As promised, here is the keynote itself to peruse at your leisure. As with everything on my site, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License .

Bottom line: please feel free to use it in the classroom and for educational purposes. It’s my pleasure to share.

The worksheets are reprinted with permission from my workbook published by Teacher Created Resources.  If you are interested in purchasing the workbooks for grades 3-5 or 6-8, please click here.

Please copy and paste the following links:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4234943/Internet%20Literary-%20The%20Genre.key.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4234943/CUE%20Handouts.pdf

Thanks again for attending.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.

-Heather WG

aka Tweenteacher

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Post tags: education, genre, internet literacy, k-12, media literacy

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Bottom line: please feel free to use it in the classroom and for educational purposes. It’s my pleasure to share.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4234943/CUE%20podcasting%20FINAL.key.zip

-Heather WG

aka Tweenteacher

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Post tags: collaboration, education, k-12, podcasting

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In this last installment, I cover the following topics:

The Curriculum

The Student Teacher Apprenticeship Program

Relationships between Districts and Teacher Prep Programs

Graduation Requirements

…And Beyond

They aren’t fully flushed out. There are holes. Perhaps they cause problems even while solving others. But as I’ve said before, just as the future of science sometimes begins in science-fiction, so does the future of education begin in education-fiction.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The Curriculum: Approximately 1 year, with waiver opportunities possibly shortening this portion of the program.

Each class is structured to address how it applies to any or all of the 3 Cs (Content, Communication, and Character). By the end, each staff member is asked to evaluate the candidate on a rubric based on all of these categories to determine if he or she will move ahead to the apprenticeship portion of the program. The Intro to Collaboration and Nuts and Bolts classes can be waived based on the specifics of a Professional Evidence Portfolio (see Part I on the Professional Evidence Portfolio).

Class #1: History of Teaching. This class is about modeling practice through the study of past great teachers. It is also about keeping the ideal of the greatest teachers pinned to the bedroom mirror frame, reminding candidates of the teacher they are striving to be. This class studies the practice of some of the greatest teachers in history, both from the United States and abroad. These classes could also include the great teachers from literature to serve as a model or as an inspiration for the candidate’s own practice. Studying “superteachers” will help more of them to be super teachers. Was that too gimmicky? But it holds true. This class examines the professional lives of those who history or literature has deemed great in their influence of Content, Communication, and Character.

Class #2: Scenario Management – This class includes actual scenarios submitted by teachers to aid in quick problem-solving and discussion prompts. This allows students to brainstorm together to solve the problems while also giving candidates a real glimpse into the window of classrooms at every grade level and subject matter. They will mimic the possible reactions of the teachers studied in the prerequisite: History of Teaching, developing their own solutions with the qualities of those teachers in mind.

Class #3: Nuts and Bolts – This class covers the basic logistics of daily teaching life. It will deconstruct a teacher’s day, week, month, and year. This class talks about pacing lessons, pacing units, and pacing the year. What is the rhythm of a classroom? How does a teacher take attendance, respond to emails by parents or administrators? How many decisions does a teacher make in a 5-minute period? How does a teacher read a contract or a pay stub? How does a new teacher design a student-engaging classroom? How does one prep for a sub?

Class #4: Intro to Collaboration – This class will not only discuss the importance of collaboration in education, but will model it through participation. It will group candidates by grade level or subject level, allowing them to work in cohorts during this class to brainstorm lessons and tweak lessons in popular textbooks. The candidate will, thereby, by able to leave with a binder or portfolio of lessons already designed with the help and creativity of others. This class can’t be ABOUT collaboration; it must use collaboration to help each candidate.

Class #5: Intro to Creating Assessments - This class will cover the fundamentals of assessments. What makes a good assessment? What makes a fair assessment? What is the purpose of assessment?

Class #6: Grading Practices – This class demystifies what it is to grade papers, essays, multiple choice, etc…What kinds of rubrics exist and how can they be used better and more formatively? What is the purpose of grading, and how can a candidate create a system that can help students. How can a teacher work with or develop a grading system that does not become the focus of their practice and time? Popular variations of practices will be studied. Different grading programs will be discussed.

