Rethinking Learning Episode #9

Alex Corbitt is a middle school English teacher in The Bronx, New York. His work focuses primarily on socio-emotional learning, gamification, education technology, and literacy. Alex’s passion for teaching will thrive as long as he continues to laugh with and learn from his incredible students.

I met Alex on Twitter and was so impressed with how active he is on social media. When I asked Alex if he would join me in a conversation on my podcast series, he was so open about sharing that I couldn’t wait to talk to him. After our conversation, I found that he was leaving the next day for a big family trip overseas. Alex made sure he accommodated me and my time and sent me amazing resources for the blog post.  Below are excerpts from the conversation. I hope you listen to the whole podcast and enjoy the conversation with Alex as much as I did.

Can you share your background, where you live, and your role as a middle school English teacher in the Bronx?

I grew up in a suburb of New Jersey and attended Fordham University as an undergrad which was my introduction to New York and the Bronx. I live in a Queens, NY since coming here for college and love it here because of the food, music, just exploring the city, going to museums, and hanging out with friends. I have been working at a small middle school in the Bronx right near Yankee stadium for about 5 years now. A fun fact is that I teach in the same classroom that I did my student teaching. I had a great mentor who was transitioning into a leadership role so he said to me, “why don’t you just stay here?” So I did. The school is in a community with a lot of high needs population with 99% qualifying for free and reduced lunch. I work with predominantly Dominican, Puerto Rican, and West African students. They are all incredible even in the face of challenges. We are all a big family, and I get support and trust from the parents. My co-teacher and I also have 2 ICT classes with students with special needs and general students.

You said one of your focuses is on socio-emotional learning. Can you explain why socio-emotional learning is so important?

When I was in grad school, I heard of an interesting analogy comparing adolescents to a man riding an elephant along a path. The man symbolizes adolescents logic and the elephant is their emotions. Our job as educators are to frame the path that the elephant walks along. That spoke a lot to me. Before I try to appeal to my students’ rationale thought, I want to be very mindful of the space that I create is a space of emotional support. Really tending to the elephant metaphorically. As an educator am I creating a space that is safe emotionally, physically, and academically. The way to do is not by lecturing them, but rather to be a model of what you want to see. For example, if I want my students to take academic risks, I need to be at the head of that endeavor. I need to take academic risks and even fall on my face. We can all laugh together so we can help each other. I always try to be mindful jumping into whatever activity I ask them to do and be right by their side.

What do you do at the beginning of the year to build the culture of learning?

I have been outlining ideas about building a culture so this is a great question. One thing I do within the confines of a 55 minutes period is trying to find time in between classes to find out what their interests are and information about their culture. I always tell them on the first day of school that they don’t know me yet, and I don’t know them very well, but I’m going to put myself out there and tell them right away that I have their back. I tell them that I struggle and have bad days just like everyone else. I became a teacher because I get a big kick out of kids. I love laughing. I want them to know that I’m here to support them. I teach 7th grade. I wouldn’t say this in a school setting but another analogy....