School starts in one week for me and I am so excited. I have been teaching first grade for 20 years and each year is so very exciting and wonderful, I can hardly sleep at night in the anticipation. There are currently 26 students assigned to our room. It will be interesting to see what “new” accronym will be applied to our teaching. There has been some talk among administration that we should begin PBIS, RTI, and our district will be doing TPEP. Ahhh, why or why do we educators always look so hopefuly to some new inovative idea that will sovle all of our problems?? Have you ever had the luxury of strolling about a book store and paruse the shelves of books written by well meaning people that describe just how, if we would only use this method or intervention each child would learn, all your behavior/discipline problems would melt away and everything would be just fine?
Whenever anyone decides what make a good teacher the conversation seems to never end, there is always one more dimension to consider. There are just too many layers, partly due to the fact that we have so many different types of learners that bring to the class a different culture for learing. There couldn’t possibly be one solution, yet we continue to search.
Some of our teachers went to a training for Read Naturally – well, what say we Teach Naturally. We have a set of clearly defined standards, many districts have taken the time to define what it looks like when a student has met the standard and we teachers are trained on how to teach the concepts and strategies so students can understand and apply the learning – Is it asking too much for policy makers and other legislation to stop complicating the issue of teaching and allow us to do our jobs? Knowing I will have 26, or possibly more, students that look to me for understanding in math, science, literacy, social studies, and social skills, I am aware that I will need to have many and various strategies to engage, challenge and teach them. Once we have met and I get a clear picture of what it is they currently know and can do, I will need to develop lessons that clearly outline the progression of learning that will allow the students to achieve the standards for first grade. They will need opportunity learn, time to practice, authentic, formative, summative assessments with feedback. In otherwords, they will need to know the learning target, and how to achieve the target.It is challenging, but so very worthwhile when they discover they know a new concept or have met a particularly difficult standard.
One year I had a student that seemed to have all the pieces together(phonics, phonemic awareness, etc) that would allow him to begin to read, yet it just wasn’t happening. After several different strageties and approaches, we found a book that was of a rebus style that he really liked and began to read the book – he was so excited that he took it home to show his family how he could now read. When he returned to school the next day, he read the entire book to me – then with a large smile he looked at me as said,”Isn’t it cool how I taught myself how to read?” Yes, that is was very cool! Learning begins with the learner, the key is having the resources and time to know the student and help design a path of learning for that unique individual student, not trying to wrap some acronym that represents a “researched based” program around the student.
How to be a student
By Mark
For almost a decade, half of my daily schedule has been part of an intervention "program" which is aimed at helping kids transition from middle school to high school. I put "program" in quotes because really all it boils down to is a group of like-minded teachers who've managed to advocate for a little bit smaller class sizes, collaboration time, and some flexibility in an elective class period where we can teach what we call "high school survival skills."
We've had to fight advocate each year to keep from losing the things that we know make the program a success. Though we have generally good support from our administration, they of course have to balance our requests with hundreds of other teacher and program requests. The model that we've now developed is rooted in several key philosophies, but one of them is that students need to be taught how to be students. Like in kindergarten, when some of the first lessons are about sitting in your chair and raising your hand to speak, we try to anticipiate and diagnose what fundamental skills a new high schooler needs to survive. Sometimes this means sitting down on the floor with a kid and cleaning out his backpack to help him develop some kind of organizational system. Sometimes this means practicing unpacking test questions or writing prompts by underlining or annotating. Sometimes this means doing a time inventory to help students develop time management skills. Test taking skills, typing skills, reading remediation, math support, active studying skills… the list goes on and on.
What is sad is that when we explain these lessons to some people (including teachers), their response is that kids should already know this stuff and that we are wasting our time.
And then some of them, unaware of the irony, go on to complain about how their students bombed the last quiz or flopped on the last essay.
To me, this illuminates a problem I see again and again, perhaps driven by the testing movement, perhaps not: we are good at teaching who, what, when, where (and sometimes why) but we often forget about how. That how is not how to build an engine or how to use a formula, but how to be a student. Too often I wonder if we assume kids will fill in that gap themselves. I recall many lunchroom conversations with teachers of all disciplines who vent about students not studying for a given test. I always ask "what did you to do teach them how to to study?" For some teachers, that is an a-ha! moment, for others, they dismiss my comment with something like "that isn't my job." I have the same battle with teachers (of all disciplines, including English) who complain about poor quality writing when all they've done is assign a prompt rather than teach how to write.
