Planning with the New Educators

Planning with the New Educator can be held when there is no intention of following up with an observation. The sole purpose, in this instance, can be simply to plan a lesson, unit, or map out a semester or course. When planning with a New Educator before an observation it is important to ask the following questions.

• What are the students suppose to know and be able to do?
• How are the objectives related to the State Standards.
• How will student progress be measured?
• What will the New Educator do?
• What will the students do?
• How will the assessments be used to adjust the lesson or re-teach the lesson?

Contributed by: Dr. Doug Miller

Enrichment from a New Educator

The most rewarding aspect of my New Educator Support System experience has been the enrichment I received from my New Educator, Mr. Jayamon Jacob. He has an amazing way of showing the students graphically how algebraic formulas can be practiced. As a math-a-phobic, I am especially impressed by the logical mini-steps he uses to teach a process. Every time I observe him in action, I learn a new math concept!

Charisse, Whiddon-Rogers Education Center

I Can Make a Difference

There were many rewarding experiences throughout this year. However, my most rewarding would be seeing the new educators’ progress. Starting from scratch and watching them attain the skills, strategies, and management necessary for survival as an educator. Being there for them to answer any questions, model for them and guide them has been unbelievable. In addition, knowing that I can make a difference in their first year is an amazing feeling.

Vanessa, Lake Forest Elementary

Collegiality and Sharing

My most rewarding experience as a NESS Liaison has been the ability to provide a monthly special time of collegiality and sharing of knowledge with our NESS ICs and NEs. I believe that making these "learning communities" a priority has provided support and inspiration to, our NEs, our ICs and me as well.
Lorilee, Stirling Elementary

Relief on a Teachers Face

My most rewarding experience this year as school liaison is the look of relief on a teacher's face who may or may not be a first year teacher, but new to the school, when they see that someone is there to help them, to answer any questions, and to guide them where guidance may be needed. It is a lot of work, but it is also rewarding to see these individuals stop relying on me so much and be successful on their own, finding supportive people around them. That makes me feel like I've done my job in guiding them to the right places, but not doing the work for them!
Jodi, Bair Middle

Aligning Learning Communities with Real Work

With new guidelines for learning communities, one way to meet criteria is to have a "follow-up" time at each monthly meeting to chat about how suggestions from the prior meeting were implemented in the NE's classroom. Also, coaches can keep an informal log and follow up as well with how new ideas are being implemented in the NE's room. This also helps with aligning learning communities with the teacher real work in the classroom and it helps with accountability, encouraging regular on-going contact between coaches and new educators.

Source: Laura, Blanche Foreman Elementary

Mastery Learning

The idea of mastery learning amounts to a radical shift in responsibility for teachers; the blame for a student's failure rests with the instruction, not a lack of ability on the part of the student. In a mastery-learning environment, the challenge becomes providing enough time and employing the correct instructional strategies so that all students can meet or exceed standards. (Levine, 1985; Bloom, 1981)

Support Binder

To help the new educator in day-to-day activities, we have created an 8 x 5 spiral notebook for each new teacher that contains:
1) HELP-- who to call for assistance from discipline in the classroom to the location of erase markers
2) WHERE IS IT- locations of all the restrooms, classrooms, offices, gym, lunch room etc.
3)WHAT FORM- how to fill out the basic forms
4) GENERAL CLASS RULES THAT WORK
5) PROCEDURESWHEN YOU (the teacher) ARE ABSENT
6) LIAISON AND INSTRUCTIONAL COACH names, extension numbers, planning time, home phone number etc.

Source: Kate, Seagull School

Support Meetings

Start each Support Meeting with a few minutes for people to share "success stories". It will get the group talking and provide a positive start to the meeting. Try it - it works.

Source: Jim, Park Lakes Elementary

Adding Value, Increase the School Day?

American teachers work more hours with their students than do teachers in any other developed country. That would be 1,139 hours a year in elementary schools and a few hours less in secondary, according to a recent survey. The average number of student contact hours in other advanced nations was 803 in elementary, less in secondary.
Japan, notably, was at the bottom with 617 hours in elementary, 513 in "lower secondary," and 449 in "upper secondary." Japanese teachers spend time outside their classes collaborating to develop and improve their lessons. This may explain why Japanese students consistently score at or near the top in international competitions.
If the school day is extended school districts, rather than extending student contact time, may benefit more if teachers plan together and demonstrate their lesson to their peers before presenting the lesson to their students.

Recruiting Instructional Coaches

A report in the Journal of Staff Development (Fall 2002) showed experienced teachers benefited in a number of ways from serving as coaches: through greater appreciation for reflective practice, a greater capacity for leadership, a new perspective on their own practice, and a renewed commitment to teaching.

