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.