Teaching Formerly Incarcerated Returning Citizen Students In a Community College Environment 1
About the Instructor • Currently full-time faculty at Jackson College • Formerly adjunct • Formerly part-time faculty at Washtenaw Community College • Currently teach at 4 prisons • Encourage entrepreneurship pathways • Encourage further education! • #endprisonstigma I first started teaching at Washtenaw Community College part-time. It was there that I discovered some of my students were formerly incarcerated. They told me. I have always been that person the people tell things to. I decided it was my mission at that point to make sure they were able to keep up with the class and that they would be a success in my classes. I currently teach full-time at Jackson College and that includes teaching at the prisons. I find my teaching inside the walls to be quite gratifying and some of the best students. I encourage my students within my prison classes to become entrepreneurs as that may be the easiest way to make a living when they get out. 2
What You Should Know About Incarcerated College Students • Need to get their GED or have graduated High School • No it isn’t like Orange is the New Black • Yes I feel safe! • My class is in a classroom within the prison • I treat the students in prison the same as my campus students Prisoners now have to get their GED or have a high school diploma to get out on parole (or so I have been told). No, teaching inside the prison is not like what you see on TV or in movies. I feel very safe and my students are the same as my students on campus, I just say the only difference is that my students behind bars where the same colored clothing. I have an actual classroom inside the prison, I am not in a cell area. I treat my students in prison the same as my on campus students. 3
• All of you teach these students…you just may not know it. • Students came to me…online and in class. • “They were going to have issues…” How I Came to Teach Formerly Incarcerated Returning Citizen Students! Anyone that teaches in a college teaches formerly incarcerated students, you just may not know that they were. So here are some potentially identifiable traits… Students may come to you with sayings like “they are going to have issues doing things online” or “I need a paper test.” Granted you may also get this same discussion with students that have to have paper tests…but you will find that some of the returning citizens in your class are not that familiar with computers or technology. 4
They may also stick out and easy to recognize in your class… 5
Send a “kite” They may say something like “can I send you a kite?” Within a prison/jail this is a form of communication. A kite could be a note, could be an email etc. It is some of the jargon you might hear. 6
Wearing a Tether • Might need to report “in” at a certain time each class period • May have someone confirming attendance via the college ombudsman You might see a tether, might have someone checking up on them via the ombudsman’s office 7
Trouble “fitting in" May not be able to use computers and may ask for paper Other tests Signals May ask for definitions of words commonly used in the classroom May mispronounce words 8
• BE OPEN • SHOW YOU ARE HUMAN • Meme example How You Can • KNOW ALL YOUR RESOURCES on campus and in community Let The Student Know You Can • KNOW YOUR STUDENT OMBUDSMAN (WOMAN) Help!!! • OFFER, CONFIDENTIALLY, TO TAKE STUDENT(S) for assistance – better yet take the whole class to your student services area as part of a class. First of all if identified – let them know you are open to helping them learn. I usually try to let me my students know that I am human. I bring in my own mis- pronounced word – meme – looks like meme but is pronounced meem. It is a good idea to make sure you have both campus and community resources for the students available. If your college has resource areas on campus – take the whole class with you to show them where they are at. Especially tutoring areas and food pantries. Know your student ombudsman or woman – they can help work with parole officers if a student needs computer time. I helped one of my students learn how to use BlackBoard to take his quizzes, he aced them all. Also taught him the basics of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Good student and started his own business. You can also offer to help a student confidentially one-on-one. Up to you and your comfort zone. 9
Might need a little hand-holding For an online class • Meet with them on campus if possible to go through the LMS and expectations • If unable to come to campus – offer online meeting For an on-campus class • May need to take them to the computer labs • May need to give a very simple course in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Help the student be a success. 10
GREAT NEWS!!! 11
Actually read the book!!! Come to class prepared!!! Once they learn something – stand back – they will Great now challenge your other students to keep up Students Work hard Ask good questions Will challenge you Returning citizens have great study skills!!! Ask tough questions – they are very analytical in their thought process. 12
Many of them are Phi Theta Kappa 13
Be The One… Be the one teacher that helps them unlock their new potential. You won’t regret it. 14
Nothing makes me prouder than to see them inducted into Phi Theta Kappa and to graduate. I feel like a proud parent. 15
Questions? 16
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