Remember how I said there were six standards to measure teacher success? There are SIXTEEN! Wow. I’ve complained to Andy about the amount of reading I needed to do for three nights in a row and how I just can’t get focused on it. He must have been tired of hearing my complaints and prayed for focus for me today because I spent roughly 4-5 hours on this stuff today! Even I was impressed with myself :).
I skipped my morning workout – I was sore from a double shift yesterday and Marianne wasn’t available to hold me accountable since she was running errands, so I was able to get an early start on the rest of my day. I spent a little time with the Lord and then headed for the pool. I was there from about 10:00-12:30. The weather was BEAUTIFUL and there were very few people there, so I was able to really focus while I soaked in the rays minus the sunscreen today for a maximum tanning experience (I hope my dermatologist isn’t reading this!).
This is what I learned at the pool:
Standard IV: Fairness, Equity, and Diversity
Quick interpretation: Don’t pick on students for being different.
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Work on treating all students fairly and appreciate the diversity that they bring to the classroom.
2. Call on students equally – I need to work on this. I think I’m going to use a popsicle stick method that Ashley recommended. I used index cards last year, and they were harder for me to keep up with.
3. Use diversity in grouping.
4. Focus in on preparing students for adulthood and college through types of grouping.
5. Provide students equal opportunity to use technology.
6. Use literature to help students see themselves and analyze social issues – such as stereotyping.
Standard V: Learning Environment
Quick interpretation: Have a plan – don’t teach by the seat of your pants. Teaching a book you haven’t read would be a problem.
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Create an environment where students aren’t afraid to share their ideas. Teachers create a classroom of mutual respect and trust.
2. Lessons are clear, purposeful and well organized. Students are aware of the purpose.
3. Teachers are willing to change the plan (even on the spot) as needed to meet student needs and the goal of the lesson.
4. Group work, group work, group work!!
5. Relevance, relevance, relevance!!
6. Encourage student connections with the environment.
- I felt more confident after reading this section. Because two of my courses are AVID (and one of them is the group that I taught for their entire freshmen and sophomore years), I spend a lot of time developing a respectful learning environment – and I have that time with the AVID program. I hope that I have a good ninth grade group, because I think my environment will really shine through on video.
Standard VI: Instructional Resources
Quick Interpretation: Use your resources!
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Use various types of media and teach students how to interpret them.
2. Teach students to evaluate credibility of web sources.
3. Uses community resources – like guest speakers or theater opportunities.
4. Teachers pursue other community resources and grant opportunities.
Standard VII: Integrated Instruction
Quick Interpretation: Play well with other teachers.
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Expose students to various types of text and help them interpret those texts
2. Use English skills in other content areas
3. Writing to learn is big – learning logs are good.
4. Teachers make connections with other content areas when teaching literature – don’t forget to make connections with music and art!
Standard VIII: Reading
Quick Interpretation: Reading is a good thing – especially when teaching English.
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Reading is a way that students can understand the world.
2. Teach students to read on a basic level – decoding skills and understanding plot development, but students must be taught to question texts and appreciate big ideas as well. Super excited that my students learn Costas questions and use them in almost all discussions of literature!!
3. Teachers help students make connections between personal experience and texts.
4. Teachers expose students to a variety of informational and nonfiction texts and teach students how to interpret them.
5. Teach reading strategies – teach students how to think as they read and demonstrate that to them. Double entry notebooks are good. Annotating text is good.
6. Graphic organizers, formal analytical essays, questioning, literature circles, Socratic seminars, and dramatic performances are good.
7. Developing reading skills through readers theater, echo reading, and choral reading are good strategies.
Standard IX: Writing
Quick Interpretation: Apparently writing is something you should teach…
Nuts and Bolts:
1. Students need to know a clear purpose and audience when writing.
2. Accommodations can be made for ESL students – they may submit graphic organizers and the such of a writing prompt, but teachers need to remember to keep challenging these students as well.
