I know I'm no expert teacher, I'm still learning, but damn, they made me soooo proud today!

Congratulations Class of 2009 -My First Class!

My first class is graduating and I've been suffering from separation anxiety. I didn't think I would have such a powerful reaction to them leaving but when I had to share some final words with them during graduation practice, I realized that for three years, my students have been my family.



Being away from New York, I haven't had my blood around me everyday and it has taken it's toll. The only reason I have been able to progress, grow, and find joy has been in my students. They forced me to LIVE everyday -pain, struggle, laughter, pride, and peace.



So thank you to the Class of 2009 for pushing and molding me into me. Y'all were the ones teaching me.



By the way, one of the best signatures in my yearbook said, "Ms. Fullon You're a G...I'mma miss your energy and your WEIRD, AWKWARD, UGLY faces but it's all good. Your face is gonna get stuck like dat one day!"