Over the past few months, the IRC has asked members of our community to nominate Illinois teachers working with multicultural, multilingual students who are going above and beyond, and now, we’re celebrating them and highlighting their work. Keep an eye out for these features in the coming months – and if you’d like to nominate someone, email leanet@cntrmail.org. Next up is Brenda Mendoza, a 2nd grade teacher at Greenman Elementary School in Aurora, who recently received the Latinx Educator Impact Award at the Latinx Educator Awards!
When the Latinx Education Collaborative honored Brenda Mendoza with their Latinx Educator Impact Award last year, she had a lot of people to thank—her students, her community and most of all, her parents. “I’m a Hispanic teacher and I’m also first generation in this country, and on top of that, I’m the first to go to college, first to get a Masters,” she says. “What the award signifies to me is that my parents sacrificed so much their entire lives to make sure I could live my passion. I couldn’t think of a greater thing to dedicate to them. That award belongs to them.”
Mendoza is living that legacy every day and making an impact through a variety of channels, in and out of the classroom. Mendoza’s service to her community extends beyond her 2nd grade classroom at Greenman Elementary—she is an ASCD Emerging Leader and leader of the Whole Child board for Illinois ASCD, as a volunteer. She says the opportunity to write educational policy drives her, and she has helped pass initiatives like the dedication of the month of March as Whole Child Month.
That emphasis on supporting the whole child shows up in Mendoza’s approach to classroom teaching. Like many educators, she sees her time as an educator split between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic. When she was still teaching remotely, she knew she needed to implement a plan for when students came back.
She saw many students dealing with separation anxiety, and students who remained home and in remote learning than some of their peers across the state.
Mendoza says she wants to ensure her students feel supported from the moment they walk in the door, so they begin the day with a check-in. She uses a scale where students can rate their emotional state anonymously, and under no obligation to share further details. If she sees a student is starting the day off struggling, she will have a one-on-one conversation with them and give them the opportunity to share their feelings if they so choose.
“Identifying how to put words to their feelings was a priority,” Mendoza says. “My students couldn’t tell their parents what was frustrating them. Giving them that language, even in Spanish, that’s one component to support their wellbeing.”
The check-ins aren’t the only tool Mendoza uses to promote student wellbeing. She teaches her students breathing exercises, grounding exercises they can do if they’re feeling overwhelmed or upset, and even some kid-friendly meditations. Her classroom also has a calming corner with tools like fidget toys, calming gel and even a tent if a student needs privacy while calming down. “My goal is to create productive humans who can connect and be helpful and leave the world a better place,” she says.
Academically, Mendoza prioritizes engagement and challenging students. She supplements the curriculum with culturally relevant literature and activities that promote multilingual development, and incorporates project-based learning to help students understand the material. “I don’t want them just to memorize, I want them to understand why they are being asked to learn something,” she says.
Her advice to new teachers is equally simple and challenging: setting boundaries and focusing on wellbeing will allow you to be more present in the classroom.
“Educators are so passionate about what they do,” she says. “We dedicate our lives towards our students and our community, and in order for us to keep giving our best to our students, we have to take care of ourselves. I like to reflect or give gratitude in the morning to align myself for the day, and at the end of the day, I have to transition from work. I will change my clothes when I get home so I can be Brenda, not Maestra.”
