Joshua Santiago is a 5th grade teacher at O’Brien Elementary School who works to prepare his students academically, socially and emotionally for middle school next year. He builds meaningful connections with students, even spending time with them during lunch and at after school events, to show how much he cares.
“He just makes great connections with students and builds the relationships. You can often find him using his own lunch time to just sit with students, and he'll even take students from other classes and have a lunch bunch right in the cafeteria,” explained O’Brien Principal Diane Leja. “He also attends so many of our family engagement [events]. He brings his own family, his wife and daughter to it, and the kids have a great time seeing him there, meeting his family and seeing that he's participating in our family events that are beyond our contractual day. It's just wonderful to see his dedication to the O'Brien community and taking time out of his personal life to show up for the kids.”
Principal Leja noted his unique ability to speak with children in a way where they feel seen, heard and respected, and how that translates to results in the classroom. Santiago is consistently working on his pedagogy and working to be the best teacher and role model he can be. He also serves as a data team leader and takes opportunities to share his technology expertise with other teachers and staff members.
Leja said, “Mr. Santiago is definitely someone who has a growth mindset. He's always asking the coaches and myself questions. When I do a formal or an informal observation of him and provide feedback, he’s asked me to go a little deeper and further. He's just constantly looking to be better.”
Learn more about Joshua Santiago in the Q&A below.
How long have you been an educator and at O’Brien School?
Santiago: I've been in education for about seven years. The first couple of those were as a building substitute. I started my career in Hartford and I've been at O'Brien, this is my fifth year here – one year in kindergarten and four years in grade five.
In fifth grade, what are some of your goals for your students? What are you working on in class?
Santiago: For our students, we're really trying to get them to be more independent thinkers and prepare them for the challenges of middle school, which is quite a bit different from elementary school. So, that's one of the major things we've been working on and just building resilience, empathy and care for one another.
How would you describe your classroom environment?
Santiago: First and foremost, I try to create a really calming atmosphere, one where kids feel like they can come in and they know what to expect. There are lots of very clear and defined procedures. We also look to have very calming activities most of the time with nice, chill music playing. But every now and then during a lesson, we do like to get up. We like to be active. We like to talk to each other. So it’s a nice mix, but calm, first and foremost.
What made you interested in becoming an educator and what keeps you going now?
Santiago: I've always been really passionate about helping people. And when I became a substitute teacher, I felt that it was really rewarding to help students grow into the potential that they could have. So that was always a pretty big thing. But as I got into the job, I started learning about the human side of it, forming relationships with students, being someone that they can count on, and for some students, being one of the main positive role models for them. And I think, for me, that's what keeps it going.
What are some of the challenging aspects of teaching fifth grade?
Santiago: I think, for me, the main challenges don't even come from the instructional or the planning side. It's a lot more of the emotional and social parts of it, especially in fifth grade, where students are really discovering human relationships, and a lot of the times they don't really know how to navigate that. And that's something that we were really trying to do together. So I think that, to me, is probably the hardest part, helping kids figure out how to solve problems, how to talk to each other, how to approach things in a positive way and be proactive about solving problems.
What are your favorite parts of your job?
Santiago: I think my favorite thing definitely is just forming relationships with students, getting to know them personally, but also letting them get to know me as well. Because I think that, I've had this in the past where I kind of keep a pretty strong wall, a very strong boundary, and I think as I've gone and gotten more experience, I've learned that you kind of have to let it go a little bit, let them get to know you, and I think they appreciate you a lot more for it.
How do you think those relationships you’ve formed impact student performance?
Santiago: I think it impacts it in a strong way, because I think that when they feel that you care a lot and care deeply about them as individuals, they really start to want to perform for you. And even if it's just picking something up without giving a fuss or just the thought of disappointing you on a test or in their daily interactions, they don't want to hear that they disappointed you.
I think that students really like to hear when they're doing things right. Even when you pick up on the small little things. Something that I saw, I actually got the idea from another teacher on social media, and I tried it out. I've been writing little sticky notes to students here and there, just to kind of give them some affirmation, but very personalized. And what I found is that a lot of the students really appreciate them. Everybody got one probably three weeks ago, and if you actually look around the room, more than half of them still have them on the top of their desk. It could be that they forgot about them there, but I'm going to say, for at least some of them, it probably means something to them. So, I think it's kind of cool. And teachers, I think, are in a place where they could really help some of their students out and say positive things and make them feel great about themselves.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.