Coaches offered testimony of the positive effects on their own practices: “I have had to re-examine my teaching practices,” said one. “I have found the remarkable enthusiasm of beginning teachers to be contagious.” One teacher spoke of the choice between being negative and a complainer . . . or being solution-oriented. What are your site’s criteria for selecting Instructional Coaches.
Source: Randall, Broward County Public Schools

SITE-BASED INDUCTION/STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The most willing and able teachers should be trained first, because they can help sell and support the training to the rest of the faculty. The decision to train the most needy teachers first reduces faculty buy-in because it stigmatizes training as remedial. Rather than mandating that teachers participate, it is more effective to create a atmosphere of success with strong teachers who volunteer.

One of the hardest things for an administrator to do is permit a program to gain strength gradually as people discover its value. There is not training that will fix a faculty in one year. Professional development is a career-long process and administrators need to develop systems that support the continual growth of everyone on their faculty.

Interviewing A Teacher

A teacher new to your school should find no surprises. Be honest in the first interview describe the student population, its challenges, and your expectations of the teachers. Every school has its own culture and the primary goal for interviewing candidates is to find teachers that complement that culture. A suggestion explain to the new teacher that although you are hiring them to teach a specific grade or subject that they work for the school and are expected to help every student be successful not just the students in their classroom. Finally, what are you looking for in your first interview?

Knowledge

• Student centered
• State Standards
• Multiple instructional techniques
• Strong subject matter knowledge

Skills

• Effective classroom management
• Communicate learning processes
• Proficient technologically
• Treats students with respect

Attitude

• Likes kids
• Positive
• Flexible

Aspiration

• Reflective thinker
• Desire to continue to learn and improve
• Comfortable with risks

Behavior

• Can work with others
• Communicates high expectations
• Accepts constructive criticism

The Good Teacher

305 Broward County Elementary School students were ask to list five characteristics of a “Good Teacher”. The students identified 48 attributes, behaviors, and attitudes they like to see a teacher demonstrate. The chart represents the top 8 characteristics that the students identified most often in their responses. The percentages are a comparison of the 8 characteristics identified by the students. The survey results are not scientific but could be used by your faculty for developing a common language and understanding of “Good Teaching” and what it means to your staff and the students at their school.

The following is an agenda you could use for a faculty or a department/grade level meeting.

1. Ask the group to brainstorm, What are the characteristics of an “Effective Teacher”?
2. Next, share what the State and District have identified as the characteristics of an “Effective Teacher” and the responses by the students above or your own students.
3. Then have the group reexamine their list and discuss any possible additions or revisions.
4. Finally, have the group identify the top five characteristics of an “Effective Teacher”.
5. A possible follow-up could be using future meetings to discuss those characteristics and what they look like in real practice.

Assessing New Educators Needs

I developed a ticket-out for our NESS support meetings.

• I first ask the NE to write and tell me one thing that is going well for them.
• Next I ask them to tell me what they need in order to best meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.
• Last, I ask them what would be a helpful topic for the next meeting, as well as providing a list of possible choices.

This ticket out serves as another way to prevent needs from falling through the cracks and empowers the NE.

Source: Melissa, Liberty Elementary

Guidelines for Learning Communities

With new guidelines for learning communities, one way to meet criteria is to have a "follow-up" time at each monthly meeting to chat about how suggestions from the prior meeting were implemented in the NE's classroom. Also, coaches can keep an informal log and follow up as well with how new ideas are being implemented in the NE's room. This also helps with aligning learning communities with the teacher real work in the classroom and it helps with accountability, encouraging regular on-going contact between coaches and new educators.
Source: Laura, Blanche Foreman Elementary

Site-Based Professional Development

Build on Strength
Your department/grade chairs and the most willing and able teachers should be trained first. Often they become co-trainers and coaches that help transfer the new learning to the classroom. In addition, their success and enthusiasm could encourage the more hesitant colleagues to say, "Well, if it can help them, I guess it can help me too." While well intentioned, the decision to train the most needy teachers first reduces faculty buy-in by stigmatizing training as remedial and not part of a natural career long professional development process.

Make Training Voluntary
Changing habits of teaching requires that teachers focus on new ways of doing things as they begin each day or class period. Teachers must want to change. Sharing data, encouraging professionalism, and showing respect is more effective in creating a critical mass of success than mandating that teachers participate. Once training becomes mandatory it is impossible to determine which teacher are really committed to improving their practice.

Diversify Training
One of the hardest things for an administrator to do once an excellent program demonstrates its merit is to slow down. "Let's train everyone on the faculty" can prevent the systematic process of training that permits a program to gain strength as people discover its value. Another challenge for administrators is developing a differentiated, systematic approach for training your faculty that will provide immediate results as well as long-term sustainability.

For more information on developing an effective site-based professional development system please contact Deborah Porter at 754-321-3521

OBSERVING NEW EDUCATORS

During an observation some coaches fall into the trap of interpreting what they think they see rather than recording what they actually see and hear. The following is an excerpt from two coaches simultaneously conducting a drop-in observation of a new teacher on November 18, 2004.