Class #7: Intro to Reflection – This class is meant to be conducted simultaneously with the student teaching apprenticeship 2-year program. The candidates must reflect on each lesson they conduct, its pros and cons. They must also analyze and evaluate lessons that they observe from many Mentor Teachers on campus. They can choose the method of their reflection, whether it is by blog, index card, journal, voice memo, etc…thus, differentiating their own reflection in the hopes that they will allow options to their future students one day. These pieces are then compiled and looked back on at different stages of the apprenticeship program.

Class #8: Teaching Metacognition – Many teachers don’t realize that the IQ can change. This is a powerful concept. How can teachers teach how to think? What are the methods of teaching the brain to embed information more effectively? This class will use brain research to help candidates understand how the brain works and learns at different stages in life and what lessons we can develop to address the brain’s abilities in its specific stages.

Class #9: Project Based Learning – How do the lessons of today apply in life outside of school? Teaching with project-based learning is one way for teachers and students to work together to problem solve real life problems. This class will walk a teacher through the methods of PBL and will give them specific methods of integrating their subject matter content. It will also cover the importance of applying each lesson to “real life” and making it clear to the students that what we learn in school is not just to prepare for a test, but to prepare for that life.

Class #10: Diversity in Learning and Teaching – What are multiple-intelligences? What are learning styles? What is a candidate’s learning style, and how can they teach to other styles? Moving beyond the brain research, how can a teacher address the different learners in his or her classroom? Does differentiation really mean we lose all standardization? If our purpose is to teach ALL students, then this class intends to introduce candidates to many of the thinkers he or she may encounter.

Student Teaching Apprenticeship Program 2 years of a paid, on-site apprenticeship program

OK, assuming a candidate has progressed to the next round in their preparation program (remember, the staff assesses each candidate in the 3 Cs before allowing that candidate to enter the apprenticeship program), then what follows is one possible student teaching scenario:

It’s a given. Candidates must have more time in the classroom with Mentor Teachers, co-teaching, as a means to learn what it is to have their own classroom. These Mentor Teachers should be given an appropriate salary to take on the apprentices of our profession. In turn, the candidates work closely with certain selected students in the class, giving additional support to targeted kids. Candidates are given the responsibility to keep track of those few students’ data. They can work on using assessments formatively with that student, reflecting with them, and can monitor their progress. Schools are in desperate need for smaller class sizes and more individualized attention for remedial students. Don’t pull those kids out, but rather, give them some additional support from these apprentice teachers. This is not in lieu of the Mentor Teacher’s attention; but it works in addition to that attention and expertise.

The 2-years of co-teaching is a paid position with a salary commensurate of apprentice-appropriate pay. It is not the district that pays the candidate. The candidate is paid out of monies supplied by both the teacher prep program and the government. It is not, therefore, in the best interest of the teacher prep program to pass everyone onto the student teaching round as it is now. In fact, as the process continues, there should be gates to go through to ensure that only the highest quality of educators are those who ultimately receive the credential.

During the apprenticeship, the candidate works closely with multiple Mentor Teachers (including an ELD teacher, RSP teacher, and content appropriate teacher), observing and learning.

Meanwhile, in addition to attending the Intro to Reflection class, the candidate must also attend simultaneous classes provided by the district on the demographic, cultures, and challenges that are specific to that district. Originally, the teacher prep programs taught these classes in the form of watered down, overall, nonspecific classes on multiculturalism. Pass the funds used to teach these out-of-context courses to the districts themselves. The districts, therefore, take on the role of educating their new candidates and teachers about the groups that are directly reflected in the new hires’ classrooms. These classes will have more impact when applied to the current experience of the teacher, and it is more important for the district to be providing their knowledge and support based on the demographics of their own community.

Relationships between Districts and Teacher Prep Programs
Teacher preparation programs should work in close affiliation with a particular school or district. The program knows the Mentor teachers and the Mentor teachers are involved with the teacher preparation program. It behooves both parties to make the relationship work.

Like many “teaching hospitals,” there will be more schools known as “teaching schools.” These schools are sought after by families because it means smaller student-to-educator ratios and because presumably, those in the classroom are the best quality, eager to be there and learn the best teaching practices from the Mentor Teachers who represent the best of their profession.

Graduation Requirements
The candidate’s ultimate graduation from the teacher prep program is comprised of the following:

1. a lesson portfolio

2. a digital resume including taped lessons to show potential employers

3. content specific testing

4. recommendations from the Master Teachers from the classroom program

5. recommendations from the Mentor teachers from the apprenticeship program (an ELL teacher, RSP teacher, and content specific teacher)

6. satisfactory observation evaluations from a supervisor from the prep program and well as a district observer.

