Where would you prefer to teach?

What if...?

Where would you prefer to teach?

School System A:
• What if a district department made all of the decisions regarding your NESS/Induction support?
• What if the teacher leader coordinating new educator support was omitted from the hiring process?
• What if only new teachers hired before the first day of school were provided a comprehensive orientation experience?
• What if only one coach supported a teacher in need?
• What if teachers met only once a month to listen to other teachers talk?
• What if professional learning was dependent entirely on outside human resources?
• What if participant attendance was the only factor used to assess the effectiveness of professional development?

School System B:
• What if the teachers and leaders at your school made the decisions regarding your NESS/Induction support?
• What if the teacher leader coordinating new educator support was involved in the hiring process?
• What if all teachers new to the school were provided a comprehensive orientation experience?
• What if teams supported teachers in need?
• What if teachers met regularly to study more effective teaching practices?
• What if professional learning utilized the expertise of the school staff?
• What if a continuous improvement process was used to monitor the effectiveness of professional development?

Advice From My Coach

First year teachers in the Broward County Public Schools shared the best advice their coaches gave them during their first semester on the job. If you are a new teacher and have any additional advice you received please post it in the comments.

The best advice my Instructional Coach gave me was...

Take one thing at a time. My coach noticed that I tend to take on too much, so he told me to pace myself. He gave me some great ideas on how to be more effective and use time more efficiently. This way I can help the students but still have time to plan other interesting activities instead of doing work that will not be as beneficial to the students.
Irene, Second Grade, Colbert Elementary

Review the Florida Performance Measurement System (FPMS) observation tool used by my AP when doing his formal observation. She explained each category in depth so I understood what I would be observed on.
Megan, First Grade Teacher, Palm Cove Elementary

Do not take on too many things. Its new and exciting, but I cannot do everything. Learn to say no and take time to complete my steps towards my professional certification.
Rachelle, World Languages, West Broward High School

Believe in myself and my abilities to change children's lives for the better!
Lauren, Davie Elementary

Take it one day at a time with a peek at the following day.
Dayana, Kindergarten teacher, Silver Shores Elementary

Don’t be afraid to ask questions!!
Nicole, ESE Teacher, Pembroke Pines Elementary

Don’t worry about things that I cannot control.
Savannah, Pembroke Pines Elementary

To always ask a lot of questions. It is better to ask a lot of questions then to be unclear.

Jenna, 3rd Grade Teacher, Silver Shores Elementary

Plan, Do Study Act

An earlier Induction e-newsletter article described the PLAN phase of the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP). The step after Plan in the CIP is DO. The Do phase usually involves the client’s learning and integrating a new behavior in his/her practice. For example, if the area that needs strengthening is students are off task, a teacher will implement a new strategy or modify an existing one that will encourage student involvement in the lesson. In the DO phase the data found during the planning stage is used to identify the goal and the appropriate intervention(s) needed to improve the clients current reality.

The DO consists of meeting with your client to:

• generate potential interventions/solutions that will address the root causes of the problem (i.e. were student off task because materials were not ready, directions were inaccurate, lesson was not relevant to students, or it was a procedure problem)
• select an intervention/solution that will likely lead to a successful implementation of a more effective teacher behavior, and
• integrate the intervention/solution into practice.

The next step will involve measuring the impact of the new behavior in the classroom and that will be the next installment.

Barriers and Solutions

On October 30 2008, South Central Area NESS Liaisons met at the SCA office for their second Collaborative Learning Session of the year. One activity they participated in was a “Carousel” to collaboratively address barriers they have been facing as they work on developing induction plans at their sites. Below are the issues discussed and possible solutions suggested by their liaison colleagues. Click on the comment link if you have any to add.

How do we identify our induction team?
Use teams that are already in place (i.e. team leaders, support staff, leadership team). Besides administration, consider staff members who are already involved in the work, such as Instructional Coaches, your NESS Liaison, and department heads.

How do you get people to volunteer their time/efforts to participate on the Induction Team without pay?
Provide alternative incentives, such as comp. time, vouchers to use with catalogs (ACE), or gifts (from partners in education). Use a pool substitute to split the day among members.

What does induction self-assessment look like? Who should be involved in self-assessment?
The Induction Rubric or a Continuous Improvement Plan can be used to assess induction at your site. The entire staff or just members of the induction team can continue to monitor through CAB, Quia or at faculty or induction meetings.

How do you find the time to meet and write the Induction Plan? How elaborate/detailed does the plan have to be?
Follow the model provided by the electronic Induction Planning Tool; the questions will guide you through the entire process. Use details when developing the plan, but be open to flexibility. It is important to be specific to the school needs. Start the induction talk during faculty/grade/department meetings and continue communication via CAB. Look at models of other plans (do not start from scratch).

Is Professional Development Worth $$$$

Countless workshops, seminars, retreats, and other training opportunities are offered under the assumption that they can positively affect how a faculty teaches, which in turn will help students learn more. However, there’s evidence that short-term interventions, such as afternoon or early morning workshops, don’t have much of an effect when it comes to changing teacher behaviors. On the other hand, data suggest that well-designed, substantive training programs are worth the time and effort. Well-designed and substantive training programs by Florida professional development standards involves four steps planning, delivery, follow-up, and evaluation.

Gibbs and Coffey looked at the effects of training programs at 20 universities in eight countries. Each training program involved at minimum of 60 hours (300 hours for the longest) and spread those activities across four to 18 months. The results provide confirmation that in-depth training does make a significant impact on teaching. A faculty that participates in well-designed training programs becomes more learner-focused and their students are more likely to learn.

Planning next year’s professional development calendar will begin second semester, before you start planning take time to reflect on the professional develop offered this year to your staff. How did your site’s professional development experience influence changes in teacher behaviors to enhance student learning? What can administrators and teacher leaders do to help their faculty marry Florida Standards with appropriate teaching processes?
Source: Academic Leader, Magna Publications

Teamwork?

In the book called, “It’s Called Work for a Reason,” Larry Winget explains how Teams do not work. I have been in and heard of many experiences that random grouping of individuals with an assigned task might eventually lead to the completion of that task, yet wonder if the group is functioning as a team or just struggling to get the job done.

From Larry’s book he writes, “Instead of teams, we should create groups of superstar individuals who share a common goal. Then you allow those superstars to exploit their uniqueness in an environment where other superstars are doing the same thing. This mutual respect for the talent of others helps them achieve the common goal faster and allows them to excel as individuals, which is better for their egos. It takes care of the whole “what’s in it for me?” mentality that we all possess, because the individual doesn’t have to share the credit with people who didn’t contribute.”

“Superstars with a common goal must still work together, and happily will if there are other superstars whose talents and abilities they respect. Superstars love working with other superstars who are great at what they do. But this is not teamwork. This is a common goal being accomplished by a group of individuals who have individual tasks, and held accountable for their tasks, and are given credit for accomplishing their tasks.”

How would you describe your team experience to Larry?

Source: Winget, L. (2006). It's Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault. New York: Gotham.

Technology and PLCs

NESS Liaison Debra Stahl from Parkway Middle is a participant of a Teacher Leadership Professional Learning Community (PLC) that is learning about developing effective PLCs. Debra journals her experiences with the rest of her team via Tangler.com, an online discussion network. Her latest entry expresses her experience with sharing responsibility, collaboration, and technology.

