The Connection between Vulnerability and Student Success

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change”-Brené Brown

It is hard to be vulnerable opening ourselves to criticism, constructive or otherwise, allowing access to our worries, our flaws, and the questions that we have but don’t dare ask aloud. However, if Brene Brown is right, we must tap into that vulnerable part of ourselves for true change to occur.I have been a middle school language arts teacher for thirteen years. During this time, I often question whether I am doing everything I can to help my students grow as learners and as fellow human beings. No matter what I do or how many highly effective, research-based strategies I implement, some of my students still struggle. The reflective teacher inside my head can’t help but wonder what I am doing wrong.Now, I will admit that I have a difficult time accepting my vulnerability. It’s hard for me to accept that sometimes, I just don’t have the answer. I grew up believing that solving my own problems meant having the independence and problem-solving skills necessary for success. But looking back, I truly believe that it was acknowledging that this time it wasn’t about me but my students that led me to the journey I find myself on today.Two years ago, I left my 8th grade ELA classroom to teach our school’s first-ever Reading Academy class. The class was born out of a need to offer support to struggling students who did not receive services through an Individualized Education Plan ( IEP). Since this was a new class, there was no model or program to follow. We just knew that something had to be done to stop our students from falling behind in their classes and feeling unsuccessful.To meet the needs of my students, I had to be very honest with myself about my teaching practice and the goals that I had in mind for my students. I had to be willing to ask the tough questions and accept that to offer the highest level of support possible, I would need to be open to new ideas and possibly a whole new way of teaching. I also had to be brutally honest in acknowledging that I had no idea where to begin. This meant reaching out to district leaders, instructional coaches, other teachers, and anybody I thought could offer guidance. I was just so excited about the opportunity to do something different and help students in a way I had never done before that I was willing to step out and ask for the help I needed.My students ranged from 6th grade to 8th grade. The majority of them had independent reading levels of 3rd grade or below. They knew they struggled in reading, which impacted their self-confidence, behavior, and academic performance. Not to mention that a pandemic had just disrupted their learning, and several had not been to school in person in a year and a half. Many had a history of failing two or more content classes each year and having to attend summer school regularly to try to recover credits for failing grades. They were afraid, ashamed, and insecure.How would I reach them? How could I help? I started with building relationships and taking the time to get to know each student beyond their data points. I learned at least one important thing about their personal lives, so we would have something to talk about that was not school-related. I reached out to our district’s social-emotional learning team to find ways to incorporate social-emotional learning into our classroom routine. The students and I wrote together to share our strengths, weaknesses, and parts of ourselves. I worked very hard to help them see that I was there to support them, and I needed them to trust me and accept my help.Over time the students shared that they often didn’t have time to complete assignments and didn’t always feel comfortable talking about their struggles with their teachers. We worked on different ways for students to approach their teachers when they struggled with content. They learned reading strategies to apply to the reading they had to do in their content areas. Students learned how to check their grades each week to monitor their progress. Finally, each student worked on independent reading at their own pace and at independent levels. We set up a classroom rewards system as a motivational tool, and we talked each day about what was going on in their content classes and areas where they needed support.As time passed, students began to communicate with me about their needs. Then they began to communicate with each other. One of the most beautiful things was to hear them say to each other, “ I can help you with that.” Another student said, “ I used to come to school and not talk all day. Now I have friends, and I talk all the time.”What we realized during this journey was that we did not have to have all the answers. There wasn’t one program or process that was going to “fix” things. Our students, like us, are complicated individuals with a range of emotions, experiences, and backgrounds. They have insecurities, and many have had negative experiences in school, but they all want to experience success in school and in life. When I think about how this class developed, I am reminded that not only did I have to address my vulnerability, but my students had to address theirs, too. We were open and honest with each other. I worked hard to be transparent and let them know I didn’t have all the answers and needed their input to give them the help they needed. They, in turn, responded by sharing with me their strengths, struggles, and successes. They stepped up and took an active role in their learning. It has made a tremendous difference in their school performance, confidence in themselves, and overall attitude about their education.