If a candidate passes with ¾ of those at the table satisfied with his or her performance (assessed over a period of time), then they can be awarded a credential. A candidate with the unanimous vote of approval receives special recognition that can be used like an additional badge of accomplishment, ranking them higher than other graduating candidates.

…And beyond

And just as there is differentiation in our own classes, maybe there should be tiers of allowance for new teachers, like keys to different access of autonomy. Some new teachers will be able to take things on quickly, others will need more scaffolding and time. Some new teachers will climb quickly up the salary scale towards the golden chalice: tenure by showing facility in the three Cs, while others will be given more guidance and mentorship for as long as growth is seen. And with experience and expertise comes more responsibilities. After all, it makes no sense to give the new teacher a harder job when he or she is just learning the job. No, there is a trade off for tenure and more pay: more effort and more contribution to the school community.

Does this sound subjective? You bet. But equity isn’t fair to our clients (students) if every teacher is granted the same access to autonomy and reward at the same time regardless of readiness. And yes, you also read right: that there is a salary scale to climb. After all, if a teacher busts her butt then she should be paid as a butt-buster, but if a teacher does just fine (no more or no less) it doesn’t need to be job-threatening, it just can’t be automatic reward.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Whew! I took on a lot. Is this the future? Who the hell knows. But I do know this. Things must change at many levels. The credential process must change. Credential program quality must improve. Funding sources must shift. Antiquated philosophies about teaching must evolve. Our salary scale must reflect our effort. Different paths must exist to reach a credential. And teachers must once again believe that they are each worthy of their own Chiron Award and all it represents. Only then will the quality of teachers improve. Only then with our students improve.

What classes would you like to see offered in your fantasy future teacher prep program?

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Post tags: Curriculum, teacher credential, teacher prep

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The Staff

Awards Towards a Differentiated Credential

Again, I feel the need to reiterate that I do not have the answers. This is my brainstorm, backed up with nothing more than my musings. I don’t know how to fund it. What I do know is that there are problems with our current credential programs, and to solve them first takes dreaming…

______________________________________________________________________________________

The staff: Once a candidate is accepted into a teacher prep program, he or she will find that every classroom houses a current expert. That is, an educator that is still a part-time classroom teacher teaches every class. The staff must be made up of teachers who straddle both worlds, that of the classroom teacher and the educator of teachers. Many of our present day programs have lived the end of the adage, “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach teachers.” OK, so that isn’t the real ending of the adage, and it’s probably not that old, but it’s no less true. Teacher credential programs of the future change that perception.

In the future, classroom teachers can apply to be Master Teachers in prep programs as a hybrid teacher career path. Teachers who are on such paths are actually salaried by the prep program but receive their health insurance through the school district as a means to split the compensation for the teacher and their contribution to both institutions. It is vital to the prep program that their teachers be working classroom teachers, and it is brag-able to a district to have a certain number of Master Teachers in their classrooms.

Awards Towards a Differentiated Credential: We need to indicate that there are those who graduate with a credential and those who graduate with Honors in Education. Thereby the credential itself becomes differentiated. The teacher preparation programs of tomorrow award a Chiron Award to graduating candidates of great potential. Think about Chiron, the centaur, who taught Jason, Heracles, Ajax, and Percy Jackson. This mythical teacher represented all things wise, kind, and equitable. He was noble, and his ability to teach allowed him to become immortal, earning him a place in the constellations.

This award has some weight for potential future employers not unlike PhiBetaKappa might have with others. Schools staffed with multiple Chiron Award recipients are rare, but the winners are sought after as some of the best and brightest new teachers in our country. This award and its recipients represent the teacher we are all supposed to want to be.

Perhaps being awarded this or other created badges will allow a new teacher to enter the salary scale at a higher level or some other incentive. Regardless, in the teacher prep programs of the future, the credentials are possibly as differentiated as are the candidates.

Soon to Come: Part 3 of 3: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs

The Curriculum

The Student Teacher Apprenticeship Program

Relationships Between Districts and Teacher Prep Programs

Graduation Requirements

…And Beyond

Looking at categories like these, the staff and ways to differentiate the teacher credential, what is your fantasy for the future of teacher prep programs?