3. Help students use rubrics to analyze their own work and the work of others.
4. Encourage students to publish their work in various ways.
5. Teach students to successfully engage in various types of writing including emails, memos, and faxes.
6. Help students practice for timed writing and become familiar with the writing process.
7. Respond to student writing as an adult interested in a student author.
8. Encourage students to write to learn… hopefully that works since that is essentially what I’m doing here!! :)
9. Writing portfolios are good to measure student progress.
10. Student reflection on their own writing is good.
Ok…. Considering it is 6:00, I’m going to take a break and grab some dinner. More about the last 7 standards to come later.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Standards 1 and 2
I finished reading a basic overview of the portfolio requirements, and then the instructions suggested that I begin reading the teaching standards (on which the portfolio is based) before reading a more detailed description of the portfolio. I read about Standard 1 last week at the pool, and I’m working on the other standards today. Here is what I’ve learned:
Introduction to the Standards:
The overview seems to suggest that good teachers are passionate about their students and knowledgeable about where they are and how to help them advance in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Giving students meaningful contexts to practice these skills is emphasized. It is acknowledged that teachers face great obstacles including large class sizes, diversity, lack of time for individual attention to students, and lack of technology, but good teachers can overcome these issues to give students the best education possible. As I was reading, I noticed that many of the ideas line up with Margaret Atwell’s work with reading and writing workshops (giving students choice and creating environments where meaningful reading and writing can occur). I also noticed that I need to learn some good ESL strategies because there is a focus on helping students learn HOW to read – something that I do not know how to do, even though I have had students who read on a 1st or 2nd grade level.
Collaboration with other teachers is also encouraged, and I know I’ll need to document throughout the year as I collaborate with other teachers – which I do frequently both in and outside of the English department.
Standard 1: Knowledge of Students
This standard addressed how to get to know students and their needs. Some of the ways it is possible to get to know students are as follows:
1. Write a letter to students telling them about myself. On the first day of school, students will get this letter and will be asked to write one back to me. This allows me to get to know them immediately, and it also gives me a diagnostic writing sample (thanks to Mike Parker for this great idea!).
2. Students create an information sheet with contact information. This sheet also asks them to give me information about their favorite book, writing assignment, subject in school, movie, song, tv show, candy, etc. This is another way to get to know students and to make connections when teaching.
3. NB suggests doing a diagnostic reading assignment – something I don’t do, but could easily develop.
4. They also suggest doing a test to evaluate their learning styles and multiple intelligences – perhaps some Howard Gardner reading is in my future (or perhaps I should just dig out that research I did in college!).
5. Teachers “make themselves available and approachable on an informal basis before and after school, at extracurricular school events, and at community activities.”
6. Teachers should be knowledgeable of student interests and adolescent culture – that includes the TV shows and movies they watch and the songs they like. It also suggests that teachers should be aware of the ways students communicate and the things that will motivate them. It sounds like just being able to connect with kids is key.
This standard made me feel more confident because I know that I’m able to connect with students. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to pop culture, but I’m willing to learn from my kids, and I’m always interested in their sports, dating lives, and family situations. I understand having a crush and staying up talking on the phone or texting instead of doing homework. I know what it is like to Facebook stalk someone. I get that making the football team or getting a drivers permit are big deals. I think it is important that we calculate homecoming and prom votes accurately because I know that winning homecoming or prom queen can be the most important thing that happens to a high school girl. I was glad to see at least one standard that I know I can do.
Standard 2: Knowledge of English Language Arts
Standard 2 focuses on teacher understanding of the subject area. Here is the gist:
1. Teachers have a strong command of literature and literary criticism. They can connect the two and they can make connections with other media.
2. Teachers have techniques to scaffold students from the pleasure of reading to critically analyzing a work.
3. Teachers are aware of student reading levels and needs and they know how to help students with “decoding, phonemic awareness, comprehension, and motivation.” They pick best practices from researched strategies.
4. Teachers are strong writers themselves.
5. Teachers understand that students need to write for a relevant purpose, audience, and context.
6. Students need teacher and peer feedback on writing.
7. Teachers can incorporate lessons on grammar and conventions into their writing lessons.
8. Teachers can instruct students on how to “listen and speak for varying purposes and audiences so that they will become fluent, purposeful, and articulate.”
9. Teachers understand the need for intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and motivation for their students.
10. They are up to date on current research regarding assessments and use appropriate and varied assessment in their classrooms – especially to gage student writing. They use assessments that track multiple intelligences, and they are aware of individual student struggles and success.
