The Ninety Second Evaluation

So an “enlightened” student calls out a “terrible” teacher and the nation takes notice. It doesn’t bother me so much that a “terrible” teacher, teaching by packet may finally be getting his/her comeuppance so much as the belief that a minute and thirty seconds is all that we need to make a judgment.

Does context matter?

I worry about context in my classroom regularly. When students in my class learn about Sigmund Freud and the Oedipus complex, a minute of class taken out of context could lead to serious questions about my fitness for the classroom.

Pulling situations out of context takes me back to my Fundamentalist Baptist upbringings where I learned that you would go to hell for drinking beer or growing long hair. All you’ve got to do is lift a few obscure verses from the Bible and you can support about any argument you want.

So, for the teacher haters, here’s another verse to add to your arsenal. Nevermind the hundreds of minutes in that classroom outside of the minute+ clip. Now you have proof. Teachers are lazy because most of them just sit at their desks and watch students do worksheets.

We are primed for this.

The narrative of the bad teacher has taken a foothold, so strongly that even educational leaders are willing to propagate the story even when they make little serious effort to “right the wrong” they perceive in the classroom outside of dreaming dreams about how it should be done.

I think some people want this to happen. In the nineteen-eighties, the “welfare queen” imagery changed the dialogue on public assistance. Today, even progressive educators propagate the “lazy teacher” taking advantage of the cognitive shortcut to real critical thinking as a way to promote themselves or their agenda. In a different era or culture, the immediate critique would point to the student’s lack of respect and discipline. I’m not saying that’s where we should go, but we’re creating a culture primed to find the fault in the educator.

What’s fair to judge?

Walk a mile… I teach highly motivated 11^th and 12^th graders an AP curriculum. I have a hard time thinking I’m a better teacher than my colleagues teaching younger students who aren’t inherently engaged in the activities of school. It’s hard work, and just because my students are engaged and I don’t write discipline referrals doesn’t mean I know how everyone else should do it. I can humbly offer suggestions, but too often they get bravado from the all star educator or the professional thinkers in education that have the nerve to suggest that lack of engagement is 100% a teacher problem.

I don’t teach by packet. I’ve asked students to learn on their own from time to time with paper and pencil and technology, but I recognize as the young man in the video that not everyone learns that way. If they did, I’d be irrelevant.

If every word from the kid was true, if the teacher engages the class the majority of the time in the manner we see in the video, then yes, there is a problem. Perhaps some other questions should be asked:

Is the teacher held fully accountable for student knowledge of numerous discreet facts they will have to know for a standardized test?

Does the teacher receive adequate time to plan engaging activities for the classroom?

Does the teacher receive adequate time to evaluate student learning well enough to allow it to inform instruction?

Does the school create an appropriate schedule and provide time for the teacher to collaborate with other teachers to share ideas and keep each other informed (and accountable) of what’s working and what is not in the classroom?

Is the teacher encouraged to share success and failures, to take risks, or has she learned that as long as you lay low and don’t make waves they’ll assume you’re doing a good job and overlook you?

I know this much is true. A teacher in Texas had a bad minute and a half.

If that’s an accurate representation of her professional accomplishments I hate it for the young man in the video and every student who’s suffered under her instruction.

If we saw the culmination of a strained relationship between an obstinate young man and his exhausted teacher then shame on everyone who thinks they’d do a better job.

First Year Stories

Today was a good day, to quote the title of a previous post and quite an excellent piece of music by Ice Cube.  It was the first day of school.  My seventeenth first day of school as a teacher.  People asked all week "are you ready?"  I replied honestly to some that while I looked forward to a new school year, I wasn't looking forward to the first day at all.  First days can be so awkward.

We meet between 120-160 new people in the first two days of school and spend eighty minute blocks of time with them in groups of 20-25.  It's pretty miserable for an introvert like me.  But this year was very different.  Maybe it's the experience.  Or maybe my first first day was such a disaster that it has taken over a decade to recover.  Only now do I feel confident enough to divulge my first day experience to the public.

August 1996, twenty-two years old.  That seemed like adulthood at the time, but today that age doesn't seem to far from high school.  I'd completed my student teaching assignment and taken a job at the same school.  I showed up dressed better than I've ever dressed since, all planned out and ready to change the world.  We taught on a six period A/B block schedule, so classes were One Hundred minutes long.  My planning was first period.  Of course I couldn't show up on my first day unprepared, so I arrived at school with nothing to do but sit in the office and be nervous for nearly two-hours.  My classroom was occupied by another teacher, so  I alternated between sitting on the couch and pacing the floor in our social studies office. (This office has since been given away, but that's another long, sad story)

The bell rang, it was showtime, and I was as ready as I could be.  Days of planning, hours of practice, and the hour plus of final preparation behind me, I set out for the classroom.  The tardy bell rang and I quickly finished taking attendance and began the lesson for the day.  It was a good lesson and the students responded well.  But nearing the end of what I'd prepared, I noticed the clock.  It was still only 11:30.  The class was scheduled to end at 12:40.  I stalled and talked and tried to pry questions out of the class.  They were seniors and it appeared that no one told them that summer was over.  They sat, quiet and disengaged.  I strung it out as long as I could.  Finally, around 11:45 I threw in the towel.

"O.K. class.  I'm really sorry, but that's all I've got.  I don't have anything else for us to do today." I didn't have enough skill or experience to wing it, and I didn't know the course well enough to move ahead.  So we sat.  Did I mention my introversion?  I tried to make small talk.  Engage them in conversation about their summer, sports, family, anything.  Finally I gave up on even that and no one said a word for the final forty-five minutes of class.  Awkward silence and wasted time.

I really was a terrible teacher my first year.  Thankfully I got another chance.  Thankfully, today I'm able to smile for an entire period and get mostly the same in return from my students until the bell rings and we have to interrupt what we're doing so they can switch classes.  Thankfully, as hard as this job can be, with good colleagues and the right support and training, we get better every year on the job.

I doubt my story sounds nearly as traumatic to the reader as it was for me.  I'm sure there are much better first day horror stories than mine.  If you have a good one to share, post it in the comments below.  Maybe you will bring a smile to someone's face, or encourage a first year teacher who just experienced a terrible first day.  They might appreciate knowing how many of us have been there too.

Technology: How important is it?

Prologue:  Is a prologue allowed in a blog post?  I guess it is now.

After writing and rewriting the post below in response to my colleague's Thursday afternoon post I'm still not happy with it.  So here's the short of it.  It's irresponsible to ignore the value of technology in education--AND--it is irresponsible to overestimate the value of technology in education.  That's pretty clear isn't it?  You've read this far, you might as well read the rest to see if you can figure out what I'm trying to say any better than I can.

About ten years ago (but only lasting a few) our school administrators included integration of technology as a part of teacher evaluations.  Serving on a teacher advisory committee for the school, I remember discussions about what it means to "integrate technology" in the classroom.  I argued at the time that simply showing a video clip to the class using the online video service "United Streaming" was no better than pushing play on the VCR or Laser Disk player.

I used United Streaming frequently, and found it much better for me, the teacher, than bothering with videotapes and laser disks.  But, I didn't agree that in a given class, me showing a video clip online made me better instructionally than another teacher showing the same clip on VHS.  Ultimately, United Streaming allowed for easier selection of relevant clips and allowed for smoother transition in and out of video presentations but it certainly wasn't a "game changer."

Technology should be an integral part of instruction, and I believe this has always been true.  It can be a powerful tool for reaching students in ways that can't always happen in traditional ways.  Here in the basement of the Teaching Underground, we witnessed this just last week.