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Post tags: differentiation, teacher credential, teacher preparation

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So time travel with me to some year in the future as I mull over the possibilities for a more honest and rigorous path to the classroom. Allow me some leniency here. I am not an economist. I am fantasizing about a program that can only exist in a funded world, and my suggestions of possible funding revenue may come from fantasy as well, but they are meant to try to stir up some out-of-the-box possibilities. I have not solved everything. There are holes in my logic. But my blog is sometimes by place of brainstorm not final draft, and if you’d like, I’d love to hear your brainstorms as well.

So today I’m going to start a 3 part series on this fantasy Teacher Prep Program of mine. Part I will focus on the following:

The Overall Vision

The Application Process

Options for Second Career Teachers

So here we go into my fantasyland. Join me at your own risk.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The Overall Vision: The year is 2030 and I’m still waiting for the jetpack promised to me. On a more positive note, at least the teacher credentialing programs of the future have become a more honest introduction to the challenges and rewards of teaching, while also becoming a more accurate predictor of a candidate’s future teaching quality. While today’s programs are all about teaching the standards, the teacher preparation programs of the future are all about The Three Cs: Content, Communication, and Character.

It is actually more affordable for a candidate to seek a credential then ever before because the in-your-seat portion of the program is shorter (and available online as well as offline), and the student teaching portion is treated more like a paid-apprenticeship than free help in the classroom.

Teacher credential programs have become as differentiated as the quality of teachers they produce, luring folks from every profession to share their knowledge with students of all levels. But while there is flexibility of path to achieve a credential, the programs have become a more rigorous gatekeeper for the profession as a whole, allowing those who have achieved a credential appropriate awe at a party. Hey, it’s my fantasy, right?

The application process: To get into a teacher preparation program, candidates can come from a BA program or a profession, yet all have gone through a rigorous application process. The requirements to gain entrance into a program should once again be driven by the 3 Cs: Content, Communication, and Character. The process includes letters of recommendation, personal interview, content exams or transcripts or a Professional Evidence Portfolio, and answers to questions of how someone would handle particular scenarios.

Here is an excerpt from a teacher preparation program application:

Question #3. Student A never turns in his homework, is absent from school often, comes to class late when he does decide to show, and yet still manages to get Cs on his test. You tell him to come after school to make up some work, but the kid never shows. You’ve called the parent, but he or she has never returned your calls, and besides, they are the ones dropping him off late or perhaps even letting him stay at home. He’s not disruptive in class, but the kids won’t work with him, because they can’t depend on him to keep up his share of the work. His notebook is totally empty. Have you done enough to reach this student? What can you do to help him connect to school?

Professional Evidence Portfolio: Let’s say a dad of two young kids has just been struck by lightning with the realization that he’s just GOT to teach. He’s been working in a cubical analyzing data for 10 years and it’s supported his family, but he really misses using that math degree in a more social way. How does that guy make a leap to another ladder while still supporting his family? After all, we can’t expect a father of two to drop his paying job for 2 ½ years or more of unpaid, hoop jumping.

Well the teacher credential programs of the future will allow a person to do just that. Professional evidence can be exchanged for content area exams or transcripts. A person can create a portfolio of content expertise proof in the form of Excel spreadsheets, business letters, company communications, etc…

On the onset of the application process, each candidate is provided with an advisor to help guide him or her in the creation of this Professional Evidence Portfolio. The counselor also has the authority to deny the application if there is not enough evidence to prove content area expertise, and can advise the candidate towards appropriate options like content area exams or classes.

Teacher prep programs of the future don’t lower their standards or cut corners just to allow flexibility for second career teachers. What they do is create other paths that will allow people to find teaching later in their lives. Teaching cannot be a sloppy second to some other career that didn’t work out. But getting a credential will be possible for those who have the skills and the knowledge to impart. Professional Evidence is a form of career credits, serving to exchange world and life knowledge for passage into a teacher prep program.

A Professional Evidence Portfolio also may allow for waiver of two of the classes in the program’s in-class strand (see next post).

Soon to come, Part II: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs

The Staff

Awards Towards Differentiating A Credential

So, breaking it down into these Part I categories, what does your fantasy future teacher prep program look like?

