Stepping Out There

I have a secret… I can’t dance. I mean, it’s bad. I am uncoordinated, two left feet. So when it’s time to teach the Jazz Age it gets interesting. I want my students to experience something from the decade. The easiest way was to incorporate some of the moves from the time. I decided to teach the students to dance, but I can’t dance. In order to do this, I first had to change the physical space of the classroom. The students were surprised to walk in and find no desks in the classroom. The wide open space became our dance floor. I took it one step further and came in costume, dressed as a flapper. At first the students stared in disbelief, some laughed nervously. I was a little unsure of myself. Thankfully, the internet helped teach the moves. The students and I learned the Charleston and later the Fox Trot in class. We laughed, a lot! We looked silly. We faced our fears! The students learned.

I heard from parents that evening. The kids came home and taught their families. They left my classroom and performed for other teachers. They may not remember Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal, but they experienced authentic learning and shared it with others.

It took me pushing through my fears, being willing to look foolish with them, and embracing a little chaos in the classroom. In short, I stepped out of my comfort zone and everyone benefited. Now, I have to try to recreate this magic as often as possible.

Why We Decided to Blog

I have heard that teachers should be blogging with their students for quite a while now, and it is one of those things that I have always meant to begin but the day-to-day mechanics of making a classroom and household run continually get in the way. Until now. It took the urging of a fellow teacher to get my mind to shift gears long enough to focus on it, and a brainstorm session with another teacher to actually make me begin to type words. But here I am typing and putting ideas out there. The first step, of course, is having an idea with which to begin that is “worthy” enough to share. Recent PD and podcasts that I have been consuming almost non-stop since Matt Miller’s Ditch That Summit (a big shout out and thank you to him for not only putting this free PD out there, but providing us with such wonderful presenters that my mind has not quite stopped reeling and creating since) have urged me to believe that perhaps I do, in fact, have something to share. All it took was asking one of my fellow faculty members what she thought of my idea and the ball started rolling with collaboration at its finest. She added to my idea, we talked, took notes, and all of a sudden a mediocre seed of a thought has grown into a collaborative project that I am not quite sure we even know where it is going to go yet. Challenge number one: start a blog. Check. Challenge number two: submit proposals to conferences to begin presenting. Check. We were just accepted for our first conference. Challenge three (but not really a challenge since both of us have presented at national conferences) begin presenting. We can visualize this. I feel that we are well on our way. Please visit again to see our ideas begin to take shape, and feel free to give us honest feedback. I believe that is crucial to the success of any venture.

So with what exactly did the seed of our joint idea begin? The desire to increase student engagement, even, and maybe even especially, when we as teachers step outside our own comfort zones to meet the kids where they are and to challenge them. (There is an empathy component to this as well). We do not want our fears of not being able to do something to hinder their learning, so this year in particular we have made sure to push our comfort boundaries.

The first thing I did was help establish a robotics club for our school. This is waaaaaay outside of my area of expertise or even near my comfort zone. I teach English. We talk about grammar, empathy, emotions, and morality. Programming robots????? Not even on my radar, but the interest was there, the need was apparent, so a mother and two other teachers agreed to take the plunge with me and we jumped in feet first. The astounding thing is that the kids did not even expect us to be the experts. They are using the tools at their disposal to create and learn, and when they get stuck they will occasionally ask for our help, but most of the time they depend on each other. It is a thing of beauty to watch. And to think if I had let my fears tell me I could not do it, then these kids would have missed out on a great opportunity, as would I!

Who We Are

Heather Olvey is a junior high English teacher who currently teaches at Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Heather has been published in scholarly journals and magazines, as well as co-authored book chapters and co-edited two books on the efficacy of young adult literature in the classroom. She is a strong proponent of using young adult literature not only because of its effectiveness but also because of the way in which it can be used to teach social justice and empathy to teens. Since working at Holy Souls, Heather has enjoyed creating cross-curricular lessons with the social studies teacher, Terri Files. She likes to be innovative and try new things with her students. She has been an AP Language and AP Literature teacher, a National Honor Society chapter advisor, a Philosophy Club sponsor and Ethics Bowl Coach, a Poetry Out Loud co-sponsor, and is currently a volleyball and robotics coach and has helped found the robotics program for Holy Souls School.





Terri Files is a junior high social studies teacher who currently teaches at Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Terri has taught in a variety of classroom settings ranging in age from kindergarten to college freshmen. She believes that history offers a unique lens through which lessons of humanity and social justice can be more fully explored. The opportunity to collaborate with her colleagues further enriches her teaching style and student learning. Terri is constantly challenging herself to bring new techniques and strategies to the classroom with the goal of reaching each student.