What do you think? Post your comments below.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c1#/video/us/2012/01/13/bts-school-no-bathroom-doors.kdaf
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Dr. James' Notes: Honing Consistent Quality Teaching in Urban Public Schools Despite Incredible Circumstances
I often differentiate between teachers who teach in urban public schools and rural, private, or charter schools. Perhaps some may assess that it is discriminatory or unfair as both groups of teachers are working toward the same goal, which is teaching students. However, I feel the need to differentiate because I view the plight of the urban public school Pre-K-12 teachers as working toward the goal of excellent delivery of instruction and development of a learning atmosphere in incredible circumstances that rural, private, or charter school teachers may not experience to this level. The question for many urban public school teachers is when considering these incredible circumstances: "How does one encompass consistent quality teaching despite the incredible circumstances faced each school year?"
Imagine a group of 20 or so urban public school teachers signing into a professional development workshop on a Tuesday morning in November. It is a school day and they are emotionally torn. They are feeling guilty for leaving their students, but so glad to get a mental break and collaborate with their colleagues. Most of them are blearly-eyed, visibly fatigued, and with body language that says: "I'm tired, disillusioned, frustrated, exhausted...and I just want this presenter to be straight-forward practical...Give me what I need to survive this school year." Moments before the presenter begins, several teachers introduce themselves to newcomers and greet old, familiar faces with a sense of true comradeship. But a few moments into the presentation, it is decidedly clear from the questions and comments to the presenter that most of the teachers present are looking for simplicity, practicality, and durability of instructional tools and methods. The presenter first reacts with a slightly confused facial expression that clearly shows that he/she assumed that teachers should/would be excited about their new method, textbook, or tool. And then reality of the teachers' situation dawns on them and they realize that a change in their presentation approach is needed. Such a scenario is typical in urban public school systems.
Urban public school teachers face the reality of drastic school budget cuts, which affects the human resources that are available fill classroom teachers positions and to provide support to classroom teachers, technology, and other resources. This is the reality for urban public school teachers in addition to putting on the hat of a psychologist to deal with the many personal, community, and domestic issues urban students bring to them daily. A cut in human resources leads to the domino effect of urban public teachers having to take on more responsibilities in order for the school to continue to stay afloat. Urban public school teachers (UPST) are increasingly being required to keep attendance records, monitor hallways during their planning periods, greet and direct school visitors at the front of the building, all while remaining at work longer hours to attend collaborative planning, departmental, and faculty meetings to maintain the integrity of the overall vision of the school. Class sizes are steadily increasing with no improvement in sight and with this reality comes a plethora of issues that comes with that, including a decrease in opportunities for one-on-one instruction. Technology updates, replacements, and professional training are often some of the first things to take a back seat during school budget cuts. Therefore, many UPSTs are dealing with broken equipment, severely outdated and inefficient equipment, or little to no training to use existing equipment efficiently, causing many UPSTs to not incorporate technology into their lesson plans at all. Textbooks during school budget cuts come at a premium. Many urban school districts are opting to wait an extra two or three years to refresh their textbook editions, which offers updated information or recent research findings or replace lost textbooks, which creates a shortage.
UPST are often faced with challenges personal circumstances just like any other individual of a different profession. The difference, however, is that the demands of a UPST does not yield flexibility without consequences. Even one day's absence for a UPST most often means student discipline problems that occur during their absence to address, a back log of papers to be graded, deadlines for the submission of completed forms, and parent conferences to be rescheduled. Add multiple days to a UPST's absence and the domino effect is significantly compounded. I have witnessed several colleagues of mine deal with significant personal and life challenges with personal illness or the chronic illness or death of a spouse or child, which cause them to miss days and weeks from work at a time. Upon returning to work, the pressures of teaching under such incredible circumstances, and trying to meet the academic needs of students and address parent concerns proved to be too much while dealing with their own personal issues. Unfortunately, these colleagues relented to taking an additional leave of absence due to the realization that they could not provide quality instruction under the given circumstances.
