Dr. Mosblech: 10th- 12th grade AP Environmental Science, Honors Environmental Science, Honors Chemistry. Watch her 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year Finalist Video!
High school was a difficult time for me, one of intense personal growth as I dealt with the loss of a parent. Yet, when I reminisce on my days as a high school student, I immediately remember the moments in my classes when I was provided the opportunity to grow academically and personally—feeling secure enough to try new experiences while knowing that my teachers were always there to support me in times of failure. I always felt that science and art were safe spaces for me to explore, and in large part, this was due to the teachers I had in those subjects.
In my own classroom, I have tried to create similar scenarios for exploration and creativity at a time when many students fear being different or failing in front of their peers. High school can often be a time when individuals turn inward, fearing social pressures or conforming to community norms. While it is tempting to do the same as a teacher—provide the typical classroom experience of instruction and assessment, I have found that the most successful school years include both myself and my students stepping outside our comfort zones to try new things, explore the world around us and be secure in knowing that failure provides opportunities for learning. The most success has been found in doing three things: creating connections, facing challenges and feeling secure enough to fail.
Creating Connections
Think back to the first day of school, when you were concerned with whether your new outfit would fit in with your peers and hoping that you would simply have at least one person who you knew in each class. You’re unsure of what to expect from your teachers and your classmates, but you know you don’t want to be the student who sticks out in any way. For many students, and similar to what I experienced in high school, that first day may have provided a simple relief from stresses and challenges you faced at home. The classrooms I knew I could call home were those occupied by teachers who did one simple thing in the first days of school: they wanted to know who you were and what made you unique. My eighth-grade science teacher immediately recognized my passion for science and very early in the year encouraged me to create my own experiments related to what we were learning. She knew I could master the content, but that I’d develop more meaning in designing experiments that tested my lingering questions.
Creating meaningful connections to each student is the start of a meaningful year, as it allows both teacher and student, to be open to sharing knowledge, experiences, and curiosities that lead to academic growth throughout the year. Each year, my goal is to know each student’s name by the third day of school, which lets each student know that they matter to me. Throughout the year, I find ways to incorporate their interests into what we study, letting them explore in further detail those topics that they are passionate about. Furthermore, I find time during the year to sit down and write each student a postcard that recognizes how that student is unique and valued in our classroom. In my first few years of teaching, I found myself reflecting on how unique and important each student was to me, and I believe it’s important to concretely express that to them.
Facing Challenges
In my first few years of teaching, I focused on the important basics—the standards and content students had to learn. But as I grew as a teacher, I had to take risks myself in trying out lessons that put more responsibility on the students to learn and grow. I decided around that time, that I would share more of my own passion for environmental science, in the hopes that it would be contagious among my students. Opening myself up to my students, and letting them see my intense love for my subject area, indeed allowed them to take more chances in class and test out new ideas. I’ve provided opportunities in class for students to become world leaders in a global climate summit in order to solve one of the world’s most important and pressing issues.
Ashley Edwards, Nicole Barley, Dr. Nikki Mosblech, Claire Connelly Mayssa Shalhoub, Anna Birnholz, Marie Camacho, and Emma Brownstein with lunch school trays. (Photo by: Tania Ortega-Cowan)
Students have had the opportunity to garden, to be responsible for raising and tending to another living thing. They’ve had the opportunity to create artistic displays in our school courtyard to raise awareness on single-use plastics. In these and multiple other learning opportunities, students must think creatively and analytically about an issue, and must also expose a part of their own passions and interests. I provide these real-world and relevant opportunities for my students in the hopes that they realize it takes courage to truly show others your passion and creativity, and that it is in these scenarios that you truly grow.
Feeling Secure Enough to Fail
High school students often will put on a façade of confidence, as they struggle to figure out how to cope with challenges they face at school, home and work. The combination of building relationships with your students and providing ample opportunities for exploration allows students a unique opportunity where failure becomes just as welcome as success. Failure provides a chance for you and that student to reflect upon the risks they took and what they learned. It makes the eventual successes that much sweeter and more worthy of celebration. As teachers, we are told that when a lesson or activity doesn’t work out as planned, that there is much to learn, but I would often forget this early in my teaching career. I felt I needed to provide the perfect learning opportunities for my students, but often forgot about my own process of learning. However, the relationships built with students truly allows all of us to take the obstacles and failures as opportunities for growth.