Access is a valuable piece of education, especially when students come from a minority population. All students deserve the resources to realize their aspirations, and sometimes pure academic achievement may not be enough. Lack of cultural and social capital may get in the way. Thus, it becomes my job to provide that link to my students in the ways that I can. To do so, I aim to provide them with opportunities and resources they would not have had been able to access on their own. To provide this access, I will be working with the students on two projects: a career talk, and an introduction to international travel programs. To do so, I will need to involve guest speakers and keep parents informed. 

Many of my students have mentioned that they would want to work in careers that require higher education such as a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian. However, most of them do not know people in those careers, so they do not understand how to connect where they are now to the future roles they aspire to fulfill. Bringing in a physician who can talk about their path into the field can give students access to the information they need to get themselves there going forward.

When I asked students what they wanted to be when they grew up, I heard their answers, and noted that many of them mentioned careers that required higher education. Separately, when talking about my career, many of the students seemed surprised that I had to go to college for 4 years. I realized that many of them had a precise end point in mind, but were not aware of the steps needed to get there. This told me that I should bring in an adult who is in a career that interested them and have them talk through the educational path they took to achieve these goals. This would give students a clearer picture of what they could look forward to in order to reach their aspirations.

Looking into the idea of how to change the blurry image they had of building a career, I checked in with my students on the careers of the adults around them. The majority of the adults were not in jobs that required higher education.  Thus, I knew that engaging in a career talk would be helpful to the students to get them thinking about how they would achieve their goals. I reached out to Dr Deblina Datta, a retired public health doctor to see if she would be willing to speak with my students about her career path. I also asked permission from my administrators to see if this would be something we could host at school. 

Email to Dr Datta explaining the situation, what our students could learn from her, and what she could do to facilitate this experience

Email exchange with school administrators ensuring that students would have access to this opportunity and make a new connection

I laid the groundwork for this event. I reached out to my grade level team and invited them, as well as began booking a space at the school for the talk. This made sure that students outside of my class would also be able to access this new connection and receive the same opportunity as my own students. I also prepared some preliminary discussion points for my students to guide their thinking and help them build questions they could ask Dr Datta. This allowed them to better navigate the opportunity and get students the information that was most pertinent to them. Finally, I reached out to my students' families to let them know about the opportunity so they could discuss it with their child at home in order to garner excitement and investment.

Before the talk, I started broaching the topic of their plans after they graduate from high school. I mentioned my educational background as well as that we would have a guest speaker coming in order to pique their curiosity. I also hosted a class discussion about why Dr Datta was coming and helped students formulate questions they could ask her during the Q&A portion of the visit. This would allow them to reflect on what information they could acquire from this opportunity as well as why it is important for them to build this connection.

I sent notes home to families as well as made announcements on our online messaging platform. I encouraged families to have discussions with their children about what their visions are for the future. Families are not only integral in Hawaiian culture, but in order for students to pursue higher education and a professional degree, they will need much support from their families throughout their school career. Their families provide an extra layer of support that will take this opportunity from a one off event to a stepping stone towards their potential career.

Dr Datta came to talk to the students! She presented about her career and what it took to get her there. The students got to ask her their questions they had prepared as well as see some of the artifacts she worked with throughout her career. This speaker not only gave them a window into a career they had perhaps not considered for themselves before, but hearing about Dr Datta's childhood and education allowed them to see the third grade as a part of their journey to a similar field of work. Students were very excited to hear about her path to becoming a doctor, one student even telling her: "I'll see you in a while when I go to school and become a doctor like you!". 

Having the students get an inside look into how they can get to where they want to go provided them with insight as to why we heavily emphasize the importance of school. They get to see third grade as a stepping stone to their life after school, helping them achieve their goals, no matter what they may be. The next day, we had a class discussion where students got to share what they thought of the experience and how they thought they were going to be able to achieve their dream careers. Students also wrote Dr Datta thank you letters. In them, they discussed what they learned and even what in particular interested them from the talk.

This access opportunity is a virtual tour and introduction to the EF Tours program. EF Tours is a travel program that builds educational tours. They take students around the world, lowering costs, facilitating activities, and exposing the students to new cultures they would not have been able to experience on their own. Many of our students have not left their island, and the idea of experiencing the world seems unattainable to them. However, the ability to travel and experience cultures is extremely valuable, and something they potentially could access through EF tours. It is not unless the students are introduced at an early age to the idea of visiting new places that they can plan to do so. EF Tours are available at their middle school, so getting them interested now would be crucial for them to take advantage of the opportunity in a few years.

My students in past years and this current one have often mentioned that they have never been on a plane. They also exhibit much surprise when I mention that I have visited other countries. They express interest in being able to do the same, but do not seem to know how to go about making this happen. Additionally, they tend to come from very low income backgrounds and view things like flying on a plane as "too expensive". I noticed that there ways for them to realize these interests that they may not be aware of, but they must be informed early in order to access the opportunity to travel off island.

