Dear Schools...

Dear Schools,

I've been to a few job interviews now, and I would like to offer some compliments (and some suggestions). Every school that I've interviewed at made me feel very welcome, and I've learned a lot about the process of getting a teaching job. But I have some rants (and raves):

Rants:
1. If you promise to give me a topic for the lesson that I have to teach, please give me the topic. An interview should show how I prepare on a regular basis, not what I can throw together at the last minute.
2. Likewise, it is helpful if you tell me when and where to show up for the interview.
3. Follow through on your promise to keep me informed about your decision. Interviews are stressful, but waiting to hear back is just as stressful. Not getting in touch, not answering your phone, not responding to messages that I leave, and not informing me that my contact is no longer in charge of the job hunt is not helpful. I would much rather spend a few minutes learning that I did not get the job then spend weeks trying to get in touch. In return, I promise to inform you if I am no longer available for the job. After devoting an entire day to my interview, I find it strange that you don't devote a few minutes to closing my file.

Raves:
1. It sounds weird, but teaching a lesson is the most stressful part of my interviews. I love it when you schedule my lesson at the beginning of the day! Instead of stressing the whole time about teaching, I can do my job and then focus on asking questions and answering your questions. Bonus points if you can provide real students for me to teach, instead of adults!
2. Meeting a variety of people from your school is great! I love hearing abou the school from the principal or headmaster, but I also love hearing it from a teacher's point of view (or even a student's point of view). Different topics come up, and the interviews end up being very different. I think that's a great thing.
3. Often, interviews are more a conversation than a Q&A session. I love that. The interview process is strange: Mock classes, questions, having to talk about how great I think I am... I don't like it! Removing the Q&A feeling allows me to be myself and answer honestly. And it makes things a billion times less awkward.

Honestly, I have had great experiences on my interviews. But it irks me to no end that schools don't get back to me! I love wrapping up all the loose ends in a story... I hate open endings (Stuart Little, for example, is a wonderful book where I hate the ending). I'm sure there are a ton of schools that get back to their applicants in a timely manner, and I don't mean to finger point. But, this letter is an accurate summary of the interviews I've had so far.

A Message From Teachers to Parents

Source: Cnn (article here)

My final class for my Masters degree is online, and strongly based on discussion.  One of my fellow cohort members posted a link to this article on Cnn.com, titled "What teachers really want to tell parents."  The article talks about a principal, voted state administrator of the year, who leaves her job because she cannot deal with parent any longer.

The article goes on to give a clear message: Making excuses and undermining teacher's authority need to stop.  Parents should trust that teachers are doing the best thing for each child.  I was recently in a discussion with a few teachers about parental involvement in student schedules.  In recent years, more and more parents are pushing their children into higher level courses.  Sometimes, the parents override teacher recommendations to do so.  Yes, some students can be challenged and succeed.  Other students do not have a strong enough grasp on the math skills needed to succeed in these classes.  Putting them in high level classes will put a strain on them.  Every parent wants their child to succeed in school, and exceed expectations.  However, parents need to be realistic.  Every child has strengths and weaknesses.  Refusing to acknowledge this will only hinder their learning.

Transforming Teacher Education: Part II

In the next few weeks, I'll be reading Transforming Teacher Education: What Went Wrong With Teacher Training, and How We Can Fix It, edited by Valerie Hill-Jackson and Chance W. Lewis.  I'll summarize the books points, and give my opinion.  Having recently completed teacher education, I believe that I it will be interesting to see how my program aligns with the book.

In this section of the book, a writer comments on her view that teacher education is at a crossroads, and the importance of philosophy in teaching.  To be honest, it was hard for me to concentrate on this chapter.  Some of her ideas were a little too much for me.  The chapter began with stressing the fact that current philosiphies of teaching and learning influence teacher education. As mentioned in my last post, that was absent in the book's history of teacher education.  The chapter then gives a brief description on Dewey's beliefs, the definition of education reform, finally a suggested approach to the matter.  Read after the jump for more (it's short, I promise!).

