I. Am. Done!!!! I just finished (with two presentations and a paper) the LAST of the classes I was required to take to complete my permanent Spanish Certification. (Can I get an Amen?!?) The realization actually hit me a couple of days ago, that despite the fact that I have precisely one week of consecutive unscheduled time this summer, I am elated, because this is the first summer in several years that I am only doing work that I WANT to do. What an incredible difference that makes! I have more projects in the works than I care to count, all my scheduled travel is work-related, but I am unbelievably excited to get started! I truly didn't realize what an incredible relief it was going to be to have my time be my own again.
Once I hopped down from Cloud 9, it occurred to me that this is probably the way many of our students feel throughout their time in school. Very little of their time is their own. Bells move them from room to room, from compartmentalized subject to compartmentalized subject -- totally contrary to how the "real world" works. They have very limited choice within schedules of requirements packed to the hilt. Within classes, too often the extent of their ability to make any kind of choice is limited to what font they use in a required Powerpoint presentation.
Part of the beauty of my planned work this summer is the development of a pilot program that will (hopefully) begin to change some of these formerly entrenched systems. The concept is a sort of "school-within-a school" that allows for natural connections between and across content areas. Exciting stuff! There are nine teachers from a variety of content specialties who will be collaborating on this pilot. The pilot will continue with three consecutive freshman classes, with data examined along the way. We have the luxury of having a summer and a school year to solidify the plans -- which is great, because there are fabulously strong personalities and undoubtedly many ideas will be bounced around before we find a landing place. But I feel that this passion will be contagious, and will allow our students much more freedom to explore their own passions than a more traditional system.
As with anything new and different, there are naysayers, and there will be bumps in the road. We may end up with data showing that the program is a failure. I don't think so, but we're prepared for that eventuality. Commitment and passion give this a better than average chance of success. Full administrative support doesn't hurt either. :) I will surely be posting updates here about our journey.
Does anyone have any similar programs going on in their schools?
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Reflections
So much has changed since my last post that I hardly know where to begin! If you're a teacher in NYS, you have some idea where I'm coming from. The roller coaster ride that has been my career these last several years is another story all its own. Shortly after my last post, I received news that I was going to be embarking on a new phase to my career-- and not by my choice. A French teacher for 17 years, I was being asked to teach Spanish the following September. My last Spanish class prior to that was as an undergrad about 20 years prior -- SPA 202 to be precise. I needed to take the Content Specialty Test in mid July, in case I didn't pass it the first time it was offered again in July. Three weeks of my life after school ended that year, 7-8 hours a day, I did pass the test. But there was a catch. Apparently I would need 15 more credit hours to make the certification permanent. My last class-- Introduction to Spanish Linguistics-- is over in two days. I can finally reclaim part of my life. The irony, for me, has been that during this three year transition, I served as president of my local professional organization for a year, took over as director of a major district event, filled part of a vacancy as co-coach of my district's PBIS team, and this school year that is (finally) coming to an end, I have presented at a professional event every month except December and January. I've lost all of my French classes, and am now teaching only Spanish. It may seem to many people (because many have said it to me) that I should simply be grateful to have a job. I get that, and I am grateful, but only other language teachers can understand how much of one's identity is tied up in being a French teacher or a Spanish teacher or an Italian teacher. We do so much more than teach Vern conjugations and vocabulary. So this has been equally a period of grieving my former identity, and learning to give up the autonomy that I had working with only one other French teacher, and accept that I am now "low man on the totem pole" on a larger, more contentious team. The rest (more irony) is that within my department I have become more isolated than I have been since the early years of my career. Despite all of this, I am poised to return in the fall (who am I kidding, I have exactly one work-free week this summer) to a course I haven't yet taught, but with one major stressor ?coursework) off my plate. I am on an exciting new team that will be collaborating on a program to be piloted in Fall 2016. This opportunity promises to be a professional stretch in any case. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and I have come out the other side having learned a lot more than what has been on the course syllabi. Onward and upward to make the most of what I am given.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Stop the Madness!
I am writing this blog from the classroom where I am proctoring the first part of the NYS Math Exam. I am here to relieve the proctor who began the test. All proctors are afforded this benefit. The students must sit.