Coach 1

• The lesson plan was ready to go at the bell
• The teacher explained the directions clearly and asks for questions regarding clarification
• The teacher used specific desist (names) to get students on task
• The teacher gave an excellent suggestion that another student read
• The teacher has good relationship with students but this could be misconstrued as loose discipline

Coach 2

• All students working on warm-up activity when bell sounded
• Teacher talked with a student who had been absent
• Warm-up activity stopped and transitioned to lesson for the day
• Looked for handouts to give to class
• Students began talking
• Found materials and redirected students back to task
• Reviewed material covered yesterday
• Objectives for today were addressed
• Directions given for today’s activity
• Checked student’s comprehension by asking two students to repeat directions
• Students took 4 minutes to transition to reading/activity groups
• Students were redirected back to task

Observations are important in providing data to strengthen a professional’s practice. Both coaches observed the same lesson. Questions for reflection:

• Which observation provides more detailed data?
• What areas of concern did the first coach reveal? The second coach reveal?
• Which observation provides the best information for writing goals or Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART) objectives for the new educator?

Are we as rigorous as we think?

The information in the chart above was gathered by Data Works Educational Research. Assuming this information is true and there is no contradictory finding in the research at present, "What are the implications of this data for political leaders, universities, school districts, administrators, teachers, students, and parents?" Respond to all or part of the question above in the comment section.

SERVING AS A "COGNITIVE COACH"

Cognitive coaching can be applied to specific areas of teacher professional development through three phases of interaction with teacher-learners:

• A Planning Conference
• Lesson Observation
• A Reflection Conference

During the Planning Conference, coaches should help teachers think through their planned lessons using the 8-step process and helping them to anticipate what might happen during the lesson.

I. Planning:

• Identify standard and objectives
• Determine how student will demonstrate mastery
  
• Select appropriate learning strategies and content
  
• Identify how the teacher will determine effectiveness of lesson
  

The Lesson Observation coaches keep notes about what happened during the lesson so that this information can be shared with his/her new educator.

II. Lesson:

• New educator gathers information to share with the coach in the Reflecting Conference

o Evidence of student achievement
o Their own strategies and decisions

• The coach observes the new educator present the lesson and gathers information to share with the new educator at the Reflecting Conference

o Observation Instrument
o Analysis of observation

During the Reflecting Conference, coaches should discuss the lesson, with the new educator sharing information that was collected, and the coach encourages the new educator to reflect on what happened and consider ways to apply what the new educator has learned through teaching the lesson.

III. Reflecting:

• Summarize impact of the lesson
• Identify evidence that supports those impressions
  
• Compare planned with performed teaching decisions, and student learning

Colbert Elementary's Induction Team

At Colbert Elementary Magnet School, we have decided to have a joint effort in supporting our new teachers and second year teachers. This year, we have established a site based induction team that includes:

• administrators,
  
• team leaders,
  
• coaches and
  
• support staff.

We set a meeting schedule for the team. We meet monthly to discuss our successes and weaknesses in supporting the new educators. Coaches are asked to submit minutes about the weekly activities with their new educators. We as a team review the minutes from the meetings to see how we may better assist the coaches as well as to share best practices. We also use the information in the minutes to identify professional development needs of our school.

The Principal conducts Chats whereby - once a week any teacher may have a discussion with the principal about Colbert. This encourages new and veteran educators to have open communication with their principal.

Source: Laferne, former NESS Liaison, Colbert Elementary

My Greatest Success

I think that my greatest success was taking a group of students that didn't necessarily get along well with each other and forming a classroom that learned to respect each other. When I first tried to have the students work in groups, they did not know how to work in a productive manner. There was conflict and they were unsuccessful at completing even simple tasks.

They now work very well with each other, after I have been consistent with rules and consequences. They clearly understand my expectations and we have talked about the need to be able to work with different types of people. They act as a team and help one another. We have reviewed the need to have good character traits such as respect, kindness, responsibility, self-control, tolerance and cooperation. They have come a long way and it makes me proud to see them take responsibility for their actions and their work.

Elizabeth, Hollywood Park Elementary

I Ain't Never Leaving

As a new educator I find myself facing new experiences - new challenges - every day. My greatest success is that I'm still here - I'd thought I'd make a good teacher ever since high school. People always have told me I explain math in a way they can understand it, so I thought that was all I'd need - a good personality and mathematical ability. I was wrong.

Education courses I took prepared me only slightly for the reality of being in the classroom with 25 eleven-year-olds at a time. Each of them carrying their own personalities and emotional baggage, I am only beginning to understand how to work with all of those personalities and how to have them work effectively with each other and myself. Every day is a new adventure for me in the classroom, and I'm loving every minute of it.

