Interesting. I'm currently in the throes of all things educational + law. A graduate course* which has consumed my thoughts my entire spring break, but has brought me to three important realizations.
#1. I feel somewhat cheated by my education on all things constitutional. Oh sure I grasp the concepts of how our country was established and founded, but if it weren't for Schoolhouse Rock, the jingles I made up to remember those first colonial denominations ( think George Michael's "Faith") and the stick-figure illustrated Bill of Rights booklet made as an example for my first classroom of 5th graders, my in-depth knowledge would be even more sparse than it is. I'll bet an illegal alien applying for citizenship is required to know the ins and outs of our government more than I. Perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit, I loved memorizing events for, and acing, my American History tests, (Thank you, Mrs. Milligan and Pulley, you taught me well!) but I humble myself as an American and admit I should have a broader wealth of recall of the document in its entirety.
Realization #2. None of the above matters all that much because I am fortunate enough to live in a time when any information needed is only a click away. The 9th Wonder of the World, the Information Superhighway is at my fingertips and I'm in a highway hypnosis. Gone are the days of the card catalog, and the oh so sweet aroma of the aged and faintly yellowed tabbed cardstock. Straining one's eyes to read a blurred microfilm after consulting two other sources to locate it? fuhgettaboutit. Like sands through the hourglass so are the sites that I visit, ( and the sources I consult via digital text, email, etc.) The road takes twist and turns and you can't always trust the signs, but it's there to suck -er take- me in, and to, wherever I need to go- thank God .
Thanking God...which brings me to realization #3. The State of Texas has issued me a teaching certificate (decades or so ago but who's counting?) and I work in a public school funded in part by federal monies, which makes me an agent of the government. Who knew? I can't help but start bobbing my head and singing Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man"...only I'm not a man, and my job is not secret, or all that mysterious. (Aside from the surprised student face when spotted at the grocery store in a pair of yoga pants sans full makeup--dispels belief and gets 'em every time.) But it appears I have to keep the one thing that gets me out of bed each morning; gives me strength to deal with complexities of students, colleagues, parents, and days when the diet Coke man hasn't restocked the vending machine: my FAITH in God, to myself. As a government agent, I can observe my moment of silence each day by asking my Heavenly Father for guidance and the wherewithal to not be distracted by students who arrive in need of a bath and clean clothes. I can thank Him in private and talk to other teachers about my beliefs on my leisurely lunch break...But if a group of students gathered for a Bible study, technically I should not join them. When a student asks me if I go to the church across from Wal-Mart when he has seen me while driving by, I shouldn't invite him to come to Sunday School- even as I see the need for such a place in the sadness of his eyes.
As a government agent I cannot encourage nor discourage any religious activity. But am I not a citizen protected under the First Amendment , well, first? I'm not asking permission to proselytize or strike up a version of "I'll Fly Away" at a pep rally. But if students are gathered on a September morning around the flagpole praying for their school and even me....am I an agent of the government or a humbly flawed human just like them? It's best if I stay away...it is to be their ( the students') event. I get all that. They are not supposed to know..the big secret..that I believe in God. When the very thing I wish I could do is share it with them. Not infringe my beliefs, not convert them..just perhaps shine some proverbial light in their, for some, otherwise dark lives. It doesn't take a school psychologist to know which kids come from a home where the only mention of 'god' precedes an expletive of some sort.
I'm reminded of a campfire song and the refrain of which I chanted many times in my youth. "Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love..." Agent or not, this is what God has, gulp, called me to do. Rise up 180 some odd days of the year and relate to these future fellow Americans. And while they may not ever see me praying for them, may they know".. by my love, by my love."
*(Yes, grad school: the self discovery (and a dash of self doubt) for which I am paying thousands. The constant reminder that lecture really is the least effective way to learn new information. Surrounding one's self with a few pompous professionals who already know everything; for whom taking the class is a mere formality, as well as a few kindred spirits experiencing the same befuddlement as I. Throw in some intermittent adult onset ADD symptom(s) surfacing at the most inopportune times and a heavy dose of thoughts and revelations compelling me to blog in the middle of the night. Yes, grad school--good stuff.)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Put me in coach...
So I am not a sports buff by any stretch, but I just read a thought provoking article about teacher evaluation that challenges us to think less about measuring or rating a teacher and focus efforts on developing teachers by strengthening their skills; fundamentals, if you will. The author proposed:
" To improve the team, you don't study the scoreboard; you go out and practice. (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012)."