Our colleague in the basement teaches an elective called "Issues of the Modern World."  In the fall, his class conducted an interview with an participant in the Arab Spring movement in the middle east.  After hearing from him, the students were able to formulate questions to ask him again this spring.  Through these interactions, students had access to a living primary source for history in the making.  They were also able to see the evolution and change of a movement and the demeanor of one of its participants in real time.  Twenty years ago this would have been a monumental task if not impossible.  Today, an internet connection and a Skype account are all that are needed.

My question is still the same.  This isn't critical of technology.  I am impressed with this teacher's learning activity.  It was innovative and forward thinking.  His students engaged in a learning experience that they will likely remember forever.  For my AP Psychology class, I frequently invite a graduate student from the University of Virginia department of neuroscience.  These doctoral students share with my Psychology students some of their ongoing research on the brain.  They even bring in a human brain for students to see and hold.  Which experience is better?  Skype or face-to-face.

Answer: neither!

I don't think I need to really explain this.  This teacher couldn't have conducted this experience without Skype.  For me, Skyping with a guest located three miles away wouldn't make sense.  For sure, we should recognize this use of Skype in the classroom for its novelty and innovation.  We should also recognize that in this case, technology brought a living primary source into the classroom in a way that couldn't be acheived without technology.

But, the underlying pedagogy is still the same.  Exposing students to primary sources in the Social Studies engages them in the process of social science instead of simply requiring them to memorize names, dates, facts, etc.

I think that most educators in the classroom recognize the power of technology.  When it allows us to do something more efficiently or better than we could do without it, we embrace it.  When it allows students to learn in ways that are more lasting and impacting, we embrace it.

Remember all of the modes of technology that have changed teaching and learning: mass printing, chalkboards, overhead projectors, filmstrips, television in the classroom, computer labs in schools, computers in classrooms, presentation software, streaming/digital video, computer access for most/all students, social networking, online course delivery.....

Quality teaching and learning can take place in the absence of any of the above.  There is a bit of a paradox when it comes to my attitude toward educational technology.  It is at the same time one of the most important factors/tools for learning and also one of the least necessary factors/tools for learning.

Whether they articulate this idea or not, I think that most teachers get it.  Some still avoid technology altogether, and others couldn't function without it.  Usually both types carry a sense of moral superiority about what they do.  In reality, they're both missing the point.

We should use technology resources available to their full extent insofar as they benefit the teacher and/or student and make learning more efficient or effective.  We should seek out new technologies that might benefit our classrooms.  We should not overestimate the power of technology for effective education or expect the technology to solve the complex problems facing education in the 21st century.

Post-logue:  Why not, I've already included a "prologue."  Thanks to Mr. Giordano for sharing his classroom experience with Skype.  If you're interested, he's also a recent convert to "Juicing." (The diet kind)  Read about his "juicing" experiences and related revelations about the human experience of eating at Sausage Boy Goes Green.

Art not Science

April Fools Day,  our spring break, Tiger Woods  at Augusta...yep there's a lot going on.  We'll use it to catch our breath.  But for our loyal readers(all 3) we thought we'd put up something of substance, or at least that impersonates that. 

"Miles, just play the solo like its written."

Too many influential individuals methodically and mistakenly work to simplify and streamline approaches to instruction, experienced teachers continue to strive in the fluid environment that is and always will be the classroom.  Most don't pay much attention to things like Common Core until they start hearing it in faculty meetings.  The love affair decision makers have with data continues to push those shaping teaching to view it as a science that can be adjusted in such a way to produce a definite outcome. Below is an excerpt from a post that appeared on the Washington Post's The Answer Sheet by Valerie Strauss.  It comes from an experienced teacher in New York state Jeremiah Chaffee.   His experience with the Common Core Standards and lessons connected to them show this divide.  But first some comments on Common Core.

A quick perusal of the website led me to realize that Roy Romer really likes them.  Roy Romer...that's the featured endorsement?  But watching it becomes clear Roy might not see eye to eye with teachers on everything. He says they are set of tools.  If presented as that I am on board.  But I must admit to caring less about any standards and more about my students.  So read a bit more:

"The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy."

 That sounds like a bit of an oversell.    That all we were missing in education was this set of standards and presto, we are "positioned successfully" in that global economy thing.  That actually sounds like what I am supposed to be doing.   In the FAQ section of their website many of my questions appear and are answered.  The responses sound sterile, well rehearsed and too scripted.  I am left unsatisfied, especially the part about more tests.  I bet that feeling is a lot like what students would encounter if we reduce things to a homogeneous set of anything.  I think what students, parents and teachers need to succeed is a lot more complex than a list of what to teach.  For my students it means well planned and engaging opportunities to learn.  A goal that I must admit to falling short of providing on occasion.   But I adjust and tinker until I get it right.  When I view that process as complete I should be fired.  Like any quality artist I work to create something unique and valuable that suits the moment all in the name of learning

The romantic view that students just need access to curriculum and knowledge is forged far from the student themselves.  Teachers can't and shouldn't just unbox content and use a script, from common core or anywhere else.  I doubt anyone(other than those full of bad ideas) really expects that.  But it seems some forget the role teachers fill for students.  For certain kids can and do learn on their own.  But wishing for a "better" way to teach and kids to learn doesn't make it so.

These lessons are models, prepackages ones.  Sometimes I find these useful, sometimes not.  The best teachers I had in life never used them.  They scalped from them and did their own thing.    I find the years of experience I've gained are priceless and are far more valuable than resources. Would a pilot reading a manual written by an experienced pilot give you much piece of mind?  I suspect not.  The best things I do are often the result of improvisation and reading the pulse of the class and students. That dynamic is different every period, every day, every year.  As I leave you reading Chaffee's thoughts brought to you by someone I almost always agree with,  Valeria Strauss,  I think about it this way...great concerts and musicians provide much richer experience live than simply listening to a recording.   But if you want it done the same every time for every audience, just plug in the CD player. 

 --------------
Scripting lessons is based on several false assumptions about teaching. They include:

* That anyone who can read a lesson aloud to a class can teach just as well as experienced teachers;
* That teaching is simply the transference of information from one person to another;
* That students should not be trusted to direct any of their own learning;
* That testing is the best measure of learning.

Put together, this presents a narrow and shallow view of teaching and learning.
Most teachers will tell you that there is a difference between having a plan and having a script. Teachers know that in any lesson there needs to be some wiggle room, some space for discovery and spontaneity. But scripted cookie-cutter lessons aren’t interested in that; the idea is that they will help students learn enough to raise their standardized test scores.

I can tell by what Chaffee says he is probably a good teacher.

Best and Brightest

My colleague and I write a lot about education reform here on the TU.  It may seem like we oppose much of the current reform. We do.  Not because we are obstructionists.  In fact it is obvious that our nation's education system needs continual improvement and we welcome positive changes.  Less obvious is which if any of these reforms have merit.  The one size fits all systemic changes that are being pushed by major players will do little to affect positive change in the average classroom.  They may in fact do the opposite.  What is certain is that the focus of many of the ideas and measures is the quality of the teacher.   Many profess that an influx of the nations “Best and Brightest” to the teaching profession will do much to fix all that is wrong.
 
Of course there are bad teachers out there and a growing number of initiatives seem focused on identifying and then purging them from the profession.  I have no problem when bad teachers leave.  I have a problem when good teachers leave.  That is happening with greater frequency.  I also have a problem with how these efforts to root out bad teachers affect what I do in the classroom.  Some cite the lack of teacher dismissals as evidence that bad teachers are protected by tenure and that it seems anyone can keep a teaching job. But they forget that many self select and quit. They also underestimate the complexity of judging quality teaching.  It is true anyone CAN teach under ideal conditions.  But there is much facing schools and done by today’s students in those classrooms to prevent such ideal conditions from materializing.  When people realize how hard it can be many there including these Best and Brightest will say in effect “I’m out”, and head for the door.  Knocking many of us regular teachers over as they rush past. But people teaching for the right reasons stick it out.  That should matter.   They find ways to improve or ask for help.  They do a lot more for kids than what happens between the bells. To me it is far more important WHO a teacher is as opposed to WHAT they are. 