To paraphrase an old country music movie - "Look out teacher city - 'cause I'm here now and I ain't never leaving!" I've found my niche and I look forward to continuing this adventure for many years to come.

Source: Brian, Rickards Middle School

Protocol Practice

Teachers using protocols during meetings or professional learning communities has brought back a memory from when I taught 4th grade. I’d like to share…

I can remember my first time facilitating a Socratic seminar with my 4th graders. Well not exactly. I do not remember the text we used or the questions that was asked. I am unable to recall how long the conversation lasted, or the follow-up activities that I provided. What I DO remember were is how anxious I was getting during the seminar and how depressed I felt after I finished. Nothing happened as planned, yet I could not understand why.

I remember selecting “a text” that was modeled during the training, and even used frequently asked opening, core and closing questions. I remember explaining to the students the process and the norms, yet the conversation lacked depth, interaction, and any signs of student listening or thinking skills. How could this be possible when I did everything exactly as it was modeled to me during the training? I’m not sure if at the time I was able to answer that question, however now I know that even for me learning, implementation, and improvement is a process.

We (my students and I) were committed to try again even though it would have been easier to dump the process and continue with the familiar question and answer routine. Once again a common text was selected, questions were prepared, and the norms and process was reviewed. To improve on the experience we wanted to focus our own behaviors and decided to videotape our event. Immediately after the seminar, we watched our video without comments (yet there was quite a few moments of laughter- these are 4th graders), and the watched a second time with a purpose.

Groups of students were assigned to look for evidence of specific behaviors including signs of referring to the text, demonstration of listening, and indication of students asking questions. As a class we discussed what we saw and what we should do next. This process reinforced behaviors and identified areas of improvement. Is was amazing how our critiques were professional and free from any ridicule. We continued with the videotaping throughout the year and eventually found the seminar process engaging, thought provoking, and fun. Just like it was during the initial training.

My expectations never changed, just my timeline. As teacher leaders continue to use protocols to engage conversation, the practice of refining and improving the process is essential for success.

Effective math questions: to promote problem solving

What information do you have?
What do you need to find out?
What strategies are you going to use?
Will you do it mentally?
Will you need pencil and paper?
Will you need a formula?
What tools will you need? Will a calculator helps?
What do you think the answer or result will be?

Source: www.pbs.org/teacherline

Root Cause and Impact

When an intervention does show results in the classroom it is not necessarily the fault of the client or the students. It usually means that the appropriate intervention was not identified or implemented correctly.

Last year I was working with a teacher who shared with me that the students were always off task instead of doing their classwork. I visited his classroom and he was right many of the students were off task. As a result of several conversations with the teacher we implemented several interventions that focused on procedures and classroom management strategies, but each time I return to measure impact of the interventions many of the students were still off task. I will admit that both of us were very frustrated and every intervention we had tried so far had not worked.

Then one day I happened to observe his class during a question and answer period. He was allowing unison responses from the students. Unison response occurs when groups of students shout out the answer to the teacher's question. What this means is that no student is being held responsible for his/her learning because there was always a student who knew the answer and would shout it out. Common sense says just because one student knows the answer it does not mean that all the students in the class know the answer.

I met with the teacher and we implemented a strategy. He use a clip board to call on students by name and he redirected those who shouted out answers. After two weeks these strategies reduced the amount of unison response by two thirds. This change in his practice caused a major change in the students’ behavior during questing sessions and the students became more involved in their classwork because they never knew when they would be called upon to respond.

This example does not mean that all the other interventions were ineffective it was just that once the root cause of the problem was identified and the appropriate combination of interventions were implemented the learning environment improved.

Study Group Protocol: Diversity Begins at Birth

Most of us believe that everyone looks at the world the same way with just a few minor differences. This may not be a true assumption. Dr. Kevin Leman author of The Birth Order Book says that there are some recognizable differences in patterns of behavior in people that are partially due to the order of their placement in the family. It is a fascinating field of study, and certainly worth exploring if one works with children and families.

Procedures
1. Explain to participants that: birth order plays a role in our development; there are often common experiences and feelings shared by people of the same birth order; this is an opportunity for us to discover those commonalties.
2. Ask participants to gather themselves into four corners of the room by the following birth orders:

• oldest child,
• youngest child,
• middle child,
• and only child.

Explain that middle means anyone who is not an oldest, youngest, or only child.

3. After participants move to their corner's ask them to identify a recorder and a presenter. The recorder writes down the major points of the discussion and the presenter will share the team’s discussion with the large group.
4. Then the team shares their experiences as the (oldest child, youngest child, middle child, or only child) in their family with each other identifying commonalities for the recorder.

5. Next the team answers and records their agreed-upon responses to the following questions:

• What were the advantages of being a _________ child?
• What were the disadvantages of being a _________ child?

