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The New Definition of Veteran Teacher

heather — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:14:56 +0000

I have been teaching for 10 years. I have mentored teachers, become Department Head, sat on committees, presented at conferences, and taught upwards of 2500 students ranging from 3rd grade to 12th grade.

But all of that does not make me a veteran teacher.

What makes me an official veteran teacher is the fact that I have hit my memory wall. The computer that is my brain is beginning to empty the trash, student by student at a time.

This is the first year I’ve been approached by past students I cannot name. This is also the first year I still don’t have some students’ names memorized. Yes, it’s true; it’s May, and I still get those two girls mixed up in Period 2 and those same 3 girls confuddled in 4th period. Don’t look shocked. I mean, don’t I get any credit for having the rest of my 237 students down pat? No? Damn.(...)
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Post tags: btsa, education, middle school, novice teacher, teaching, veteran teacher

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Differentiating New Teacher Support Programs

heather — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:29:21 +0000

OK, so we preach about differentiating our lessons. We preach about differentiating our students. We preach about differentiating our assessments. But what about differentiating the requirements of our new teacher programs?

(...)
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© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog, btsa, Curriculum, howard gardner, Language Arts, middle school, new teachers, TLN, UCI

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The snail wins the race…with RSP

heather — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:11:59 +0000

Just a brief post of victory to share:

At the beginning of Sept 2007, I gave a pre-assessment to my class in order to learn their levels and begin the process of differentiation. I looked through the results and my gaze halted on one essay in particular. Thus began my fight to get help for a nice young man who was placed in my mainstream 7th Grade Language Arts class. This kid was sweet, respectful, earnest, and tried so hard with everything…until everything had its way with him. (...)
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Post tags: 100% accountability, 2008, blog, btsa, Character Education, differentiation, Ed Tech, education, k-12, k12, middle school, new teachers, rsp, special ed, tween, writing

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The Carnival #178 is in town!

heather — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:35 +0000

An (aspiring) Educator is hosting this week’s Carnival of Education #178. I’ve tweaked my How to Take Control of Your Teaching list and although it’s still in an evolving state, you can read it here. Enjoy the Carnival and the post.

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, assessments, blog, book review, btsa, budget, Careers, carnival of education, character, Character Education, classroom library, collaboration, computers, concrete, contract, CORE, credential, critical thinking, CUE, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, Ed Tech, education policy, ELA, electives, essay, essay starters, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, life long learners, merit pay, metacognition, middle school, NCLB, new teachers, online, peer teaching, performance pay, PI, podcasting, powerpoint, professional development, Proficiency, school accountability, school funding, speeches, standardized testing, technology, tenure, Title I, TLN, top 10, union, voice, websites, Writers Project, writing

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The Carnival of Education is in Town!

heather — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:48:10 +0000

Welcome to the Carnival of Education #177 hosted this week by Where’s the Sun? The theme was empowerment so my entry covers the first step in teacher empowerment, “How to Find a Job in Education that you Love.” You may not need this entry now, but you never know when a How To list like this one comes in handy. We all know teachers there who are looking for work, but are they looking smartly? Check out my article for some tips on how to search, who to contact, and tips during the interviewing process.

Enjoy Le Carnival!

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Post tags: 2008, blog, btsa, Careers, carnival of education, contract, credential, Ed Tech, education, education policy, ELA, employment, How To, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, learning, middle school, new teachers, professional development, teaching, Title I, top 10

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How To Get a Job in Education That You Love

heather — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:37:08 +0000

The Pre-First Step in How to Take Control of Your Teaching is actively seeking out the right school for you.

GOAL: To love where you work and enjoy what you are doing

Too many teachers are miserable. Some of that can be attributed to the difficulty of the job, but a lot can be blamed on the fact that many teachers take what they can get because they are so grateful to have a job. That’s no way to be happy, and that’s the teacher’s fault.

OK, kiddos, it’s not too early to start the process of looking for a job. Whether you are unhappy in your current position or you are a newbie looking at the world of education with wide-eyes and bushy tails, you are entitled to work in a place that “gets” you, and wants what you have to offer.