This standard made me more nervous because I know I struggle with assessing writing and reading abilities in students. I also have trouble tracking the individual needs of my students. I have a coworker who can tell me the individual strengths and weaknesses of each of her students. I can’t do that well. I can tell when most of my class is struggling with a concept or when most of my class understands something, but I have trouble keeping track of the individuals. I am sure my methods of assessment don’t help me with that. I see the need for better record keeping in my teaching. I will also probably want to read something about assessments and how to create them – I know there are some good titles concerning rubric making, so that might be something I’ll want to read during this process.
Introduction to the Standards:
The overview seems to suggest that good teachers are passionate about their students and knowledgeable about where they are and how to help them advance in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Giving students meaningful contexts to practice these skills is emphasized. It is acknowledged that teachers face great obstacles including large class sizes, diversity, lack of time for individual attention to students, and lack of technology, but good teachers can overcome these issues to give students the best education possible. As I was reading, I noticed that many of the ideas line up with Margaret Atwell’s work with reading and writing workshops (giving students choice and creating environments where meaningful reading and writing can occur). I also noticed that I need to learn some good ESL strategies because there is a focus on helping students learn HOW to read – something that I do not know how to do, even though I have had students who read on a 1st or 2nd grade level.
Collaboration with other teachers is also encouraged, and I know I’ll need to document throughout the year as I collaborate with other teachers – which I do frequently both in and outside of the English department.
Standard 1: Knowledge of Students
This standard addressed how to get to know students and their needs. Some of the ways it is possible to get to know students are as follows:
1. Write a letter to students telling them about myself. On the first day of school, students will get this letter and will be asked to write one back to me. This allows me to get to know them immediately, and it also gives me a diagnostic writing sample (thanks to Mike Parker for this great idea!).
2. Students create an information sheet with contact information. This sheet also asks them to give me information about their favorite book, writing assignment, subject in school, movie, song, tv show, candy, etc. This is another way to get to know students and to make connections when teaching.
3. NB suggests doing a diagnostic reading assignment – something I don’t do, but could easily develop.
4. They also suggest doing a test to evaluate their learning styles and multiple intelligences – perhaps some Howard Gardner reading is in my future (or perhaps I should just dig out that research I did in college!).
5. Teachers “make themselves available and approachable on an informal basis before and after school, at extracurricular school events, and at community activities.”
6. Teachers should be knowledgeable of student interests and adolescent culture – that includes the TV shows and movies they watch and the songs they like. It also suggests that teachers should be aware of the ways students communicate and the things that will motivate them. It sounds like just being able to connect with kids is key.
This standard made me feel more confident because I know that I’m able to connect with students. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to pop culture, but I’m willing to learn from my kids, and I’m always interested in their sports, dating lives, and family situations. I understand having a crush and staying up talking on the phone or texting instead of doing homework. I know what it is like to Facebook stalk someone. I get that making the football team or getting a drivers permit are big deals. I think it is important that we calculate homecoming and prom votes accurately because I know that winning homecoming or prom queen can be the most important thing that happens to a high school girl. I was glad to see at least one standard that I know I can do.
Standard 2: Knowledge of English Language Arts
Standard 2 focuses on teacher understanding of the subject area. Here is the gist:
1. Teachers have a strong command of literature and literary criticism. They can connect the two and they can make connections with other media.
2. Teachers have techniques to scaffold students from the pleasure of reading to critically analyzing a work.
3. Teachers are aware of student reading levels and needs and they know how to help students with “decoding, phonemic awareness, comprehension, and motivation.” They pick best practices from researched strategies.
4. Teachers are strong writers themselves.
5. Teachers understand that students need to write for a relevant purpose, audience, and context.
6. Students need teacher and peer feedback on writing.
7. Teachers can incorporate lessons on grammar and conventions into their writing lessons.
8. Teachers can instruct students on how to “listen and speak for varying purposes and audiences so that they will become fluent, purposeful, and articulate.”
9. Teachers understand the need for intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and motivation for their students.
10. They are up to date on current research regarding assessments and use appropriate and varied assessment in their classrooms – especially to gage student writing. They use assessments that track multiple intelligences, and they are aware of individual student struggles and success.