4. When each team is ready, ask the persenter in each team to share the responses with the large group.

Question for Debriefing:
1. If birth order has such an effect on a person’s behavior, “What effect would race, religion, cultural, and ethnic background have on a person’s behavior?”
2. Knowing this, “What is a teacher’s responsibility in dealing with diversity in the classroom?”

Leman, Kevin (1985) The Birth Order Book. New York: dell Publishing

Developing Active Reading with Effective Questions

Before reading ask….

1. What can you predict about the story form the front and back cover of the book?
2. What does the title tell you about the story?
3. Who or what do you predict this story will be about? Why?
4. Where and when do you think the story will take place?
5. What other stories have you read that are like this one? In what ways?
6. Have you read anything else by this author? Do you see any similarities between this story and the author’s other stories?
7. What questions do you have about this story?

Use the comment section and add pre-reading questions you have used to motivate or focus students.

Source: www.pbs.org/teacherline

Are we teaching too much?

In many European and Asian countries, teachers spend no more than half their work week in classroom instruction. They spend 17-20 hours per week teaching and devote the remainder of their 40-45 hour work-weeks to planning, collaboration, meeting with students, and observing their peers (Darling-Hammond, 1999). In the United States teachers average 5 to 10 more hours per week in the classroom than their counterparts in top-performing European and Asian countries, and thus have less time for planning together, collaborating, and implementing job-embedded professional-development strategies that are common in other countries.

Are public school teachers given too great a teaching load?
What would you do with 5 to 10 hours of non-teaching time per week?

Prior Knowledge

One of my colleagues stressed that “teachers need to know what the student’s prior knowledge is so they can understand at what point the student is at in the learning process.” There was little disagreement on that issue, what followed was just an engaging conversation of strategies to determine student’s prior knowledge.

Then I began to wonder what support would look like if coaches determined a teacher’s prior knowledge. Coaches should not assume the teachers that they are supporting are lacking in knowledge or skills, when their barriers just might be experience. As part of the coaching process, what strategies have you used to determine a teacher’s prior knowledge?

I'm Done!

When working on the Induction Plan, is it possible to be done?

I was listening to a liaison explain how her school was “done” with their Induction Plan. The more I thought about the word- “done”, the more I realized I was not sure of the meaning. Could it be as simple as finishing all of the sections of the planning tool? My first reaction was to look at the Six Steps of Induction. Step 3 addresses writing the plan while Step 4 focuses on expanding the lines of ownership. By “done” was she implying that they are ready to monitor (Step 5) or just move on to Step 4? I know eventually in order for me to get clarity of the “done” comment I will need to speak to the Liaison.

I am continuing to wonder that if monitoring is not a stop and go activity, but an ongoing process, is there ever a “done”?

Plan, Do, Study, ACT

In the ACT stage of PDSA, if the result was not achieved, examine the interventions and adjust or change them using knowledge obtained from the Study phase of PDSA. If the interventions were successful and the expected result was achieved, then the client incorporates the new strategy or procedure into his/her practice. The question then becomes, “What is the next steps in continuously improving the clients practice?”
Source: http://www.rootcauseanalyst.com/

Identify a Promising Instructional Coach

The most gifted athletes rarely make good coaches. The best violinist will not necessarily make the best conductor. Nor will the best teacher necessarily make the best instructional coach. So it's critical to distinguish between the skill of performance and the skill of coaching the performance, two entirely different skills. The best predictor of the future is the past. If a teacher shows coaching potential outside of the job, s/he may have potential on the job. Here are several traits to help identify whether someone is capable of learning to coach.

1. A teacher who looks for challenges is a potential coach.
2. Teachers who are consistently seeking solutions or improving have the potential to coach.
3. A teacher who believes that there is always a better way to do something is a potential coach.
4. A teacher who is willing to take responsibility is a potential coach.
5. A teacher who confronts problems and won't let go has coaching potential.
6. A potential coach is mentally tough. Coaching creates an undeniable tension with one's peers. The separation comes from carrying the responsibility of assessing performance.
7. Peer respect doesn't reveal ability, but it can show character and personality.
8. Potential coaches have a quality about them - that when they speak, people listen.

Induction Team/Shadow Program

We have chosen our Induction Team/Staff Development Team at Coconut Palm Elementary. We chose our team leaders because they are aware of teachers and their needs. We meet and discuss what Induction is and how we want to go about creating an atmosphere where all of our teachers, not just the new ones, would benefit from the process. We came up with seven topics for panel discussions with the entire faculty. Child Study, Conferencing, Time Management, End of the Year procedures, and others will be addressed. Our panels will come mostly from our faculty. However, when needed, we will use outside experts. The faculty will be invited two weeks before the event and will enjoy commercials to promote the discussions also. Hopefully, this will begin a school-wide staff development plan that will help our new as well as experienced teachers progress in their field.

