But when CSU Stanislaus Professor Noelle Won walked onto the Stockton school’s campus — where one of her credential students had been assigned for their student teaching — what she found in teacher Charissa Ratto’s classroom surprised her.
“When I walked into Charissa’s classroom, the atmosphere was completely different — warm, comforting, bright, happy,” Won said. “The students were so engaged and focused. Her teaching, passion, enthusiasm and love for her students inspired me.”
In a time when K-12 teachers are facing increased pressure to teach to state testing standards while dealing with larger classes due to budget cuts, doing so in areas also marked by high crime and poverty rates can be a challenge too great for some to bear. But here was a teacher who was thriving in just such an environment, and Won — whose primary responsibility is educating future educators, many of whom end up teaching in the Valley — wanted to know how.
So Won began interviewing and shadowing Ratto and other teachers who were shining at otherwise low-performing schools. What she found was a consistent thread of resiliency that kept them going.
Most telling, Won said, was how the teachers responded to the increasingly limiting state testing requirements. A source of consternation for many teachers throughout the state, the test’s focus on math and reading skills can leave little time for creative activities that enrich a student’s education beyond the basics.
The teachers Won interviewed weren’t happy about teaching such a scripted curriculum, but they weren’t quick to gripe about it, either. Instead, they found ways to satisfy the institutional requirements without sacrificing the quality of teaching they provided their students.
“They knew how to jump through the hoops, but they didn’t make a big deal about it because they knew they were good teachers and were confident in their expertise,” Won said. “When that door closes, they are with their students and they teach their students what they need to know in the best way they can. And their students are learning.”
Won said the experience has invigorated her own teaching, which in turn will inspire the future teachers she’s instructing at CSU Stanislaus. Even graduate and credential students can come back jaded after visiting low-performing schools, Won said, but she’s seen firsthand that a good teacher can overcome any external impediments to their true objective.
“We all get tired and frustrated and burnt out,” Won said. “So many good teachers out there work long hours, take work home on weekends, spend their own money for classroom supplies, deeply care about their students and reflect and improve their practice, and many still wonder if it’s all worth it sometimes.
“For me, it helps when I see colleagues out there who know how to weather the storm and not get blown off track. Students are the reason and purpose for their teaching. They love teaching, and they don’t let anyone take that away.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
James Leonard
(209) 667-3884
jleonard1@csustan.edu