Caught in the Act: Jennifer Banales-Estrada
- How long have you worked at CUSD? 19 years
- What schools have you worked at in CUSD? Ten years at Bret Harte in kindergarten and first grade; nine years at Kings Lake Continuation High School.
- Why do you like working with students? I enjoy working with my students and helping them work towards receiving a diploma.
- What do you like best about your job? When past students come back to tell me how well they are doing in college and work. I like the staff and all their support, and the smiles on the students’ faces. Read more
Powerful Learning and Teaching
Students Expressing Themselves
One of the questions that was posed to several administrators at a recent conference was, “why is it adults do most of the talking in our classrooms?” The implied question is, why do we not structure more opportunities for students to express themselves orally and academically?
The discussion was interesting because as we drilled down deeper and deeper into the why behind our work as educators, we found some critical factors. After we reflected on how most educators learned and “did school,” we realized that most of us learned sitting at a desk, listening, taking notes with little to no discourse during class time. Most of us did school well, and most of us learned in the traditional style of teaching and learning. In other words, most of us were “good at school.” It is important to note, we still have students like us, but the reality is most students are not. Read more
Weekly Challenge
These are challenge questions for each one of us after each and every week of school:
•After the first week of school are your students closer to meeting the goal of reading at grade level?
•If you do not know, how do you as the educator go about finding out? (How do you keep monitoring this, even weekly?)
•If you do know, what evidence do you use?
I fondly remember one of my high school football coaches who promoted the idea of me leading a chant after every game; win or lose:
“Every day in every way we get better and better and better!” I remember saying this especially after the few games we lost. The saying was even more meaningful. In order for us to help our students break the “reading barrier,” we have to be engaged in their progress weekly. We cannot afford to have a “wait and see” attitude because the task of improving reading works on a day by day basis. We ask the question, “how are my students doing today with their reading?” And, more importantly, “what am I doing about it if they are struggling?” Whether they are close to your goals or far, the day-by-day work is still the same: provide tasks where every day in every way, they get better and better and better!
Philosophy on Student Learning
The true gift of teaching is not in our inherited or developed talents; it is in student learning.
Why do hospitals focus a great deal on patient welfare? Why do companies that create airline parts spend time and resources on quality control? Why is it professional athletic coaches spend so much time analyzing the outcomes of their contests? The answers are obvious. They all have to do with the outcome of their work. Why is it then education has been viewed in many cases so differently?
Here is a list of reasons I think why we have received a pass in this regard:
- Students do not always want to learn. We cannot force them to learn.
- Students come from homes and backgrounds where education is not important. They are not motivated to learn and they have too much ground to make up academically.
- Students are not always responsible; they need to take responsibility for their education.
- Learning is the responsibility of parents and students. Teaching the material in a powerful way does not guarantee student success.
Powerful Learning and Teaching
Where would we be without teachers? What would the world look like without adults who teach the younger generation the right things? And more importantly, where would we be without adults who loved us enough to see we learned the truth? This rhetorical question is not pondered enough. Teachers are much like great leaders. They are influencers. And, without the right influence, we are headed for disaster. Teachers do not just convey knowledge. They are motivators, inspirers, leaders, positive mentors, relationship builders, etc. And among many others, I will add: positive prognosticators! They help us create a framework for our future, they help paint the picture of our possibilities and potential, and they give us hope for tomorrow. They are hope builders and dream instigators. This is why we continually remind ourselves and each other of one of the strongest principles (often ignored) about our personal vision:
Corcoran Unified School District