We are also implementing a Shadow Program for all of our Support Staff and Committee Chairpersons. This will hopefully lead to a situation where someone is ready to step into a position long before it is vacant.

Source: Kim McCarthy, Coconut Palm Elementary

Preparing for FCAT

Teachers should always use the "same language" that the FCAT uses because it reduces the chances for students to be confused. New Teachers received an invaluable document from the Florida Department of Education called Reading and Math Performance Task Specifications. This document has an abundance of information. Presently the best sections for New Teacher to review with their students are:

1. The test stems (the ways the questions will be asked) and
2. The content limits. Both of these areas will help students to be better "test takers" and also help new teachers become aware of how the FCAT is presented.

Source: Susan Littlefield, Curriculum Support K-12

Quotes from Outstanding Coaches

Coaches in sports sometimes say things in the most insightful ways . The quotes below were collected from several sites on the internet. As you read these quotes think about how they apply to our work as teachers. Please respond to one or all the quotes in the comment section.

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes." -- John Wooden

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to." -- George Allen

"Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear."
--John Madden

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."
--Ara Parasheghian

"Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers."
--Pat Riley

" Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer." --Rick Pitino

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”--Lou Holtz

“It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.”--Bear Bryant

"Sit up straight, listen, and participate."--Pat Summitt

Teaching Is One Thing… Learning is Another

Teaching and learning are not the same. Teaching is conveying information. Learning requires some kind of engagement on the student part in the process of receiving the information.

Many dedicated teachers express their frustration that their students do not seem to be learning. Some seem to feel like saying, “What do you mean you don’t know this, I taught it!” Teachers that focus on teaching, especially teaching for the next of many standardized tests, cannot believe that their students aren’t learning because the information was covered.

Learning requires an exchange between the teacher and the students. The following suggestions may help teachers move from teaching at students to helping students learn. This can reduce a teacher’s frustration and subsequent fatigue that comes when you teach your heart out and the results do not reflect your efforts.

* Focus on cognitive and metacognitive processes of learning. This means teaching your students how to learn on their own. Don’t just tell your students to take notes, teach them how to take notes and give them guided practice until they become proficient at taking notes. Teach them how to summarize, make analogies, create metaphors, conduct research, and work in cooperative groups, always using guided practice until they master the skill.

* Check in with your students often during the course of a lesson. Stop during the lesson and asks questions like, “What did I just say?, How can you use this information?, How does this information impact your life? and/or “What do you think will happen next?” Questions like this help to get the student engaged in the lesson. Questioning also give the teacher an opportunity to conduct formative assessments to see what the students have learned thus far.

* The person working is the person learning. Ask yourself everyday, “Who did most of work in class today?” and “Who was on stage the students or me?” Some students have to work harder than others to learn but everyone has to work and everyone can learn. The teacher’s role is to provide motivating learning activities that engage the students and the student’s role is to work on rigors assignments, this combination will lead to an increase in student learning.

* Maintain high expectations for all students. Maintaining high expectations is about the teacher’s behaviors not the students. Teachers that have high expectations for all student exhibit behaviors like calling on all students in the classroom, circulating and assisting all students, positive verbal and body language toward all students, gives all students opportunities to demonstrate responsible behavior, and most importantly, the ability to move on and help a student even when that student is not cooperative.

How To Be An Ineffective Teacher

Don't take responsibility for results. Its not me I covered the material. The research is clear the only way to increase student achievement is with a competent, qualified teacher.

Make excuses for your students. I believe all my students can learn but... The effective teacher not only establishes high expectations for their students, they also model appropriate professional behavior in their relationship with others.

Don't plan just cover the textbook. I have more than enough to cover in the textbook to worry about planning. In a standards-driven- system the effective teacher identifies learning objectives, develops appropriate assessments, and designs lessons that provide students an opportunity to learn those standards.

Be a "know it all.” Been there done that. Effective teachers, no matter how good they are, know that they can always improve their instructional practice.

Show no interest in professional development. I have a college degree and am State Certified; I don't need anything else. Effective teachers are enthusiastic life long learners and constantly seek ways to improve their lives and practice.

Let's have some fun, what do you think are some other qualities of an ineffective teacher?

Learning is NOT a Spectator Sport

One of the most frequently used teaching strategies in the classroom is as follows:

1. The teacher asks a question.
2. Student who wish to respond raise their hands.
3. The teacher calls on a student.
4. The student attempts to state the correct answer.

Since this strategy is so frequently used, it is important to ask, “Just how effective is it?” The answer is the teacher is the only person actively engaged with all the questions and answers. Only one student per question is actively engaged in the lesson. The follow up question is - "How can teachers get more students involve during a question and answer session?"

Think-Pair-Share can be used as an alternative strategy for asking your students questions. The process is as follows:

1. The teacher asks a question.
2. The teacher gives all the students time to think.
3. The teacher directs the students to discuss their thoughts with their buddy.
4. The teacher calls on one of the pairs to share their answer.

