Lifting Their Voices and Learning From Each Other:
A Celebration of Alex Ames
“Hard things are hard.” At the beginning of the fall semester, Waunakee High School’s AP Lang students learn this class motto. Al Ames created a list of examples to illustrate this for students, entitled “Here are some hard things that are hard, most or all of which will happen to you this year.” Among the list of examples are “Mr. Ames told me to revise my essay, but he didn’t say exactly what to change” and “Mr. Ames called on me, and I don’t know what to say; like, my hand wasn’t raised or anything.” Al challenges students and creates an environment where they think for themselves and engage with their creativity. This environment can be unfamiliar territory for many students at first, and they often struggle with a new sense of independence. Al encourages and nurtures deep thinking. He’s never intimidated by tough questions; he welcomes them and models them. Risks are encouraged and boundaries are expanded. He treats his students like the young scholars they are, and they rise to the occasion. One of Al’s former students shared: “Mr. Ames not only makes every kid he has in class a better student, but a better person altogether. I’ll never forget the impact he had on me, and I’m lucky to say I had him as a teacher.”
Al has been teaching English at Waunakee High School for 11 years. He teaches Advanced Composition, AP Language and Composition (AP Lang), and English 9. I worked with Al for six years in the English department, and in 2019–2020, I had the great privilege to collaborate with him teaching AP Lang. I was nervous to teach an AP course, but I could not have asked for a better partner. My worries were alleviated as I began to collaborate and learn from Al. He taught me to trust my students and myself. He taught me that more flexible, rather than stricter guidelines, are often the key to unlocking students’ potential. He taught me stronger methods of questioning and discussion. I am not the only one who has learned from this master teacher; several other English teachers at Waunakee High School shared their appreciation for Al, both as a colleague and friend. Several spoke of his articulation and skilled questioning, along with his advocacy for colleagues and students. He is a true leader in the department, as our colleague Jason McConnell shared: “Al is like the barometer for the department. Doesn’t get overexcited. Doesn’t panic. Always calm, cool, collected. On the rare occasion, you find Al super excited, then you know something is good. Even rarer would be if Al hit panic mode. If that happened, then it’s time to freak out and head for the bunker.”
The 2020–2021 school year began with an overwhelming and new set of challenges for educators. Waunakee High School began the year with an “enhanced virtual model,” so for the most part, students are attending their classes online. Forming relationships with students looks extremely different in an online environment. When I asked Al about building relationships, he shared that in past years, this would come naturally, “in the halls between classes, as students walked in to my room, as I wandered in and out of group discussions, and of course during writing conferences. Other than writing conferences, all of those opportunities are essentially gone this year. So how to make up for them? This year I have reached out to students, individually, much more than in the past.” During their first quarter, Al asked his students to fill out a survey to see how they were doing, and then followed up individually with those who said they were struggling. In one email response to a student, he wrote: “I’m struggling, too. . .please know that I’m here, I’m listening, I’m reading what you write (even if it takes me a little while…). Anytime you have questions or need anything, just let me know.” I can imagine those words having a profound impact on a student, especially in these unprecedented times, and it turns out, they did. Through reaching out to many students individually, Al demonstrates his empathy and willingness to be vulnerable. One of Al’s current students shared with me: “Mr. Ames treats his students with so much respect. He understands his class not only as students, but humans.” Vulnerability and courage go hand in hand, and Al puts both into action each day. Although it looks much different now, he persists in reaching out to students, helping them feel seen and cared for.