With all else we are asked to do, spending some time on how to be a student is one piece of the puzzle that I think is sometimes an afterthought, is forgotten, or is even outright dismissed as a waste. To me it is no different than teaching kindergarteners to raise their hands nicely and wait their turn: if we want a behavior to be performed consistently and successfully, we need to teach it and not just assume the kid will figure it out. That includes teaching students how to be good students.
A Diploma’s Value: At what cost do we raise the graduation rate?
By Tamara
We currently have a 65% graduation rate in my district. Raising that rate has rightfully become the district’s top priority. Yet after my experience teaching summer school at the high school with the lowest graduation rate in the district, I question how administrators are pursuing increased on-time graduation.
My summer school students were mostly upper-classmen needing to retrieve freshman English credits. I was given a packet the students were to complete with the stipulation that as soon as students adequately finished said packet, I could pass them (all summer courses were pass/fail) and send them on their way. This was the expectation for every course offered regardless of subject. Check the box, pass go, collect your credit/diploma.
This approach to credit retrieval raised huge questions and flags for me:
1. If they struggled with the content/concepts the first time around, how was independently completing a packet with the same assignments going to produce success let alone learning or acquisition of skills?
2. If students know they can complete a semester’s worth of credit by completing a packet in a week (this was happening in a number of classes) why should they bother coming to class for 40 weeks during the regular school year? Especially in a neighborhood whose zip code is one of the poorest in the state. Their families often need them to work.
3. What does this kind of “box checking” do to the value of a diploma? We already have businesses and colleges screaming about kids not having adequate skills.
Because I wanted my students to gain confidence and experience success in an area they had struggled, I altered the packet and added additional assignments and assessments. I shared my rationale with them that if they struggled the first time, why do the exact same thing again. Let’s try a different approach to success. Their response was resigned at best, pissy at worst. One student said to me, “I was really looking forward to just completing the packet and getting on with my summer.”
And the real kicker? If they didn’t get the work done and pass the summer session, they could complete those packets in a special after-school “detention” class this fall. Um, accountability? When my eyebrows raised at this, the acting principal quickly pointed out that they needed to do whatever it took for kids to retrieve their credits, graduate on time, and get central administration off their back.
But I ask, at what cost? When expectations are no higher than completing a packet will any of these kids actually graduate with college or work ready skills? Have we given them the opportunity to develop the quality of perseverance or to value critical thinking? Has our (teachers and administrators) transparent goal of graduation by the most minimum standard foster a sense of achievement or even learning? Or have we sold them the idea that “success” is earned by checking a box.
Tamara Mosar
2012-13 will be my twelfth year teaching English Language Development at the middle school. I am the wife of a middle school science teacher (just imagine what our dinnertime conversations revolve around), mother of two children just beginning their journey through K-12, and second language learner who can find every possible route around the subjunctive.
Education policy issues that get under my skin tend to revolve around what 21st
century education should include and look like, how our decisions as adults
support (or not) kids’learning, and how we as an institution and as a
nation address the challenge of educating an evermore ethnically and
linguistically diverse student body.
My School is Not a Failure
It was bound to happen. Sooner or later, the worst law since prohibition was destined to swallow my school. It was like watching a slow, stupid goat thoughtfully and systematically eating the neighbor's zinnias. And now it's finally happened; the fun and games are over: my school failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress.
This is our first year, so it's not so bad. We're only "on notice." But if things don't improve by next year we'll have to send letters home to the parents telling them how lousy we are, with suggestions as to which nearby schools they should send their children. That'll hurt. And in the meantime, we'll have to do something about our math and reading scores, which are apparently the only things that really matter.
The fact that my school didn't make AYP wasn't much of a surprise, actually. We barely scraped by last year, and since then the state raised the bar considerably. Passing this year would have been an incredible feat.
But we failed, and I'm left to describe how I feel. A little disappointed, a little discouraged, but mostly frustrated. Frustrated by the fact that our low reading and math scores belie the many great things about my school, a school that for two years running has received a cash award from the state in recognition of our progress in reducing the achievement gap. But somehow, our test scores don't mention that.
A Full-Time Salary… for School Boards?
By Rob
Lynn Varner, of the Seattle Times, recently wrote this editorial advocating for larger salaries for school board members. Her argument is school boards are tasked with oversight of complex educational systems and informed decisions require more time and a deeper understanding than most board members can offer given their small stipend.
Today, school boards serving large districts must oversee multi-million dollar budgets, allocate resources, communicate district goals, build consensus around initiatives, monitor academic progress, and, at times, answer to frustrated parents or stakeholders. These are not easy tasks; especially when done after work on a Tuesday evening.
