For this week's post response I want you to consider the assignment on developing a literacy team, the readings, any of the links you find relevant, the Power Point in Module 2, and the you tube link with my discussion. This link is provided on Blackboard and here. Please address the following in your post.
What role will I or can/could I have as a leader in this current climate of literacy and education reform?
Please reference information available to you in answering this and provide rationale for your statements by making reference to any of the above listed items. The link to my discussion is presented below.
http://youtu.be/snpjN4MD0QA
As a kindergarten teacher it is my job to begin to develop a strong foundation for reading. No longer are we playing and taking naps. I feel as if I am teaching first grade rather than Kindergarten. If Kindergarten literacy skills are not developed by the time my students leave my classroom they already are behind for first grade then it becomes a domino effect for grades their after. I do believe the tiers are working for the students who need that extra umph. As Dr. Bennett stated he wanted 90% of 3rd graders last year to pass the I-Read in order to continue with the literacy program the school was using. Unfortunately our district did not pass with 90% and we had to stop using the Literacy Collaborative model and use a basal program from the pull down menu. I get nervous with the RISE model and merit pay. I teach at a very low income school . The students come in to my class with very little background knowledge and low level of vocabulary. Many students have never been read to at home or have attended preschool. I am aware that we will receive high marks if our students show growth buts its still a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteYou might be nervous because some of your students are coming in low. However, merit pay and the RISE model are based on IMPROVEMENT!! Depending on what your corporation selected as your data points, it will be very hard not to show improvement, especially with kindergarten students! I work with a lot of ENL students who come in with a very low vocabulary, but they leave doing at least better than they started! Try to think of it positively! You'll be surprised at how much improvement they do show, even if they leave not on grade level.
DeleteI teach at a Title 1 school and we also have a lot of the same fears with showing growth, but the nice thing is that the push is in SHOWING growth, not being the smartest kids in the nation. For us, it will take a lot more work to help our kids show growth, because we too, have lacking parental involvement, but even this year, we have really stepped up to the plate and our kids have started to make huge gains. I think that the further along we get in all of these changes, the better our students will be.
DeleteI began my career as a second grade teacher in a rural school hat was on the brink of literacy instruction. After that year ended I moved to am urban school that still used a basal text through out the building. We have grown and after five years as an educator, I have learned to teach reading, not test memorization. After reading through chapter 2, and watching your discussion on literacy I believe I am a leader in literacy in my building. I spent the better part of this school year helping to create quarter core standard curriculum maps in reading and have pushed my grade level team to work with me in teaching 120 minutes of literacy instruction daily. We are seeing a rise in fluency and comprehension across the board. I will be joining a kindergarten team next school year. I have found through teaching second grade, that by the time students reach second grade, all the standards and materials are geared towards readers. I spend the better half of my school year in remediation and teaching foundation skills that my students are lacking. I feel that it is imperative that students leave my classroom with the grade level skills required to be readers for learning. While I will be joining a team that includes a 12 year teacher, a 3 year teacher and a 2 year teacher I am confident they will be just as eager to see the great things we can do for the greater good of our students literacy.
DeleteI too find it a bit unnerving, Dr Bennett had great expectations for our third graders on the IREAD, however our school hit the 87% percentile, and will be using a 90 minute reading block. Our upper grade social studies, science, and math teachers will also be teaching reading for information.I agree with many of our classmates that carry the burden of fear as we are given raises based on merit, and the fact that we are facing different times in education, however I am confident that if we have enough dedicated strong willed in it for the children teachers, we will rise to the occasion and see all our students reading at grade level. This attitude is the reason that I am the one that creates the lessons for reading, centers, guided reading, writing, and title I pull out for my grade level. I can only hope I will be able to hold these same roles next year on my new grade level team.
DeleteS. McKinney,
DeleteAre you just starting to use the 90-minute reading block? We have had used it in the lower grades for the past 9 years since the start of Reading First. Our upper grades have been using it for the past few years. It's amazing how the block dictates the rest of the school day--in a good way!
Melissa- Off the topic of literacy leadership but per your concern about pushing academics more in kindergarten...I think it's still imperative to incorporate some play into your kindergarten classroom. That "play" will lend to important skills such as language development, fine and large motor skills, creative thinking, cooperative learning, sharing, and respect for others. This was a difficult concept for me to understand when I first switched from third grade but I see it's importance at this age/developmental level. This type of play will help with their reading and writing skills because they are enhancing their language skills during this "play". You can do this and still make time for the 90 minute reading block, writing workshop, math, etc. You'll sleep well at night too : )
DeleteEven though I feel confident in our compensation model, I fear that students who don't like me (for whatever reason) will purposely do poorly on ISTEP because they know my pay is based on it. I have even had some students bring it up to me this year. "You know, your salary will be based on how well I do on the test." Scary times, but all we can do is our best; we can only control the things we can control. I can't spend time stressing about anything I can't control.
DeleteKristine,
DeleteYes we have just started implementing this year. We are also moving to the core standards, and have begun using a balanced literacy approach to teaching reading. We have seen some great improvements on our state mandated tests, and our students seem to be reading more. Some of us are more attached to our old ways than others and it takes a huge adjustment to drop the basal reader and teach reading.
Melissa--I, too, feel play is still very important in the kindergarten classroom. So much learning can be done through play. However, the 90 minute reading block can be difficult (especially since it isn't supposed to include writing time). However, I incorporate my literacy centers into this block, which covers most of the time.