In order to research my opportunity, I reached out to a teacher friend of mine who had done the tours with her daughter. She spoke very positively of her experience, and told me about the program at the middle school. From there, I emailed the program lead at the middle school who was able to give me more information about how the program is run there. I was able to get a better idea of the messaging they share with their families and could then align with what they were sharing. This opportunity did not require a special guest, so I did not need administrators' approval.

In reaching out to the middle school facilitators, I can vertically align my lesson in order to make sure that I am sending out the same messaging. This gives students a precise idea of how they can prepare and will then be able to most easily navigate this opportunity in the future.

Before the activity, I made sure to ask students about where they would like to go if they could travel anywhere. I also suggested they think about all of the places they had heard about in the stories we have read during our ELA (English language arts) class. We had a small discussion about where they would go and why, to start connecting ideas in their heads. Many of my students mentioned places that were on the Continental United States, but as they looked at a world map, they began to identify other places around the world that interested them such as Thailand and Japan. Some of them also mentioned places where family members had gone to or lived in as places they were interested in exploring. The student in the recording below explained how she wanted to visit places her Omi (grandmother) had been to and where her parents met, even though she had only heard of these places. Thus, the students were activating their prior knowledge, making connections between stories they had had heard and exploring the world. 

Finally, students got to talk about the value of travel and how they could make it happen. They were able to express their ideas and talk about where they wanted to travel. As a class, we explored the tours available on the website, and watched promotional videos so that students could get an idea of what students could do on an EF Tour. They noticed in the videos the ways the different locations had different people, buildings, and food, all markers of culture. More specifically, in the video of Japan, they noticed a bullet train, something they had learned about in their physics unit on magnetic force. The thought of seeing something they had learned about in class in real life, very much excited and interested them. They also expressed much excitement in the EF Tours that are available to students in middle school. Some even told me they planned on going when they get to middle school. 

Students wrote down where they would most like to go and why. They were able to also imagine what they would do there and what they could learn. They then took this home to share with their families and spark a family discussion.

In order to facilitate conversations with the families, I made sure to put a QR code at the bottom of the reflection the students wrote to allow families to look at the website by themselves. Once they took the activity home, students were able to lead the discussion with their families. They could recap what they had learned in class with me, then move onto their interests. At the same time, they could explore the website on their own, and see the opportunities available to them.

Introduction

Although we work extremely hard with our students in school, we are not a replacement for the support their families can provide. The school and the families need to be in partnership, aligning themselves and reinforcing each others' practices in order for the children to be truly successful. However, this is not possible if families feel isolated or out of their depth. This is not an uncommon occurrence since the adults may have had a negative school experience themselves. Thus, it is up to the teachers and school employees to make sure we are welcoming them into the school community and showing them how we can work in partnership. 

Many of our students struggle with reading, typically reading below grade level. Although we have many interventions in school that we pursue, we also know that students benefit heavily from practice at home with a guardian. In parent teacher conferences and at the beginning of the year, we reach out to families to inquire about their child's reading habits and their involvement with reading. Over the years I have been teaching, multiple families have expressed that it can be difficult for them to spend dedicated time reading with their child. To get a more concrete and clear idea of what our families' assets are, I sent out family surveys that asked specific questions around what families wanted to and were able to contribute. In combining these two pieces, my grade level and I decided to plan a DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) event for families. This would provide a space for the adults and their children to come together and experience reading as a group activity.

On the day of, families came in and read with students. The room was set up to be cozy and present reading in a positive light. It also mimicked a home setting with blankets and pillows. The students were able to read to each other as well as read with their families. Families were able to enjoy reading in a way that worked for them. For example, my child who preferred to read alone got to read his book while his mom read her own book. On the other hand, some parents did mini read-alouds for their child and other students as well. Overall, families were able to experience the "reading together" in a way that they could translate into their own homes.

These access projects allowed my students to experiences opportunities and strategies that would not have been available to them in another scenario. Their career talk with Dr Datta made the idea of working a professional career realistic and a place they could see themselves. They also gained a clear idea of the steps they could take to get there and how they could start working towards their goals even in elementary school. They also got to picture the idea of working towards a career as something fun and exciting. When they explored EF Tours, they were able to have a clearer picture of the value of travel as an educational experience. They also were able to adjust their perspective and understand how travel could be accessible to them even when it does not seem financially viable. Additionally, they began long term plans that would get them ready when they could fully access the opportunity by informing their families and explaining their interest. Through family engagement, we were able to make academic support seem attainable for all families. Children were able to see "homework" (reading practice) as something fun. Parents would know how to best help their child succeed in school by seeing reading in practice. Even if it might not push them up to grade level immediately, families can create an atmosphere of sustained practice that will ultimately push their children towards long-term success.