"Ms. Badio, an Instructional Coach and our Teacher of the Year who totally is into technology and also is paperless in her math class have run the last two months of our NESS learning community. She has been showing the entire group online resources that new teachers and really all educators can use. These resources are great for the students because of the world in which we live in today. It brings the teaching to a different level when trying to get students to buy into what is taking place in the classroom. It is interesting to see how the younger new teachers pick up what she is showing so quickly, while someone like me has to take notes and write down the steps involved. We even have started our own online community through Wiki (didn't know what that was either), which is somewhat what we are doing here on Tangler. Ms. Badio shared with the group, "Wiki is a powerful tool for multiple people to edit documents, work together and coordinate projects." She posts information for the new educators and coaches and we can log on and talk with one another on the site as well. It is great!!"

Thanks to Ms. Badio and Debra Stahl

Is There a Budget for Xbox?

Kurt Squire, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of curriculum and instruction, spoke on his experiences researching simulations and games in learning environments. David Williamson Shaffer, a professor at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, told the audience about his interest in how computer-based media change the way people think and learn.
Researchers say video games have many attributes that help people learn:

1. They activate prior learning, because players must use previously learned information to move to higher levels of play.
2. Games provide immediate feedback in scoring and in visual and auditory stimulus, which allows learners to more quickly modify their learning strategies before the ineffective ones become entrenched.
3. Skill transfer from games to real life is much more likely to occur.
4. Motivation to learn new ideas or tasks is higher when games are used for most people (although some prefer to learn in traditional ways).

When students come to your class with new technologies do you think of it as an opportunity or an obstacle? How can you use technologies like I phones, I pods, or blackberries to increase your students learning opportunities?
Source: Wisconsin Technology Network

Don't Waste a Minute!

What do you do with those awkward moments that arise in every teacher’s day, those times when a lesson ends five minutes before the bell rings or a few minutes before specials? Try some mini lessons, quick activities that fill time without wasting it! The following two examples are from the website.

• Ask each student to name one thing they learned today.
• Play the alphabet game, which can be used in any subject, Name a country that begins with the letter A, Argentina, and the next student a country that begins with the letter B, Belgium, and the next student a country that begins with the letter C, and so on.

Click the source below to access the Education World website for more mini lessons.
Source: Education World

Warm Up Activities

The following website contains a library of warm-up activities for each day of the school year covering the core subject areas. For example:

Language Arts

1. Correct all capitalization errors in the following sentence.

on mother's day we went to the iowa state fair.

Answer: On Mother's Day we went to the Iowa State Fair.

Geography

1. Name the seven continents.

Answer: North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Europe, and South America

Click the URL below to access the website for warm-up activities.

Source: http://712educators.about.com/od/warmups/Warm_Ups_Questions_to_Begin_the_Day.htm

Continuous Improvement: PLAN, Do, Study, Act

Plan, Do, Study, and ACT (PDSA) is a structured process of continuous improvement. This article describes a planning process commonly used by Instructional Coaches. During the PLAN phase the coach together with the New Educator discuss and identify the characteristics of an effective, competent teacher. These characteristics represent the goals (Desired State) that teachers work toward to improve their practice.

The coach begins the planning process by collecting baseline data. This baseline data is use to clarify the new teacher’s Current Reality. Current Reality is written in concrete measurable terms, such as, “class started on time”, “13 questions were knowledge level and 4 were application level”, or “teacher ignored two student talking off task during warm up activity”.

After baseline data is collected the coach and the new teacher discuss the meaning and possible impact of the information. During the discussion the new teacher and coach select a Goal or area that the new teacher could improve. Once the Goal is established the Desired State can be refined or brought into focus. Then the new teacher and coach can select possible Interventions. Interventions are actions that could lead to a change in teacher behavior that will have a positive effect on student achievement. The reason I said, "could lead" is that we will not know the effect of the interventions until we measure Impact.

Tips for the Planning Process:
• Align actions towards the Desired State
• Fix process not blame
• Use data and data narrowing tools to identify Current Reality
• Build a professional relationship based on commitment, not compliance.

This article focused on the steps to Plan. There will be follow-up articles on Do, Study, and Act.
Source: Doug Miller

The Instructional Coach and More: A Instructional Coach Study Group

The mission of induction is to support and develop the entire staff in their work, helping all students achieve rigorous standards of learning. An Instructional Coach that uses his/her colleagues’ expertise plays a critical role in accelerating a New Educator’s professional growth and expanding the New Educator’s support network.

In your next Instructional Coach meeting ask your coaches some questions like:

1. What is Induction?
2. How is it different from NESS?
   
3. If a coach was focused on inducting his/her New Educator into the school's culture, how would that influence a coach's work?
   
4. How would an induction focus influence the way a coach works with the faculty?

Debrief:
What did we discuss today that will help a coach and/or new educator be more effective?

The following are some possible responses by Instructional Coach: (Only share one at a time, if the discussion slows.)

• Include all other staff members of the school community when working with a New Educator
• Expand support from individual, grade level/departmental, to site involvement and improvement
• Respect and use the expertise of other teachers and support staff, in the school community
• Include the New Educator in continuous inquiry and improvement of practice that takes place among effective teachers
• Plan collaboratively with colleagues
• Collaborate with your New Educator in developing a coherent long-term plan (beyond the first year) to improve professionally

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

Student Assignments

GLE - Grade Level Expectations

Beginning with Pygmalion in the Classroom (Rosenthal and Jacobson, 1968), an extensive body of research has been developed that describes how teachers' expectations can influence student performance. While it is misleading to state that teacher expectations determine a student's success, the research clearly establishes that teacher expectations do play a significant role in determining how well and how much students learn.

Research into the ways in which teachers interact with their students highlight how teachers form expectations about their students and more importantly how teachers' expectations influence the rigor of assignments they give their students. Particularly noteworthy are the findings of Douglass (1964) and Mackler (1969) on the effects that tracking has on teachers and students, "Teachers' expectations about a student's achievement can be affected by factors having little or nothing to do with the student’s ability and yet these expectations can determine the level of achievement by confining learning opportunities to those available in one's track."

Data Works, an educational software company, examined work assigned by teachers in thousands of classrooms and found that teachers from second grade through high school have reduced their academic expectations of their students. Astonishingly, the research showed that by 5th grade only 2 out of every 100 assignments given to students were at grade level. It would be nice to think that the other 98 assignments were above grade level pushing the students to expand their horizons, however, the chart above suggest otherwise.

It should be remembered that the students often internalize teachers' expectations over time. When this internalization occurs, a student's perseverance and motivation to achieve may decline until the student's ability to achieve is damaged. As a classroom teacher, “How do you determine the rigor of your assignments?”

Summary : http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0bam.htm

A Teacher’s Influence

"I have come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated and a child humanized or dehumanized."

From, HAIM GINOTT, Between Teacher and Child

Classroom Safari - Support Group Activity

The purpose of this activity is to examine how a teacher's arrange of classroom furniture influence student behavior.

Objectives:

1. Diagram the furniture arrangements in four classrooms
   
2. Discuss the effect of furniture arrangement on student behavior
   
3. Discuss the instructional strategies that work best with each room arrangement

Note: Facilitator pre-selects rooms with different furniture arrangements. Provide paper to diagram furniture arrangements.

Procedure: Take your support group on a tour of 4 classrooms at your site. In each room ask the participants to:

1. Describe the possible effect of each classroom’s furniture arrangement on student behavior.
2. Identify the instructional strategies that are most effective for that room arrangement.
3. Chart feedback, the teams should be prepared to give reasons for their responses.
4. Move to the next room and repeat the process.

Debriefing:
Ask each participant to think about how the furniture is arranged in your classroom and its possible influence on students.

1. What is one thing about your room arrangement that has a positive influence on student behavior?
2. What is one thing you would like to change about the furniture arrange in your room and how will that influence student behavior?