Transforming Teacher Education: Part I

Today, I began reading Transforming Teacher Education: What Went Wrong With Teacher Training, and How We Can Fix It, edited by Valerie Hill-Jackson and Chance W. Lewis.  Since much of the blog has focused on my knitting recently, I thought I would swing things back to education for a while.

The book consists of four main parts: A brief history of teacher education, a reconceptualization of implementation, efforts towards teaching training reform, and the future of teacher education.  As I read the book, I will summarize its points here, along with my thoughts.

Tonight, I will talk about Part I: The History of Teacher Education.  The book begins by discussing how the standard student has changed since America began having schools; in the beginning students were primarily white, upper-class Protestant males.  School was intended to preen students into leaders for their communities.  Today, our schools are incredibly diverse in race, socioeconomic status and more.  Students our on their way to a myriad of careers.

Similarly, the environment of learning has changed.  At first, learning took place at home, or in the church.  As America became more developed, school buildings popped up.  With an increase in students, the demand for teachers increased.  However, the image of teachers did not change very much. Teaching was commonly a transition role; a few years between college and a "real" job for men.  It was considered lower than medicine, law, etc.  When more women entered the teaching world, that view did not change.

How did teacher training come about?  In the 1830s, as the demand for teachers continued to rise, it was decided that teacher training should last at least one year, and focus on knowledge acquisition, pedagogy, classroom management, and practice (sound familiar?  Hint: my teacher program in 2010-2011 focused on the same issues).  Taking an entire year was expensive and time-consuming.  Therefore, institutions began holding 4-6 week institutes throughout the year.  Teachers would continue attending them after gaining certification.  As time went on, training became integrated into high school.  Then, it progressed into college.  In other words, teacher training was now taking place for several years.  There was a general shortage of certified teachers because of this (and the many rural communities with lack of access to training).  By the 1960s, states had certification requirements, and it was difficult to teach without a college degree.

Alternative teaching programs first popped up in the post-Sputnik years.  For the first time, there was an option for those who had not studied education in college to receive the proper training in order to teach. However, the programs did not last very long and slowly fizzled out.  The book ends in the late 1980s, with an attempt at teacher education reform.  It included national standards, earning at Bachelor's degree, competitive salaries and performance-related incentives.

The book then suggests what should happen in the future: Raising the status of teachers, ensuring equality for all students (regardless or race, gender, etc.  This includes those students in dilapidated schools), and giving teachers a more powerful voice in the politics of schools.

I think its interesting that the book does not take the changing view of what learning is into consideration.  During America's history, learning theories have come and gone, each leaving its impact in the classroom.  Certainly teacher training would include the definition of learning and current theories.  I definitely agree that the status of teachers should be increased.  Until I stepped into the classroom last fall, I had no idea how much time and energy it take to be a good teacher.  Lately, teachers seem to get a lot of the blame and little support.  I was in a small, rural school with very few behavioral problems, and teaching was still a tremendous effort.  While not every teacher is a good teacher, all teachers deserve respect for their efforts.

Stay tuned for Part II!

Teacher Appreciation

Recently I was back in school, substitute teaching for one of my former mentor teachers.  During lunch I went down to the teacher lunch room, only to find it empty.  Another teacher walked by, informing me that it was teacher appreciation day, and that there was free lunch in the auditorium!  I went in to find a delicious spread of Fazoli's (a chain restaurant with Italian food, and amazing breadsticks) and home-made desserts.  Teachers could also sign up for massages that day.

As I student, I was not aware of Teacher Appreciation Day.  I only know it exists because of my mom's PTA involvement when I was younger.  I remember her putting together little gifts for the whole week to leave in teachers' mailboxes.  Wouldn't it be great if teacher appreciation was more prevalent in society?

NPR has a short (~4 minute) story about it.  Coincidentally, I only know of this story because it is by a fellow Kenyon College graduate!  Check out his story here.  And remember, it's always nice to say thank you.  I think a professor described teaching well when she said "it's one of the hardest professions out there...  You don't even get to choose when you are able to go to the bathroom!"

Who Do We Fire First?

Recently, several states have switched policies on how to fire teachers when they're under budget woes.  These states, such as Indiana, will look at teacher performance.  Student test scores will be a main factor in not only who gets laid off, but also who gets a raise.