Our Greater Madison Writing Project “What We Can Become” cohort centers our work around a set of design principles, which we continually revisit and evaluate in association with classroom practice. One of the principles I find particularly important in this period of online learning is: “Students and educators bring funds of knowledge from their home and background and these strengths are utilized, sustained, and enhanced in the classroom.” This principle is one that Al wholeheartedly believes in. Without a doubt, I am a better teacher from watching Al put this principle into practice, as well as from our conversations about how we interact with students. When I asked him about this recently, he gave an example from a student’s writing conference. Writing conferences are a fundamental component to Al’s teaching. He shared: “I was recently conferencing with an AP Lang. student on her Disobedience Essay. She gave a lot of relatively standard examples of disobedience — Rosa Parks, and the like. But there was one moment in the essay, where she alluded in a sort of offhand way to the fact that she is “a Mexican female in America.” During our conversation, I told her that that moment in the essay stood out to me as having a lot of potential; I thought it could become central to the essay she was writing, if she wanted it to . . . At the end of our conference, this student seemed a lot more engaged with her ideas, and what she was going to write about. It was almost like her background and experience just needed to be acknowledged, and then she was ready for it to become central to her work.” Al consistently practices this in writing conferences with students, lifting them up by encouraging them to expand on strengths in their writing. In reflecting on his conferencing and assessment practices, Al shared: “I see a big part of my job as helping students identify their strengths. Especially as writers, students have been conditioned for so long to write texts that fit formulas, or meet requirements, that their sense of what is good — and what they’re good at — is totally skewed. When I read a student’s work, and when we conference about their work, I focus on drawing their attention to the moments that really stand out for me as a reader, then I ask questions and provide instruction that will help them build on those strong moments. The same thing holds true for how we talk about their areas for growth. It starts from working with students to identify their purpose, then helping them think about what they can work on and focus on to strengthen that purpose, to make it land and sing and shine through.”
A current student of Al’s shared his own experience with writing conferences: “Mr. Ames gives the best feedback. When going over your work, he tends to put himself in the student’s point of view and tries to grasp the real purpose behind the student’s work. He likes to ask questions about your material which really gets you to think in depth about something you may need to revisit or elaborate on. He’s very helpful.”
Our colleague Jenn Johnson speaks about Al’s teaching from a unique perspective: “I am fortunate to not only work with Al, but my own student [son] is in his AP Lang class. I have always loved his energy, but now I have a front-row seat to that, and it’s awesome! I love listening to his sincere words and see the gentle pushes he gives so students can stretch their thinking. My favorite part of the year was spending over an hour talking with my son about an essay from his class; the fact that Ames gets young minds to think about these topics and care amazes me. I admire him on a professional and personal level.”
Al, along with our colleagues Jen Doucette and Larry Hale, was a big inspiration to me in embarking on my GMWP journey in 2018. Al participated in the GMWP Summer Institute cohort of 2017, and spoke highly of his experience. His Teacher Workshop about student choice was inspirational to me, and I found myself sharing a lot of his teaching philosophies. Our colleague and good friend Jen Doucette shared: “I remember five years ago after participating in GMWP, I reached out to Al and timidly said: I don’t want to put letter grades on essays anymore. Nervous at how to bridge that conversation, I waited for his response. And in true Ames form, it was something like… Oh man, we need to do this. Share with me all your research and your findings and we can meet in a few weeks. So I did. A few weeks later we met over coffee and tea and mapped out a plan to de-grade our class, to focus on student growth at the core, to focus on the humans in our space. None of that would have been possible without Al. And for years since, this professional relationship has only tightened. I am a better teacher with Al on my team. I will have an idea, unfleshed out, and he helps me by asking questions and offering counter ideas until we reach an answer. I am not sure this totally honors the value of Al to my teaching — and it doesn’t even begin to cover his value to my life. He is an exceptional educator, and an even better human. I am simply better with him in my life.”
While looking over our “What We Can Become” design principles again, I immediately connected another one to Al’s teaching practices: “Curriculum engages students and educators in a belief in their own humanity and the humanity of others.” This principle clearly ties back to his value of empathy and building relationships with students. He said “I think English class, when it’s boiled down, is all about building empathy. . .To speak, to write, to read, to listen…all of the language arts are about using these uniquely human modes of communication to understand each other as human beings, and to experience and express our shared humanity. That’s why I believe in its fundamental importance, and why I think we must give students the opportunity to develop their own voice, their own ideas — because in doing so they develop their humanity.”
Mr. Ames’ students describe him as “friendly,” “amazing,” “great,” “patient,” “humorous,” and “understanding.” One of his former students shared: “I still remember the first day of class my junior year. Mr. Ames’ bright smile and positive attitude towards learning lit up the room. Every day from that point, fourth hour AP Lang was the only thing I looked forward to during school. He always made the classroom environment a place that everyone felt comfortable in, and above all, he found a way to make an AP class fun.”
Thank you, Al. Thank you for your leadership, empathy, creativity, and kindness. Your colleagues, friends, and students are truly grateful to have you in our lives.