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

The goal is to encourage and facilitate positive parental involvement in the classroom. Educational research identifies four reasons for encouraging parental support:

• Students perform better
• Teacher morale improves
• Parents become empowered
• Communities grow stronger.

Since there is no one reason for parental non-participation, the following are several approaches that seek to involve parents in their child's education.

Start Up Calls
Spend the week before school starts calling each parent to introduce yourself, emphasize their importance from the start and open lines of communication. Invite them to a parent meeting and take this time to discuss scheduling a meeting when the most parents can attend.

Calling Web
Establish a phone tree in which each parent is responsible for calling two or three other parents to notify of special events or news. Arrange the tree so bilingual parents call those that don't speak English well. Designate a neighbor to inform those without phones.

Beginning of the Year Questionnaire
Send a questionnaire home to parents on the first day of school. Ask them these kind of questions:

• Tell me about your child. What are his or her interests?
• What do you think is important for your child learn this year?
• Is there anything you especially want me to know about your child?
• How would you like to be involved in your child's education this year?

Suggestion Box
Have box mounted outside of the classroom door for student or parent suggestions. Let it be known it is perfectly fine to make anonymous suggestions or to send them in envelopes with students.
Thursday Folder Notes
Send home a folder on Thursdays with student work on one side, school communication on the other side. Staple a sheet that is permanently included for handwritten comments and communication between parent and teacher.

Weekly News Letters
Send home a newsletter in Thursday folders. Try to incorporate the help of a bilingual parent or coworker if necessary. Use the newsletter to thank parents and acknowledge their contributions and inform them of any new developments.

Source: Debora McDonnell, Elementary School Teacher

The Good Mentor

In the past few weeks, new and inexperienced teachers across Broward County will look to their Instructional Coach for the advice and support they need to survive and prosper in one of the world's most challenging professions. Will they find the mentor they need? In this 1999 article from Educational Leadership, James Rowley described six "basic but essential" qualities of good mentors. Rowley bases his analysis on his decade of work helping school districts design mentor-based, entry-year programs.

1. The good mentor is committed to the role of mentoring.
2. The good mentor is accepting of the beginning teacher.
3. The good mentor is skilled at providing instructional support.
4. The good mentor is effective in different interpersonal contexts.
5. The good mentor is a model of a continuous learner.
6. The good mentor communicates hope and optimism.

Source: James Rowley (1999) Educational Leadership

The Role of a Coach

AREAS OF FOCUS IN SUPPORTING YOUR NEW EDUCATOR
The Principal determines the role of the New Educator Support System (NESS) and with the NESS School Liaison identifies the Instructional Coach’s role and responsibilities in supporting the New Educator. The following list contains some suggestions for prioritizing New Educator support:
1. Classroom performance

• Student/Classroom management
• Lesson planning incorporating Sunshine State Standards
• Lesson presentation
• Assessing student work
• Student Expectations

2. Site expectations

• Parent, community relationships
• Site policies and procedures
• Site culture

3. State and District requirements for retaining employment.

• Completion of Child Abuse
• ESOL Requirements
• State Competencies
• Professional Exams
• Special Circumstances: ACE, additional State or District Requirements
• Other items listed on the New Educators Statement of Eligibility.

This list is not meant to be a checklist but to offer suggestions that may help support the New Educator more effectively.
Source: Dr. Doug Miller

PDSA

Purpose:
To enhance an educator's diagnostic procedure in supporting a colleague or change in practice

Opportunities for use
When an educator is intending to change/improve a work activity or practice.

Benefits
Helps us to 'really' learn from experience. We get closer to the improvements we intended. Moves us out of the fire fighting cycle. Adds focus on continual improvement.

How to use this tool
PLAN- "If we do this, then ..." - something will be improved. Then DO something to try it out - preferably on a smaller scale - to see what can be learned. STUDY the results to see what we have learned. Work hard at this step; seek and value different opinions. ACT adopt the change, or abandon it, or run through the cycle again, changing the plan in some way.
Original Source: Deming, W.E., adapted for challenges in education.

The Effective Teacher: A Study Group Protocol

One of the first priorities in working with new teachers at your site is developing a common language and vision concerning effective teaching behaviors. One way to begin the process is during orientation, a study group, or learning community ask the group to brainstorm the traits of an effective teacher, while they brainstorm record their ideas and thoughts on chart paper.

After the group completes the brainstorming process distribute the list of effective teaching behaviors listed in the Florida Performance Measurement System, the Domains, and/or the Classroom walk Through. Next, ask the group to compare the ideas in their brainstorming list with the lists provided by the State or District.Finally, ask each person to share one item that was on both lists and one item that was on one list but not the other that they believe has a significant impact on teacher effectiveness.

Here are some questions that may help the new teachers articulate the traits of an effective teacher.

• What knowledge do effective teachers possess?
• What skills do effective teachers possess?
• What attributes do effective teachers demonstrate?
• What attitudes do effective teachers display?
• What behaviors do effective teachers show?
• What do effective teachers look like and sound like?
Reflective/Follow-up question: How can this activity add value to my practice?
This is not the only way to identify effective teaching behaviors. Please use the comments section to share other activities that will help new teacher build a common vocabulary.
Source: Doug Miller

NESS REQUIREMENTS

The following is a list of District requirements that a New Educator must complete to exit the New Educator Support System (NESS):

NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

NESS is a site-based support program for teachers new to Broward County Public Schools. If you are interested in discussing this question or any others, please contact your HRD Program Facilitator.

That Blank Look

Sometimes when I ask my eight-year-old students for their ideas or opinions often they are too shy to put up their hands or offer their thoughts. In this situation I now say, "O.K. tell the person next to you what you think.” I allow the students thirty seconds to a minute, and then call their attention back to me. There will be a noisy buzz while they exchange views, but the result when you ask for their opinions again is worth it. As they have already told one person and not been laughed at, they will be more inclined to tell the whole class. If I want answers particularly from very shy students I may say, tell me what your partner said. This way each class member must get an idea from their partner, and this makes them more likely to agree to swap in case I ask them for their partners thoughts.

Source: Sue Beddall, Fourth Year Teacher: http://www.teach-nology.com

Old Enough to Teach

My favorite teacher was my high school English teacher. It was fun just being in her classroom. I began my first full-time teaching job two months shy of my 23rd birthday. On a college campus, being over 21 is considered old and wise. While my elementary students appreciate my age, my colleagues don’t. My pigtails and flip-flops don’t fit into this new world. I began coming in early and staying late to prove that I, too, could join the ranks of “Super Teachers.” I worked extra hard on my lessons and tried my best to be at every parent function so that my commitment could never be questioned. However, some teachers seemed annoyed by my ever-present enthusiasm.

Generation Y is growing up. We want to influence the world like the generations before us did. We are transitioning into the “adult world” and we need to be heard. We are full of knowledge and desperately trying to make an impact. We should not be discouraged.