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Post tags: application, credential programs, differentiation, second career teacher, teacher credential

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And it kind of got me thinking about alien attacks.  I mean, if an alien were to attack our planet, would all of our disputes stop?   Would countries drop their feuds, cease their fighting, and unite against a common enemy?

And in education, who exactly, is the enemy?

Well, according to the Metlife Survey, teachers and administrators might just find that they see more eye to eye then they thought.  According to the survey, most teachers (67%) and most administrators (78%) agree that “greater collaboration among teachers and school leaders would have a major impact on improving student achievement.”  In addition, both teachers (80%) and principals (89%) “believe that a school culture where students feel responsible and accountable for their own education would have a major impact on improving student achievement.”

Perhaps it seems obvious.  After all, doesn’t everybody feel this way?  But in the face of issues like student achievement and accountability, it can be confusing to know where anyone stands.  I mean there are those outside of education that actually believe it is all the fault of the teachers.  Others believe it is all the fault of the administrators.  But, it’s almost a relief to see a study that at least reports that perhaps for those of us within education’s walls there is more unity than we thought.

Sometimes school sites can take on an “us vs. them” mentality.  Collaboration time may be cut, common preps may be difficult to schedule in the master calendar, but clearly according to the survey, it is not because of philosophical differences between factions.

These days, I find myself on my own school site, united with my principal in grief.  So it is a time in education to leave behind the “us vs. them” mentality, to unite behind the shields of our own commonalities against the sadness that can plague a school site and against the sadness of the possibly darker times to come.

So in today’s climate of budget cuts, who exactly are the enemy?

I don’t have a clear answer.  But I do know that, as Shakespeare’s King Henry said, “For he who stands with me today shall be my brother.”  And be it teacher or administrator, I will fight by their side.

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Post tags: accoutability, assessment, collaboration, metlife, student achievement, survey

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We in education banter the word equity about like it’s this golden chalice, but is trying to achieve it 100% of them time in the best interest of our students? I’m starting to think not.

After all, a teacher who wants to start a new club, pitch a program, even just work hard to keep his or her job, is disallowed from investing in themselves because we are shackled by a system set up to reward people based on their hire date, not on their achievements, ability, or effort.

As adults, our equity should be in our opportunities to show how well we can do our job. We should all be given the same chance to do our job well, to contribute to our school community, to help our students achieve.

But in this day and age, when student achievement is so vital and we so struggle to be taken seriously as a profession, I find myself perplexed by this need to be equitable.

Because this concept of neguity appears all over the place in education. I’ll share some examples from my own site:

For one thing, there’s the seniority list that is present in every district. At lunch, for instance, I peered over the shoulder of the person in front of me as she clutched the seniority list. We know there are layoffs coming and the circled names on the list are those who are threatened. Some are great teachers, hard working teachers. My two teachers who I mentored for BTSA are circled, even though one has become a Fellow of the Writing Project since her hire, and between the two of them, they’ve brought History Day, Peer Helpers, and Girls Volleyball to our school.

So we are watching great teachers be bumped from schools by possibly lesser colleagues whose only claim to fame was that they were hired a year before. It is a system that is set up to reward “good enough” with the same equity as “blood, sweat, and tears.” The resulting neguity disallows a school or district to create a staff that is made up of the best candidates it can score. Thus, this has become bad for students.

A lesser example is the fact that I cannot speak to students and pitch my elective program because a couple of teachers do not feel comfortable talking to students about theirs. The result is neguity, because now students will not be given the chance to make decisions with all the knowledge at their disposal.

There is also an issue about pullout collaboration time and professional development on my site. With limited funds, we were told that there would be no collaboration time next year because there was no way to be equitable to all departments. But many of my Language Arts teachers asked, “How is our work load equitable?” And they have a point. You cannot compare the workload of a core teacher to that of a PE teacher. You cannot compare the time it takes to grade 200 essays to the time it takes to run 200 scantrons through a machine.

So why can’t equity be a more fluid thing? The result, instead, is neguity. No support for those who really need it in the name of fair-and-balanced.

So when did education’s commitment to giving students equity, minors who cannot fend for themselves, also mean that we needed to grant it to teachers, any teachers, all teachers? When did teachers begin insisting that they get treated the same, despite different workloads, despite different efforts, and despite different outcomes?