As the focus shifts to those actually doing the instruction efforts are made to ensure all students have access to quality teachers.  How could anyone oppose such a thing?  But these efforts to identify bad teachers and standardize curriculum hurt me in a variety of ways.   Couple that with the promotion of common techniques from the edgurus or edupreneurs of the day and you’ve got a tangle of adverse affects. These hurt quality teachers.  Those that have control over what I do see teaching as a science.  Where a variable can be altered and it will reproduce a desired outcome. Those who teach know it is an art.  This disjoint lies at the heart of many issues and is in part a reason why we created this Teaching Underground.  Those who have survived the first few purgatory like years that weed out people in teaching for the wrong reasons or those who do not possess the necessary skills know there are no shortcuts and there are no easy years.

Those promoting B and B talk miss many key points.  Chief among them is the fact you can have all the degrees in the world and still suck.  Drop a Harvard law grad or Wall Street CEO in some of the classes I’ve taught and the kids will sniff them out and eat them for breakfast. Educational success is not a guarantee of success in life.  Especially not the life of a teacher.  I’m proof of the opposite since I am still working despite my unimpressive academic record.    A review of this might lead one to conclude I am unfit for every job. But there is no substitute for experience.  I learned much from mine.  Lessons I will not soon forget.  Lessons that I use daily.  One of those is that even smart people can be dumb and lazy.  Nothing against smart folks joining up, just cautioning that they do so for the right reasons.  That they understand there is no playbook or model for what happens every day.  They better be child-centered and not self-centered or they won’t make it.   Three years does not an expert make.  And to think they’ll remedy everything might be short sighted. 

So take for example Mr. Mortimer Zuckerman.  A bright fella who says in part “America has to rethink how to attract, employ, retain, and reward outstanding teaching talent.”   What Mr. Zuckerman forgets while he pounds away in one of his 4 houses or his 100+ ft yacht, is that teaching at Harvard and Yale and publishing magazines differs a great deal from teaching in a public school.      Teaching is a human endeavor.   What people say does in fact matter.  Calling for more Best and Brightest hurts.   A  Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind continue to have unintended consequences. Throughout, one constant is that we are not all motivated to work harder and longer solely by money.

What else he does in the article does is tougher to discern.  I’m surprised I even picked up on it given I am just a teacher.  He starts with pointing out the “Educational Crisis”…then moves on to criticize tenure and I think the overall nature of our educational workforce lowering the crosshairs directly on teachers. (Allow me to return fire)  Catch phrases like digital learning and concepts like having kids learn by watching DVDs of top teachers reveal that the view from the top is not what I see everyday.   Will it work?  Maybe with a small percentage of our kids who are self motivated.  “In fact, the new methods could reduce the longer-term need for mass teaching manpower”  Really?   Over-reliance on technology is dangerous.  It shouldn't replace teachers, it should empower them.   As good as it sounds having a kid in California watch a teacher from North Carolina using technology ain’t exactly gonna work for a lot of kids, and it doesn’t work for teachers either.  You can’t simply watch a good teacher and then repeat what they do.  Authentic assessment is what many of us do every day.   Intentional or not Zuckerman’s ideas further erode understanding of what good teaching really is and how valuable those people are.  It is not teaching to the test, it is teaching the kid.   There's no rubric for good teaching. 

This simplistic approach to educational issues reveals the divide between those that teach and those that “know” about teaching. Among the most asinine of ideas are many coming from  “reputable” educational researchers who hide behind mountains of data.  Too many of whom inexcusably fail to even talk to teachers in any of what they do.  The Best and Brightest should follow the same path to the profession as the rest of us, not get short tracked.   I frown upon alternative licensure not because I am threatened by it but because it makes a mockery of the requirements and processes in place as part of preparation to become a teacher. Not the least of which is the professional semester or student teaching.  Forgo it and you have no idea what the job is really like.    Kinda like many writing on education reform.

Those who seek to break down some of these regulations and “judge” teachers objectively put all of us who care about quality teaching in peril. Would we do the same for doctors and pilots?  They often blend anti-union and anti-tenure ideas and propose annual contracts.  Remember the origins of tenure.  Without tenure I might be less likely to take risks, take on a student teacher, share ideas, be innovative or take on some of our more challenged kids.  You cannot on one hand stress the importance and impact a great teachers then totally discount everything they say.  We do not choose our “clients” and we are subject to a slow erosion of our autonomy within our workplace  But still many teachers endure.

Best and Brightest talk does much to demean those of us who labor every day to help kids learn.   I know many great teachers whose SAT scores eliminated them from the most prestigious learning institutions.  But they know their craft well and in front of kids they transform into the most brilliant professional you’ll ever see. These three simple words subtlety imply we who are teaching are not smart  Sure I was just happy to get into college and I work with some of the folks who taught me when I was in High School.    I can only imagine what they think of me and purposefully avoid asking what I was like in High School.  But I do ask them how I can do better on occasion.   I am not the best at much of anything and I am smart enough to know I am far from bright.  Still I know a good teacher when I see one.

I’ll even admit I might be counted among the bad teachers by some measures.   Some of what I say here may sound a bit "holier than thou" but it is only meant to awaken the common sense among us.  I don't give much advise on investing or campaign strategy.  But I’d advise people who don’t face 14 year olds each day listen none the less.  Let’s not get hypnotized by the sheepskin shingle on someone’s wall and instead measure WHO people are as much as WHAT they are.  Listen to the professionals in the job when they say things are bad ideas.  Absolutely look for the best teachers we can but do not exclude those who can excel at the job because they didn't end up at an Ivy League.  Let’s remember that these efforts here to identify and remove those who are not good teachers do much to impede and frustrate good teachers.   As a result I have seen too many join those exiting on their way out the door.  In part since they can no longer excel and enjoy the profession and teach the kids the as they once did.  Ultimately this Best and Brightest approach might leave us worse off than we were are now.   Making the job of those of us who are crazy enough to endure for the right reasons harder.  Whatever the case it doesn’t help us teach the kids we’ve got much.

Five Technology Tools You Can Use Tomorrow

So we've touched on some thoughts classroom teachers have regarding technology. The last post left you with Larry Ferlazzo's checklist of whether a technology was worth using. Since we can't share I-pads or laptops with anyone we thought we might offer a few suggestions and links to some tools we have found useful. You are welcome. Every time you click these we get $1 and also can count the time towards out PLC(PLN) goal. Seriously though I sometimes wonder how these business models are set up and how they make any money. These are all quick and easy things that you can easily start using in some fashion with minimal effort. And based on much of what I read...we teachers are all about minimal effort ...right?

www.quia.com
Quia Intro/Tutorial
A site I started using about 6-7 years ago mostly for test and SOL review and as I understood more I realized its potential and power. I get a lot of positive feedback from parents and students on this one. It is a simple "create your own" site that most importantly allows you to "steal" from other teachers and quickly use their stuff and make it your own...like a virtual walk down the hall. So day 1 you could be up and running in a few minutes with access to huge amounts of content you can actually use with kids. And they like it. You can give quizzes, play review games, give surveys, share files, post HW...pretty powerful. Most important to me is that it was created with the classroom teacher in mind. very helpful for assessments in or out of class. It is a paid site.


www.quizlet.com
Quizlet Demo Video
Quizlet is something I am using only recently but it is easy to learn and intuitive. Good for basic review of information and another example of a way to extend the classroom. Nice because it tailors to where the kids are weak and is pretty simple. Again easy to start with nothing and quickly get to something.


www.edmodo.com
I describe it as the Facebook for school. Kids like the basic format and it opens the door to extending the classroom virtually. You can do all the usual...assign stuff, have stuff turned in, grade it, etc. I like the layout and ability to use it without much appreciation for its power. In a sense it does what Facebook does and helps create community. They have the coolest music with their tutorial as well. Oh that matters...


