Teacher World

It’s that time of the year again; the time to consider what changes we need to make in our lives for the New Year. It’s the perfect time to turn our attention to work resolutions, too. So, let me share a few teacher resolutions for my New Year with you.

My Teacher New Year Resolutions

* To begin each day with a smile and a sense of humor
* To be patient even when my students are at their worst
* To always be willing to go that extra mile for any student who needs that extra mile from me, even when they are not very gracious about the extra mileage I am chalking up on their behalf
* To work tirelessly to find alternative ways to present curriculum in order to meet the various learning styles and learning difficulties in my classroom
* To be willing to share what is effective and admit what is not to my co-teachers in order to foster an atmosphere of collaboration
* To show my gratitude to those parents who teach their children the need to put their education and school work first and extracurricular activities second
* To commend parents who understand the difference between directing their child to find answers rather than directing them to write down the answers they are freely giving them
* To strive to be more forgiving of interruptions to my teaching day
* To be willing to volunteer my time to serve on committees but only for those activities that I am passionate about
* To do my best to make subject matter relevant and interesting
* To take the time to show my concern for my students both academically and socially
* To do my best to leave each day with a smile and a sense of humor

I hope you and your family have a wonderful New Year! May this be an awesome year for you at home and at work. Good luck with your resolutions, and I’ll see you in 2010!

Teacher-World's Blog New Year Resolutions, parents, students, teacher

There is some encouraging news from the U.S. Department of Education, where they have announced that they will be holding several meetings with representatives from each state to focus on the need for educational reform in the following areas:
* Adopting college- and career-ready standards and assessments;
* Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
* Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve their practices; and
* Turning around our lowest-performing schools.

Over the next few blogs, I would like to address some of these goals separately, but, since the first one has me most excited, I will start there.

In Arne Duncan’s speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures on December 10, he stated, “Forty-eight states have already signed on this year to a state-led effort to develop common, college and career-ready standards in English and math. This common core standards movement originated in the states, and it is very much a state effort. Just a year ago, no one would have anticipated that 48 states would agree to work toward common standards. This is the right thing for children, for our nation’s long-term economic health, and it is courage in action.”

Wow! Is it possible that we are finally going to get it right? That standards from the elementary level up will be commonly aligned, taught, assessed, and used to create a framework that will culminate in the academic structure of our colleges and universities? Is this possible, or is it too good to be true? We are so used to working autonomously that we have difficulty even picturing what a unified educational system would look like. Imagine a nation in which every state had the same standards and the same tools with which to assess successful mastery of these common standards. Imagine all students taking the same achievement tests and the opportunity that would create for better interpretation of test data. Imagine having a common way to formulate, assess, and use the data collected from these tests to better educate our children. Imagine the benefits of national collaboration to attain best results in our schools.  Imagine how much easier it would be for students who moved from state to state to continue their progress seamlessly.

Forgive my excitement, but the potential here is staggering! And for the first time in a long time, I am waiting with anxious anticipation to hear what comes out of these meetings because these educational reforms might actually have the power to reform our educational system for the better. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed, or if you believe in prayer, let’s do that, too. It’s been a bumpy ride, but maybe; just maybe, it’s going to get a whole lot smoother.

Educational Reform, state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog assessments, career-ready standards, college standards, common standards, Department of Education, Educational Reform

On September 21, the U.S. Department of Education launched the “I Am What I Learn” Video Contest asking students to send in videos to YouTube about what education means to them and to their future. Over 600 videos were sent in to be judged by people just like you and I, and the top three winners got $1000 to use to further their dreams.

What an awesome idea, and what great videos from a lot of highly motivated young people! As a teacher, it was not only entertaining to watch these creatively diverse videos, but it filled me with hope as well. We do make a difference to our students. The things we teach them, the way we motivate them, the support we give them. Our efforts are not going unnoticed. What a great gift to teachers at this time of year to hear first-hand what education means to real kids! So, I am encouraging all of you, especially those of you who may be feeling that what you do is not as significant as you had hoped it would be, to sit back and enjoy some of these videos. I guarantee, you will be glad that you did. And you may just experience one of those special moments when you are powerfully reminded just how lucky you are to play a part in shaping children’s futures.