The result is neguity: rewarding those who don’t work hard for the school community as much reward as those who do, But still many people propose we assess teachers based on test scores, a process which is hugely inequitable. As is school funding, how funds are allocated between states and districts, and the fact that some students are still not being given equal opportunities. Is this not neguity too? Or is it just inconsistent, arbitrary uses of the concept of equity?

What does it gain when a teacher who works hard is not rewarded over a teacher who doesn’t? What does this encourage? We as adults all have the right to work hard. We all have a right to have our achievement speak for itself, our efforts and our dedication speak for itself.

If civilizations cut down the contributors who aspired and reached and dreamed and pushed, all because not everyone wanted to be that level of contributor, that civilization would remain stagnant. So is it true for education.

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Post tags: assessment, education, equity, k12, middle school, seniority, tenure

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She looks out on a hillside opposite her side of a rustic canyon in Los Angeles. In case you can’t tell, it’s a photo of workmen slapping tarps onto a hillside that has been threatening to bury Laurel Canyon Blvd for quite some time. Somehow the view reminds me of education.

After all,

The city waits until it rains before trying to solve the problem.

The solution is asinine, a mere Band-Aid to a greater problem that lies beneath the bandage.

Residents who have lived watching this hillside for years saw it coming.

Had the city just taken care of the problem and spent the money to create foundations for the hillside, the residents and commuters that use the canyon wouldn’t be in this predicament, a predicament which threatens houses as well as a key thoroughfare through the Hollywood mountains.

Sound familiar?

Mom could be talking about any issue in education or any school site in this country. Rick Wormeli writes in his newest book, Metaphors and Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject, that we should be using these literary devices in our teaching. But perhaps we should also be using them to speak to civilians about educational policy.

We within the school walls have long predicted education’s current plague of issues. You see the same themes in teachers’ writings and concerns dating back for decades. But Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind, and countless other laws and bills have been mere Band-Aids that aren’t helping to solidify our dreams for education any more than these tarps are going to save my mother’s beloved canyon.

The money is being spent, sure. Tarps and Band-Aids can add up, after all. But is it really being spent on that which will help the foundations of education?

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Post tags: education, rick wormeli, standardized assessments

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Some teachers complain about the effort that differentiation entails, that need to offer rigorous curriculum for a wide range of learners. But just you wait: individualization is coming just around the corner, where students will be able to order up their own education, their own schedule of classes to go. And those schedules won’t be limited to what’s only offered on their school site.(...)
Read the rest of I’ll Take that Education to Go: Individualization vs. Standardization (890 words)

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Post tags: Curriculum, differentiation, individualization, k12, middle schoool, standardization, standardized testing

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So think about it. Pretend budget isn’t an issue. Pretend there are no barriers. Fantasize away. Here are just some of my la-la-land dreams for fixing the schools:(...)
Read the rest of How do we “Fix the Schools?” (1,024 words)

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Post tags: assessments, education, project based learning, school reform, standards

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“…They won’t invest in deeper structural improvements, won’t risk the political fallout of admitting that poverty matters in school performance, and have become cheerleaders for the quick and cheap fix.”

So this got me thinking about an article I saw in yesterday’s LA Times. The LA Times reported that in an attempt to get schools to change their wicked ways, California has just approved a bill that would allow parents more power to try to overhaul their student’s school. If unsuccessful, those parents would have the right to pull their students and move them to another school or even another district. I don’t know about you, but there’s a slippery slope in my head.(...)
Read the rest of LA Times Article: Bailing on Schools Doesn’t Fix Schools (642 words)

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Post tags: ACT, education, LA Times, school board, school reform

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Post tags: civil service, education, New York Times, Teach For America, TFA

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Tenured or untenured.  I hope you all feel appreciated all year long for what you do for our students, our schools, and our future.

Hope you all have a happy holidays.

-Heather Wolpert-Gawron

aka Tweenteacher

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Shrug. Cue eye roll.(...)
Read the rest of Studies Find There’s No Such Thing as Learning Styles – As Teachers, Should We Care? (956 words)

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Post tags: differentiation, learning styles, multi, multiple-intelligences, standardization, syn-naps, test scores

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Post tags: parent-teacher conferences, teacher evaluations, teacher pay

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http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/mailstory-clickthru/320143.php

I’ve wrestled a lot with my opinions of teacher tenure before, its pros and cons.  My post, “My Struggles with Tenure,” is the result.