Googledocs
If you are looking to promote the cooperative work projects this is where it is at and it has 2 turntables and a microphone(See artist known as Beck) My kids use this more than I do but it is a very effective way to have kids work on projects and avoid having situations where one kids does all the work. You can track edits and actually see who did what when. Likely the most flexible and powerful if you know the ins and outs. Many teachers in my building are awesome at this.Admittedly I do not...but I still use it now and again to share stuff.


Jing
Jing Overview Video
Jing allows you to share information from your computer. PowerPoint Presentations with narration are the easiest example but you can do so much more. You can share what you see on your screen and make short videos to help others.

HONORABLE MENTION
Discovery Education
My school has a site license and I mostly use this to access video segments to use with my PowerPoint notes. In more recent classes I have have kids use this to research and find suitable video clips for projects.

Crocodoc
Easily allows you to upload/correct documents and then you can download PDF versions Good for peer reviews for students(though trading actual pieces of paper still works believe it or not)

How to Make Us All Great

Greatness is a relative term and there is a growing effort focused on making the teachers we have across this country better. But there's a simple solution. Hire more crappy teachers and voila. That will effectively increase the relative quality of those currently employed. Obviously that was a joke but so are some of the suggestions currently gaining favor.

Here's a serious one, actually pay educators for what they do. One way to do that would be to pay higher ups less. Keep the money in the schools with the people who work with kids in them, nowhere else. Don't allow yourself to be naive to the degree that you fail to recognize how influential companies are slowly leeching money away from actual instruction in schools and into management and testing. Let's use that money to do what was suggested in a bad 2008 Time Article reward teachers so that "the most competent, caring and compelling—remain in a profession known for low pay, low status and soul-crushing bureaucracy". If you use student scores and similar measures to rank us some of us are going to be bad. If you must tie this information in use it appropriately and rate, do not rank. Similarly be very careful about how you choose to reward educators. It is pretty important. Why not increase teacher pay across the board?

Great teachers know their subject, they communicate well, they inspire and connect with young people, they motivate, they understand kids and their emotional needs, they have the intangibles, they are creative, dependable, organized, work hard, are patient and resilient(My English teacher would run out of red ink on that sentence). Good luck getting all that from everyone. As some yolk the momentum for change in campaign season the finger can get pointed at teacher preparation. In other professions it seems what you did in college matters, but it seems OK to have graduated and underperformed before you got a job. Each year you work what you did and learned before you were hired matters less. Not so in education. Truth is the best preparation for teaching is actually teaching, the other stuff helps but learning about teaching and actually teaching are very different. Why does this even get pointed out as a big reason our students under-perform? Many kids I know only excel when their performance affects others, when it really maters. Teachers can be much the same. Imagine 25 faces staring back at you wondering what is about to happen when you don't know either. That would suck huh? Thus it'd be great to stop implying what you learned in college makes you a great teacher.

My favorite analogy came from Katy Farber who wrote Why Great Teachers Quit: And How We Might Stop the Exodus . She said that teaching is like treading water and then being handed more and more bricks. I feel that way almost daily. The more bricks we are handed, the less great we are. To offset the increasing demands some propose raising pay but that won't make the day any longer.

Many efforts to increase pay require that increase be tied to student performance on standardized tests(see previous post). Some are calling for experience to play a reduced role compensation or even be removed all together. Would that approach make sense for doctors, pilots, police officers, or any other job? News flash: EXPERIENCE MATTERS IN TEACHING. Tenure allows teachers to take risks and improve. To have piece of mind that they will have a job and focus on developing their craft free of the burdens of probationary supervision. Opponents of tenure argue it serves to keep bad teachers around but there are far more pros to cons.

Other ways to make us all great are to allow and protect the time teachers need for effective and meaningful collaboration. Squeezing it in the schedule here and there with a shoehorn doesn't cut it. That will allow for relevant sharing of resources and ideas along with professional development among peers so they can actually support each other. This enables them to successfully navigate the maelstrom of public education. Collaboration instead of competition.

Force everyone who wants input on educational decisions to sub in schools so they'll gain understanding on how tough this job can be when working with unmotivated or disrespectful kids.

Actually go back to where the kid was the one being held accountable. The are you working to engage johnny and what have you done to reach this kid stuff goes away when a kid acts like an idiot.

Respect the profession of teaching. Foster more autonomy and individual control, allow for advancement and leadership without leaving teaching. Excellence suffers when pressures from efficiency and output are applied to the classroom.

Simplify things. Teachers need time built into the day to settle the chaos. That would allow them to model a much calmer nature and be more understanding. Schedules need to be constructed in a way to allow this. Having full time subs would be a classic example of ways to help teachers be great with simplicity.

Recognize the limitations on digital and online learning, use it to supplement instruction, not just replace it. It has a growing and important role but has limits. Just as virtual human exchanges are useful but fall short of sitting down face to face. One of the lessons of John Henry is that technology is not always better. So much of what teachers do are those more subtle things or actions that have a formative impact of kids. Online classes should maintain similar student teacher ratios to brick and mortar learning. Kids can learn content from a book or a computer but the dynamic between a teacher and student can never be replicated virtually, period.

Keep teaching authentic not out of the box top down. Let teachers use their passion to instruct and do not extinguish that trait with minutia of pupil management.

Understand that teaching is a struggle. Every day is different and presents its own unique challenges. Support teachers accordingly.

Alleviate the student load to a level that allows more one on one attention and focus. This goes for all educators, teachers, counselors on down the list.

Just do what Jeb suggests...I mean he is obviously an education expert.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110401/EDIT05/304019996/1021/EDIT No don't...the seismic shift referenced on that link will be good teachers leaving the job.

Try building teachers up instead of tearing the profession down. It is a human endeavor and the human spirit can accomplish some pretty amazing things when it is cut loose and kept healthy. Ask what they need and work to get it to them. Don't give them stuff then convince them to use it.

Whatever paths chosen locally, statewide and federally to encourage greatness among teachers they should be carefully chosen and well thought out to help us be great, or at least allow us to show that we are when allowed to be.
Just don't hand me more bricks.

Catching the Carrot and Breaking the Stick

Discussion of education policy and reform often centers on issues of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.  No doubt these are among the most important factors in education, but increasingly I realize the most important aspect of my job is motivation.  Twentieth century psychology was pretty firmly entrenched in a behaviorist view of motivation-- provide the right incentives and if needed the right punishments, to gain the desired behavioral outcomes.  We are learning today that this type of motivating works well for tasks that are simple, but for more complex and higher level cognitive tasks this behavioral model of reinforcement can actually become a detriment to performance.

Even if you've never heard of B.F. Skinner and Behaviorism doesn't ring any bells in your brain, this theory today has become common sense.  So much so, that when I teach about Skinner's operant conditioning in my AP Psychology class, students wonder why this guy was so important.  After all, he just describes the stuff we already know.  These ideas and theories have become so embedded in our popular culture that it has become counter-intuitive to suggest that "rewards and punishments" are not always the best way to motivate.

