By Mark

The last few weeks I've been really busting my tail. A month or so ago, I noticed some major problems in my 10th graders' analytical writing. They were writing often, but only maybe once a week could I find time to give much feedback–and too often by the time I'd get the feedback returned to them, it would be just enough a delay as to be irrelevant to them. Even in the span of one week, some kids had forgotten they'd even done that writing I was handing back to them. I saw almost no skill growth from my feedback in their next writing sample. It's the same struggle I have every year and the same issue most teachers of writing encounter. Despite my feedback, the students would persist with the same errors in conventions, arrangement, and idea development. 

However, these like so many problems I see in my learners' abilities to learn, are all problems I know how to fix. 

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by Brian 

The cherry trees are blooming, so it must be pink slip season.  For many years my district was spared the trauma of using the Reduction in Force (RIF) language in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  But last year's state budget disaster forced us into implementing it, and we gave notices of non-renewal to 16 teachers.  Thankfully they were all eventually hired back, as we weathered the cuts with attrition and federal back-fill dollars.  This year as the budget crisis continues we may not be so lucky.

I teach math, so I like rules that are consistent.  You need rules to make a RIF list.  Almost universally they are based on seniority.  But how do you calculate seniority?

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By Tom

I am a wonderful teacher this year. My students are focused, hard-working and smart. They've produced some excellent test scores and I couldn't be more proud of them. And myself.

It started in the fall at Curriculum Night. My presentation was so convincing that the parents have been carefully checking their children's homework each night, helping them practice their spelling words and drilling them with flash cards. They all showed up for parent conferences and many of them took notes. They've made sure that my students are well-rested, well-fed and well-prepared for school each day.

I think I know another reason for my success. I don't waste a lot of my time with classroom management. I mostly focus on teaching and the kids (most of whom are girls!) listen.

I wasn't always this good. A few years ago, in fact, I stunk. My class was rowdy and unfocused. My Curriculum Night presentation was not compelling; I consistently had kids coming in hungry, sleepy, cranky and unprepared. I had failed to get their parents to support me at home.

Moreover, I was frittering away the day on classroom management activities that did nothing to bring my students closer to the state standards. I had a hard time getting that class (most of whom were boys) to listen.

Oh well; live and learn. When I work hard, my kids learn. When I slough off, they don't. One event causes the other. Just like breakfast causes lunch.

By Kristin

There is a great piece in the New York Times Magazine titled Building a Better Teacher.  It's a long but good read.

In it, Elizabeth Green highlights Doug Lemov's efforts to identify effective teacher maneuvers.  Lemov discovered that it's important for teachers to have some sort of techniques with which to improve their teaching because many of them graduate from teacher education programs ill-prepared to teach effectively.

I couldn't agree more, and wondered what all of you would like to see change in teacher education programs.

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By Tom

Just when you think you've seen every School Improvement Plan imaginable, someone comes along and proves you wrong. In a remarkably innovative move, Frances Gallo, the superintendent in charge of Central Falls School District in Rhode Island, fired every single teacher in the district's only high school. She now plans to hire a brand new staff by September in her bold plan to turn around the under-performing school.

Central Falls, a town of 19,000 people, is the state's poorest community. 40% of its children live in poverty. The high school has a graduation rate of only 50%, and a mere 7% of the juniors are proficient in math.

Obviously, it's the teachers' fault, and clearly, something had to be done. Fortunately, Ms. Gallo stepped up to the plate.

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 By Mark

What exactly does this word mean?

I read often that the reason schools are failing is that teachers are not being held accountable. Teacher accountability is the solution to all the problems in public education. Tie teacher pay to performance, make them accountable! If students don't perform, shutter the school, fire the teachers, hold them accountable!

I work to make sure that I hold my students accountable. But, that doesn't mean standing at the front of the room and making threats and demands until they perform. If I am going to hold my students accountable, I know that I have a responsibility to them. I must offer them the time, the training, and the support to do the tasks for which I am holding them accountable. I must give them strategies and resources, not just mandate that they do while I watch and wait, leaving them to figure it out and readying to punish them if they don't.

So, I'm a relative young'un…not even a decade in the business.  Can someone please explain to me how "holding teachers accountable" will solve all the problems in education today? Why are we focused on accountability (which to me, for some reason, carries a punitive connotation) rather than preparation and providing adequate resources?

 By Tracey

Have you seen new technology standards? They're not actually "new".  They've been around since December, 2008; but most teachers I talk to don't know about them.  They're pretty remarkable. They emphasize collaboration, innovation, investigating, problem solving, creativity, and responsible digital citizenship.  The picture you see is a Wordle I made from the standards, which takes all the words and displays them, with their size relative to the frequency they occur in the document.  Digital, learning, and technology certainly do stand out.  But so do the words use and district.  What are your districts doing to encourage the use of technology?  I'm curious because in my district we're lucky in that we have technology, the problem is that we don't use it.  

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 By Tracey

I got another email from my principal.  This time, it said, "FYI" and included a link to Randy Dorn's statement about the senate's budget proposal.  Both the house and senate released their supplemental budget proposals for these hard economic times.  They released them with apologies, recognizing the sacrifice we all must make when faced with deep cuts to social services during a time when cuts have already been made.  

Dorn's statement is sobering.  He lists some startling facts, one of which is that the state would fund $3,815 per student, which is just $108 shy of what we provided our students more than 16 years ago.  $650 million would be cut from K-12 education, bringing class sizes up just a touch below what's legal for K-3 students and at the legal limit for 4th-12th grade.  2,500 teachers would lose their jobs, not to mention the huge loss of para-educators, janitors, and other important people who help make a school run smoothly.  The cuts are severe; and the impact would be huge in classrooms across the state.

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by Brian

The state has mandated that all students must now pass Algebra and Geometry to graduate from high school. Therefore, many students and parents have decided to forgo taking a Pre-Algebra class, because it will not count as a math credit towards graduation.  The dogma, the unquestionable belief,  that we teachers are sworn to uphold is that all children can learn. 

Yes, they can.  But they need all the knowledge that will allow the new learning to make sense.   So what do you do when a student comes to you and says: "You're wrong, this is too hard"?  

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