There are eleven seventh graders who began testing about an hour before I arrived (15 minutes ago). Four were still working at that point. Now, there is only one student still working. Students are not permitted to speak until the end of the testing time. They cannot read, do homework, draw, or use electronic devices of any kind. These eleven children, like several hundred others throughout our building, like thousands across New York State, are practicing the skill of timewasting. Forbidden to engage in any constructive activity, one student makes a pile of eraser crumbs. Two students independently play (almost) silently with their pencils. Several have their heads down, although this enforced lethargy does not seem to lead to actual sleep. One plays with a snap bracelet (too noisy, I must ask her to stop). No need for resentment to build against the lone student still working -- even when he finishes. This state of twitchy, stifling, monotony will go on until the mandated exam period is over.
As adults, parents, and educators we often lament the time our students "waste" on Facebook, texting or watching "Annoying Orange" videos on Youtube, but socializing is a critical piece of adolescent development. Humor is vital to all of us for a healthy spirit. I would argue that forcibly wasting our children's time in this manner is shameful.
But the rules and requirements of state testing are clearly beyond the realm of my control, so how is it an appropriate topic for this blog? Think of your own classroom while students are testing. What happens as students who work more quickly finish, but some take the entire class period to finish? How many of your students are productively engaged in another activity, how many are sitting with their heads down leaving you to clean up the drool before the next class comes in? What restrictions do you place on their post-test activities?
My challenge to you is to offer your students some post-test options that encourage them to think. I'm not suggesting tying it to the assessment or offering extra credit, but as an analogy, my daughters will eat chips and junk if it's around, and they're left to their own devices, but if I buy fresh fruit and keep that around, they'll eat that and be just as happy. Some kids will be mentally burnt after a challenging test, and may need a "mental break" to do nothing more than put their head down, but let's stop the madness of mandated monotony.
There are eleven seventh graders who began testing about an hour before I arrived (15 minutes ago). Four were still working at that point. Now, there is only one student still working. Students are not permitted to speak until the end of the testing time. They cannot read, do homework, draw, or use electronic devices of any kind. These eleven children, like several hundred others throughout our building, like thousands across New York State, are practicing the skill of timewasting. Forbidden to engage in any constructive activity, one student makes a pile of eraser crumbs. Two students independently play (almost) silently with their pencils. Several have their heads down, although this enforced lethargy does not seem to lead to actual sleep. One plays with a snap bracelet (too noisy, I must ask her to stop). No need for resentment to build against the lone student still working -- even when he finishes. This state of twitchy, stifling, monotony will go on until the mandated exam period is over.
As adults, parents, and educators we often lament the time our students "waste" on Facebook, texting or watching "Annoying Orange" videos on Youtube, but socializing is a critical piece of adolescent development. Humor is vital to all of us for a healthy spirit. I would argue that forcibly wasting our children's time in this manner is shameful.
But the rules and requirements of state testing are clearly beyond the realm of my control, so how is it an appropriate topic for this blog? Think of your own classroom while students are testing. What happens as students who work more quickly finish, but some take the entire class period to finish? How many of your students are productively engaged in another activity, how many are sitting with their heads down leaving you to clean up the drool before the next class comes in? What restrictions do you place on their post-test activities?
My challenge to you is to offer your students some post-test options that encourage them to think. I'm not suggesting tying it to the assessment or offering extra credit, but as an analogy, my daughters will eat chips and junk if it's around, and they're left to their own devices, but if I buy fresh fruit and keep that around, they'll eat that and be just as happy. Some kids will be mentally burnt after a challenging test, and may need a "mental break" to do nothing more than put their head down, but let's stop the madness of mandated monotony.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Are We Being Asked to Accomplish the Impossible?
Education reform, what it should look like, and whose fault it is that it's so necessary ( I think most of us agree that it's necessary) is a hotbutton issue for educators, politicians, and average citizens alike. I've posted in the past about what I think education reform should look like -- to some extent -- and I surely will again, likely in the not-too-distant future.
As for whose fault it is that education needs reforming, consider the words of Clayton M. Christensen in his book Disrupting Class :
"Schools in the United States have in fact constantly improved. Society just keeps moving the goalposts on schools by changing the definition of quality and asking schools to take on new jobs."