Just as the above statements are making you feel a bit overwhelmed (and it has the same effect on UPSTs), it is important to know that most UPSTs are truly dedicated to their careers as teachers and they still press to obtain and retain instructional excellence in the classroom, despite the challenges. Question is, once again, how can this be done?
Here are 10 suggestions for obtaining and maintaining quality teaching:
1. Identify the school's vision for curriculum and instruction before the school year begins. This information provides your foundation. This is your "summer homework."
2. Identify your vision for curriculum and instruction and ensure that your vision aligns with the school's vision before the school year begins. This is a part of your "summer homework."
3. Follow the acronym: AKIST - Always Keep It Simple, Teachers! Rome wasn't built in a day...use the layering method. Each school year resolve to add just one or two methods or resources to enhance instruction and learning experiences throughout the school year. This makes your approach manageable no matter the professional and/or personal challenges you face each school year.
4. Plan your lessons with limited resources, time restraints, unexpected events/interruptions in mind. (Re-read #3.) It's more important to be calm and confident of what you're doing when things do not go as plan, because things almost never go as planned. A calm, confident teacher is more effective than a frazzled one.
5. Chart a plan to enhance consistent student-interactive-learning, maintain a school/professional development calendar near your desk at work and your desk/working area at home, and STICK TO THE PLAN!
6. Refrain from overbooking yourself. Remember you are one person and a well-rested, healthy, and happy teacher is much more effective in the classroom than a chronically-tired, frazzled, busy teacher who feels pulled into too many different directions.
7. Incorporate the "glitz and glamour" lesson plans sparingly as treats for your students throughout the year. Pressuring yourself to put on a production everyday or weekly is unrealistic for most teachers. Instead, make sure your lessons are of substance and are sure-fire to bring about the results desired by standardized testing.
8. Align yourself with like-minded UPSTs who are generous with sharing their instructional techniques and resources within and without your department. Why re-invent the wheel when one already exists?
9. Pay attention to your students! They often give verbal and nonverbal feedback when they feel that they are not learning. When this occur, never procrastinate...stop, reassess, and tweak your instructional strategies accordingly.
10. Advocate for you, your colleagues, and your students for improvements in the school environment. Remember, circumstances may never change if someone (and that's YOU) never have the gumption to speak up. Passivity in the workplace leads to inefficiency, frustration, and resentment...none of which yields consistent, quality teaching.
Imagine a group of 20 or so urban public school teachers signing into a professional development workshop on a Tuesday morning in November. It is a school day and they are emotionally torn. They are feeling guilty for leaving their students, but so glad to get a mental break and collaborate with their colleagues. Most of them are blearly-eyed, visibly fatigued, and with body language that says: "I'm tired, disillusioned, frustrated, exhausted...and I just want this presenter to be straight-forward practical...Give me what I need to survive this school year." Moments before the presenter begins, several teachers introduce themselves to newcomers and greet old, familiar faces with a sense of true comradeship. But a few moments into the presentation, it is decidedly clear from the questions and comments to the presenter that most of the teachers present are looking for simplicity, practicality, and durability of instructional tools and methods. The presenter first reacts with a slightly confused facial expression that clearly shows that he/she assumed that teachers should/would be excited about their new method, textbook, or tool. And then reality of the teachers' situation dawns on them and they realize that a change in their presentation approach is needed. Such a scenario is typical in urban public school systems.