Summary from Teacher Magazine July 16, 2007 by Erin Reed

Orange Brook Elementary's Instructional Coaches

The following are stories provided by six of Orange Brook Elementary's Instructional Coaches. The stories focus on the rewards the coaches received helping new educators transition into the teaching profession.
Story One
I like to help people. As an Instructional Coach, I have an opportunity to help another teacher get things organized in her classroom and I can offer suggestions to help make her day a little smoother and easier. I have also enjoyed watching her teach her class. Once she had a great project that she did with her students and I was able to modify it to use with my class.
Story Two
Being able to reduce the pressure on a New Educator's by assisting in various aspects especially the overwhelming paperwork and procedures so she could focus on teaching, was one of the most rewarding experiences. Maintaining an open, two way communication being there for my NE to express her concerns and needs on a regular basis and seeing how my assistance and advice give her more confidence was a great feeling also!
Story Three
It was so nice to see a new teacher have support and actually know what to do each day. I know that I felt so unsupported when I was a new teacher. It was also nice to know that my new educator felt comfortable coming to me with issues and that I could work with her to come up with answers.
Story Four
My most rewarding experience as an Instructional coach was having a NE that is truly enthusiastic and vibrant about being and educator! Also, sharing the many new and exciting teaching skills, strategies, and ideas at the NESS meetings has made me a more reflective teacher.
Story Five
My most rewarding experience as an instructional coach was seeing my mentee grow and learn. She started off very timid and self-conscious and now she is a confident teacher. She does not question herself anymore. She knows that she has the skills to teach her students and she does it without hesitation. I am proud to see how much my mentee has learned and how much her students have learned because of it.
Story Six
My most rewarding experience this year as an Instructional Coach, was helping a new educator be successful. I was able to help my new educator have a great first year . That in it self was rewarding to me. Although, my NESS person is teaching in intermediate, and I am primary, we found experiences that related to each other.

Ms Bryan's Story

My greatest success as a New Educator are as follows:

1. Learning time management - earlier in the school year I was running out of time, now I believe my time management skills are more controlled.
2. Being able to attend to each student individual needs and realize that every child has a different way of learning.
3. Improving my teaching skills by way of repetition which allows most students to grasp the concept of whats being taught.

I enjoy my students they all have different personalities which make my day even more fun.
Source: Ms. Bryan, Rickards Middle School

Never Give Up

It's early yet, but I have one student who spent most of the class with his head down or once I got his head raised, he was doodling or staring into space. This continued for 3/4 of the first quarter. Then, one day, I thanked him for volunteering to be a team leader on a project. Of course, this got laughs--including from him--and he passed on the leadership role, but he started to participate in class. The more he participated, naturally, the better his grades and the more positive attention he got from his peers. By the time BAT 2 testing came around, he was earning a B for the 2nd quarter and his score increased we over 40 points! While still shy, he continues to participate in class, smiles a lot now and gets more A's than B's lately. I expect an improvement on his FCAT! The point is never give up on your students you never know when you will inspire them.

Submitted by Candace McKinniss, Bair Middle

Chunking Your Way to Productivity

The following is adapted from Lisa Haneberg’s (2006) Help Employees Improve Productivity by Teaching Them to Chunk! Focus Like a Laser Beam: 10 Ways to Do What Matters Most.

In most public schools, the pace of work is hectic and spasmodic. Teachers try to juggle a myriad of projects and tasks at once. Multitasking, or trying to do to many things at once, has become the norm. Unfortunately, multitasking is not the solution for coping with numerous priorities and it wrecks focus and productivity.

Studies confirm the downsides of multitasking. Teachers want to do more with less, but when they multitask, they end up doing less with less. When attention is jolted from one task to the next, teachers lose time during the interruption and they need time to get back up to speed with the next task.

Chunking helps teachers focus while allowing them to be responsive. Chunking means carving out segments of time that you will use to focus on one thing. Teachers should strive to schedule and enjoy several focused chunks per week. To enjoy the benefits of chunking, you will need to schedule time chunks ahead of time and exercise resolve to ensure these precious time blocks do not get consumed by interruptions or diversions.

INDUCTION MATTERS: The Difference between Mentoring and Induction

A growing body of research demonstrates that implementing a comprehensive induction program is one of the most effective methods for retaining quality teachers, and can cut teacher attrition rates by 50 percent. In addition, designing well-crafted induction programs can improve teaching quality and increase teacher retention. (www.teacherquality.org)

Mentoring is considered a formal coaching relationship in which an experienced teacher gives guidance, support and feedback to a new educator. High quality mentor programs fully train mentors/coaches, pair first and second year teachers with mentors in similar grades and content areas, and release time and common planning time is provided for mentors and mentored.

Induction goes beyond mentoring to provide an extensive framework to support the continual professional development for everyone in the organization. Comprehensive induction programs may vary in their design, but essential components include a high quality mentor program, ongoing professional development, access to a supportive network in the school, and a criteria-based evaluation of job performance and the process itself.

Mentoring: Focuses on survival and support
Induction: Promotes career learning and professional development

Mentoring:Fosters a mentor apprentice relationship
Induction: Fosters interdependent collegial support of everyone on the staff

Mentoring: Treats mentoring as an isolated event
Induction: Induction is comprehensive and is a part of a career long professional development design

Mentoring: Reacts to whatever arises
Induction: Acculturates a vision that proactively adapts to changes in expectations and in the organization

Mentoring: Short term
Induction: Long term, recurrent, and sustained

Source: Dr. Sheila Lewis, HRD Program facilitator

Teaching Routines versus Announcing Rules

Research has repeatedly shown that highly effective teachers spend most of the first two weeks of a semester teaching classroom routines.  Yet, the older the students are the less investment we make in teaching routines.  Typically, by high school, teaching routines has become rather perfunctory -- often consisting of just a few announcements on the first day of school.

Teachers who do not make the investment in teaching their procedures and rules on the first day of school and over the first two weeks -- will spend a huge amount of time and energy bringing order out of chaos day after day for the rest of the school year.

Source: Education World

Creating a Climate for Learning

Howard Miller, Associate Professor of Education at Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri) suggests 12 steps teachers can take at the beginning of the year to promote effective classroom management.

1. Develop a set of written expectations you can live with and enforce.
   
2. Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent.
   
3. Be patient with yourself and with your students.
   
4. Make parents your allies. Call early and often. Use the word "concerned.” When communicating a concern, be specific and descriptive.
   
5. Do not talk too much. Use the first 15 minutes of class for lectures or presentations, and then get the kids working.
   
6. Break the class period into two or three different activities. Be sure each activity segues smoothly into the next.
   
7. Begin at the very beginning of each class period and end at the very end.
   
8. Do not call roll. Take the roll with your seating chart while students are working.
   
9. Keep all students actively involved. For example, while a student does a presentation, involve the other students in evaluating it.
   
10. Discipline individual students quietly and privately. Never engage in a disciplinary conversation across the room.
    
11. Keep your sense of perspective and your sense of humor.
    
12. Know when to ask for help.
    

Source: http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr155.shtml

Techniques that Backfire

Communication behaviors that backfire include:

1. Raising my voice
   
2. Yelling
   
3. Saying “I’m the boss here”
   
4. Insisting on having the last word
   
5. Using tense body language, such as rigid posture or clenched hands
   
6. Using degrading, insulting, humiliating, or embarrassing put-downs
   
7. Using sarcasm
   
8. Attacking the student’s character
   
9. Acting superior
   
10. Using physical force
    
11. Drawing unrelated persons into the conflict
    
12. Having a double standard — making students do what I say, not what I do
    
13. Insisting that I am right
    
14. Preaching
    
15. Making assumptions
    
16. Backing the student into a corner
    
17. Pleading or bribing
    
18. Bringing up unrelated events
    
19. Generalizing about students by making remarks such as “All you kids are the same”
    
20. Making unsubstantiated accusations
    
21. Holding a grudge
    
22. Nagging
    
23. Throwing a temper tantrum
    
24. Mimicking the student
    
25. Making comparisons with siblings or other students
    
26. Commanding, demanding, dominating
    

Source: Randall Deich

"Where does a coach begin?"