When I picked up this book to read, I was primarily interested in Christensen's take on how technology would, could, and does disrupt the educational process -- hopefully in positive ways. When I got to the above quote (the idea of which is revisited throughout the book) I felt like I had been hit between the eyes with the obvious. Christensen backs up his statement with a historical perspective of education in the US. He points out the four jobs the American education system has been asked to do (each added on to the next, never swapped out) since it's inception:
1. Preserve/inculcate democracy
2. Provide something for every student
3. Keep the US competitive
4. Eliminate poverty
When stated as baldly as that, it's no wonder the existing system seems to some to be an abject failure. From this perspective, education has clearly been successful at jobs 1 and 2. Success at job 3 might be open to debate, depending on the criteria used to define "competitive". Job 4, the newest responsibility" of the American education system has thus far eluded our grasp, and therefore it needs to be reformed, and someone needs to be held accountable...for not working the miracles being asked of educators. To again quote Christensen:
"Asking the public schools to negotiate these disruptions from within their mainstream organizations is tantamount to giving them a demonstrably impossible task. And yet, they've done remarkably well."
Most of us know (and often lament) that as educators we also must, at least in part, be parent, counselor, soup kitchen, Santa Claus, and hero to our students. Pressure from all sides often makes us feel as though we are failing.
So here is my challenge to you:
Reread those quotes from Christensen. Acknowledge to yourself honestly how successful you are at educating your students given escalating expectations and often diminishing resources. Pat yourself on the back before you pull up those tights, tie on that cape, and try to teach your students to fly.
Let me know how it goes.
As for whose fault it is that education needs reforming, consider the words of Clayton M. Christensen in his book Disrupting Class :
"Schools in the United States have in fact constantly improved. Society just keeps moving the goalposts on schools by changing the definition of quality and asking schools to take on new jobs."
When I picked up this book to read, I was primarily interested in Christensen's take on how technology would, could, and does disrupt the educational process -- hopefully in positive ways. When I got to the above quote (the idea of which is revisited throughout the book) I felt like I had been hit between the eyes with the obvious. Christensen backs up his statement with a historical perspective of education in the US. He points out the four jobs the American education system has been asked to do (each added on to the next, never swapped out) since it's inception:
1. Preserve/inculcate democracy
2. Provide something for every student
3. Keep the US competitive
4. Eliminate poverty
When stated as baldly as that, it's no wonder the existing system seems to some to be an abject failure. From this perspective, education has clearly been successful at jobs 1 and 2. Success at job 3 might be open to debate, depending on the criteria used to define "competitive". Job 4, the newest responsibility" of the American education system has thus far eluded our grasp, and therefore it needs to be reformed, and someone needs to be held accountable...for not working the miracles being asked of educators. To again quote Christensen:
"Asking the public schools to negotiate these disruptions from within their mainstream organizations is tantamount to giving them a demonstrably impossible task. And yet, they've done remarkably well."
Most of us know (and often lament) that as educators we also must, at least in part, be parent, counselor, soup kitchen, Santa Claus, and hero to our students. Pressure from all sides often makes us feel as though we are failing.
So here is my challenge to you:
Reread those quotes from Christensen. Acknowledge to yourself honestly how successful you are at educating your students given escalating expectations and often diminishing resources. Pat yourself on the back before you pull up those tights, tie on that cape, and try to teach your students to fly.
Let me know how it goes.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Tweet Your Bucket Full
I just finished reading an inspirational book by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton called How Full is your Bucket. The book is a summary (written for the layperson) of Clifton's lifetime body of work studying the impact of positive and negative interactions with our friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers. They say that positive interactions "fill our buckets".
I think most of us realize the impact of a sincere compliment -- I know it can lighten my step throughout the day. Sometimes I'll even pull out the memory of it later, and wrap myself in it like a cozy blanket. I also, unfortunately, have had my share of negative interactions whose memories sneak up and undermine my confidence at inopportune moments.
Rath and Clifton recommend actively "filling other people's buckets" -- giving sincere compliments and personally acknowledging those with whom you interact in a positive way -- as a way of filling your own bucket. I have found that growing my PLN with Twitter is an almost constant stream into my bucket, as well as providing endless opportunities to do some bucket-filling.
Consider the thoughtful retweet. (I use the word thoughtful, because random retweets are meaningless). When you retweet another professional, you are effectively letting all of your followers know that you think that idea is worthwhile enough to share. You have filled that Tweeter's bucket.