To watch these videos, go to: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/12/12102009.html

Teacher-World's Blog Add new tag, Department of Education, students, teachers, Video contest

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Christmas. And I hope you got everything you wished for and more. But, we all know that there are some things that Santa can’t bring us under the Christmas tree or in a beautiful stocking. These are the things we have on our teaching wish list. Oh, you know you have one, too. I thought I would share my other wish list with you, and hopefully, you will feel compelled to share some of yours with us. So, with a little drum roll in the background, here is my…

Teacher Christmas Wish List

* A classroom of children who live to learn and learn to better live
* 100% attendance from now until we have completed our state achievement tests
* Parents who place their children’s education and success in school a top priority in their homes
* Parents who make their children accountable rather than making excuses for them
* A school made up of teachers whose desire to excel is so strong that collaboration is the rule not the exception
* 100% proficiency from all students on every state achievement test
* A SPED version of state achievement tests which adequately measures their yearly progress as opposed to making them feel, yet again, that they can never be successful in a “regular ed” world
* A better way to support schools financially than levies which are doomed to fail in our strained economy
* A school system that is monetarily sound and able not only to maintain its current level of instruction, but has the additional revenue to support the constant educational reforms thrust upon it
* Report cards that measure performance not the potential to pass state achievement tests
* A school filled with teachers who can get back to loving teaching instead of trying to learn to love testing
* A school that takes a firm stand against bullying and teasing and provides students with the knowledge, desire, and tools to combat this destructive habit
* Students who leave our classroom better prepared academically, socially, and emotionally than they were when they came to us in the fall

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with wishing! What are you wishing for in this New Year? We would love to hear your wish list, too! In the meantime, I wish you all a great vacation. Enjoy the time with your family and friends, and get energized for the “joys” that lie ahead. Merry Christmas!

Bullying, Educational Reform, Funding Education, state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog Add new tag, Bullying, Christmas, collaboration, school funding, state achievement tests

Should schools back down to parental demands out of fear of reprisals, or should we stand firm and face the consequences? Let me explain the situation that leads me to this question we all have faced or will probably face eventually.

I have a student on an IEP who is capable of so much more than her parents will acknowledge. They hide behind her IEP and use it to limit her education instead of pushing her to be all that she can be in spite of her disabilities. This girl has learned that if she complains enough about the work she has to do, her parents will clamor to reduce it. The truth is that she is capable of so much more than her parents will make her do, but she is becoming increasingly lazy and sloppy in her work habits because they are allowing her to decide her performance level.  

In her recent IEP conference, additional modifications were demanded by her parents and additional restrictions were made regarding how their daughter would be evaluated. This was the opportunity to point out that these modifications would only be reasonable if she were truly unable to perform at the level we are expecting. But that point was not made, and most of the additional modifications and restrictions that they were demanding were added to her IEP.

Now, who was hurt by this? While I am annoyed to be told that I must follow this amended IEP, I only have her this year. She will move on to another teacher in the fall who will have to deal with a girl who is so much more capable than her parents let her be, and the parents who will continue to make demands and continue to lower their expectations for their daughter. The ones that will be hurt in time are the parents and this little girl. I think they will look back someday and wish they had pushed her harder to rise above her disability instead of using it as an excuse. This girl, who has so much potential, will look back someday and wish she had made better use of the education she could have gotten so that she can get a good job or maybe even attend college someday. (All options which will be greatly reduced due to the decisions being made now, supposedly on her behalf.)
It’s a shame, but it happens all the time because we live in a sue-crazy world, and it paralyzes school systems, even when they know they should not give in. It is a sad state of affairs and one that hurts more than it helps.  I, for one, am not proud of the decisions we make when we are under pressure to conform to parents’ demands. And I have seen too many situations like this where we give in when we should stand firm. The sad truth is that no one really wins in the end.

Teacher-World's Blog IEPs, parent demands, special education

 Yes, this is another shout out! This time, I am extremely interested in getting feedback from those of you whose school systems have switched to standard-based report cards. This is our first year, and we are all pretty overwhelmed with the changes. We are developing formative assessments for each trimester, and the goal is to administer three tests each trimester for each standard measured. Most of us are finding it difficult to administer so many assessments in one trimester. So, again, I am interested in how other school systems have handled these challenges:

* How were the standards which appear on your report card chosen?
* How many assessments are administered for each standard, and when are they administered?
* Does your school system compile test results, and if they do, how is that information shared and utilized to drive instruction and provide intervention?
* Do you group students according to assessment scores for instruction and intervention?
* How is student progress assessed on your report cards? Are grades assigned, or is another method utilized?
* If grades are not assigned, what has been the parental response?
* Do you provide ongoing information to parents through a website linked to your report card which shows how their child is progressing? If so, do parents really visit this site on a regular basis to see how their children are doing?
* What has been the general response to a standard-based report card by your staff?
* How do your teachers feel about the additional testing and retesting taking place in their classrooms?

Any additional information you would like to share about the successes and failures your school system has experienced, techniques you have found to be helpful, coping mechanisms teachers in your school use to handle all the additional work, etc., please feel free to include in your shout out. Again, I appreciate any feedback you can give, as we all can learn so much from each other. After all, who better to teach teachers than other teachers? So shout out!

Changes in Teaching, Educational Reform, Teacher-World's Blog formative assessments, standards-based report cards, state standards