For too many years we have tried to rate teachers without coaching them how to achieve the goals. The article gives us a glimpse of a weekly debriefing between a first year teacher and her principal. The teacher is praised for what she is doing but together they find one area that the teacher could improve upon. A concrete goal is then set and the principal explicitly guides the teacher on how to meet it. The principal will then return the following week to see the objective being carried. out. Now my first reaction to a weekly meeting was something like this: Feasible -0, Unlikey-50... Not to mention the difficulty of hearing on regular basis that you are lacking in one area. But I read on. The author continued his sports analogy by saying he has coached hundreds of teachers and pointed out that: "The best coaches don't spend their efforts parsing the most accurate way to 'steal' a ball, they spend it training players how to improve their footwork so they can avoid an opposing player stealing the ball in the first place ( Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012)." If the summative evaluation is the championship game; there has to be some practice sessions along the way. The author believes that if the focus remains on coaching, the weekly scheduled debriefings will shift from find what's "wrong" with the teacher, but rather how the teacher is continuing to grow and develop! Still, once a week? Well if you look at Marzano's well researched model of evaluation, there are 41 strategies to measure teacher effectiveness. There is no doubt he and his professional team have put together a comprehensive list of what is going to "work". But how realistic is it to believe that all 41 could be observed in one class period? How realistic is it to think we could master ALL of them? I know if and when I become an evaluator myself, I want my hard working employees to know how wonderful and appreciated their efforts are. Aside from verbal praise the most recognized form of that would come in the documentation of a yearly evaluation. Everyone likes and needs to hear and know they are approved of by their superiors. We all undoubtedly give it all we've got on observation day and that is admirable. But the simple truth is we must humble ourselves and know that to truly be effective and have our students improve on performance, we must improve ourselves. We get caught up in the pressing matters of the day, grading period, impending high-stakes testing, etc. We often lose sight of best practices and treat each day like a drill: survive it without injury ( be it physical or mental!). Should we not approach each experience, semester, year as sweat-drenching training session? We may leave exhausted, but know what we still have to work on. Another reason to support frequently being observed? Amabile and Kramer have researched and found that, “...when workers-teachers included-sense they are making steady, measurable progress , their workplace satisfaction soars and their performance greatly improves (Amabile and Kramer, 2011). Research has shown that shorter, frequent observations permit observers to see a much bigger sample of teaching; five to ten minutes is long enough time to sense the nature of learning that is going on. The more observations the better, the more conversation the better ( Danielson, 2002). So if we want to win, are we willing to take the time to coach our players? How can we afford not to? The more skilled the players, the stronger the team?
Bambrick-Sanotoyo, Paul. (2012). Beyond the scoreboard. Educational Leadership, Volume 7 (Number 3), 27-30.
Marzano, R., Frontier, T., & Livingston, D. (2011). Effective supervision: Supporting the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
" To improve the team, you don't study the scoreboard; you go out and practice. (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012)."
For too many years we have tried to rate teachers without coaching them how to achieve the goals. The article gives us a glimpse of a weekly debriefing between a first year teacher and her principal. The teacher is praised for what she is doing but together they find one area that the teacher could improve upon. A concrete goal is then set and the principal explicitly guides the teacher on how to meet it. The principal will then return the following week to see the objective being carried. out. Now my first reaction to a weekly meeting was something like this: Feasible -0, Unlikey-50... Not to mention the difficulty of hearing on regular basis that you are lacking in one area. But I read on. The author continued his sports analogy by saying he has coached hundreds of teachers and pointed out that: "The best coaches don't spend their efforts parsing the most accurate way to 'steal' a ball, they spend it training players how to improve their footwork so they can avoid an opposing player stealing the ball in the first place ( Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012)." If the summative evaluation is the championship game; there has to be some practice sessions along the way. The author believes that if the focus remains on coaching, the weekly scheduled debriefings will shift from find what's "wrong" with the teacher, but rather how the teacher is continuing to grow and develop! Still, once a week? Well if you look at Marzano's well researched model of evaluation, there are 41 strategies to measure teacher effectiveness. There is no doubt he and his professional team have put together a comprehensive list of what is going to "work". But how realistic is it to believe that all 41 could be observed in one class period? How realistic is it to think we could master ALL of them? I know if and when I become an evaluator myself, I want my hard working employees to know how wonderful and appreciated their efforts are. Aside from verbal praise the most recognized form of that would come in the documentation of a yearly evaluation. Everyone likes and needs to hear and know they are approved of by their superiors. We all undoubtedly give it all we've got on observation day and that is admirable. But the simple truth is we must humble ourselves and know that to truly be effective and have our students improve on performance, we must improve ourselves. We get caught up in the pressing matters of the day, grading period, impending high-stakes testing, etc. We often lose sight of best practices and treat each day like a drill: survive it without injury ( be it physical or mental!). Should we not approach each experience, semester, year as sweat-drenching training session? We may leave exhausted, but know what we still have to work on. Another reason to support frequently being observed? Amabile and Kramer have researched and found that, “...when workers-teachers included-sense they are making steady, measurable progress , their workplace satisfaction soars and their performance greatly improves (Amabile and Kramer, 2011). Research has shown that shorter, frequent observations permit observers to see a much bigger sample of teaching; five to ten minutes is long enough time to sense the nature of learning that is going on. The more observations the better, the more conversation the better ( Danielson, 2002). So if we want to win, are we willing to take the time to coach our players? How can we afford not to? The more skilled the players, the stronger the team?
References
Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The progress principle: Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review.
Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The progress principle: Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review.
Bambrick-Sanotoyo, Paul. (2012). Beyond the scoreboard. Educational Leadership, Volume 7 (Number 3), 27-30.
Danielson, C. (2002). Enhancing student achiemement: A framework for school improvement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Marzano, R., Frontier, T., & Livingston, D. (2011). Effective supervision: Supporting the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
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