In fact, the springtime is perfect for those who are looking for the best positions out there. So if you’re interested in being the one in control of the interviewing situation, start now. Looking for a job in education in the spring signals to a potential employer that you are NOT the bottom of the barrel. Yes, there are great teachers out there who get hired two days before the start of the fall semester, but if you want choice yourself, get going now.

Here’s a step-by-step guide in how to get a job in education: (Note, this is not for the faint of heart or for those who need to follow the system set up by the districts. This guide is only for those maverick job-hunters out there.)

(...)
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© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, blog, btsa, budget, Careers, Character Education, competition, computers, credential, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, Ed Tech, education, employment, firing, interviewing, jobs, teaching

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Dave Saba Comment: “Alternative Programs for Teacher Credentialing”

heather — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:20:34 +0000

Dave Saba of DoE: Dave on Ed fame examined the Center for American Progress report on Alternative Teacher Certification possibilities. In response to his post, I commented that not only are alternative methods of teacher credentialing a must, the development of better new teacher supports must also follow suit. Here is my comment:

The fact is that many teacher credential programs are antiquated, tedious, and off-target. I, for one, went through a program where my Ed Psychology Prof just read us his screenplay for a semester, where the Teaching Mathematics teacher had only taught 1 full year 30 years ago, and there were no courses on classroom management. I learned it all on the job, building up resentment for the wasted money and time that I previously had to log into my seat at the University when, in fact, my real education was occurring in my own classroom and working collaboratively with teacher mentors who shared my philosophies on teaching.

(...)
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Post tags: American Board, ASCD Brief, btsa, cffast, credential, Dave Saba, jobs, k-12, k12, teaching, Title I

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Don’t Knock the Less Experienced Teacher

heather — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:41:59 +0000

Look, we all know the statistics. Many of the hardest-to-teach classes are being taught by the least experienced teachers. According to Education Week, a study was recently conducted in Philadeliphia evaluating 9th graders, “the make-or-break year for many students on the path to dropping out of school” which found that “students are more likely than their upper-grade peers to be taught by inexperienced, uncertified teachers.”

While I understand the argument, I also know that these young teachers have an advantage that I will not have years down the line: energy.

When I was in my early years of teaching in my mid-twenties, I was hired to teach at an inner city school. It was, in fact, the under-funded alternative school for those students kicked out of the other schools. We had broken glass in the halls, police tape from the weekend still strewn over the kindergarten yard come Monday, and no textbooks. A classic Michelle Pfieffer/Hilary Swank/Morgan Freeman movie in the making.

I actually jumped into the deep end of the pool, and there wasn’t any filter, so there was moss on the top and calcium deposits coming from the cracks in the bottom, but it was there that I learned to swim. (...)
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© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 100% accountability, 2008, achievement gap, ASCD Brief, ascd community, btsa, budget, Careers, character, collaboration, credential, curriculum development, education, employment, failing, firing, free, induction, integration, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, learning, life long learners, merit pay, middle school, NCLB, new teachers, peer teaching, performance pay, PI, Proficiency, reform, school accountability, school funding, student safe, Title I

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New teacher programs: their plate is already full

heather — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:31:13 +0000

The article, “Build Schools, Not Prisons,” from the ASCD Community blog reports that the Brookings Institute has compiled a Top 5 list of interventions that impact “additional graduates,” those strategies that seem to prove the most effective in lowering the drop-out rates in school. They mention such steps as early childhood education, teacher salary increases, and, the ever-vague “less teacher turnover.”

It kinda got me grumbling about that last one, because I see new teacher turnover as an issue that it not yet being dealt with effectively. I believe that the veteran teachers and school sites have a bound duty to help those newbies adjust successfully. And rather than help these new teachers, the sites hand over the responsibilities to New Teacher Induction Programs. (...)
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© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ascd community, blog, brookings, btsa, cffast, education, induction, k12, new teachers, ryan, teaching

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