Urban public school teachers face the reality of drastic school budget cuts, which affects the human resources that are available fill classroom teachers positions and to provide support to classroom teachers, technology, and other resources. This is the reality for urban public school teachers in addition to putting on the hat of a psychologist to deal with the many personal, community, and domestic issues urban students bring to them daily. A cut in human resources leads to the domino effect of urban public teachers having to take on more responsibilities in order for the school to continue to stay afloat. Urban public school teachers (UPST) are increasingly being required to keep attendance records, monitor hallways during their planning periods, greet and direct school visitors at the front of the building, all while remaining at work longer hours to attend collaborative planning, departmental, and faculty meetings to maintain the integrity of the overall vision of the school. Class sizes are steadily increasing with no improvement in sight and with this reality comes a plethora of issues that comes with that, including a decrease in opportunities for one-on-one instruction. Technology updates, replacements, and professional training are often some of the first things to take a back seat during school budget cuts. Therefore, many UPSTs are dealing with broken equipment, severely outdated and inefficient equipment, or little to no training to use existing equipment efficiently, causing many UPSTs to not incorporate technology into their lesson plans at all. Textbooks during school budget cuts come at a premium. Many urban school districts are opting to wait an extra two or three years to refresh their textbook editions, which offers updated information or recent research findings or replace lost textbooks, which creates a shortage.
UPST are often faced with challenges personal circumstances just like any other individual of a different profession. The difference, however, is that the demands of a UPST does not yield flexibility without consequences. Even one day's absence for a UPST most often means student discipline problems that occur during their absence to address, a back log of papers to be graded, deadlines for the submission of completed forms, and parent conferences to be rescheduled. Add multiple days to a UPST's absence and the domino effect is significantly compounded. I have witnessed several colleagues of mine deal with significant personal and life challenges with personal illness or the chronic illness or death of a spouse or child, which cause them to miss days and weeks from work at a time. Upon returning to work, the pressures of teaching under such incredible circumstances, and trying to meet the academic needs of students and address parent concerns proved to be too much while dealing with their own personal issues. Unfortunately, these colleagues relented to taking an additional leave of absence due to the realization that they could not provide quality instruction under the given circumstances.
Just as the above statements are making you feel a bit overwhelmed (and it has the same effect on UPSTs), it is important to know that most UPSTs are truly dedicated to their careers as teachers and they still press to obtain and retain instructional excellence in the classroom, despite the challenges. Question is, once again, how can this be done?
Here are 10 suggestions for obtaining and maintaining quality teaching:
1. Identify the school's vision for curriculum and instruction before the school year begins. This information provides your foundation. This is your "summer homework."
2. Identify your vision for curriculum and instruction and ensure that your vision aligns with the school's vision before the school year begins. This is a part of your "summer homework."
3. Follow the acronym: AKIST - Always Keep It Simple, Teachers! Rome wasn't built in a day...use the layering method. Each school year resolve to add just one or two methods or resources to enhance instruction and learning experiences throughout the school year. This makes your approach manageable no matter the professional and/or personal challenges you face each school year.
4. Plan your lessons with limited resources, time restraints, unexpected events/interruptions in mind. (Re-read #3.) It's more important to be calm and confident of what you're doing when things do not go as plan, because things almost never go as planned. A calm, confident teacher is more effective than a frazzled one.5. Chart a plan to enhance consistent student-interactive-learning, maintain a school/professional development calendar near your desk at work and your desk/working area at home, and STICK TO THE PLAN!
6. Refrain from overbooking yourself. Remember you are one person and a well-rested, healthy, and happy teacher is much more effective in the classroom than a chronically-tired, frazzled, busy teacher who feels pulled into too many different directions.
7. Incorporate the "glitz and glamour" lesson plans sparingly as treats for your students throughout the year. Pressuring yourself to put on a production everyday or weekly is unrealistic for most teachers. Instead, make sure your lessons are of substance and are sure-fire to bring about the results desired by standardized testing.
8. Align yourself with like-minded UPSTs who are generous with sharing their instructional techniques and resources within and without your department. Why re-invent the wheel when one already exists?
9. Pay attention to your students! They often give verbal and nonverbal feedback when they feel that they are not learning. When this occur, never procrastinate...stop, reassess, and tweak your instructional strategies accordingly.
10. Advocate for you, your colleagues, and your students for improvements in the school environment. Remember, circumstances may never change if someone (and that's YOU) never have the gumption to speak up. Passivity in the workplace leads to inefficiency, frustration, and resentment...none of which yields consistent, quality teaching.
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