One question all coaches ask is “Where do I begin?”  Our profession maintains an impossible expectation that new teachers after five days of preplanning are as effective as veteran teachers. Everyone knows this is not true but we still maintain systems that are contrary to what we know.  Broward County Public School has developed important systems to support new teachers.  We have New Teacher Academy, New Teacher Orientation, and many schools now have their own site-based pre-preplanning orientation programs.  However, these events alone do not meet all the needs of the New Educators.  That brings us back to the importance of Instructional Coaches and their dilemma as coaches “Where do we begin?” 

In 1994, Educational Leadership published an article called “What helps students learn?” The article listed 28 indicators that affect student learning.  It would be impossible for a coach to address all 28 indicators in the research.  However, effective coaches know the importance of focusing on the top four because these categories of teacher behaviors have a major impact on student learning.

1. Classroom Management: In the first few weeks of school, the new teacher should focus on developing procedures that create a safe and orderly environment for students. (Safe and orderly environment is one of the Correlates of Effective Schools.)
   
2. Learning Processes: The New Educators should not just focus on content but should help the students develop learning skills they can use beyond the classroom. (Marzano’s “Nine High Yield Strategies” is recommended as source of high impact instructional strategies.)
   
3. Parents as Allies: Encourage New Educators to contact students’ parents early to share something positive about their child and to explain course content and expectations in the classroom. This will make it easier if later a student has difficulty behaviorally or academically. (Home and School is another Correlate of Effective Schools.) 
   
4. High Expectations: The research strongly suggests that a teacher’s expectations have a significant impact on student performance. The attitude of a teacher should be that all the students in his/her class can and will achieve the State Standards. (Climate of High Expectations is a Correlate of Effective Schools.)
   

The next question is, “Which of the four should I do first?” After analyzing the data you collected during your conversations and observations to determine your New Educator’s “Current Reality’, you should have no difficulty answering this question.  If you would like more information please contact your NESS Program Facilitator through your NESS Liaison.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

The Role of Coaching

Increased student achievement can only be achieved by improving school effectiveness and teacher skills. In the classroom student success is driven by the teacher’s skills.  A football team, for example, does not win a game simply by telling the quarterback that he must complete 25 passes, and that the wide receiver must catch 8 passes, and the halfbacks must run 110 yards.  A team wins because its players are more proficient in executing the skills required to defeat the competition.  Our New Educators, as wonderful as they are, do not have the skills only experience can provide.  Fortunately, an effective coach can greatly accelerate and enhance the New Educator's acquisition of effective skills.  Coaching is not about teaching the caterpillar how to fly; it’s about creating an opening for it to see the possibilities.
Source: Paul Lefebvre

Consequences Protocol

Effective Liaisons recognize the importance of using activities that are energizing and create intense discussion. Here is a suggestion for your next Support Group/Learning Community meeting.

1. The whole group brainstorms and charts student behaviors that tend to disrupt the academic flow of a classroom. (The following are some ideas to get the group started. Students: chewing gum, tardy, out of seats, turning in sloppy work, etc.)
   
2. Then divide the group into teams the New Educators vs. the Instructional Coaches. (If you have a large group make multiple groups of New Educators and Instructional Coaches.) 
   
3. The teams will then discuss what they would do if the student exhibited each behavior on the brainstorm list. (You may want to time this section.)
   
4. Finally, let the New Educators share first and then the Instructional Coaches share their responses.
   
5. Debrief: How were the responses of the New Educators and the Instructional Coaches alike? How were they different? How do these types of discussions help New Educators? How do these discussions help Instructional Coaches?
   

Warning: On rare occasions ICs get carried away trying to impress the NEs with how tough they are, so prior to the meeting encourage ICs to recommend consequences they really use.
Source: Dr. Doug Miller

The Leadership Imperative - Coaching

The major role of the NESS Liaison’s is coach of coaches. Your major role as coach of coaches is to create a environment within which the Instructional Coach can focus his or her energy in supporting the New Educator. The support you provide is specific and based on the needs of each Instructional Coach. The guidance and interventions you provide should be appropriate to the developmental level of the Instructional Coach. Always bear in mind that the Liaison needs to focus on what great coaching looks like and feels like. 

Consider the following, using the Continuous Improvement Plan can increase your success supporting your Instructional Coaches and provides a way to document the effectiveness of your interventions. The Continuous Improvement Cycle includes:

1. Identifying the desired state, what great performance looks and feels like.
   
2. Selecting appropriate assessment tools
   
3. Ascertaining the ICs current reality
   
4. Setting a goal
   
5. Selecting intervention(s)
   
6. Measuring the impact of the intervention
   
7. Deciding on next steps.
   

For more information about using the Continuous Improvement Plan, contact your HRD Program Facilitator.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller 

What teachers hate about the first day of school

1. When the rich kid’s lawyer tried to negotiate a “No Fault” deal for homework.
   
2. When you forgot your “Excedrin.”
   
3. The lottery ticket you bought just before returning to school had only one matching number.
   
4. When a third grader gets your computer, you couldn’t start all summer, up and running in five minutes.
5. When the paper reduction memo came in triplicate.
6. Pushy dad and hovering mom and their your own parents.
   

First Steps for Coaches

Mentoring new teachers is very demanding especially at the beginning of the year, the main reason is that from the beginning New Educators are expected to carry out all the duties that a veteran teacher routinely performs. The following are some possible talking points for those first meetings with the New Educator during preplanning:

1. Build personal connections with your New Educator by asking questions like “Where did you attend college?”, “Where are you from?”, and “What’s your sign?” just kidding but you get the idea. You are the New Educator’s big brother or big sister.
   
2. Explain your role as an Instructional Coach – friend, observer, provider of feedback, information resource, advocate, and most importantly that you are there to help the New Educator be successful.
   
3. Discuss the characteristics of an ideal teacher and write them down. (This will reduce possible conflict later, if you both share the same vision of effective teaching).
   
4. Help the New Educator prepare his/her classroom or if she/he is roving prepare their cart.
   
5. Encourage the New Educator to put classroom procedures in writing.
6. Develop classroom rules
   
7. Encourage the New Educator to have at least two weeks of lesson plans based on your school’s instructional focus calendar.
   

Warning: Encourage New Educators to focus on classroom procedures, during the first week of school.  Many new teachers feel they are falling behind with academics but effective teachers know if you don’t develop effective procedures in the beginning, you will lose a considerable amount of academic time later.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

NESS Fast Starts

Welcome back, NESS School Liaisons, I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. As the new school year begins, the following are seven suggestions from Veteran NESS School Liaisons for supporting New Educators and Instructional Coaches at your site.

1. Initiate your NESS Learning Community for inservice Points before you start meeting. You can no longer post date events/courses.  For more information contact your HRD Program Facilitator.
2. Ask your Instructional Coaches for suggestions on how they can follow-up on your site-based orientation for new educators.
3. Designate part of your Instructional Coach Study Group to the coaches who attended this summer’s Coach Professional Development (CPD) training or the Clinical Educator Training and invite them to facilitate some of the activities from that training.
4. Brainstorm the qualities of a highly effective teacher in your first learning community and use this list to focus the New Educator’s Professional Growth.
5. Invite your HRD Program Facilitators to help plan Instructional Coach and NESS Learning Communities or any other induction process.
6. Record and organize your site-based NESS actions and protocols for future use and for preparing your replacement.
7. If you need additional information or assistance contact your HRD Program Facilitator.

Source: NESS Liaisons

Turn Word Problems into Pictures

Instruction Problem:

Students are having difficulty solving word problems.

One possible instructional strategy -
Group Work – Divide the students into groups of three. Give each group a word problem. Instruct the students to brainstorm ways to act out the problem. Then give the group a sheet of paper to write the word problem at the top of the page and then draw a storyboard of the action in the word problem. (Note: The teacher needs to model each step of the instructional process before asking the students to perform the task.)

