Fostering community in curriculum
Elementary school teacher Caitie Christman is taking a holistic approach to building strong relationships to learning within the classroom.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world where our focus has become the top commodity, what does it look like to lead with intention rather than vying for attention? For elementary school teacher Caitie Christman, it means remaining vigilant in making sure her students feel supported through fostering strong relationships with those most important to their overall success.
A second-grade teacher at Parish Charter Academy, Christman comes from a family of educators who showed her just how impactful the profession could be.
“I come from a background of educators,” Christman said. “It’s something I’ve seen in my family, and I’ve noticed how life-giving the career has been for them.”
Much of the inspiration to pursue a career in education came from Christman’s grandmother, who recently retired after a lifelong pursuit of teaching.
“My grammy is now 84 and recently stepped down from teaching.” Christman said. “She taught all the way to up this year, and every year was better and better for her. From her life, I saw just how beneficial it was to not just for her, but obviously life impacting for the students you meet.”
With a bachelor’s in elementary education and certifications to teach kindergarten through sixth grade with ESOL endorsement, Christman is now in her third year of teaching. Speaking about her teaching philosophy, Christman said her focus is on building in her students a strong character with an empathetic worldview.
“I definitely try to install character building, reminding them that they’re at an age where they can start taking responsibility,” Christman said. “They're usually seven or eight years old at this point, so they can talk to one another first about an issue before coming to me and getting me involved right away. The goal is trying to create some sort of self-sufficiency and becoming more independent.”
“I really try to install an empathetic view in my classroom,” Christman added. “Knowing that students come from all different backgrounds and are at all different academic levels, it's important that we all understand that.”
This ethos is at the heart of a holistic approach to education that aims to foster community between Christman, her students, and those who play an important part in each child’s success.
“In my room, we're a team,” said Christman. "We're not making fun of others: we're not judging them based on where they are at but noticing that they might have strengths in one area where we have weaknesses, and vice versa. It's very team-minded, and we're all trying to make growth to different extents.”
Getting to that point of feeling confident in this perspective was not without challenges. In her first year of teaching, Christman faced several uncertainties about navigating parent-teacher dynamics as a young professional.
“I was very nervous being a young teacher and knowing I was going to have parents that were older than me and have more experience with children at home,” said Christman. “Obviously, I have experience with children in the classroom, but I don't have that parental experience yet.”
With behavioral factors playing a significant role in the academic success of students, Christman found herself questioning the right way to approach these conversations.
“That's something that really intimidated me at first, especially when parents would come to me during parent-teacher conferences and seem to be asking about behavior questions of how things could be solved,” said Christman. “Behavior plays a lot into the education realm, but my focus is academics; how do I give these parents advice on how manage their student's behavior?”
It was ultimately her ability to lean on and foster relationships with fellow teachers that grew her confidence in handling behavioral challenges within the classroom.
“Having mentors that come alongside you and make you realize that teaching is a hard career and it's not something that you can get correct on the first try,” Christman said. “Having those relationships that are very honest, with teachers who are willing to be vulnerable and explain what they're struggling with and help you feel more comfortable sharing what you're struggling with have been a great asset to me in my career.”
With this newfound confidence, Christman has begun to see the results of intentionally fostering community within and beyond the classroom.
“Building relationships with the students and their families is one thing that's really surprised me,” Christman said. “This is going on my third year, so now I've gotten to the point where I'm teaching siblings of my first ever class at the school that I'm at.”
Christman added, “That's been really special, just to welcome back the family into my classroom and develop a deeper relationship. And I think that speaks volumes to the fact that they trust me with another child.”
Reflecting on the challenges she’s faced within her career so far, Christman believes there needs to be more support for both teachers and students when issues arise within the classroom.
“What I would love to see change the most is how we can best support our students behaviorally and emotionally,” Christman said. “I feel like what I've seen being the hardest challenge, especially this year, is having students who are really struggling academically. It all goes back to a mental or emotional struggle that they're dealing with.”
Christman added, “I think as these behaviors increase and as teachers are getting more and more overwhelmed with the behaviors, we also need to see an increase in support staff like social workers or behavior specialists that can come in and work right directly with teachers and with these students so that they don't feel isolated or unsupported.”
With a world and educational system that continues experiencing change at a rapid pace, it’s important to have teachers who are willing to face the difficulties that will inevitably arise as a result.
For Christman, it’s about prioritizing genuine relationships and setting realistic expectations for what can be done to improve the lives of her students.
“These students are with us seven to eight hours a day, and we have a huge impact,” Christman said. “But at the end of the day, we're not their family, we're not their caregivers. So what we have to focus on is those hours that we have them in our classroom and what we can do to help make their lives as best as possible.”