Consider the uptweet. When you read a blog post that impresses you in some way, and you uptweet it to your followers, you again are making a statement that what this person wrote, among all the posts you may have read that day, is worth your followers' valuable time to read themselves. You have filled that bloggers bucket.
Consider the side conversations that can sometimes develop from a Twitter chat. The majority of those I've had have grown from a mutual sharing of ideas. Sometimes they are shared values, sometimes the ideas are at odds. In either case, the willingness to engage in professional dialogue shows that you value the other's ideas enough to take the time for a conversation.
The professional Twitter community of educators that I have been a part of for almost a year has rarely yielded negative interactions. On the contrary, the connections I have made energize me as a professional, and as a human being.
So here's my challenge to you:
Pay closer attention to your retweets and uptweets. Acknowledge to yourself that you are filling the author's bucket. Pay attention to when you are retweeted or uptweeted, because your bucket deserves to be filled to.
Let me know how it goes!
I think most of us realize the impact of a sincere compliment -- I know it can lighten my step throughout the day. Sometimes I'll even pull out the memory of it later, and wrap myself in it like a cozy blanket. I also, unfortunately, have had my share of negative interactions whose memories sneak up and undermine my confidence at inopportune moments.
Rath and Clifton recommend actively "filling other people's buckets" -- giving sincere compliments and personally acknowledging those with whom you interact in a positive way -- as a way of filling your own bucket. I have found that growing my PLN with Twitter is an almost constant stream into my bucket, as well as providing endless opportunities to do some bucket-filling.
Consider the thoughtful retweet. (I use the word thoughtful, because random retweets are meaningless). When you retweet another professional, you are effectively letting all of your followers know that you think that idea is worthwhile enough to share. You have filled that Tweeter's bucket.
Consider the uptweet. When you read a blog post that impresses you in some way, and you uptweet it to your followers, you again are making a statement that what this person wrote, among all the posts you may have read that day, is worth your followers' valuable time to read themselves. You have filled that bloggers bucket.
Consider the side conversations that can sometimes develop from a Twitter chat. The majority of those I've had have grown from a mutual sharing of ideas. Sometimes they are shared values, sometimes the ideas are at odds. In either case, the willingness to engage in professional dialogue shows that you value the other's ideas enough to take the time for a conversation.
The professional Twitter community of educators that I have been a part of for almost a year has rarely yielded negative interactions. On the contrary, the connections I have made energize me as a professional, and as a human being.
So here's my challenge to you:
Pay closer attention to your retweets and uptweets. Acknowledge to yourself that you are filling the author's bucket. Pay attention to when you are retweeted or uptweeted, because your bucket deserves to be filled to.
Let me know how it goes!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Leadership Means Recognizing Those Who Make You Look Good
"Behind every woman scorned is a man who made her that way." -- Miranda Lambert
I am an avid music listener, and I do love country music. I heard that song (Baggage Claim) over the weekend, and I had to chuckle. It rattled around in my brain, and started to ring a bit true in a broader sense -- morale being on a clear downswing these days.
I would put forth the following:
Behind every disillusioned professional with low morale is a leader who did not recognize his or her contribution.
I previously posted about the power of gratitude. Unfortunately, the inverse is equally powerful. Not being recognized for professional accomplishments by the people who "matter" can take its toll over time. I am a true believer in Angela Maiers and the philosophy of "You Matter", but in the current climate where teachers are often portrayed as less than professionals in the media and arenas outside of education, recognition from within becomes doubly important to continue to inspire teachers to go the "extra mile". It's hard to keep going when your emotional tank is on empty.
Any undertaking that involves more than one person to accomplish, deserves to be followed by the positive recognition of all who helped make it possible. Any leader who comes out smelling like a rose, owes that heavenly fragrance, at least in part, to any number of people, and a good leader spreads the accolades -- "pays it backward" for lack of a better phrase.
My challenge to you:
As an educational leader, look around at the people who help make you look good. Actively recognize that not one of us can do it alone.
Let me know how it goes.
I am an avid music listener, and I do love country music. I heard that song (Baggage Claim) over the weekend, and I had to chuckle. It rattled around in my brain, and started to ring a bit true in a broader sense -- morale being on a clear downswing these days.
