I-3, Novice, 10Th Grade, Math

I-3, Novice, 10th Grade, Math Conversation between PD and CM

On the wall of Peter Schaeffer’s 10th grade math class, the PD notices a bulletin board called, “We Want to Be Like...” It contains a collage of famous people’s faces taken from magazine pictures and photocopies from books, including: Tiger Woods, Beyonce Knowles, Reggie Bush, Russell Simmons, Queen Latifah, Albert Pujols, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Rock, Jay-Z, Will Smith, Lebron James, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Lopez. Curious about it because Peter has struggled with issues surrounding student investment, the PD asks him to explain it to her during their post-observation conversation.

PD: I know in our most recent co-investigation conversation the data led us to a focus on identifying ways to strengthen your student investment. I was intrigued by the display of role models on your wall. Could you tell me a little bit about it?

Peter: Well, I really wanted to include some real-life role models in our classroom—people who actually inspire my students. So I put up these pictures, and I really tried to think of people the kids would know and who are relevant for them. And then the second day of school we kind of talked a little about each of them and what makes them great and why they inspire us.

PD: What were their comments like?

Peter: The students seemed to really like the people I chose. And they thought it was really cool to have pictures of rappers and football players in the classroom, so I definitely won some points for picking cool people and for knowing the big athletes. My students talked about how talented and successful all of the people are, or how much influence each had in their field. We went through the role models one by one, and for the athletes the students talked about how hard physically it is to do what they do. And for the celebrities they talked about how the sacrifice of privacy and having to put up with the paparazzi and how the celebrities really earned their success and are inspiring because so few people get to do what they do and that they’re the best at what they do. With Oprah the students talked about how great she is because she gives so much money away. I guess I had originally meant for the conversation to be more about hard work, and I tried to point out what a person did to earn what they have, but mostly the kids focused on fame and fortune. I wanted it to be relevant for them so I mostly let them direct the conversation where they wanted to take it. But, I figured that was okay, because you know, they need those role models, and these are the people they relate to.

PD: How did you know these would be the people they most relate to?

Peter: Well, I…I just assumed I guess. I mean, first off I tried to pick all people of color. That just seemed obvious to me. Then I figured people from pop culture would interest them the most. I know that some students aren’t into sports or Hollywood, but I figured the people they’d be inspired by no one else would have heard of, so it seemed safer to just focus on the famous pop culture type folks. PD: But I guess I wonder if the choices might have been different if you’d let them choose their own role models? What might it look like if you were to actually solicit from them the people that they find most inspiring, and why?

Peter:Honestly, I think they would choose a lot of the people I picked.

PD: Then try to think about ways you might structure their choices. What if you were to put some criteria in place that could limit or guide their selections like choosing people in the fields of business, science or literature? Or choosing people who have died? Or have played an important role in history? Or people who exhibited particular persistence in overcoming a specific challenge?

Peter: Yeah. I could see that working. I’ll think about that.

PD: Also, since it’s now December, I’m wondering, have you referred to the people up there at all since the initial discussion?

Peter: No, not really. In the beginning I kind of planned to keep referencing them, and I think I did the first few days after we put them up, but to be honest, I’ve kind of forgotten about them. I don’t even really notice them anymore, and I doubt the kids do either. I guess I leave them up there because I figure that subconsciously maybe they’ll soak something up from the pictures.

PD: Have you used role models in your classroom in any other capacity?

Peter: I hate to admit it, but I haven’t really done much else. I was thinking that when we come back from Christmas break, maybe I’d try to get some college students to come in and talk about the math SAT’s and how important they are. But I haven’t really made any specific arrangements to do that yet.

PD: What about using other students as role models?

Peter: I guess I don’t really know how that would work or what that would look like.

PD: Okay. I can definitely help you with that. Thanks for filling me in on this. I think we have some opportunities here to improve your use of role models that could potentially impact some of the issues you are having with student investment, and we’ll work more on this.