Dan Pink has led the twenty-first century charge that the operating system of motivation 2.0 is due an upgrade.  This is not a new idea, but Pink has done an excellent job of promoting and articulating the fact that while external motivation creates significant short-term but shallow gains, the power of intrinsic motivation creates life-long learning.

That is point one- Extrinsic motivation may get us short-term results, but will dissapoint in the end.

Once upon a time, we believed that motivation was primarily a drive resulting from acquiring things that we need.  At the most basic level, food and shelter, but moving forward, secondary acquistions that facilitate the acquisition of these needs.  This is still very external.  Harry Harlow in his famous "terry-cloth monkey" experiments began the psychological studies that would eventually prove that humans also have many psychological needs such as affiliation, curiosity, achievement, etc., that can motivate just as powerfully as those external survival needs.  Again, Dan Pink summarizes much of this research from the last half-century, articulating the argument that humans will strive toward outcomes such as mastery and excellence absent any traditional rewards or punishments.

That is point two- We know that humans possess many internal drives that prove to motivate us toward sustained efforts to learn, understand, and acheive.

So far, I have not said anything original.  If you are familiar with Dan Pink, psychology in general, or any number of popular writers over the last decade, you may be thinking "o.k., so what?"  Here it goes.  Individuals working outside of the classroom have become increasingly critical of our "creativity killing school systems and teachers."  They are partly correct in their criticism.  Hollywood movies portraying out-of-the-box teachers showing students how to unleash their inner potential are inspiring.  Examples of innovative charter schools allowing students to explore their own paths to learning are hopeful.  Images of children scattered about a school campus engaged in authentic learning experiences emphasize the value of hands-on discovery.

To many on the outside, the impression becomes that since all children are "learners" by nature, if the restrictive adults would just get out of the way we could experience real learning.  I learned long ago that the best lessons I've provided in the classroom would look like I'm doing no work at all, while in the worst lessons I'm active for the duration of the class.  The former requires great skill and much work, the latter may require the skill, but much less work in preparation.  Getting out of the way and letting children experience learning requires much more effort in planning and executing meaningful experiences than a plan requiring constant direction from the teacher.  In the classroom, this will look effortless, even natural.  But compare it to an athlete or performer-- they will only give the perception of executing their craft effortlessly when they have put enough effort into their preparation.

True education occurs when caring adults make the effort to prepare meaningful interactions and experiences that engage learners in exercising thier natural curiosities and tendencies.  This learning is far superior to "carrot and stick" methods of rewarding and punishing appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, but this learning also requires much more effort on the front end.  I applaud administrators, parents, and others who demand this from teachers, and also the teachers who understand this.  To the critics and politicians who seem to thrive on bashing our public school systems I would ask that you realize this type of instruction is stifled by the insistence that true performance is measured only by standardized testing.  Also, to the casual observer, recognize that quality student learning doesn't "just happen."  As natural as it may seem, usually great effort and dedication is required to nurture it to maturity.

How to Not Be a Terrible Teacher

OK so that title apparently got your attention. The picture helps as well(this is too easy). In that sense we at the Underground are as traffic hungry as some media outlets but much more ethical in our quest to attract readers. Since you were unfortunate enough to find your way here you might as well read a bit.

When I was new to the job I should have been let go. In fact, I was...three separate times, when I received my reduction in force letter(RIF). For reasons I still cannot fully explain I kept coming back for more and was rehired each August. During that time a more experienced teacher once said to me "Get better or get out." OK...I made that line up but I wish someone had said it. Because that's kinda how I feel today. Despite what seems a coordinated and organized effort to demoralize America's teachers we stick around. And despite what you hear, many of the problems in our schools can't be just written off to "bad" teachers. Certainly a nebulous and political charged label in today's climate. The "good" teachers, the people I respect the most at my school, share a common trait, a continual desire to improve things and do better. So how does one go from surviving as a new teacher to really growing as a professional? Admitting I have much growing left to do, this is not a discussion of the growth-model value-added data driven edujargon reform currently proposed and supported by individuals who will never ask about what I have learned in teaching. Take it or leave it, here's some advice:

PERSONALITY MATTERS-A great deal of research tries to point out that in fact anyone can be a good teacher...and at least in principle I agree. I also believe strongly that as in any profession, when you expand the pool of people you hire, you also acquire those less able to perform. Like most places of employment, we've got those that work hard and make things better, and well, then we've got those that don't. One factor in that is personality. Teaching high school is unique. In how many other jobs do you interact with a hundred or more people(ones you see regularly) in more than just a minimal way? There are a few that come to mind and with them I know personality matters. Many other jobs involve very limited and simple interactions. In teaching you engage with many more folks in greater depth.

STEAL-The old re-inventing the wheel line still applies. While flashy PowerPoints and technology integration contribute, in most subjects it is still about content and basic lesson. White boards and markers work as well as a Promethean board. Why can't people get that? The digital age has ushered in many changes and as schools go 1 to 1with computers, I hope people recognize how that could potentially complicate what might otherwise be simple. Computers are great, until they start designing and building themselves. Yikes. I digress. Older teachers have more stuff, so steal from them! Resources, ideas, unit plans, etc. I did in fact have a more experienced teacher once tell me "teaching is sharing". That stuck with me. Remember to give and take.

KIDS BEFORE CONTENT- Remember you are teaching people, connect to them and make them matter. You never know when something you say can change the direction of a day or even a life. Smiley faces, positive comments, casual conversation before class all help create connections. Think about their lives and reach out(not on facebook), maybe even try to make their experience a positive one....

ARRIVE EARLY, LEAVE LATE-This is pretty much the norm but you need to put in the legwork to succeed. Yeah your family and relationship will suffer but hey you are a teacher...stop complaining. No one one in a position to do anything about it seems to care.

DO SOMETHING BESIDES SITTING IN THE CLASSROOM-Find other ways to get involved, sponsor stuff, coach, stand in the hall, volunteer. Speaking and Interacting with kids in a different setting can be as rewarding as anything else you do.

FIGURE OUT WAYS TO DO SOMETHING BETTER-Reflect and do things better in the future. You don't need data to accomplish this. I know for a fact that my 1st period classes might get short changed because it is the first time I attempt to do stuff. When 4th period rolls around my delivery is polished and fluid. I've worked out the kinks. Practice makes perfect.

ASK KIDS FOR FEEDBACK-They are brutally honest. If they all say you stink. You probably do. Consider appealing to their interests and changing up to something that works.

INVOLVE PARENTS-Parents are your best ally or worst enemy and sometimes both. Which would you prefer? E-mail updates about the class can go a long way in helping people feel connected. Include what the class has been doing, upcoming assignments and even some info about the school as a whole. It only takes a few minutes I get more thanks for this than just about anything else.

SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PUNT-Don't be scared to use a movie once in a while. Use that time to grade or get ready. Just be sure you make the movie useful and relevant or the kids will see right through the effort. Another way of saying this is some teachers make the mistake of feeling like they need to be up in front "teaching" for things to get done. Mix it up.

RED DOTS MEAN SOMETHING-Grading is not always a science and there isn't a rubric for everything. When listening to a song you know within the first 10 secs whether something is good and student responses can be much the same. Once you realize its good...Use red dots. Provide the needed feedback and move on. Example: 1 essay x 140 students x 5 mins each essay = 11+ hours of grading. Good luck with that.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS-You may work really hard and still not be any good. Welcome aboard!

TREAT STUDENTS LIKE THEY ARE YOUR KIDS-They are the most precious thing in the world to someone. Most young teachers don't yet have kids. Imagine entrusting your kid to someone else you barely know. You have to live up to that responsibility

BE A LEADER-Schools need competent, concerned and involved people or all the those that bash our schools will be proven right.