This standard made me more nervous because I know I struggle with assessing writing and reading abilities in students. I also have trouble tracking the individual needs of my students. I have a coworker who can tell me the individual strengths and weaknesses of each of her students. I can’t do that well. I can tell when most of my class is struggling with a concept or when most of my class understands something, but I have trouble keeping track of the individuals. I am sure my methods of assessment don’t help me with that. I see the need for better record keeping in my teaching. I will also probably want to read something about assessments and how to create them – I know there are some good titles concerning rubric making, so that might be something I’ll want to read during this process.
Beginning the Journey....
So, I’ve decided to begin working on my National Board certification. I ordered my materials about a month ago, but I’ve been teaching summer school, and I’ve only had a small amount of time actually browsing the requirements. It is important to me to write about this process – so that I can remember and better process what I read and to give my blog a little action. Sorry for my non-educator friends/family – I’m sure this is to become a seriously boring journey :). I would like to make the huge disclaimer that it is VERY LIKELY I will not receive this certification on the first try – or ever! If you’re reading, you can start praying now!
Some things I’ve learned about National Boards:
1. It costs $2,500 to go through the process and there is absolutely no guarantee of success. I wonder if those judging the portfolios and tests realize that 2,500 is almost double my monthly take home pay. And does it really take that much per person to fund this process?? Maybe I should consider getting on their pay roll!
2. You can get all the materials that they send you online without having to pay. If I’d done my homework, I could’ve been reading up on this process last year!
3. They send you a disk full of instructions – which are several hundred pages long (teachers sure are long winded!!). They must be on a tight budget – apparently my $2,500 wasn’t enough to cover the cost of printing.
4. There is a portfolio requirement and four assessments. In my area, the assessments are on teaching reading and writing and demonstrating personal success with reading and writing – I think! I haven’t read that section yet.
5. There are five core standards that they think all teachers must meet. I’ve read about two, so I will be blogging about those shortly. I think reading the materials is key – it is like reading a school’s mission statement and looking at their website before a job interview so you can fit your answers to their vision. I just hope I can remember all they say – thus the blogging.
Some things I’ve learned about National Boards:
1. It costs $2,500 to go through the process and there is absolutely no guarantee of success. I wonder if those judging the portfolios and tests realize that 2,500 is almost double my monthly take home pay. And does it really take that much per person to fund this process?? Maybe I should consider getting on their pay roll!
2. You can get all the materials that they send you online without having to pay. If I’d done my homework, I could’ve been reading up on this process last year!
3. They send you a disk full of instructions – which are several hundred pages long (teachers sure are long winded!!). They must be on a tight budget – apparently my $2,500 wasn’t enough to cover the cost of printing.
4. There is a portfolio requirement and four assessments. In my area, the assessments are on teaching reading and writing and demonstrating personal success with reading and writing – I think! I haven’t read that section yet.
5. There are five core standards that they think all teachers must meet. I’ve read about two, so I will be blogging about those shortly. I think reading the materials is key – it is like reading a school’s mission statement and looking at their website before a job interview so you can fit your answers to their vision. I just hope I can remember all they say – thus the blogging.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Red High Heels
In preparation for teaching summer school, I am digging through old files on my computer. In doing so, I came across the outline for a blog I wrote last August about a trip to Texas. In it, I promised a poem I had written while observing vacationers at the pool, but I know I never delivered. Since my blog is in serious need of an update, I located my poem and am posting it now. Since we're enjoying 100 degree weather in NC right now, this poem fits well :). PS - I hate the title (Kellie Pickler can have this one), but I can't think of another, so feel free to make suggestions.