Both scenarios are mildly terrifying to new teachers (specifically, me).  In states such as New York, I could lose my job right away because of my inexperience.  Even if I'm more dedicated than the older, more experienced teachers.  In other states where teachers are ranked based on student performance, I could be punished for my students not taking state tests seriously, or for having low-ability kids.  If I don't build the relationships with my students and inspire them to do well, my career may be short lived.  Stories such as the teacher in California who committed suicide after he was ranked "less effective" than  his peers makes me wonder if performance-based evaluations are really the best method.

This brings me to the Indiana Growth Model.  The state will begin analyzing test data with the growth model this year.  It compares a student's test scores to their previous year's scores, and the current scores of student who had similar scores the year before.  Ideally, this will allow teachers to follow individual student progress, and highlight students who are on the brink of failing.  The growth model charts data on two scales: An passing scale, and an improvement scale.  Ideally, each student (and school) places above the passing line and above the improvement line (although I do not know how they determine where to set the improvement line).

After attending a presentation by the state about the growth model, my friends and I agreed that it was a sort of excuse: Yes, our kids are still failing, but look- they're improving.  Here's the problem:  If every school is being compared to all the other schools or similar statistics (socioeconomic students, etc.), then it's impossible for all schools to score about the improvement line.  Even if all schools are improving, the schools who improve less than the others will fall on the bottom end of the scale.  While it is important to consider improvement, we have to keep the bigger picture in mind:  Students are in school to learn.  Learning is not necessarily correlated to their state test scores.  But until we find a better way to "monitor" student learning, we'll have to live with the growth model.

State Testing

Much to my surprise, today's ASCD daily email included an article from one of my local newspapers: The Harrisburg Patriot-News!  The article discusses the emphasis put on state testing.

I can't remember if I've complained about state testing here yet.  Indiana has moved the multiple choice part of their state test (the ISTEP+) online.  This created a huge mess at my school.  Not only do we have to rearrange the school schedule so the kids can test, but we have to find a working computer for each child AND have a mandatory practice session.  Throw in a IT person who is practically impossible to get in touch with, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I contemplated doing some in class research this year on the effects of taking tests on computers.  Now, I really wish I had, so I could discuss my findings here.  State tests are stressful enough on their own.  Making kids take them on computers is just cruel.  The program seems outdated.  When I took the GRE online it was better than this, and that program was so old it assumed the taker might not know how to use a computer mouse!  If you'd like to experience the ISTEP, click here.  My students are in grade 8, so select 6-8.  Read about the tools, and then click "Start the test" at the top of the page.  This is take you to a log in screen.  Ignore the username and password, and simply click "log in" to begin.  Comment and let me know what you think about the ISTEP Experience!

Job Interviews

This past Monday, I had a job interview at a private school down in Virginia.  My M.A.T. program has done a lot of mock interviews this semester, but I'm always a little surprised at how different private school interviews are.  It's most like applying to college; the interview is a conversation where they are trying to sell their school just as much as you are trying to sell yourself.

I arrived Sunday evening just in time for a cook-off between faculty! There was all kinds of delicious food and I got to meet a lot of the faculty.  The school has a really young, energetic staff and they were really friendly.  Monday, I toured the school and taught 3 classes: Physical science, algebra I and honors physics. The classes went pretty well.  It was really different than my student teaching.  The largest class was 14 (smallest was 7), and the kids were much more into learning.

I had a great experience at the school I visited Monday, and I should hear back by the end of May!  Which brings me to one of my least favorite parts of the job hunt: Thank you notes.  They're awkward. Really awkward.  I never know what to say.  Here is where I put in a shameless plug for Shutterfly.  I ordered blank thank you cards from them last year, and they've been a lifesaver.  Simple and elegant, I pull one out whenever the need arises.  I've used them for thank you notes, birthday cards and even a baby shower!  Sending the thank you notes to this Virginia school will wipe out my stock, so I just ordered more (see below).  Note: I get $10 off my next Shutterfly order for doing this!  Bloggers take advantage!

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.