Bottom line: we can’t do away with tenure and still expect honest voices from the trenches to help us better the system without protecting those who share their voice.  Tenure should be reformed.  It should be precious. It should not be given away lightly.  The system must be made easier to lose ineffective teachers.  As it stands now, however, tenure protects the mediocre far more often than the obscenely bad.  Nevertheless, it must exist.

Many of those outside education complain because it is the only profession with this level of job protection.  As if this uniqueness in itself makes it unworthy a concept.  Well, teaching is a unique profession for many reasons, many of which have to do with being taken advantage of.  Teaching is unique because of its level of responsibility.  Teaching is unique because we must help the smallest of clients to succeed in the most cumbersome of systems that is not entirely set up for their success.

The intention of tenure is one we must protect, even if the system it resides in must be reformed.

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Post tags: imagine magazine, Internet Safety, MMORPG, Netiquette, Online Safety, RPG, Rules of Netiquette, wow

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Cody explains his mission in his Living in Dialogue post as well as on the Facebook page which has, to this date, inspired over 400 educators to voice their concerns about the direction of this current administration.

Each week, Anthony Cody send the letters on, and the campaign is ever-growing.

I am particularly concerned about how few teachers are sitting at the federal education table, a table whose seats are currently occupied by textook and test-creating execs posing as educational policymakers. However, more often then not, teachers are being blamed for education’s faults without being invited to the higher conversations proposing or implementing solutions.

It’s hard to admit but despite what we know about the damage NCLB has done to education, it is still here, stronger than ever. ?The rest of the country is cheering for Change and Hope, yet it is getting increasingly hopeless in education. After all, prior administrations may have sent us down this road, but we were all looking towards Obama to change it’s direction. It has yet to be seen.

My letter was as follows:

Dear President Obama and Secretary Duncan,
My hope has been replaced by fear: fear that the textbook lobbies are still controlling the direction of education, fear that biased and antiquated assessments are still controlling the direction of our lessons, fear that in a global community, America is still trying to just swing on its own porch. The future in education is in teaching skills our schools are not funded or even encouraged to teach. We are the best bubbling country ever! You both claim that technology is our future, but fund our necessities as if it were our past.

In the equation of student success: student effort + family support + federal funding + school content delivery, the only and easiest element to claim accountability are the teachers. Yet every variable must be taken to task for the success of our children. Our windows are broken, there is police tape on our yards, our tools are 20th Century, and yet it falls to the school to solve the problems of its communities, cities, and country.

You have a war going on here at home, fought by talented troops of both new and veteran teachers who have always been dedicated to the future of this country. We are being abandoned by the media seeking for villains in this story, abandoned by the families believing the propaganda, and abandoned by our government looking to blame someone for the failings of a systems and its parts.

Please allow teachers to speak at your table. We are a knowing voice in content, in its delivery, and in our global goals.

Sincerely,
Heather Wolpert-Gawron
Middle School Teacher

Join the campaign.

© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anthony Cody, assessment, Educational Policy, facebook, Open Letter to Obama, teacher evaluations, Teacher Magazine

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Ms. E is my son’s appropriately bubbly teacher. She has smiles in her eyes and hugs for all. But you can also tell she’s no push over and seems to know each kid for who they are. The classroom environment reflects the learning going on, and quotes from each kid pepper the walls in response to critical-thinking questions, predictions, and emotional temperature taking.

When I pick him up at the end of my day, I get my daily reports about how he said something funny or something thoughtful, and it lights a pride in me that I never knew a person could feel. Occasionally, there’s the bummer update of how he tried to incite a naptime riot; but overall, the reports I get are positive, generally never needing anything more then a talk on the way home from me and a bedside follow up from my husband when he gets home.

As a teacher I know realistically that this will not always be the case. I also know that when my son brings home stories of the “villains in the yard” I’m sure that he isn’t always the innocent victim, despite his claims. It’s just clear in his head that he’s the protagonist of this own story. I try to follow up the occasional tales of shoving with questions like, “Well, what did you do that made him want to push you?” or “How did you handle it? Did you go to Ms. E, use your words, or push back?” Unfortunately, the answers differ from incident to incident, and thus, I realize, that while my child is wonderful, he’s also learning. And sometimes he’s learning by making the right decisions, and sometimes he’s learning by making the wrong ones. But these are lessons every kid must learn once they enter school and realize that they aren’t the only child in the universe.