Notes: Establish buddies before the lesson begins. Also before each question announce length of time for student thinking and discussion.

Please post in the comment section a strategy you use to encourage your students to be actively involved during your question and answer sessions.

Incomplete Student Assignments

Every teacher faces the situation that students do not always complete their classroom or homework assignments. One way to address this problem is to ask the student to fill out an "Incomplete Assignment Log". The log could contain the following:

• Title of the Assignment
• Name of Student
• Date and Period
• Explanation of why the assignment was not complete
• The students plan to make up the work.

After the student completes the Log, file it in the student's folder. The folder will help you at the end of the grading period for determining grades and when conferencing with the student's parents. If you have another strategy for handling incomplete student work please post in the comments section.

Next Steps After Writing

When your Induction Team has completed writing the Induction Plan or even a section of the Plan, what happens next? If you have an idea click on the comment button and add your thoughts.

Study Group Activity: Exploring HRD Podcasts and the Induction e-Letter

Purpose: Help teachers access and explore the Podcast and the Induction-e-Letter Blog on the HRD website.

Preparation: Meeting should be in a computer lab or ask participants to bring their laptops to a wireless location.

Access: Demonstrate how to enter the HRD website.
1. Start at www.browardschools.com
2. Click Departments on left side of webpage
3. Click HRD-Professional Development
4. On the HRD Homepage - Click the Teachers bottom in the row near the top of the page
You are now on the HRD teacher homepage and can enter the Blogs.

Demonstrate Navigating Blogs: There are three ways to navigate a blog. The first method is chronological, assess articles or podcasts as they were entered in the blog; second method is enter a search word or phrase, same process when using search engines on the internet; and third is using the label cloud, assess articles using pre-selected search words.

Activity: Ask the participants to use all three methods to search each blog. Each time they use a search method they will view the podcast or read the article and leave a comment. Once everyone has viewed three podcasts, read three articles, and left their comments; they will recommend one of the podcasts or articles to the group and explain why they recommended it.

Debrief: How can blogs like these enhance a teachers practice?
Approximate time of activity: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Source: Joann Finnagin, South Broward High

SUPPORT GROUP ACTIVITY: Getting Started

I used a technique from The Power of Protocols, at the first meeting of our NESS support group and I think it really helped to set a tone of individual ownership in the process and cooperation in the group.

1. After introductions, and before setting any rules or agenda, group participants into teams of 4 or 5. Ask each team to write down responses to the following prompt: If this support group is the worst experience I have ever had, what will have happened or not happened? [This was really effective. Evidently people were thinking about this!!!]

2. After sufficient time to write the "negatives," ask the participants to write responses to this prompt: If this support group is the best group experience I have ever had, what will have happened or not happened?

3. After members record their responses ask each team to share what they have charted. Discuss the responses and how they should apply to the Support Group meetings.

4. Finally, ask members, “What norms do we need for our group in order to ensure that we have the best experience possible?” Then begin to chart the group norms (ground rules).
Source: Les Baker, South Area Student Services

Rubrics

The rubric is a vital link between assessment and instruction. Rubrics operationalize quality in our minds so teachers can effectively assess student performance. For most educators, a rubric is a printed set of scoring guidelines for evaluating student work and for giving feedback.

RubiStar and Discovery are websites to help the teachers who want to use rubrics but do not have the time to develop them from scratch or need ready-made rubrics on a number of topics.

Source: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Source: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html

Coaching in Stages

Coaches emphasize that many beginning teachers progress in stages. The first stage focuses on practical skills and information -- where to order supplies, how to organize a classroom, where to find instructional resources, what kind of assistance the teacher association can provide, etc.

During the second stage, coaches and clients concentrate more intently on the art and science of teaching and learning and on polishing classroom management skills.

In stage three, the coach and new teachers's relationship evolves from coach - client to peers working together as equals on a deeper understanding of instructional strategies and ongoing professional development that is based on the needs of their students.

Where a new teacher enters this matrix and how long each stage lasts vary according to the knowledge, experience, and skills that the new teacher brings to the job. A skillful coach works with the new teacher to determine what level of assistance to provide and when to provide it.

Source: http://www.nfie.org/publications/mentoring.htm - content

Coaching Styles

The DIRECT STYLE has advantages it is efficient but does little to develop the new educators self-evaluative skills. The direct style should be used if the issue is safety, specific site-based policies, and deadlines. Using the direct style coaches could make statements like:
• I know you feel that students should have the freedom to sit anywhere they wish but….
• This is the way we teach …… here is a sample you can follow.
• I am aware that you are trying to have your materials, chemicals, etc., as close at hand as possible. However, those chemicals are not stored properly. You must move them right away.

