- Special Events
- Teacher of the Year
Caitlin Bailey-Garafola, Marilyn Brooks Secondary Excellence in Teaching
Jasper High School – Social Studies Teacher
Teaching Philosophy
I believe that the purpose of education is to help grow students into participatory members of our society who can apply the skills and knowledge they acquire in school to the rest of their lives. I believe that in order to do this, teachers must create welcoming, safe communities based on a solid foundation of relationships where students can experience failure, grief, joy and explore their interests and beliefs with support and understanding.
As a Social Studies teacher, I think my content is an important vehicle to help students understand their role in the world and to see how they can be agents of change and justice. To encourage them to see themselves in this way, I regularly have students read current event articles, tying what we are learning historically to the world around them. I also regularly open class with opportunities to ask questions or discuss feelings about things happening in the world. While not all of my students will go on to use European/world history in their careers or college education, I hope that my content and our discussions will help them make their way in the world, foster an understanding of those who come from different backgrounds, and provide a blueprint for how they, as individuals, can actively work to have a positive and productive impact on our world.
To be able to have these often difficult conversations about the world, I think it is imperative to start each year and each class by building strong relationships with students, in which they can discuss difficult topics, feel comfortable expressing a variety of emotions, and learn from failures rather than be defeated by them. In my classes, I do this a variety of ways. In my AP European history classes, we begin each Friday with gratitude journals. In these, we list three people and three things we are grateful for and one struggle we are having. Then, we share, always starting with me sharing my own journaling. This has allowed students to get to know me better and for us all to know each other better. In my Humanities classes, we start each Friday with an alignment chart, answering what seems to be silly questions about our preferences. While these things don’t seem connected to my subject, they allow students to be their genuine selves and build community, paving the way for hard historical conversations later. I also try to create a community outside of the regular classroom. For example, in non-COVID years, I host “dinner and a movie” once a month. On these evenings, students bring snacks and we stay late at school on a Friday to watch a movie that somehow relates to the historical period we are living in. These hangs have allowed students in different classes and even different school years to get to
know each other without the pressure of schoolwork that exists during the normal period. Additionally, because I didn't feel like I fit in during high school, I also try to create a space where students feel free to be their full, unique selves. I do this by modeling my own acceptance, showing them that it is ok to be passionate about weird things (Russian history! Any mention of Frankenstein! Women in art!) and then encourage them to share their own knowledge when we get to or touch on things they are passionate about. I’ve let students teach about musical movements they love, inform us about changes to computer science or astronomy, and write a year-long research paper on a topic completely of their choosing. To model learning from failure, I share my own graded essays from college, mistakes I have made along my own educational journey, while offering time to retake/redo most assignments for partial or sometimes full credit.
While all these things inside my classes help give students a sense of belonging, they do have their limits. Recently, a new concern has risen, the question: Have I been making my content, and school in general, relevant to all students? I began to be very concerned that many of our diverse student population didn’t see themselves in our school curriculum, especially in my European history class, which clearly focuses on Europeans. To combat this, I have introduced diverse viewpoints in my courses in both primary and secondary sources, as well as literature. I also created the Jasper Diversity Committee. The Committee has a three-to-four year plan to bring diverse role models to the students of Jasper. Last year, the committee’s first year, we approved lists of role models that fit both what we teach on campus (art, science, math, history, etc) and the federal recognition months (i.e. February = Black History Month). We connected each of these role models (numbering 70-100 a month) to TEKS, and created a central poster hub each month highlighting 20 or so of the role models. This year, we have expanded into a website and an Instagram (@jasperdiversity) that attempts to highlight a different role model every day. Next year and beyond, I hope to continue updating the website and Instagram, as well as having a poster on every door in the school. These posters would highlight one person whose area of expertise matched what was being taught in the classroom. By highlighting diverse role models for students, my goal is that every single student at Jasper sees their goals reflected in a person who shares a similar background with them, encouraging them to see themselves as capable learners and members of our community.
While my content is important, and understanding our place in the world on an individual and community level is central to the historical conversations we have, I don’t think students feel comfortable having those conversations without a foundation of community. I think it is central to a teachers’ work, especially my own, to create strong relationships with students and between students in the classroom. Some of this educational philosophy is selfish -- I am infinitely rewarded by the relationships I have built with students over the past 12 years. When a student reaches out with a news article or book they are reading in college, when they invite me to their wedding or college graduation or the screening of their documentary, when they tell me they’re going into teaching because of my influence, it reaffirms my choices to center relationships in the classroom.
Principal's Recommendation
Dear Plano ISD Teacher of the Year Selection Committee:
It is my pleasure to tell you about Caitlin Bailey-Garafola, Jasper High School Social Studies/AP Teacher. Ms. Bailey-Garafola joined the Jasper staff in August of 2009. Since that time, she has established herself as a master teacher whose impact is felt throughout our building and extends across our district. Her students are unique in that they are some of the brightest in our district. Ms. Bailey-Garafola’s ability to build relationships with them and engage them at such a high level is extraordinary. In the classroom, she has a gift for combining a rigorous curriculum and high expectations for all learners with a warmth and humor that creates an experience that students remember for a lifetime. Her students continue to reach out to her well beyond their years as Jasper. They make a connection that does not end when the final grade is entered. In this very difficult year of teaching and learning during a pandemic, Ms. Bailey-Garafola is often that one individual that serves as hope and a guiding light to students who are struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy in a challenging and uncertain time. Her students have shared with me that learning is always fun and engaging, and that their teacher goes the extra mile to ensure that students are involved in the lesson.
Outside of her classroom, Ms. Bailey-Garafola consistently participates in thoughtful dialogue with her team members to ensure that students have the best instruction possible. Her experience in curriculum and assessment writing provides a wealth of knowledge as her colleagues work together. This results in a high level of student success on AP exams, well above the national average.
While Ms. Bailey-Garafola’s academic work and successes are important, I believe it is her work related to student equity that is most powerful. Ms. Bailey-Garafola has a deep passion for creating equity within her classroom, across her campus, and throughout her community. Her work led to her being named the Plano ISD District Diversity Leadership Award winner in 2020. Through her club and organization sponsorship that helps provide a place for all students to belong and her building-wide initiative to make history relevant to students of all cultures and backgrounds, students feel safe and welcome on the Jasper High School campus.
Because of the pace and rigor of advanced classes, it is sometimes difficult for teachers to get beyond getting through the content and making sure that students are prepared for their next assessment. That is never the case in Ms. Bailey-Garafola’s classroom. As a principal, I have rarely seen a teacher that is as committed to the social and emotional needs of kids as she. Even at this level, she is constantly checking in with students, and the students know that. They know she is on their side, that she is cheering them on, and that she cares. Her heart is in all that she does for students, and that high level of commitment is what makes Caitlin Bailey-Garafola worthy of recognition as the Plano ISD 2021 Teacher of the Year.
Sincerely,
Billie Jean Lee
Principal, Jasper High School