Compared to other civic institutions the school board is undervalued. The city of Seattle has over 10,000 employees and a budget of $3.9 billion. Those who oversee the city government, the members of the Seattle City Council, each earned over $110,000. By contrast, the Seattle Public Schools have half the employees (4,914) and a budget of $833.5 million; a large institution by most measures. Yet the School Board members each earn just $4,800 per year.
Would a full-time salaried position for board members increase the effectiveness of the school board? What would a full-time salary buy the public?
A full-time salary would not solve many of the problems that plague ineffective school boards. It will not prevent board members serving different constituents from crafting conflicting policy. It will not prevent infighting, dysfunction, or distrust. A full-time position may lead to increased involvement in issues best left to professionals. It may increase opportunities for discussion of issues but it doesn’t ensure decisions will be made in a publically transparent manner.
Presumably, a full-time position would allow for more thoughtfully vetted policy and greater oversight. All stakeholders would champion more thoughtful policy. But school boards are limited in crafting policy. Many policy decisions are dictated by state and federal statutes. Other policy issues, such as curriculum adoption, are best left to those with expertise in that area. It is unlikely a school board could match the institutional knowledge of curriculum departments or curriculum adoption committees.
The Superintendent is already accountable to the School Board. Would greater oversight extend to the Superintendent’s cabinet? To principals? To department heads? To teachers?
Finally, a full-time position would limit the potential pool of applicants. School Board members represent the community and the constituents they serve. There is value in them maintaining their roles as business leaders, community organizers, involved parents, etc. A full-time board position would most appeal to those without other employment or those seeking loftier political ambitions.
School boards are the link between communities and schools. I am in support of strengthening that link. But I don’t believe paying a school board a full-time salary is money well spent.
Teach For America
By Kristin
I used to be prejudiced against Teach For America. I was sick of hearing about them. I thought of them all as smarmy, privileged, smarty-pants do-gooders who dropped into a classroom for two years, patted themselves on the back and added a line to their resume, then moved on to a career that paid more and was easier than teaching.
Then, I met a bunch of Teach For America teachers and alum and changed my mind about them.
My summer vacation
by Brian
This summer I was able to go to China on a trip sponsored by the NEA Foundation and the Pearson Foundation. The trip was part of an Award for Teaching Excellence, given by the NEA Foundation to a teacher from each state who is nominated by their NEA affiliate. I was chosen by the Washington Education Association to be the 2011 nominee. Cara Haney from Kent, WA, is the 2012 nominee, and the NEA Foundation is planning another trip for Cara and her colleagues next summer. (Tom White, one of the contributors for Stories from School is a previous ATE recipient.)
We travelled to the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and were able to visit schools in each city. We also did tourist things, like visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall (it really is pretty great, especially with vendors with coolers selling cold drinks on hot days.)
Now I'm trying to figure out what to say when people ask me: "How was China?" The only answer that works is inadequate, but true: China is amazing.
Our Problem is Poverty, not Schools
By Tracey
In continuing with the Save Our Schools March events, since it's still so fresh in my mind, I'm posting the speech Diane Ravitch gave at the rally on July 30. She's not Matt Damon, so you may have missed her. (I was deeply touched by the words Matt Damon spoke and am grateful he came. But, I will assume you won't need me to hear his speech.) Ravitch also spoke at the two-day conference leading up to the rally. Her speech at the rally was shortened dramatically, as it should. What you missed was a historical account of how our education system has been "in crisis" since 1910. It's apparently what we do; we claim our schools are in crisis, and then make irrational decisions about how to fix them. Anyone ever read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine? A hundred years of crises should raise some flags. But, the greatest offender at this point in time, is pretending that poverty isn't an issue.
Teacher Advocacy
By Tom
Recently I was asked to join a panel discussion in San Francisco hosted by The College Board, as part of their annual AP conference. The topic was Teacher Advocacy. There were four of us on the panel and they were kind enough to give us some general questions ahead of time so that we could be prepared.
Since this event happened during our blog’s annual month-long hiatus, and since the topic is particularly germane to we’re all about on this site, it gave me a great excuse to review my own beliefs about teacher advocacy. Besides that, being on a panel usually means that you don’t get to answer all the questions, even the ones you really want to answer. So here they are, the questions I was prepared to answer, and the answers I was prepared to give:
What exactly is Teacher Advocacy?
Teacher advocacy is simply speaking up in support of teaching and learning and promoting those policies that improve the teaching and learning conditions in our country.
Why do teachers need to be advocates?
Of all the stakeholders in our education system, teachers are uniquely positioned to know which policies work and which ones don’t. While teachers may not have all the answers, they do get to see what all the answers look like as they play out in classrooms. When teachers see what works and what doesn’t work in schools, they owe it to their students to speak up.
How has Teacher Advocacy changed over the years?