STAY MOTIVATED BY MOTIVATING OTHERS-There are few professions where each and every day so many depend on you. No you are not a pilot, nurse, surgeon, soldier or saint. But you are important. Find ways to make that mean something each and every day. Easier said than done. But fear not, for now most systems still have this thing called summer. :) Then you can just call your friends and gloat.

AVOID BURNOUT-Worry about and focus on one of the few things you can actually "control", your classroom, Don't worry about all the other stuff. If it deals with education don't watch too much news, read too much of the paper, attend too many meetings or read too many blogs(except this one).

In appreciation for our low morale we at the Teacher Underground are considering a series of posts to lighten the mood.

In the meantime share some of the tips those of you out there have picked up?

The Daily Show Takes on Teachers

You know you've made the big time when John Stewart targets you.  I would love to see more attention to school and teacher issues in the media, but so few people are willing to move any deeper into the conversation than pointing the finger at the easy solution.  Here's John Stewart's take:

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Data-Driven Decision-Making Kills Crickets!

“Diana Virgo, a math teacher at the Loudoun Academy of Science in Virginia, gives students a more real-world experience with functions. She brings in a bunch of chirping crickets into the classroom and poses a question:” So begins a story related in the book “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath. They applaud the teacher for providing a concrete lesson to understand the notion of a mathematical “function.”

I learned a different lesson altogether from this story. After gathering all the data relating to chirp rates and temperature, the students plug the information into a software package and--- AHA! The hotter it is, the faster crickets chirp and even better, IT’S PREDICTABLE! Now students have a concrete example of what a function is and what it does. Next comes the point where the story grabs me. The Heath brothers mention (in parenthesis no less, even calling it a side note, as if this isn’t the main point) that “Virgo also warns her students that human judgment is always indispensible.” For example, if you plug the temperature 1000 degrees into the function, you will discover that crickets chirp really fast when it is that hot.

The moral of the story is this: Data-driven decision-making kills crickets!

Unfortunately, it can also kill good instruction. Recently while attending a district-wide work-session on Professional Learning Communities, a nationally recognized consultant suggested reasons why teachers at a small middle school without colleagues in the same subject should collaborate with teachers from other schools in the same subject. He suggested that when these inter-school teams see that one teacher has better data in a given area, the others could learn what that teacher is doing to get such good results.

I’m not against this type of collaboration, but could it be possible that a teacher from one school whose student testing results (data) are not so good is still better than a teacher in a different school with excellent data? For example, might the data at school A look better than school B because students are getting better support at home. Perhaps school B spends more time making sure students are fed and clothed before concentrating on the job of instruction. What if school A has stronger leadership and teacher performance reflects teacher moral, support, or professional development?

Teachers must collaborate and share stories relating to instruction that works, but if student test-data is the only metric used to evaluate effectiveness we are essentially determining that crickets chirp very fast at 1000 degrees. There is a better choice than “data-driven.” Next week I’ll share my thoughts on this alternative and together we can strive to “save the crickets.”

Follow-up Post: Why Data-Informed Trumps Data-Driven

What's My Average?

In the debate over current school budgets the "average class size" statistic has become increasingly significant. The statistic is misused and covers some disturbing trends that directly affect the quality of what I am able to do.

Admittedly most concrete data and studies indicating benefits of smaller class sizes exists at the lower grade levels but class size matters( See: http://www.heros-inc.org/star.htm or http://www.heros-inc.org/factsheet.htm ). At higher grade levels class size clearly impacts instruction and learning as well. Yes kids can learn in a big lecture style class and they can also learn in a small hands on interactive class. But as a teacher it is more difficult, sometime impossible, to operate as effectively when student loads continue to grow. Am I complaining? Yes.

It is imperative that we work to keep classes with at risk, special education and similarly challenged students small. This is as much for behavioral reasons as it is academic. That means that core classes with "typical" kids are forced to grow. Not being a math teacher that simply means I must devote less attention to each student.

In an educational landscape dominated by hard choice decisions distanced from the classroom, increasing average class size seems an enticing way to increase efficiency. Having more students jeopardizes many of the more engaging and perhaps rigorous activities. Quality feedback and interaction with the teacher declines. This is not good. Can we still teach and kids still learn, yes. But simply put, one can only grade so many essays or homework effectively. That reality somehow gets lost between the desktop and the budget.

We all agree better teaching can mean better learning. While adding students might save money the true cost can never be measured in dollars.

Exceptionally Effective- Creativity

“Exceptionally Effective- showing the ability to go beyond the ordinary in producing desired results.”  

This is part four of our series on the qualities that make an "exceptionally effective teacher."

  I learned very early in my career that teaching from another teacher's plan is not as easy as it sounds.  One thing that I have appreciated about the research study on effective teachers that we've been exploring is the emphasis on the importance of personality characteristics of teachers.  Because of our differing personalities and styles-- and those of our students-- very few resources can be used "as is."  Learning to integrate and adapt the ideas of others effectively rather than simply "stealing" and passing it off as your own is an essential skill for a teacher.

One of the most encouraging parts of our job comes when we create that unique and effective learning experience for our students that motivates and inspires them in their efforts.  Games and simulations that allow students to really experience the "aha!" moment or new technologies that enable students to engage the curriculum in novel and creative ways on their own demonstrates to us what good teaching looks like.  I've written before about the art of teaching in my post "Teaching and Donuts" and I find the creative element of teaching to be one of the most life giving aspects of the profession.

I would like to think that in the current era of standardization and reform that more people understood this.  Many teachers see active engagement, differentiated instruction, and technology integration as roadblocks and an extra burden on their time.  More and more, that seems to be the piece that we are missing as teachers-- time.

Consider the following story from author Nancy Beach's An Hour On Sunday:

        As an artist at Hallmark Cards, Gordon MacKenzie sought to preserve and protect his own creative spirit. Orbiting the Giant Hairball, one of my all-time favorite books, beautifully describes Gordon's journey.

       Gordon illustrates the tension between management and artists when it comes to production pace. He asks the reader to imagine a serene pasture where a dairy cow is quietly eating grass, chewing her cud, and swishing her tail.

       Outside the fence stands "a rotund gentleman in a $700, powder-blue, pinstripe suit." This gentleman is livid that the cow is not working hard. He doesn't understand that whatever milk the cow produces when placed on the milking machine is directly related to the time the cow spends out in the field—"seemingly idle, but, in fact, performing the alchemy of transforming grass into milk."

       Gordon skillfully compares the rotund gentleman to management leaders all over the country who have no patience for the "quiet time essential to profound creativity."

The classroom teacher must work diligently to find the opportunities to collaborate and communicate with colleagues, and most importantly, to reflect...
   ...quietly
       ...about what we're doing
          ... and why we do it
             ... and how we can do it better

I only wish that more people would recognize this and grant me the time to be creative for our children.  But until then I will strive to carve out as much time in my life as I can to reflect and consider the classroom, the canvas for my creativity.

With that, we would like to claim the next four days as holiday and let our minds and bodies rest, because the students we will meet on Monday morning deserve our best, not our leftovers.  May we all find peace and rest, Happy Thanksgiving.

Exceptionally Effective- Caring About Students

“Exceptionally Effective- showing the ability to go beyond the ordinary in producing desired results.”  

This is part three of our series on the qualities that make an "exceptionally effective teacher."

As a twenty-something taking Ed School classes to become a teacher, I grew tired of the cliché “students don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”  Fifteen years later, I cannot remind myself of that fact enough.  Rating in the top five qualities of the Exceptional Teacher study, “caring about your students” is an absolute prerequisite for a k-12 teacher.

