Tag Archives: education

It’s the Principal of the Matter

Posted by on
Education, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, National Board Certification | , ,

Picture 1By Travis

Principals are near useless. Near…I would not be so mean as to say totally. I know they serve a purpose. But, hey, let’s be honest. How often is your principal in your classroom? If you are lucky, it is twice a year for the district mandated formal observation. Principals do not teach classes so how could a principal possibly understand life in your classroom? They cannot relate. When seen in the big picture, principals do not do much to impact instruction, and as such, are near useless.

However, my principal is not. Lisa teaches.

Continue reading →

Trash Talking the Washington Ed Budget

Posted by on
Current Affairs, Education Policy | , , ,

Picture 2

 By Travis 

Not too long ago, Governor Gregoire’s educational budget cuts came out, and I have had some time to think about it.

Washington, you can continue to be a pillar of education strength.
Washington, you worked so hard to not have California-sized classrooms.
Washington, your students have already given up a lot.
Washington … you need to figure out your budget.

Please do not trash the future of our children's education. 

Continue reading →

The School Stool

Posted by on
Life in the Classroom, Social Issues | , , , ,

Picture 1By Travis

A few weeks ago, Tom had a post that spoke to me, We Can’t Do This Alone. In this post, he states how parent involvement is key to a student’s success, but somehow it seems that the focus becomes teacher quality. The idea of a shared responsibility for a student’s education, struck me as important since it has come up a few times at Stories for School. It came up again. Last week. During my parent conferences.

Each teacher had a table around the perimeter of the gym with two chairs in front for the parents and student. Parents visited any of the teachers with which they wish to have a conversation.

To my left was a senior math teacher. To my right, a sophomore technology teacher. Me … I am a freshman English teacher. I had a variety of conversations that night with parents about family responsibility. I was getting worn out having the same conversation with parents about what they can do to keep their student on track and I started to listen to the conversations on my left and right, it was clear my conversations were not unique. Many families are not ready for how school is done.

Continue reading →

It Starts with Paper

Posted by on
Current Affairs, Education Policy, Parent Involvment | , , , ,

Paper hand

By Travis

As a child, when I was sick, I would lay in bed watching old black and white shows on the family TV. This was before cable so I watched whatever was showing. Also of note, the family TV had four stations.

I watched a number of police stories as that is what seemed to be on TV in the early afternoon. I enjoyed the suspense and the angles. The drama. Most of the shows had a scene where an inmate would trade secrets, privileges, or wealth for cigarettes. The money system in jail is cigarettes. In my school, the money system is paper.

Continue reading →

The School that Teaches Together … Reaches Together

Posted by on
Uncategorized | , , , , , ,

Pencil Party

By Travis

School started this last week. Students were bright-eyed and ready. The fresh smell of sharpened pencils permeated the classroom. My colleagues and I readied our curriculum and routines that will keep even the squirmiest of teenagers engaged in their learning because, after all, it is THEIR learning.

My classes are full. Every seat filled. If any more students are assigned to my classroom, I will have to create a time-share-desk situation. I like a full and busy classroom. I like having a herd of students. However, overcrowding makes students feel like an after thought. I wonder if I will ever see a change to class size in my time as a teacher.

At the close of the week, I noticed one noteworthy difference this year—there is more collegiality within my school than I felt last year. Excellent.

Last year was a hard time for my school. It was the first time in 6 years that the principal was the same person, two years in a row. In addition to this, much of my department, the English department, was new—the Freshman department had only one veteran member.

This year, I am a returning freshman teacher. We now have two veteran freshman English teachers out of 5. 

The teachers at my school are good teachers. They are strong in instruction and know the best practices for their subject matter; they love working with students; and they put in extended hours. As a school, we have a metanarrative that binds us and I feel that this year we will make gains toward that.

How about the state of Washington? What is the educational metanarrative? And does Washington’s metanarrative involve something other than testing? 

photo by Scott Coulter

iPod Touch – A Jump Start in 21st Century Learning?

Posted by on
Uncategorized | , , ,

 

New-review-apple-ipod-touch-third-generation_large By Tracey

I apologize for my absence from the recent discussions, but I’ve been wholly and completely absorbed by two time-zapping projects.  Both of which I plan to blog about, and one I’m excited to launch in my classroom tomorrow. 

Over two years ago, I was one of many teachers across Washington lucky enough to receive a Peer Coaching grant from OSPI.  The grant included lots of training about being a peer coach to help others (and myself) integrate technology into classroom instruction, plus money to buy equipment.

Most grant recipients knew exactly how to spend their money and purchased hardware immediately.  I’m not much of a shopper.  I never know what to buy.  And since my school already had the big ticket items- a document camera, student response system, and an Airliner (a cheap alternative to the interactive white board)- we focused on learning how to use these.  We bought some Flip video cameras and rechargeable batteries, but most of the money stayed put.  Until, thanks to Mrs. Brown, the laptop cart-hogging sixth-grade teacher down the hall, I developed an expensive dream.  I wanted a class set of iPod Touches.

Continue reading →

Merit Pay is Not the Answer

Posted by on
Uncategorized | , , , ,

Trophy Image 3By Mark

My email inbox this last week has been peppered by NBPTS SmartBrief articles with distinctly contradictory messages. First, there was the report from Tennessee that a three-year longitudinal study on merit-pay in Nashville revealed that merit pay had no impact on student learning. Then, quick to follow, was a rebuttal from an administrator in Texas arguing that merit-pay does impact student performance. And, lo and behold, Friday, I read that the feds ponied up $422 million for use in teacher merit-pay initiatives. Merit pay is certainly a "pretty" idea and a publicly palatable solution, so no wonder we're throwing millions on the bandwagon.

Personally, ten years into this business, I don't want more money for the work I do. More pay won't give me what I really need to be a better teacher. I'm dealing with finite resources here, and despite what Oprah might want America to believe about all educators, I'm not a "lazy teacher" who leaves promptly at 3:00pm to munch bon-bons during a leisurely afternoon and who has nothing better to do than complain about not being paid enough (Oprah, why all the hate?). More pay won't motivate me to work harder…since that implies that I'm not working hard enough as it is. Tempting me with more pay simply won't make me better at my job.

But give me more of something else and I guarantee you'll see a better teacher.

Continue reading →