Camelot Teacher Profile: James Spears
James Spears, a western Pennsylvania native, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. He returned to Pitt for graduate school and received his masters in teaching. During college he worked at a school called The Academy which worked with adjudicated youth from Philadelphia. After graduation he knew he wanted to continue making a difference in the lives of students who just needed a second chance at education, which led him to Camelot.
In December 2013, James joined the team at Camden High School in southern New Jersey.
How would you describe your Camelot experience so far?
It’s just one giant adventure. We have a great team, it’s like a family here and it doesn’t feel like just a job. Every day is different. From the relationships I’ve built with the kids to the staff it doesn’t feel like I just started in the middle of the school year it feels like I’ve known them for a lot longer.
My experience here with the students, staff and the support they have feels like a perfect fit.
What have you enjoyed about working with this population?
I think it’s just the relationship and connections that you can make with kids. Being able to teach them something even if it’s not about your discipline, being able to teach them something and having them look to you for answers is great.
Learning from them just as much as they learn from you is also the other side of the coin. You have to know that they can teach you something whether it’s about them or about yourself. It’s that give and take, the exchange of information and ideas that’s what I come to work every day for to experience that.
You started at Camelot in the middle of the school year. How was that transition?
At the beginning- which was the middle of the school year-it was tough at first, but I knew exactly what I had to do. I knew I had to build those relationships and that takes time. But, it was tough because they didn’t know me I didn’t know them. Learning names, personalities and that whole process was really made possible by the staff who stepped in and gave me that support when I needed it. They helped me get to know the students and learn the types of things that they respond to that really helped the fact that I was coming in the middle of the school year. It gave me a foothold to start building relationships and trust with these students.
Your students often come from a troubled background and have a lot of things going on outside of the classroom. How do you help student overcome some of their challenges?
In this school and my classroom in particular I try to create a culture and environment where everybody feels safe; despite what’s going on at home or outside of this classroom when they walk in they know what to expect every single day they come in here.
We do a lot of writing so they take advantage of the fact that they can write down whatever is going on in their journal and get it off their chest so it becomes a safe space to take a deep breath and slow down. It’s kind of like a haven when they walk in.
How do Camelot norms contribute to the success of students and the success of your classroom?
It contributes a great deal. When you talk about setting expectations and having a set of rules that does not change it’s as certain as the sun comes up. When they walk into school they know exactly what is expected of them and it makes a difference in their behavior. Those kinds of rules, that kind of environment creates a boundary to this space. They know the moment they get here there are certain things expected of them.
What was your favorite lesson to teach this year?
The lesson we did on gang violence we based off of an ABC news clip. It really opened up a discussion and gave the students a chance to talk about gang violence: their experience with it their thoughts on it, and talk about problems or issues that they have never really sat down and talked about with a group of their peers. That was an introduction to a book we were reading about life in prison by Tookie Williams who was the founder of the Crips. They all knew who he was and we prefaced the reading with talking about gang violence. It was great to see a lot of kids who really don’t say that much participating.
That was one of my favorite lessons because it really felt like the class gelled at that moment. People had different opinions but it was a conversation that was productive in a lot of ways.
What do you enjoy about being able to select your own readings?
My curriculum is customized, it’s hand tailored. No one knows my students better than I do, so that really allows me to play to their strengths and play to their interests rather than having to stick to a scripted curriculum. I can see the things that get them excited and the things that turn them off and in those instances it’s beneficial to be able to be flexible and take the material and tweak it.
I’ve tried to teach a scripted curriculum before and it’s tough because students know they weren’t a factor in what I’m teaching. But my students know that whatever I’m teaching them or whatever I’m giving them somehow they’ve factored in that equation. So the product is something they’ve had a hand in creating so they have some input or some ownership over their own education.
