Jeffrey Roberson - Sacramento county teachers of the year 2013 interview

♪♪ We're here with another Teachers of the Year profile. We're speaking with Jeffery Roberson, who is one of two Teachers of the Year from the Twin Rivers Unified School District. Thanks for being here. Thank you. And congratulations on being a Teacher of the Year. Thank you. Well, first, tell us a little about yourself. Tell us where you teach, at what school, and tell us what you teach. I teach 4th grade at Woodridge Elementary, out in North Highlands. And it's a fabulous program. A great group of people and teachers there. I'm just really honored and pleased to be a part of that program. So, 4th grade is kind of a transitional year for kids where they're gaining more skills, really kind of prepping, almost, for middle school. Yeah. So, what's it like dealing with that population where they're not quite the babies of 1st grade, but they're not quite the junior high kids? It's been really rewarding. This year is my -- this will be my second year teaching 4th grade. In previous years, I taught a 5th and 6th grade loop because I thought that was my favorite grade level. And I found out that they're closer to their teenage years than they are elementary school kids that you love and that love to please and want to please and be a part of the classroom. So teaching the 4th grade has been refreshing change. Because they still want to please. They're still young enough to actually look up to their teacher. And want to gain their teacher's respect. Moreso than the 5th and 6th graders who can be more "teenager-ish" in their mannerisms and behaviors. So they're not quite at that maturing age yet? Yeah. They're still little. Well, basically, they're still 3rd graders. Which was my favorite age group. So, tell us about the school where you teach. And the student population that you're dealing with. And how you work with them on a daily basis. Oh, we have a very diverse student population. We are a Title I school, so a lot of our -- 99% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch. And there is a lot of poverty and crime in the neighborhood and the surrounding community. A lot of single parent homes. And it's just -- they face so many more challenges than I did as I came from a single parent home. But I couldn't imagine facing some of the things and the challenges and the pitfalls that they face on a daily basis at their age. So, I'm just glad to be in this -- in a place where I can help them to navigate some of those pressures and issues that they're facing. Because some of those things that I faced as a child were seemingly, you know, just made you not really feel comfortable about being at school. Or going to school. Or wanting to get the help that you needed in school. It just didn't seem like it was really, like, worth it. You know, you don't see that light at the end of the tunnel. So I'm glad I'm here to help them. To be a role model and show them that you can do it. I did it. If I can do it, you can do it. So what's it like to have that extra baggage for those students where you -- not only do you have to work with the curriculum, but you have to deal with knowing, maybe, what happened in their neighborhood the night before or the fact that they might have some turmoil in the home? Those types of things. It kind of impacts the student learning process. It does. And that's one thing that I like to bring that into the classroom as part of our community meetings we hold every week. We talk about issues that effect not only learning in the classroom, but things that -- stressors outside of the classroom that we don't see how it effects our ability to learn and be engaged in the lessons in the classroom. So we talk about those things and we discuss different ways of dealing with it and different avenues to get help in dealing with some of the pressures that they face. And how -- how does that -- how do the students respond to having those weekly meetings? Oh, they look forward to it. A lot of times it's student run. After so many weeks of running the meetings myself, I'll assign a student to run the meetings. And we have an agenda that we'll follow. It's a very set schedule. So, once they run through the meetings for a couple of months, after about that, then they're able to be able to follow the routine and it goes really well. They look forward to it. It's empowering for them to be able to have some sort of say in the things that we discuss. Not only in our learning, but things that effect our learning. So, you're working in kind of a tough community and though you might have some students who might have a little trouble getting motivated because of either internal or external factors. What are some of the special things that you do as a teacher to really get your students motivated and excited? Well, when I was a student, I was the class clown. So I bring that to my teaching. And I am able to infuse what we do in the classroom with a lot of music and fun activities. So, for instance, instead of reviewing our homework, which we do every day, instead of sitting down and just reviewing the homework, we play a game show. We have a game show. Hosted by Rister Moberson (Mr. Roberson, myself). It's called "Oh, I Get It." And so we review the homework and we look for those "ahah" moments. And it just makes it fun. I just have a basic script that I follow and we just have a good time playing with what we learned and what we're going to learn. That's interesting. So, they probably look forward to the game show. Oh yeah. Yes, we do. We have, sometimes, too much fun. It's kind of hard to reel them in sometimes. But, I find that it helps because they never know what's going to come out of my mouth or what's going to happen next. So they're always -- it's easy for them to be engaged in what's going to happen and what's going to come next if they know Mr. Roberson's going to make it fun or do something silly. I bring some of the class clowns that I recognize. I say, "I know what you're doing. Let me help you to do it a little better. A little differently." I bring them into the classroom and they'll help me with the lesson. And it becomes like a Martin and Louis kind of thing. Interacting, going on in the classroom; but, at the same time, we're learning about ourselves and how we can better address the needs of some of the students who need help and the students who don't need help seem to have a good time with it as well. Yeah. Fun. So what about the parents? You're talking about a lot of single parent households. And maybe even no parents -- maybe a grandparent or a custodian. What do you do to kind of get those folks involved in your process? Bringing them into your classroom. When I first started teaching, I noticed the need for some basic home training. Some of the things that I grew up with as a child of a parent from the south. My mother was my preschool teacher. So, as a kid, I was spent a lot of time in her classroom. And when I was growing up, it was, "Yes ma'am." "No, ma'am. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. No, sir." Those types of things. Just basic manners that show people that you're someone who deserves their respect. And that's something that I I've infused into the classroom. And I've created an organization called the Gentleman's Club where we do community service. We'll go to lower grade classrooms and we'll tutor and we'll do story times. Services at different community events. Just, Teachers of the Year programs that we went to and we ushered. And they got tons of praise. And it was amazing to see that they -- how much respect that they gained just for going and doing something as simple as showing their -- a show of strength and solidarity for our school. And just as simple as escorting someone from one place to another. And to see how much they are appreciated in the community. And it gives them some more credibility other than the street cred. that they might look for in the gangs and all the drama that goes on in the streets. It's a positive for self esteem, too. Exactly. This definitely has some meat to it. Oh yeah. And it goes a long way in learning about themselves. And how the actions that they -- the way they portray themselves has a direct effect on how people perceive them. Because, a lot of times, coming from those environments, there's an instant perception of who they are based on where they're from and what they dress like. And I show them ways to -- ways of behaving and showing the public that they're someone who deserves respect regardless of what the public perception might be of them. So, how long have you been a teacher? I've only been teaching seven years. Okay, so what got you into teaching -- into the profession? It's always something that I wanted to do. Like I said, I've always been in a classroom environment with my mom. And being the oldest of eight kids, I had a host of cousins that I used to babysit for. So I always had this interaction with younger kids. And it was something that I really missed out on when I left and went to college. So when I got to college, I started volunteering at different youth organizations and mentoring students on a one-on-one basis. And that continued after college. But there was just -- I was in the automotive industry. It's not something that I thought "I would go back to the teaching thing." It wasn't 'til several years after I got my degree that I finally decided to go and take a chance and get back into the classroom. It was something that I wanted to affect more than just one kid at a time that I was doing currently in the mentorships that I'd been involved in. I'll bet you're glad you did. Oh yeah, I'm so glad. And Twin Rivers is glad you did, as well. I'm pleased to be at Twin Rivers and I'm glad they're glad to have me. Yeah, I know they are. I know they are. Well, we've been speaking with Jeffrey Roberson who is one of two Teachers of the Year from the Twin Rivers Unified School District. Congratulations to you. Thank you.