Caring gets easier the longer you teach.  I have established many relationships with the parents and students in our community.  So when a brother, sister, even cousin or family friend of a former student enters my class for the first time we already have a little “history.”  Even when a student comes into the classroom unconnected with my life, I usually find something in their life with which I can relate:  a common friend, sport, community organizations, etc.  

Sometimes caring gets harder the longer you teach.  This might sound strange, but I keep a spreadsheet with the name of every student I’ve ever taught.  That number is approaching two-thousand now.  When you add over one-hundred to that every year, remembering names gets tough.   I would argue that a class should never start without students sharing their names.  On the first day of class this year I taught a senior coming into our school for the first time.  When I saw him in the hall the next day I called him by name.  I was taken aback the way his eyes lit up and he responded surprisingly, “you really remembered my name.”

We also show that we care by holding students accountable for their behavior and their academic performance.  It is easier to “go with the flow” and keep everyone happy than to hold students accountable.  A caring teacher knows that sometimes “caring” means consequences while other times it means forgiveness.

I’m not surprised that “caring” was near the top of the list of effective teacher qualities.  Several of my colleagues, Lindsay included, sat down to lunch today with a former student who came back to visit us.  A student who experiences a caring teacher does not learn from them for a year, they learn from them for life.  This is all the data I need to know the importance of caring about my students.

Exceptionally Effective- High Expectations

“Exceptionally Effective- showing the ability to go beyond the ordinary in producing desired results.”  

This is part one of our series on the qualities that make an "exceptionally effective teacher."

Challenging/ Has Reasonably High Expectations

In my class, I strive to balance the fact that my students are in a twelfth grade college level class with the fact that they are still twelfth grade high school students.  They should leave my class able to take responsibility for their own learning, but while they are here, I must take my share of responsibility for their learning. 

This means that I must help them discover the expectations and outcomes that earlier in their education would have been clearly outlined for them.  I cannot be ambiguous and unclear, but my students must also learn self-direction and begin to set academic goals that balance their desired outcome with the expectations of the course.  By nature, this becomes an individual process with some students entering the course completely capable of taking full responsibility for their academic success and others requiring a greater level of teacher and parent involvement.

Earlier in my career I taught ninth and tenth grade students and this requires a different approach.  Indeed, this year I teach a predominantly ninth grade elective for the first time in several years and I am learning to readjust to their needs.

Personal experience informs this philosophy.  As a junior in high school, my AP U.S. History course was taught as a college class.  The teacher assigned reading and students were assessed periodically with tests.  I never read, but managed to remember enough from test to test to manage a B which weighted to an A.  By the time I took the AP test in May, I scored a 2.   Most of my other classes required homework, but I only completed it when I knew it would be graded. 

Neither approach served me well.  I did not learn the value of study and practice.  In college, I continued to only do the work required for a grade-- my learning and GPA suffered.

Having reasonably high expectations means that we set the bar high enough to reach, but this might be higher than the student believes he or she can reach.  It also means that if one must fully extend and balance on the tips of their toes to reach the goal, sometimes they will fall.  To set reasonably high expectations  for our students we also have to teach the value of failure and the resiliency to learn from failure instead of letting it define our futures.

The biggest challenge today is finding the time to set these challenges AND to stand behind each student as they strive to achieve.  As "factory schools" pile more and more bodies into the classroom the problem of effectively challenging students becomes greater and we fall back on setting the benchmark that we know everyone can achieve instead of pushing each individual to achieve every bit that they can.

Hollywood or Classroom

Perhaps our understanding of "student engagement" could lead to unintended consequences.  I know what engagement means and pride myself on my ability engage and relate to my students. I do have my limits and know I am not always successful.  Many factors affect this, ranging from the fact I teach Ancient World History to what is going outside the classroom in the student's life.  But I've heard and it bears repeating that the expectation, solely on the teacher to find a way to engage 100% of the students 100% of the time might be just a tad unrealistic.

The comparison of a classroom to Hollywood might take a while to explain so bear with me, I will try to be engaging.  Almost every television network today devotes at least some of its programming to the lives of the Hollywood stars. The minutia of their lives playing out before our eyes and most notably when they run amuck with the law.  Fear not because one thing I have learned is that personal responsibility is not stressed in the world of stardom.  Responsibility for ones own actions and behaviors seems an alien concept to the people we see on the TV.  Which brings me to my point.  When a child is not engaged that appears now to be the responsibility of the teacher and no longer the child.

Obviously teachers play a huge role and should strive to engage kids. When I was in school and said "my teacher is boring" or "I don't like math" that didn't excuse me when I did poorly or didn't learn.  But it seems to be moving in that direction.  How did this shift occur? Setting my curriculum and any specific academic skills aside there is a lot I'm trying to teach to my students that is part of the "unwritten curriculum".  Things like a good work ethic, manners, self advocacy, how to work with others, critical thinking, how to respond to failure or a challenge.  Perhaps most important would be responsibility.  Good teachers do what I think we are talking about and make every effort to engage their students in learning.  They need to understand the importance of differentiating based on the student's needs and characteristics.  Cognitively speaking this is a different equation for elementary and secondary students (who are the ones that I teach).

You can easily locate strategies to engage students but doing so effectively is really what separates the science of teaching from the art that we practice as professionals.  To me it means keeping them interested and involved.  Making them want to learn.  But they are kids after all.  Here's a revolutionary thought: on occasion they should remain interested and involved because they will need to in order to succeed.  Learning to combat boredom and keep your head up and pay attention is a skill.  Maybe worthy among those I mentioned above that I work hard to impart.  Making this happen is not so simple as catchy expressions, funny PowerPoint clipart or asking challenging questions.  Sometimes I can accomplish this with humor, energy, student involvement in learning and sometimes I fail.  There is no silver bullet.  My approach is to build a level of rapport where they will realize they should want to do well and I have a role in that.

Be it the push to not give zeros, even if the student does nothing(see the power of zero) or looking at teachers when kids are not engaged, not teaching kids about their responsibility for their education could potentially have a huge impact on them later in life.  We need these kids to grow into responsible citizens or their behavior in our communities will resemble the behavior in Hollywood.  Parents, teachers, everyone needs to work together to engender them with a sense of responsibility.  We need to continue to emphasize the the role the child plays in their own academic success.  Yes we need to engage but to point the finger solely at the teacher, what is the lesson there?  Having responsibility will take them a long way in life, maybe not all the way to Hollywood, but that isn't always a bad thing.

The Death of Public School Factories

Critics and reformers alike invoke the factory system metaphor to point out the greatest flaws in our public education system. In the 21st century, the factory is an anachronism and a factory system of education is destined to follow the same road as its manufacturing counterparts. I have never met a teacher, student, or parent who would favor an "education mill" type of education, yet many would argue that much of our public school system is stuck in this 20th century pattern of production. This begs the question "how do we move into the 21st century?"

We move ahead by expecting teachers to be more than assembly line workers. The ideology of a factory works this way-- divide the labor into smaller specialized pieces, take the skill out of the task, and add complexity to the system. It becomes easier to find labor to fill these roles because the system becomes more important than the worker. As long as the worker can "follow the plan”, everything runs smoothly. This has been done everywhere from McDonald's to GM. This is the way teachers are expected to act more and more, and we wonder why our schools look like factories.

We teach from common curriculum, give our students common assessments to measure benchmark performance and at the end the quality of our work (teaching) and the quality of our product (students) is judged by standardized testing. "Data" gathered from isolated educational specialists inform the "best practices" to which teachers are expected to conform. Increasingly, teachers are evaluated in five-minute bursts as administrators use a standardized checklist to measure performance.

