Long lines, few supplies, fearing the boss: One teacher says his Bronx school was ‘just like Poland, 40 years ago’

At first blush, the New York City school system and Communist Poland would seem to have little in common. But Tomasz “Tomek” Krzyzostaniak, a Bronx teacher whose family emigrated from Poland in 1991, says his dad saw many similarities between the two— from long lines to a shortage of supplies.

Tomek drew the comparison during Teachable Moments, a live storytelling event for New York City teachers. Held in June at a bar called Harlem Nights, the event marked the end of the school year and invited teachers to share stories based on the theme “Best (Blank) Ever.”

Here’s Tomek’s story on the Best Bulletin Board Ever.

This story has been condensed and lightly edited.

When I was thinking about the topic for today, I was thinking a lot about the early years [at my previous school], the beginning, when things were really tough. Everything was new. It was difficult. And I would call my parents and share stories, and my dad would consistently say the same thing. (If you didn’t know, I am Polish. I was born in Poland.)

In his thick Polish accent, my dad would say, “Just like Poland, 40 years ago.”

Now to put that in context, Poland 40 years ago was in their final dictatorial communist regime that was corrupt beyond imagination. So I would talk about, for example, the long lines waiting to pick up the ELA [English Language Arts] test. How many of you here have done that? Wait for 40 minutes. You have to sign a stupid form and all you get is a stupid test back. And I would say, “Just waiting in line.” And he would say, “Poland, 40 years ago.”

I would talk about the shortage of supplies, or copiers. “Poland, 40 years ago.” I would talk about favoritism and nepotism. “Poland, 40 years ago.” Same thing.

I would talk about the symbolic walkthroughs — the superintendent is coming! All of a sudden, schools have to have everything in order, just for show. “Poland, 40 years ago.”

But with all that said, I would talk about the close friends I have, the colleagues that support each other and love each other, helped each other out, and he would say, “Poland, 40 years ago.” When times were tough, and you were part of the resistance, you made friends and you did the best you could.

So, with that in mind, my biggest nemesis in the public school system was the dreaded bulletin board.

I hated the dreaded bulletin board, not because of philosophical ideas about bulletin boards — it could be a beautiful thing, sharing our students’ ideas and beliefs. The way the bulletin boards looked, at least in our school, was you could only put up not-actual work, because you had to put up perfect work. Everything had to be spelled exactly right, all the standards had to be there, all the descriptions. The work wasn’t authentic. It was all for show.

They would make you put up this bulletin board, they’d make you stress out over it, come around, and give you feedback: “Oh, I like the color,” or something. That’s it. It didn’t have any meaning, it wasn’t done for the kids. It was done for show. “Poland, 40 years ago.”

So, with my friends Ruben and another teacher, who we’ll call Sloman, we were over it. So, Sloman and I made a bet on who could create the best bulletin board.

Ruben volunteered to be our judge, and as Ruben would, he created rubrics, thought very closely about what it would take to make this very personal, progressive bulletin board.

[And I] worked so hard on it. Put out my students’ best work on it. My bulletin board was 3-D. It was interactive! Second grade social studies. We made longhouses from the Native American tribes here in the Northeast. They were so cool. They were so beautiful. Kids did such a great job on it.

So the day came, and Ruben came with his clipboard. He looked at my bulletin board first. He made some notes. I think he was impressed by the 3-D nature of it. Unlike anything seen at the school previously.

We went upstairs. I looked at Sloman’s bulletin board. And I didn’t win.

Sloman didn’t have a three-dimensional board, but Ruben’s feedback — which was more feedback than we had received from any administrator ever — talked about transformative skills, authentic work, the level of rigor, a lot of really smart stuff that we missed in my bulletin board.

The Best Bulletin Board Ever, the title, went to Sloman. But after that feedback, after that authentic feedback, I’d like to think that my bulletin boards after that were the best ever.

Tomek Krzyzostaniak is the lower school academic director at Girls Prep Bronx Elementary. Originally from Poland, he has worked as an educator in New York City for 10 years. He started as a second-grade teacher at P.S. 33 in the Bronx.

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