The INDIRECT STYLE uses questions to encourage new educators to recognize problems and develop solutions. This empowers the new educator to assume ownership and responsibility for needed change. Coaches make statements like:
• Am I correct in assuming that you have decided to group the students homogeneously next time? When you try this, how will you know if you are successful?
• How do you plan to put that unit together? What outcomes are you looking for?

In the beginning, when working with an educator new to the profession it is necessary to be direct. In most cases the teachers first day of work is only four or five days before the students first day of school. Therefore, new teachers have very little time for discovery method. However, as the year progresses it is important for the coach to recognize that the new teacher is a peer. The indirect style helps new educators develop a more reflective practice an important skill needed to meet the ever-changing needs of their students.

Source: Clinical Educator Training

Plan Do STUDY Act

In previous articles we examined the steps of PLAN and DO in the continuous improvement process (CIP).
Plan includes:
• Identifying the “Desired State”
• Selecting appropriate “Assessment Tools”
• Measure “Current Reality.”
• Determine Goals and/or measurable objectives

DO includes:
• Identifying possible interventions or solutions
• Implementing the interventions or solutions.

The next step in the continuous improvement process is STUDY. In this step impact is measured to determine if the desired results were achieved, what if anything went wrong, and what was learned. When gathering data during the STUDY stage use the same or focused parts of the assessment tools that were used to determine the clients “Current Reality.” After gathering the data take time to organize and analyze the date then publish or share the findings with the appropriate audience.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

Support Group Activity: Surfing the Net

Objectives:
• To explore the internet for resources on teaching and learning
• To use internet resources and web resources for teaching and learning

Materials:
A computer lab with a computer for each participant (or each pair – of participants)

Essential Question:
How can the Internet be used to improve a teacher’s practice?

Procedures:
Step 1 – The group brainstorms educational terms or phrases for searching the Internet. (Terms such as Classroom Management, FCAT, instruction strategies and so on.) Chart responses.
Step 2 – The group determines criteria for selecting a useful website. (For example, easy to navigate, relevant content.) Chart criteria.
Step 2 - The group has 30 minutes to explore the Internet using the search words from the brainstorming list.
Step 3 - Each participate will use the criteria to select at least two promising sites.
Step 4 – Each participate shares one site they selected and why they selected it as a promising site. (If you have a large group, divide the group into teams of four to share, then the teams can present one of the sites they discussed to the large group.)
Step 5 - Closing Questions: How can this activity help improve a teacher’s practice?

Source: Dr. Amy Tsukuda

Expand the Lines of Leadership

A key element of school self-assessment is “distributed leadership,” a concept introduced by Harvard University’s Richard Elmore that speaks to the need to tap a broad range of competencies within a school. By recognizing the potential many teachers have to improve instruction throughout their schools and by building their leadership capacity, the process can give teachers a powerful stake in school reform and a renewed commitment to self-improvement strategies in their own classrooms.

Veteran teachers also can participate in creative collaborations to analyze and learn from student work. New York University professor Joseph McDonald describes, in the October 2002 Phi Delta Kappan, collaborative processes to review student work that help teachers avoid snap judgments about student abilities. At this time of increasingly severe consequences for failure to meet academic standards, such efforts are especially needed. As Mr. McDonald says, they combat “a century’s practice of classifying students on the basis of premature judgments of their incapacities.” Successful veteran teachers can benefit significantly from re-examining how they view and analyze their students’ work.

Source: Education Week, Veteran Teachers: The Linchpin of School Reform, By Denise Glyn Borders

Schlechty on Education

What is learning? How are skills and knowledge acquired? Learning is a process that requires action and experience, specifically voluntary action on the part of the student. What teachers do is less important than what teachers are able to motivate students to do. Students learn by activities that include “imitating, listening, creating, muddling around, and talking (p. 42).” Yet what matters less than the mode or style of learning is the meaning students attach to what they do and learn. Knowledge and skills cannot be acquired if the material presented is neither relevant nor compelling, and if they cannot be actively involved in both choosing and doing the job of learning

Who is to teach? Teachers must be facilitators, leaders, and inventors. Not only must they be constantly inventing knowledge work, they must understand their students. Many teachers, even the creative and inventive ones, are presently operating in schools intuitively (and sometimes consciously) viewing students as customers. Unfortunately, many teachers seem reluctant to acknowledge that students have the power all customers have: the power of choice.

Teachers need to know.
1) How to interest students in topics they would not ordinarily care about but need to care about.
2) Allow students to make choices that will lead to important, relevant learning.

Because of the great many responsibilities that teachers have, those interested in becoming educators, and those who already are in the profession must be:
1) endlessly motivated to discovering how to challenge students,
2) must be willing to lead as well as step aside when the situations demands it, and
3) must be reflective and self-critical to determine how well the work is being invented for the learners involved.
Source: http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Schlechty.html