Factories are run on a strict hierarchy—
Board-->Plant Manager-->Divison Managers-->Department Foremen-->Assembly Line Worker.

How does this compare to a school system structure?
School Board-->Superintendent-->Asst. Superintendents with specific duties-->Principals-->Assistant/Associate Principals-->Classroom teachers.

Factories are governed from the top down. Decisions are made at the top; workers at the bottom follow rules. When the workers start making decisions, the system fails. The further down the chain you go, the more employees are governed by policy, protocols, and manuals. In many cases, the workers are too busy to make decisions because the highest priority becomes producing more.

How do we kill the factory system of education? We stop treating teachers like assembly line employees. When they do a job well, we do not reward them by giving them more work. We protect their time to guarantee they have time to reflect and make wise decisions regarding individuals and instruction. Finally, we stop treating them as a monolithic labor force and value their individual contributions to a collaborative system of human development.

How do teachers ignite this process?  By remembering what we were taught in ed school, that students want to know that we care before they care what we know.  No matter how many students we're given or how many classes we teach, we must never lose sight of the fact that our relationship with an individual student is the most important factor in any system of education.  We need to engage the leaders of our building and systems in productive forward moving discussion.  We need to recognize the autonomy that we still possess and use it to the advantage of our students and communities. 

When teachers are given the opportunity, and take advantage of the opportunity to creatively and actively engage the learners of their community, the factory will become a relic.

All You Had to Do Was Ask

The title of this post alludes to a trend I think is more and more common in schools. Increasingly reformers are asking for "data" on kids to determine how they are performing and in the process too often becoming oblivious to the voice of experience and wisdom. Data does indeed have a place in reform but is it becoming too important? My school system could be a case study in this folly of innovation and reform, but then again that is just my opinion and no one is asking for it. So according to all this effort and all this testing how are my kids doing? I already know.

Recently our division signed on with a slick corporate Student Information System. With lots of bells and whistles it is a powerful tool that integrates records, grades, testing, curriculum, attendance...you name it. Now it does not do any of these things particularly well and I have come to feel it was actually designed by folks who never thought to consult teachers, counselors or school administrators. Frankly there are numerous issues with basic functionality. So in a way it seems a perfect tool for the current wave of reform. As we "work out the kinks" it becomes apparent that all too often this "solution" with which we have been provided only creates more problems and makes simple tasks much more complicated.

The obvious problem is that this platform was not really designed by or for teachers. Taking attendance, properly calculating grades, printing a transcript, all are among the major issues. I cannot imagine the experience for a more seasoned teacher who might be less comfortable with technology. I don't think this is really a tool for me. It was implemented to make us more efficient and to measure and improve performance. The worst part is it currently does nothing to help me teach.

On the front end I can give an online test. I was doing that eight years ago. Creating and setting up these tests is like going to the DMV or the dentist for a root canal. It is a painful and laborious process which takes way too much time, something I am already lacking. Point being that once I administer this "benchmark assessment" I will be able to identify which kids are under performing in any specific curriculum strands.

Here's the rub. I already know that. This is just a way for someone else to look that up and then measure a specific teacher's performance. This system tells me what my overall grades already show. So "grades" no longer seem as valuable in the realm of data driven decisions. Where I am having trouble is finding ways to use this which allows me better serve my students. Worse yet, the people who are paid money to create, run and improve the system have yet to make it clear how that will happen.

Teachers are the first to get on board with technology if it is easy to use and helps them do their job. Maybe that's why I can't find too many folks around here who feel that way about this particular technology. All I can find are people who feel the opposite. We have to input our questions, share our resources, populate it with materials and only then will we be able to actually "get" something from it. Where it is most sorely lacking is that in the race to be fancy, integrated, web based and flexible it has missed the main point of effective education reform. It does not help kids learn and it doesn't really help teachers teach. It just says which individuals among those groups are not doing well. To accomplish that all someone had to do was ask.

Teaching Kids to Shine

Recently, a senior asked me to fill out a standard reference form that guidance counselors use to prepare college recommendations. After filling out countless forms, I've grown frustrated at the number of students for whom I can only give a mediocre reference. The form asks for three adjectives that come to mind when you think of the student. By now, I hate to think how many times I've used "friendly", "outgoing", "responsible", "polite", and other variations of the same. But the most difficult part of the form asks: "List one major contribution this student has made in your class. Be as specific as possible."

I wondered how students would respond to this question, so I created a sample reference form to give my ninth grade Leadership class. I did not duplicate the form exactly, but I explained that when they become seniors they will give a similar form to several of their teachers. I asked them to eliminate their favorite and least favorite, then select one teacher from the rest. They would fill this reference form out for themselves as if they were that teacher. I wanted them to see that in four years, most students can learn to be respectful, responsible, and cordial, but they need to learn how to stand out in a positive way. I thought the question about one major contribution would stump them as it often stumps me, and I hoped they would become motivated to make a difference in all their classes.

There was one response I was not ready for. "What if we aren't given any opportunities to contribute to a class?" These students have only been in their high school classes for about two months, and they only have 4-6 classes at this time, but the comment made me stop to think. The absolute cream of the crop student might make a major contribution in any environment, but most 13-18 year-olds are entrusted to adults for a reason. They need nurture and instruction. If we want our students to shine, we need to provide opportunities for them to do so.

At the end of four years, "turned every assignment in on time", "never got detention", "present every day", "never tardy for class", "scored in the 80th percentile on standardized tests" and the like may look nice, but are these really the qualities that are going to get noticed by colleges and employers. Even more important, are these the qualities that are going to enable young minds to become young adults that will make a difference in the world.

Whether you're a teacher or not, what are you doing to give children and youth opportunities to shine?  I don't ask that because I assume most people are not doing anything, but because I suspect that many people are and the rest of us could benefit from hearing about it.  So what are you doing?

What teaching teaches

I’m a teacher? I often point this out to myself because it still seems so unlikely…especially to those who knew me when I was younger. I did not like school. I mean I didn’t mind being there; it was the work that got me. I was smart enough but I’m still embarrassed when I look back by my poor work ethic and the lack of impression I must have made on anyone.

I remember going to check my class rank with a friend of mine and the surprise I felt when I was ranked 134 out or 322(she was 135, life is cruel). I took to collegiate academics about the same. So if you were looking for the best and brightest to hire as a teacher, you should have skipped over me. But somehow I think I grew up some and ended up back teaching at the school I attended, hired by a teacher who gave me the D- I deserved in 12^th grade…and I guess I’ve learned a few things since.

So what have I learned since I became a teacher? It’s hard to explain, especially since I am so busy I don’t give it enough thought. One funny thing I saw and have posted in my room reads “The 2 most important rules to being a successful teacher…#1 Never tell your students everything.” Even the brightest kids will ask about #2 time and time again, only to feel cheated when they realize that their teacher seems to take pleasure in their confusion.

Sticking to that list theme...here’s some more of what I’ve learned. Not so much life lessons, just what it takes to be a successful teacher.

- Like people, kids and even their parents.
- Have a sense of humor
- Be part warden, expert, comedian, counselor, politician
- Be a little crazy (I occasionally swing my heavy wooden door shut as proof).
- Expect the unexpected.
- You have to work really hard and that's no guarantee things will work
- Pay attention to minutia.
- Be an optimist
- Learn to think on your feet.
- Have thick skin.
- Be willing to change.
- Be able to accept defeat.
- Be humble.

Teaching can indeed be a very tough job. But I’m just a teacher. There are tons of people whose jobs can be a heck a lot more important at any given moment. I was once told by a more experienced and wiser teacher that “Teaching is sharing”.

So share your story of lessons from the classroom by posting a comment below.