Side note: The first thing this prompt made me think of was an article I read in my undergrad called, “The Ecology of Writing” by Marilyn Cooper. I don’t remember much about it besides it relating to this in a small way for me.

I don’t know much about ecosystems, or science in general, as my years of being in that discipline have long passed. However, when thinking about how my classroom is comprised, I see multiple elements working together to create something that I couldn’t prepare for anywhere else except for in the moment and with the few structural elements I’ve been gifted before (mostly the prepared I’m thinking about here was for my mentor readiness. Teaching is a bit like improv always was, except that I’m much more comfortable teaching than I ever was doing improv). I think I will compare my classroom to a the dentist office fish tank in the Disney film Finding Nemo.

My classroom is like the tank. It changes once a week, which (if I wanted to push really hard on this metaphor) could be the day that all of the fish get taken out so that the fish can get cleaned/renewed/etc. (even though any person who has seen Finding Nemo will be aware that they have a self-cleaning tank). This shift changes the class in a new and fun way because we’re suddenly working with a different space, more alert because it’s new and we have to reconfigure the social norms we have in that space, and a little on our toes because some of us have forgotten it’s a lab day. The tank is important because it contains us institutionally and prescribes us to all of the norms and expectations we’ve had about what it is to be a student or a teacher before then, but it’s not so confining that we can’t reinvent those ideas.

My role, in this fish tank, is to act as the guide for the class. I’d be Gill in this space (the leader fish with the scar, for those who have seen the film). I’m the leader of the class, but I’m not necessarily the most important part of the class/tank, more of a facilitator of the cultural expectations, learning, and plots for escaping the fish tank (this is specifically here to illustrate not only the parallel to the movie, but also the way that I think the grading contract leaves room for my students to think beyond the institutional norms and pressures to better there writing in more exciting ways than previously anticipated by them… and certainly by me at their age).

Each student from their own perspectives (in this idealized fantasy and metaphor) is Nemo in their own respects because they are: new to the environment; looking for guidance; have a lot of other things going on in their lives besides what happens in the tank; and experience mentorship (ideally) from not only Gill/me, but also the rest of the class. The rest of the class is, from the perspective of whichever Nemo you are, the other characters/fish in the tank (Deb, Bubbles, Peach, and so on). They’ve been through similar situations, know what Nemo is going through, and are willing to help each other out. They’re there to push and pressure Nemo into going through the bubble volcano ceremony because it’s something everybody does. By trying to foster accountability and community within the classroom, it becomes easier for them to adhere to what is expected of them. Something like the bubble ceremony or sharing in class is encouraged by the pressures of everyone being expected to do it. A lot of this is instilled by past experiences they’ve had.

As an audience member of Finding Nemo, we only know what the other fish in the tank are willing to share with us, and that’s how the classroom is too. We know where Nemo has been (where we, as students, have been), but unless those in the tank are willing to share their past and identities with us, we are out of luck. We will never know exactly what’s brought the students to us here, but we (or me as the teacher) will be able to continue to foster community and relationship within that space—just as Gill has done for his fish tank. Gill has studied what’s outside of the tank and tries to get Nemo where he’s going. As a teacher within this “ecosystem” or “fish tank,” it’s my job to try to help the students to get out of this tank and onto the next thing more prepare, and hopefully onto better things. There’s always a chance that something goes wrong, but we just have to handle it as it comes.

 

I don’t know how much this post encapsulates exactly what we were trying to get at in the prompt. However, when I think of my class, I don’t have enough individual identities loudly present enough for me to think more about how they contribute in different ways other than what they do and do not share with us in the classroom setting.