Blog Post #2: Composing Change: Cultivating Antibias Expression in ELA Classrooms

The most successful classrooms are safe classrooms.

This is an idea continuously hammered into educators' heads, and rightfully so. But what does that really mean? Creating a positive and safe classroom environment requires intentional work that starts on day one and continues throughout the school year. You have to design a space that allows students to fully be themselves and embrace their own identities, as well as those of their peers. It is only when an educator creates a classroom community that allows for this that their teaching can be fully effective. Thankfully, many methods, activities, and skills can be relatively easily implemented to make that mission possible. Although some are more time-consuming than others, I believe they are well worth the extra effort.

Starting the School Year Successfully

Creating a successful, safe classroom can start with how you design it before the school year even starts. Turning again to Tricia Ebarvia’s 2023 book Get Free: Antibias Literacy Instruction for Stronger Readers, Writers, and Thinkers, as we did in my first blog post,  Ebarvia suggests teachers work on creating community in their classes is by considering their physical classroom as the “third teacher” in the room. Of course, the first educator is you, the teacher, and the second “teacher” is all of the students in the room, who will teach and learn from one another as the school year goes on (especially if you build a proper community). But the classroom itself can play an underrated role in the community it surrounds. 

Ebarvia urges for educators to consider one question in particular regarding classroom set-up: “What messages about teaching and learning do our students see when they walk into our classrooms?” (58). If we put the desks in rows, all facing the front, that sends a stronger message of independence than if we put them in table groups, which will imply a sense of community in the classroom. Both certainly have their place; test days may require student desks to be in rows, or some students may prefer to work on some things independently and have a bit more space to themselves. However, I believe table groups work best in an ELA classroom in particular. According to my readings and personal experiences in my placements, this setup automatically helps build community and promote discussion and engagement, makes pairing and grouping students for assignments and discussions easier, gives students more space to work, and makes moving around the classroom easier for all, to name just a handful of benefits.

Obviously, putting your desks or tables into groups, although helpful, is not going to automatically create a community out of a classroom. The rest of your classroom should be inviting but not distracting. Think posters and decorations that sample your personality as an educator, along with ones that proudly encourage inclusion. A vast and diverse classroom library, a currently-reading sign, a quote from your favorite author on the board, sample work from past students proudly on display. The possibilities are endless. Of course, what matters even more is how you treat your students from the first step they take into your classroom onward.

When students come to class on the first day of school, we don’t know them, they don’t know us, and many of them don’t know each other. So, starting off the school year with some introductory activities and ice-breakers, which might potentially feel like a waste of priceless and ever-limited instructional time, are actually invaluable tools to make your future lessons successful. Ebarvia suggests many options to get students talking to you and each other from the first day. One of my favorite suggestions that makes “it a priority to make sure that students learned each other’s names and a little bit about each other as quickly as possible from day one” is to have students interview one another (Ebarvia 70). You can pass out a numbered list of questions, ranging in depth, and assign a number to each student (that will be the question they ask). 

Give the students about 20 minutes to talk to one another and learn their answers to the questions, along with their names. You could also assign yourself a question to join the fun. Let conversations happen and the community build itself. Then, call the students together and ask them to talk about patterns they noticed in their peers’ answers. You could have them write about the patterns as well. This lets students make friends while keeping the activity academic and providing practice for analytical skills they will need throughout the school year. Another academic activity that lets you get to know students more personally would be to have students write you a letter to introduce themselves. This gives you a writing sample, something to give (light) feedback to, and much more insight into who each of your students are. All that information can help you tailor the rest of the school year for your students and set each of them up for success.

Authentically Sharing and Composing

Students’ writing will always be best when it is authentic, which is why creating a safe classroom is so important. We do not want students to turn in an essay that argues the point that they think they are “supposed” to write about or only participate in class to get a good grade. We want students to be free in our classes and in their writing, to show us what they truly are thinking. One way Ebarvia encourages students to embrace themselves in their writing is by having students create identity lists. They “brainstorm the various elements that make up our identities and write these in our notebook in a single column” (Ebarvia 93). The nine elements of identity Ebarvia uses as a starting point for students are: gender, race, sexual orientation, national origin/immigration status, socioeconomic status, home language(s), religion/spiritual practice, ability, and age. It’s important to note that some of these are personal to students, so we can’t pressure them to write them down or share the answers with their peers. We could encourage these students to still consider these identities in their heads, though. 

Note the use of a writer’s notebook, something I will absolutely be implementing in my future classroom. Allowing students a space to write, just for writing, not for grading or rigorous feedback about grammar and structure, will help students practice writing authentically and maybe even foster an enjoyment of writing. A dedicated notebook also keeps a student’s writing all in one place for easy access and reflection. Students can reflect back on their identity list throughout the school year, adding to it and allowing it to inform their future writings. 

Not everything students will write in your classroom can be just for practice and the love of it. We want students to enjoy the process, but we educators do have a responsibility to enter grades and track students' progress, to help them improve. One of the best ways to do help them is in how we respond to their shared writings and compositions. Encourage students when they participate in classroom discussions, learn about their lives and backgrounds to inform your instruction, and give kind but helpful feedback. Discuss students’ compositions with them with curiosity throughout the entire writing process. As educators, Ebarvia explains that we need to “make sure that criteria we’re using to assess writing is clear … By criteria, I mean coming to a shared understanding of (1) what elements make up writing and (2) how each of those elements might be executed effectively given the student’s chosen purpose and audience” (138). This makes the process of writing a less painful process for students, and makes grading their work much less complicated.

To teach students to be antibias, they can’t share their compositions just with us, their teachers. They have to learn to share it with the world around them. If a student submits something particularly strong, encourage them to submit for a writing contest or for publication. If you can’t find a good option for that, ask if you can display the work in your classroom or use it as an example for future classes. Show your students that you want to lift them and their voices up. 

If you’ve successfully built an encouraging classroom community, things like whole-class discussions and peer-revising workshops can be a less daunting way to let students practice sharing with authentic audiences. It also gives them a chance to learn from and receive feedback from their peers, who may provide additional perspectives that could shape the composition as it is being made, and give us educators more insight regarding the work. “Speaking and listening skills have traditionally taken a backseat to reading and writing, the skills that are most often assessed,” but are absolutely essential for antibias instruction and for improving composition skills in all areas (Ebarvia 149). A classroom that revolves around true discussion, not just participation for the sake of participation, and lets students engage in dialogue with you and each other, will benefit everyone in the room. Make sure you have rules in place for the safety of your students, and be informed on topics of discussion yourself. But, as Ebarvia explains, teaching yourself and your students to listen to understand rather than to respond is one of the best ways to encourage sharing and multiple perspectives in your classroom.

Works Cited

Ebarvia, Tricia. Get Free. Available from: Wichita State University, SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2023.