As a teacher I’ve met great parents with some really annoying kids. I’ve also met great kids with some really annoying parents, and I wonder if this hasn’t helped educate me a little in my own relationship with my child’s school. The fact is, my child is sometimes at fault, and I know there are times when his behavior would make me wince. I also know that even though he’s a great kid, he’s surely had times of being less than so. On occasion, he’s even tested the boundaries of just how much I’ll buy in the way of exaggeration and outright fantasy. Hopefully my awareness as a teacher that all kids are capable of slinging BS helps me as a parent of my own child. “Hopefully” being the key word here.

But sometimes I have to remind myself that not every parent feels as I do. I know this as a teacher (“She never told me!”) But I got first hand knowledge of this as a parent just the other day.

It was pretty early when I dropped my son off at pre-school, and as we helped one of the teachers take down the little colored chairs off of a table, another parent walked in. She came up to me as our sons ran off to play together. I greeted her with a smile and a howdy, at which point she told me in one breath that my son had kicked her son in the back the other day, and she thought I should know about it, because wouldn’t any parent want to know about something that maybe there should be a consequence for at home?

I felt a little blindsided. After all, Ms. E would have of course told me if my son had developed some violent ninja moves, wouldn’t she?  And while it felt a little weird for another parent to be hinting at holes in my discipline policies,  if my son actually was limbering up for a violent pre-school take-over, I really did need to do something about it.

I remember an incident when my own dad chased after the local park bully. He ran, swinging his satin disco jacket over his head like a lasso to chase the kid off when the little bugger kept running his Big Wheel into my Holly Hobby bicycle. Maybe, in her story, this moment was this mom’s big chase scene too?

Despite the weirdness, I thanked the mom for the information and promised her I’d talk to Ms. E. I told her how sorry I was it had happened, and pointed out that, look, aren’t our kids cute over there playing together?

She followed my gaze with a suspicious sneer and we parted our ways.

I spoke to Ms. E later that day who apologized profusely. After all, she said, parents shouldn’t be approaching each other with such concerns, much less advice on how to discipline at home.  But I disagreed. Indeed, I said, if this lady really felt the school was not protecting her little boy and my kid was this uber-threat to her son’s well-being, then she was right to take things into her own hands by approaching who she felt was the real cause of the problem: the mean kid’s mom.

I talked to Ms. E honestly.  I had a real concern that somehow my son might have indeed done something terrible that had slipped under the radar. I mean, was my kid some crazy bullying contortionist? I want to know. Let me have it. If I needed to redefine my impression of my own kid and start working on my Time-Out skills, I wanted to know sooner rather than later.

She assured me, however, that my kid was not the bully on the yard. She also said that not only was there no altercation between the boys brought to her attention by tears, accusations, or otherwise, she gave me the impression that this mom was told many horrid tales of school at home which went unquestioned.   In fact, the boys played together all day long, and she went on, apologetic still about the morning’s confrontation.

Again, I stressed that I wasn’t that upset by it. I just wanted to make sure she and the school were being honest with me about my son’s behavior during his office hours. After all, I’ve been at the teacher desk for parent-teacher conferences for years now, and I’ll be honest with you: fellow teachers are the worst conferences ever. Well, teachers and child psychologists. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it’s because we all tend to be experts at all kids except our own. Anyway, I’d like to avoid that fate, if possible.

But it got me thinking about my own relationship as a parent with my child’s school. Bottom line is, I choose to trust my instincts. I looked long and hard for a pre-school with teachers I could trust. So I feel that I have to trust that the teachers will let me know when my son does something that requires follow-through at home. I have to trust that they will tell me when or if they are concerned about something. I have to trust that they will protect him during his day, learning about people and relationships. I have to trust them just as other parents trust me.

Every Mom and Dad is learning what kind of parent they are going to be. And this includes what kind of relationship that they will have not only with their child, but also with their child’s school.

The way I see it, my child is going to have many authorities and fellow co-workers in his life. He won’t get along with everyone he works with.  But how he handles those he doesn’t get along with, will speak more about the man he will be then how he handles those he does.

For children, this is a lot of what school is all about. But it really all starts with us as parents modeling how we handle ourselves as members of a school community.

© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: k12, parent-teacher conferences, peer mediation, preschool

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