Red High Heels
A summer day
hazy and overcast
old pop plays on rusty speakers
people with nowhere to go
and nothing to do
lounge at a public pool
Teenagers cluster in the shade
skimpy bathing suits and IPods
Gossiping
Single women in their late thirties
loose skin spilling out of
once sexy bikinis
text on trendy cells
Twenty something men
dip into the pool
droplets of water shimmer on defined abs
and drip from gelled hair
they towel lightly hoping to be
noticed by the teens or singles
either is fine
In the middle of this cliche
strides a woman
52 and pear shaped
hips bludge against
a black one piece
the sales girl defined as "slimming"
her body, the product of
low metabolism and motherhood,
won't be noticed by anyone
But on her feet glisten red high heels
they click across uneven pavement
and pool water
mostly ridiculous
but unpreditable and daring
like coloring outside the lines
a bright spot on a
dreay, boring, typical day
Red High Heels
A summer day
hazy and overcast
old pop plays on rusty speakers
people with nowhere to go
and nothing to do
lounge at a public pool
Teenagers cluster in the shade
skimpy bathing suits and IPods
Gossiping
Single women in their late thirties
loose skin spilling out of
once sexy bikinis
text on trendy cells
Twenty something men
dip into the pool
droplets of water shimmer on defined abs
and drip from gelled hair
they towel lightly hoping to be
noticed by the teens or singles
either is fine
In the middle of this cliche
strides a woman
52 and pear shaped
hips bludge against
a black one piece
the sales girl defined as "slimming"
her body, the product of
low metabolism and motherhood,
won't be noticed by anyone
But on her feet glisten red high heels
they click across uneven pavement
and pool water
mostly ridiculous
but unpreditable and daring
like coloring outside the lines
a bright spot on a
dreay, boring, typical day
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Testing
Due to changes in testing requirements, this is the first time I have had to retest such a large group of students. I had approximately eight students in the room, and you can imagine how nervous they were. They know that if they do not pass the test, they will not pass the class. We had studied all that they were unsure about the day before, but I think the tutorial served to make them a bit more stressed as they suddenly had much more information to remember.
At the midway point in testing, I had students looking up at me every few minutes in complete desperation. Panic was in their eyes as they surveyed long reading passages, and they would meet my gaze silently screaming, “Help!” I would wink or nod my head at them trying to silently convince them that they could do it because I knew they could. I knew they were given the skills needed to succeed on this test, and I prayed frantically that they would remember all that I had told them. I also desperately wished at times that I could give them a break and jump in their seat to take the test for them! I hated seeing them suffer, but I knew it was a necessary experience to get them to the next level – 10th grade.
It reminded me a little of my relationship with the Lord. How many times have I looked his way in desperation – telling him I couldn’t possibly do what he was asking me to do? Looking at the precious teenagers in my class, I thought of all the experiences I’ve had when I knew I wouldn’t make. When I knew I couldn’t do it, but I also knew that I couldn’t give up. I wondered if in those times, God was smiling down at me like I was doing with my students. I wondered if he knew, like I did, that I was so close to making it, that he had given me the skills I needed to get through, and if he was begging me to remember all he had already told me – in my heart and in his word.
By the way, my students did much better on their retest, and the best part of the entire experience was that I got to call one of my favorites who took the entire four hours to take the test and tell him that he had passed! When his mother screamed, “Thank you, Jesus!” in my ear, I thought the exact same thing – thank you, Jesus, for the lessons.
At the midway point in testing, I had students looking up at me every few minutes in complete desperation. Panic was in their eyes as they surveyed long reading passages, and they would meet my gaze silently screaming, “Help!” I would wink or nod my head at them trying to silently convince them that they could do it because I knew they could. I knew they were given the skills needed to succeed on this test, and I prayed frantically that they would remember all that I had told them. I also desperately wished at times that I could give them a break and jump in their seat to take the test for them! I hated seeing them suffer, but I knew it was a necessary experience to get them to the next level – 10th grade.
It reminded me a little of my relationship with the Lord. How many times have I looked his way in desperation – telling him I couldn’t possibly do what he was asking me to do? Looking at the precious teenagers in my class, I thought of all the experiences I’ve had when I knew I wouldn’t make. When I knew I couldn’t do it, but I also knew that I couldn’t give up. I wondered if in those times, God was smiling down at me like I was doing with my students. I wondered if he knew, like I did, that I was so close to making it, that he had given me the skills I needed to get through, and if he was begging me to remember all he had already told me – in my heart and in his word.
By the way, my students did much better on their retest, and the best part of the entire experience was that I got to call one of my favorites who took the entire four hours to take the test and tell him that he had passed! When his mother screamed, “Thank you, Jesus!” in my ear, I thought the exact same thing – thank you, Jesus, for the lessons.
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