Individual Accountability –
1. All participate in brainstorming.
2. All participate in the presentation.
3. One member reads the word problem to the group and class.
4. One member takes notes during brainstorming session.
5. One member draws the storyboard based on ideas provided by the group.

Presenting the work - Each group reads their word problem, posts their storyboard on the wall, and then acts out the word problem. The groups presentation is not about getting the right answer, the focus is on the processes for solving the word problem. Following the presentation, students may solve the problem independently using the storyboard posted on the wall as a resource.

Assessing student work - Evaluate each student and group on their ability to describe the process for solving the problem and the clarity of the presentation and storyboard.

Note: Using a rubric is an effective way to measure student work. Student should receive a copy of the rubric at the beginning of the activity (students can be involved in creating the rubric). There are many resources available online which can be adapted based on your learning objectives and students abilities/needs. The following are two website that may help you in planning a lesson.

http://www.exemplars.com/resources/rubrics/nctm.html
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/elemath/probsol.html

This strategy includes all three learning modalities – visual (reading and creating storyboard), auditory (group conversation and narrative), and kinesthetic (presentation). Groups can be organized in a variety of ways to meet the unique needs of your students. Groups needing to be challenged could be given higher level problems or problems involving multiple steps. Also groups that finishes early can be encouraged to find more than one way to solve their word problem or demonstrate ways to check their answer for accuracy.

Final thoughts: When faced with instructional challenges the best source for information is your colleagues. It is rewarding for you and your colleague. You gain new information and your colleague has a opportunity to reflect on their practice. Ask your colleagues questions like: How do you help your students – “solve word problems?”, “identify main idea?”, or "apply the scientific method?”. Important follow-up questions may include: "What does rigorous student work look like?" "What is the most effective way to group students?" "What student procedures do I need to maintain instructional momentum?"

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, HRD Program Facilitator

Director’s Message

As another year of teaching and learning draws close to an end, I want to leave you with two points that I recently read and are worthy of sharing. Both are excerpts from a publication by Dr. Harry Wong.

USE COACHES: A critical component of a successful comprehensive induction program is a coach. An educational coach is a teacher with expertise in classroom management and instructional and academic skills. Coaches have a clear-cut responsibility to help new teachers maximize their personal and professional potential. Successful coaches are compensated for their time and training so that they are able to proactively interact with and support new teachers. Coaches customize their instruction to support a new teacher's needs. Subject-specific coaches might also be used to increase proficiency in topic areas such as literacy, math, science, or technology. With a vision for student achievement, coaches are able to work with new teachers to develop instruction plans and assess for student progress. The bottom line emphasis is always on student learning.

References: www.teacher.net/wong/FEB08 and www. teacher.net/wong/MAR08

EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS: When teachers regularly and collaboratively review assessment data and work together to reach measurable goals, something magical happens: Student achievement increases.

Teaching should never be done in a vacuum - education is a sharing profession. When people work in isolation, there is no culture. A teacher's colleagues are their best resource, new teachers should get to know them. Listen to them. Learn from them. Work with them in a collegial manner and see what makes them effective and tailor their techniques to fit their needs. In this way techniques become perfected, new ideas are crafted, and a sustained culture of learning and sharing supports all the teachers. When schools become professional learning communities where teachers learn as well, student achievement increases.

Reference: www.teachers.net/wong/APR08

Thanks for another successful year - enjoy your summer - look forward to new adventures awaiting us in 08-09!

Linda S. Whitehead
Director, Teacher Development/HRD

Achieving the Vision

One of the barriers to achieving the vision is selecting the appropriate leadership method to turn a belief statement into reality. Even though most principals know what might be best for the organization, it is essential that in order to sustain positive change the faculty must experience processes that lead to commitment instead of compliance regardless of district, state, or federal pressure. Perhaps that is what Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards for School Leaders (ISLLC) Standard 1* is all about, facilitating the development of the staff rather than managing the staff.

Even though autocratic methods might produce immediate results, since there is little if any transfer of ownership, old practices will soon return. Since leaders “should concern themselves with doing the right thing,” he or she must focus on processes that eventually influence employee behavior that build relationships. Soliciting feedback for decision making or empowering employees might not always yield instant results, however these methods allow followers to be treated equally (democratic style), promote trust, and provides a “a voice in decisions.” When these factors are considered, the ownership for change transfers to the employees, providing a sense of personal accountability and eventually high moral and productivity.

ISLLC Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Source: Randall Deich, NESS Program Facilitator

Monitoring the Vision

Where is the integrity of the vision, mission, and implementation plans if not regularly monitored, evaluated, and revised? Most vision activities stop at the faculty/department meetings where brainstorming and wordsmithing are quite common and are not revisited until the start of the next school year. One of the gaps of identifying the vision is to follow through with an evaluation plan.

Unfortunately, data is a four-letter word in our culture of education. Traditionally data was always used to reference whether acts were good/bad or effective/ineffective. This is when data is used to judge decisions or outcomes, however data can be used to inform. There is a large gap between what data says and what data means. When using evaluation data for the vision, all that needs to be addressed is how closely aligned are the beliefs to the actions. Since one of the responsibilities of the leader is to assist in the change process, “the leader must assist individuals in understanding and adjusting to the environment of the organization” (Green, 2005, pg.32). Depending on the maturity level of the staff the leader should provide or facilitate processes that support the monitoring of the vision.

Monitoring the development of a school-wide vision can be a challenge. Measuring where we begin and where we end is common practice and comfortably fits our paradigm of pre and post testing. However, in order to determine whether growth is, in fact, continuous, frequent monitoring of the small steps along the way is essential. For example, if the vision statement refers to the school as a learning environment for teachers and students, then what systems and procedures are in place that fosters this outcome? Does the leader provide the opportunity to collaborate? Is the vision kept in mind when the master schedule is developed or is providing time to collaborate an afterthought? It is essential to constantly ask, ‘How are we doing?”

Source: Randee Deich, HRD Program Facilitator

Do You Offer a Program?

My first question to the recruiters at Hallandale Elementary was “Do you offer a program that helps new teachers make the transition for college courses to the classroom?” The answer that accompanied a large smile was “Yes, our NESS program is intended to help first year teachers adapt to classroom instruction.”

The initial NESS orientation offered at Hallandale Elementary provided to all new teachers was incredibly helpful to me. As a group, we attended school before the majority of staff returned from their summer vacations. Although we entered an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces, we soon became a tightly knit group. It was pleasant surrounded by those in a similar situation. I found it particularly confidence inspiring interacting with my peers before being overwhelmed by a large group of experienced teachers.

Upon arrival at Hallandale Elementary, I was paired with an experienced teacher, Ms. Carolina Zambrano. Ms. Zambrano was caring, compassionate, reliable, and understanding. These qualities made her approachable, one of the most important qualities of a NESS coach. I felt comfortable asking her any question. She was patient and explained that feeling overwhelmed was natural. Collaboratively, NESS coaches and NESS new educators were able to develop plans that would combat the problems we were experiencing in the classroom and we were able to celebrate our successes as a team.

My personal favorite part of the NESS program was that due to its small size, it felt much like a small community. Although we were all very different individuals, we were able to come together as a group with a common goal. In my opinion that goal was slowly developing a comfort level with the school. I think the NESS program was incredibly successful and I would most certainly recommend it to any district that would like to help new teachers become more comfortable in their new homes.