I would put forth the following:
Behind every disillusioned professional with low morale is a leader who did not recognize his or her contribution.
I previously posted about the power of gratitude. Unfortunately, the inverse is equally powerful. Not being recognized for professional accomplishments by the people who "matter" can take its toll over time. I am a true believer in Angela Maiers and the philosophy of "You Matter", but in the current climate where teachers are often portrayed as less than professionals in the media and arenas outside of education, recognition from within becomes doubly important to continue to inspire teachers to go the "extra mile". It's hard to keep going when your emotional tank is on empty.
Any undertaking that involves more than one person to accomplish, deserves to be followed by the positive recognition of all who helped make it possible. Any leader who comes out smelling like a rose, owes that heavenly fragrance, at least in part, to any number of people, and a good leader spreads the accolades -- "pays it backward" for lack of a better phrase.
My challenge to you:
As an educational leader, look around at the people who help make you look good. Actively recognize that not one of us can do it alone.
Let me know how it goes.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Madeline Hunter 2012
Madeline Hunter is one of those names in education that I recall studying back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I was studying to be a teacher. Yes, I confessed to being only 40 in my last post, but when I think back to typing some of my papers on a typewriter, it seems we're in a completely different world now.
I landed in teaching in sort of a backward way. My undergrad degrees were in French and music, and I did not take any education courses until grad school. I completed my Master's program in fifteen calendar months -- including studetn teaching. To be honest, all the names and which names matched which theories were all a blur -- especially as I tried to simply survive student teaching.
I recently picked up a copy of Hunter's Mastery Teaching. It is designed to accompany a video series, but read it anyway. I would, in fact, encourage any veteran teacher to revisit "the classics" through the lens of a seasoned teacher -- I think Hunter would agree.
So here's a quote from Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching:
...it is important for teachers to identify consciously and deliberately the decisions needing to be made in each category and base their decisions on research-validated knowledge. Equally important is teachers' ability to "read" signals from students and to assess the learning situation so necessary adjustments will be made.
From my perspective as a veteran (but still growing) teacher, I offer this:
Plan your lessons thoughtfully, but be ready to seize those "teachable moments". Be prepared to be flexible. Listen to your students so you can better meet your learning needs. Be data-informed, but not data-driven -- in other words, don't box yourself in based on last year's results from assessments taken by last year's students. Date from last week may even be overridden by a sudden breakthough in learning, or an unexpected tragedy affecting students in your class.
If your teaching employs only science, you're a technologist. If your "art" does not have a scientific foundation, you're simply a promising amateur. You need both art and science to be a mastery teacher.
--Madeline Hunter, Mastery Teaching
So my challenge to you is to go read something by Madeline Hunter. Think about it in relation to your teaching and your students.
Let me know how it goes!
I landed in teaching in sort of a backward way. My undergrad degrees were in French and music, and I did not take any education courses until grad school. I completed my Master's program in fifteen calendar months -- including studetn teaching. To be honest, all the names and which names matched which theories were all a blur -- especially as I tried to simply survive student teaching.
I recently picked up a copy of Hunter's Mastery Teaching. It is designed to accompany a video series, but read it anyway. I would, in fact, encourage any veteran teacher to revisit "the classics" through the lens of a seasoned teacher -- I think Hunter would agree.
So here's a quote from Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching:
...it is important for teachers to identify consciously and deliberately the decisions needing to be made in each category and base their decisions on research-validated knowledge. Equally important is teachers' ability to "read" signals from students and to assess the learning situation so necessary adjustments will be made.
From my perspective as a veteran (but still growing) teacher, I offer this:
Plan your lessons thoughtfully, but be ready to seize those "teachable moments". Be prepared to be flexible. Listen to your students so you can better meet your learning needs. Be data-informed, but not data-driven -- in other words, don't box yourself in based on last year's results from assessments taken by last year's students. Date from last week may even be overridden by a sudden breakthough in learning, or an unexpected tragedy affecting students in your class.
If your teaching employs only science, you're a technologist. If your "art" does not have a scientific foundation, you're simply a promising amateur. You need both art and science to be a mastery teacher.
--Madeline Hunter, Mastery Teaching
So my challenge to you is to go read something by Madeline Hunter. Think about it in relation to your teaching and your students.
Let me know how it goes!
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