Source: John Hoolihan, Hallandale Elementary

Podcasts as Coaching Resources

Podcasts can be an effective tool in supporting new teachers. The new teacher can see a strategy or concept in use as well as hear the teacher’s feedback as they perform a particular task. Coaches you can access the latest podcasts at http://hrdpods.blogspot.com/

Recognizing Student Differences: The instructional staff at Lauderdale Manors Elementary role-plays to increase awareness of student differences (3.28). (South Central Area: Lauderdale Manors Elementary)

Compare and Contrast: Comparing and contrasting using Kidspiration’s Venn diagram is used to assist students as a prewriting strategy (1:39). (South Central Area: Sunland Park Elementary)

Communication: Sunland Park Elementary uses early morning announcements as a method to communicate school information and student successes (2:52). (South Central Area: Sunland Park Elementary)

Scientific Method-Germination: Fifth grade students follow the scientific method to determine what is necessary for seeds to germinate (3:08). (South Central Area: Sunland Park Elementary)
Finding Patterns: Students discover the rules of patterns and learn how patterns start, continue, and grow (2:48). (South Central Area: Sunland Park Elementary)

Source: Randall Deich, HRD Program Facilitator

Grade Contracts

Grade contracts are a method that some teachers use to help get their students to take more ownership over their grades. These contracts can take a variety of forms. The most common type of grade contracts have the students at the beginning of a semester or large project declare what grade they are striving to attain. In most cases, the teacher will have them sign an actual "contract" which does not have any weight per se but instead is a symbolic act.

Whether grade contracts are effective depends upon the teacher and the student. If a teacher pulls the contracts out at the beginning of the year, doesn't give students the details of the type of effort a specific grade would entail, and then never refers to them again, the effect will most likely be minimal. To make grade contracts more effective, a teacher should provide students with as much information as possible about what would be required of them for each grade. Many teachers who use grade contracts have found that they work best when they are used for individual assignments. For example, if you were assigning a research project, you could give your students a list of what would be required to earn an A, B, or C. Obviously you would not allow a student to strive for a D or an F as both of these are below average and failing. However, you could still show the students what would result in either of these grades. After the students have had some time to look over the grade requirements, they can then decide, or "contract," to earn a specific grade.

An argument against grade contracts is that all students should be striving for an “A”. Therefore, allowing students to choose to earn a B or C would be letting them give less effort than they might otherwise have given. However, some teachers feel that by putting students in control of their grades, they are receiving better work than they otherwise would. As a teacher, you should consider the makeup of your class and realize that for some students this might in fact give them permission to do less. Simultaneously, other students who feel disempowered by grading and assessments might gain the incentive and control they need through grade contracts and make a better grade. In the end, grade contracts will not be for all teachers in all situations. However, they can be an effective tool and should be considered when you feel they would be help the most students achieve.

Source: Melissa Kelly

First year on the Job

The NESS program has assisted me in many ways during my first year as an Elementary educator. Fortunately, I was paired up with a wonderful Instructional Coach whom assisted me in understanding the curriculum, the structure of the school, how to properly create lesson plans and report cards and an infinite number of other things that teachers need to know and be able to do.

One thing that particularly stood out in my mind was the week of planning that we receive before the pre-planning week. All the new teachers attended an orientation. We received insights and information about being a Broward County School teacher working at Hallandale Elementary. In addition, we received all the prerequisite forms that Hallandale Elementary required their new teachers to complete. Afterward, we reviewed the school policies and procedures and even took a tour of the school grounds. In addition, we were fortunate enough to meet the school’s Principal and Assistant Principal, whom were able to answer any questions and concerns we had. Finally, we received a critical lecture on classroom management that we all enjoyed and found extremely helpful.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of a school that offers so many valuable resources to new educators, like me. The support form the NESS program continues to help us as we continue to learn.

Source: Virginia Zazquez, Hallandale Elementary

Sharpening your Axe

Once upon a time, there were two woodcutters. The young woodcutter was like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the “Terminator” and the older woodcutter was like Arnold the “Govenator.” (The previous sentence may qualify as one of the worst analogies ever used in this newsletter.) The young woodcutter feeling his youth one day challenged the older woodcutter to a contest.

“Old man I’ll bet you a weeks pay I can cut down more trees in a day than you can,”

The old woodcutter replied, “I’ll take that bet.”

At the sound of the whistle, the contest began. Both woodcutters chewed into the trees. After about an hour the older woodcutter stop and sat down, while the young woodcutter continued to chop. After about ten minutes, the old woodcutter got up, stretched, and began chopping again. This routine continued the rest of the day. The old woodcutter would stop once every hour for about 10 minutes, while the young woodcutter continued cutting. At the end of the day, the young woodcutter had felled seven trees and the old woodcutter had cut down 10 trees of equal size.

The young woodcutter thought, "I must be losing my strength." He finally blurted out, “How could you cut down more trees than me, when I worked all day and you rested so much?”

The old woodcutter responded, "When was the last time you sharpened your axe?"

"Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy cutting trees."

“Each time I stopped I sharpened my axe.”

Moral: Some of us seldom sharpen our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is enough, but good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success. Evaluate your strengths and identify areas you would like to strengthen join a site-based learning community, become a member of your site’s staff development team, and/or visit the HRD website and check out what is available in the District through PDSS. Working hard is one thing but when you work hard and smart everyone wins. (adapted from a story heard at a conference.)

Source: Dr, Doug Miller, HRD Program Facilitator,

Teaching and Leadership Center

Education professionals honored with the title of Teacher of the Year, chosen by their colleagues, possess the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that propel student achievement forward. The Teaching and Leadership Center (TLC) at Florida Atlantic University congratulates each nominee for the 2008 Teacher of the Year. The TLC is especially pleased to report seven of this year’s nominees began their pathway to teaching through one of TLC’s alternative preparation and certification programs.

One of the Center’s program recipients and 2008 Teacher of the Year nominee is Kimarya Carter-Martin. As a language arts and reading teacher at William Dandy Middle School, Ms. Carter-Martin shares her experiences that led her to discover her true calling.

“My experience with the Teaching and Leadership Center was great. My major was communications. I did not plan on teaching, but I guess it was my calling. I was interested in the education profession but I did not know where to start. I saw information about the TLC programs for people who wanted to change careers in a school board publication. I became one of the chosen ones to participate. I participated in two programs delivered by TLC. The first program was an alternative preparation program, which helped me obtain my first teaching position. The other program was a certification and master’s degree combination to earn my five-year professional certification and an advanced degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Additionally, TLC helped the entire cohort with maneuvering the certification process and helped us prepare for the various certification examinations and the Graduate Record Examination. I was mentored by National Board Certified teachers and learned a great deal that I have been able to apply successfully into my own classroom. The entire experience with the TLC was great. Once I finished the programs, I was certified in English and earned a Master’s degree that I did not pay for. That was fabulous!

I am grateful for all of the things that the TLC has done for me. All the individual attention that the TLC devoted to helping me become successful as a teacher is a great part of why I truly believe that I was chosen as Teacher of the Year for my school this year. The TLC staff made sure that I was ready to enter the classroom. I will forever be grateful.”

The TLC is pleased with the accomplishments of Ms. Carter-Martin and acknowledges her dedication to teaching and learning. Congratulations to each of the TLC graduates: Dian Holland, Josianne Valme-Gourdet, Mary DelBorrello, Melissa Laster, Marc Larose and Jacqueline Berlin! To learn more about the Teaching and Leadership Center’s TUITION FREE College Credit Alternative Certification Programs visit our website at http://www.coe.fau.edu/tlc

Source: Cynthia Fowler, FAU, Teaching and Learning Center

Lighter Side

Have a great summer taking comfort in the fact that the average teacher works about 12 hours a week beyond their contract time during the school year. That means in reality, teachers have already worked their summer hours during the school year.

Research Matters / Improving Teacher Induction

No new teacher is totally prepared for the first day of school. In assuming all the responsibility for the success of their students, new teachers must quickly learn how to assess students' knowledge, plan the curriculum, set expectations for classroom behavior, and build relationships with parents—all while planning and delivering daily lessons. The choice for Principals is to allow new teachers to learn through trial and error or provide a comprehensive induction program.

Fewer than 1 percent of teachers get what the Alliance for Excellent Education (2004) calls a “comprehensive” induction package: a reduced number of course preparations, a helpful mentor in the same field, a seminar tailored to the needs of beginning teachers, strong communication with administrators, and time for planning and collaboration with other teachers. Such a package could make a real impact in teacher attrition, according to researchers who have investigated the variables that correlate with teacher turnover.

Can induction programs improve the instructional practice of new teachers? Experts claim that induction programs can accelerate the process, especially if such programs provide training targeted to beginning teachers' needs and pair new teachers with carefully selected mentors who are given the necessary time and training (Anderson & Pellicer, 2001; Shields et al., 2004).

What you can do - Research on principal leadership and induction indicates that school leaders can promote instructional development among beginning teachers in several ways:
1. Insist on quality mentoring.
2. Integrate new teachers into school wide learning opportunities.
3. Promote learning during evaluation.

A good resource on designs and funding strategies for induction programs is Susan Villani's book Mentoring Programs for New Teachers (2002). An older but still excellent resource is Learning the Ropes, published by Recruiting New Teachers (Fideler & Haselkorn, 1999).

Warning: When developing induction programs, remember that although new teachers need support, forcing them to participate in too many learning activities can adversely affect their teaching. Principals must be realistic. Sometimes the best way to strengthen induction is to allow the new teacher some discretion about which activities he or she would find most valuable.

Source: Wayne, Youngs, and Fleishman, Educational Leadership, May 2005,

The Purpose of Instructional Coaches

Why does your site assign Instructional Coaches to New Educators? This question needs to be answered early because assigning effective Instructional Coaches will have a strong influence on this part of your induction process. 
 If your only reason for assigning Instructional Coaches is that the New Educator Support System (HRD) provides a supplement, you may as well stop now and let the district use the resources in a more effective way. However, if your purpose for assigning Instructional Coaches is more like one of the following, then you can evaluate effectiveness of your Instructional Coaches:
1. To accelerate learning a new job or skill and reduce the stress of transition
2. To improve instructional practice through modeling by a top performer
3. To attract new staff in a very competitive recruiting environment
4. To retain excellent veteran staff in a setting where their contributions are valued
5. To alter the culture of the school by creating a collaborative subculture.

Most programs identify several purposes. The best way to achieve your purposes is to provide activities and events that are linked and support those purposes. These activities and events become the bedrock of your site-based induction program.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD

The Instructional Coach’s Role & Tasks

What are your Instructional Coaches supposed to know and be able to do? A complete induction support includes orientation, mentoring, visitations, staff development tailored to Instructional Coaches needs, & support groups. Defining the role of the Instructional Coach is particularly important if your site has expectations for results and understands that the Instructional Coach cannot do it all by themselves. Predetermined expectations help identify the training and support needs of your Instructional Coaches.

The following are some ideas for developing the role and tasks of the Instructional Coach.
1. Define the mentor's role in terms of functions such as "support or encourage".
2. Define the mentoring tasks in terms of activities, such as "observe, coach, or plan".
3. Focus first on activities that new teachers value the most (class management and lesson planning and delivery)
4. Teach Instructional Coaches to diagnose the New Educator’s needs and to target help in those areas.
5. Communicate the expectation that the Instructional Coaches will receive job-embedded, on-going training & support for mentoring.
6. Develop a plan for monitoring and identifying problems, and create a collaborative process to support Instructional Coaches and New Educators in dealing with problems.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD

Selection of Mentors

How does your site select Instructional Coaches? The recruiting process for Instructional Coaches should begin in the spring for the coming year. The process of selecting Instructional Coaches cannot be accomplished effectively until the purpose, role and tasks have been defined and communicated. The following include factors that need to be taken into account when selecting an Instructional Coach.
1. Can the Instructional Coach handle a high degree of stress often associated with mentoring a New Educator?
2. Can the Instructional Coach handle evaluating a New Educator’s performance?
3. Does the Instructional Coach complete expected tasks?
4. Does the Instructional Coach have the knowledge, aspirations, skills, attitudes, and behaviors of an effective mentor?

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD

Matching Instructional Coach & New Educator

How does your site match an Instructional Coach to a New Educator? This is one of the most important decisions that the Principal and the NESS Liaison make in supporting the New Educator. If the Instructional Coach has little to offer or if they cannot get along with the New Educator, the New Educator will usually suffer in silence. Therefore when matching the Instructional Coach with the New Educator consider some of the following:
1. Similar job assignments, close proximity, and common plan or lunch periods
2. experience differences of 5+ years are often sought but can not always be accomplished
3. often the principal does the recruiting and is usually in the best position to help decide on matching
4. allow the new educator to participate in the decision making process.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD

Expectations for Instructional Coaches and New Educators

What are your expectations for your Instructional Coaches? Educators too often make assumptions that are unrealistic or unfounded. One of those assumptions is that Instructional Coach through some mystical process or through osmosis inherently knows the support New Educators need and how to provide that support. The most important job a Liaison has is communicating the schools expectations of their Instruction Coaches. If I were a coach at your school, what do you want me to do and how will I document that I have done it?

The following are some ideas about setting the expectations for Instructional Coaches (IC):
1. Ask Instructional Coaches, New Educators (NE) and Administrators for input in developing IC expectations,
2. Communicate expectations and commitment needed prior to assignment to New Educator,
3. Support Instructional Coaches professional development through training and learning communities
4. Monitor support provided by Instructional Coaches
5. Plan for worst case scenarios – IC or NE not performing or overloaded

New Educators are already overloaded with just doing their job. Guard against too many requirements for release time, extra workshops, no planning period, coaching etc., especially in the first months.

The following are some ideas to reduce the stress on New Educators:
1. reduce class sizes, number of preparations, number of difficult children,
2. eliminate floating the first year, second and third year teachers can float
3. assignments that are not the new teacher's strength
,
4. eliminate athletic or dramatic coaching, extra-curricular student activities or clubs
5. differentiate professional development to meet the needs of New Educator
Brainstorm with your Induction team ideas and processes for supporting Instructional Coaches and New Educators.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD

Training The Instructional Coach

Another false assumption that many educators make is that veteran teachers or master teachers inherently make good coaches. Good teachers of children do not necessarily make good coaches. There are many skills needed to work with adults that are not learned in classrooms. NESS Program Facilitators, experienced Instructional Coaches, and NESS Liaisons recommend the following support strategies:

1. Broward County encourages all potential and acting coaches to attend Clinical Educator and Instructional Coach Professional Development (ICPD) training

2. each site should design a training to instill attitudes and promote skills to accomplish the site’s purposes

3. instructional Coach training should begin with the NESS Liaison who serves as a coach to the coaches. Beginning steps can include, sharing strengths, coach growth goals, and providing feedback on coaching experiences

4. training/support must be on-going for coaches

5. training/support should provide numerous opportunities for coaches to develop supportive relationships with other coaches

6. periodic coach support group meetings help to hold coaches accountable to each other and to the program expectations

7. a primary purpose of the support groups should also be to uncover, refine, and write down the growing knowledge base about mentoring practices.

Note: Liaisons examine the mentor's roles and tasks for training needs.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller, NESS Program Facilitator, HRD