DeleteThank you for your candid remarks. I would like you to go further by considering what role you can play as a leader, taking into consideration all the resources and information you have looked at in module 2.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I see myself as a leader...yet. So much is changing in education and I am still geting comfortable with it. We don't have a literacy team and my literacy coach "runs the show" so to speak. I also feel like administration has their own agenda with or without teacher input.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe you are thinking of your work in terms of the hierarchy of the school. I want all of us to think of leadership from the perspective of who we are in the classroom, regardless of whether we lead others. I understand that you may not have as much say in things as you want, and I can imagine how frustrating this is. But do you really feel like your own work won't demonstrate something to others in the school? By that I mean your work with your class. What about your interactions with other teachers? How do you all network and talk about issues? By the way, these are really comments for everyone, not just you.
DeleteI guess I needed to think a bit harder about the questions. I have the senority of all the K teachers so when we got our new basal program I lead the discussion on how to make it work for us. The other teachers were very concerned to teach to the tests but as I went through the basal it had so many elements that were on the tests which put my grade level team at ease. We didcussed how we could extend the basal and the 90 min block to make it more ingaging for our students. I was also on a district wide gifted and talented team to develop ideas to do with our high ability students. As a seasoned teacher and leader I collaborate with other k teachers in the district to talk about what is working with the new program and the mandated 90 minute block. I never really thought myself as a leader but I guess I am in so many ways, not just with my students.
DeleteHow wonderful to read your description of your leadership! You HAVE done a lot!
DeleteThe 90 minute reading block has been tough for us as first grade teachers because of the word "uninterrupted." I can only imagine what it's like to teach a reading block of 90 minutes to kindergarten students. So many times I feel bad for the kids, because I really do see them as just babies. They have only been on the planet for 5-6 years and already the expectations are so high. For many of our students, coming from homes with little parental involvement, and limited numbers of students attending preschool, they go from an environment wher they get to play all day long to an environment where they are asked to sit and learn to read within 180 days. Whew! It's tough on us as educators to get all of the standards checked off, but what about those little guys?! We forget how big the adjustment can be for them sometimes.
DeleteIt is tough to see yourself as a leader when, at least I do, we look at the collective whole of the school as a team. Nice job doing what's best for your students!
DeleteI feel with being a teacher, I am obligated to be a leader in my school. If I am not learning new things to share with my team members, I am not working hard enough. Although it has put me out of my comfort zone many times, I feel it is my job to go out of my way to be a leader on current issues. However, our main goal is to do what is best for our students!
DeleteThe role I could play as a leader in my current climate of literacy and education reform is by being a voice and not sitting back and being silent. I love the way chapter three states this, “When we remain silent in our agreement or disagreement, we unknowingly support the status quo. Chomsky (1999) calls this “consent without consent.”’ (Vogt & Shearer 2011, pg. 69) This year I tried so many new reading and writing strategies. I have done this because this was my first year teaching Kindergarten and I had to re-invent my literacy block in my own classroom. Also, I wanted to make sure that every student met in a reading group with a teacher daily. Our data has shown that if our students leave us in Kindergarten reading at a level D, then they will most likely pass the I-Step test in third grade. My personal goal this year was to get more than half of my students to level D by the end of the year. I was successful in getting 60% of my students to read at that level! Now, my job as a leader in literacy reform is to share my success and strategies I tried this year with the rest of the staff and encourage them to try some strategies as well. By sitting in silence and not sharing my success, I’m not being a leader in change because I found something that worked for my class and need to share what I have found.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this.
DeleteWhile reading yor post I thought about the quote you wrote. I am always the first one in a staff meeting or a brainstorming session to discuss whats working, whats not, and what strategies work with our type of kids.
DeleteIt is really encouraging to me to see that you tried new things - I think that we, as teachers, sometimes get caught up and do not 'try' - I am happy to hear that you are trying new things!
DeleteThat's great that you surpassed your personal goal! Other teachers will definitely appreciate you sharing your strategies. Collaboration is all about helping make the whole school better. Great job!
DeleteWhat kind of new writing strategies did you try with your students this year? I took a writing class in the fall, and learned a lot from it and applied much of it to my classroom. I am wondering if maybe you are using some of the same strategies. Rather than giving the prompt and sending them on their way, it was suggested that I give them time to talk about the prompt with a friend first. I guess I had such a fear that they would "steal" each others ideas this way, but it didn't happen. I gave them the prompt, and then had them spread out in the room and think about the prompt while I played an instrumental song. After the song, I would let them meet with a partner and discuss what they came up with. Sometimes I would make them have three fingers and discuss their beginning, middle, and end. This helped them so much to stray away from saying "I don't know what to write!"
DeleteThank you for working so hard for your kids! I know that our kindergarten teacher also tried to reach that same level of reading this past year and I am so grateful! As the fourth grade teacher this past year, I could see the hard work put in by the all the previous teachers of my students. It takes us all to get them ready to be good citizens!
DeleteThanks for the kind responses! Katie, this year was my first year teaching Kindergarten, I have taught first grade and a first grade/second grade split class in the past. I walked in with high expectations. Some strategies I have tried is interactive writing, we think of a silly topic, like a zebra going to school, and then together we create a story. I found that if I let the students share their writings at the end of each writing workshop they are more excited to write again and more next time. This also helps give others ideas on what to write about. This summer I am actually going to try to find more strategies to use to help encourage my students to find a love for writing. I am going to read the book titled, Talking, Drawing, Writing Lessons for Our Youngest Writers. It is written by Martha Horn & Mary Ellen Giacobbe. It was highly recommend by other teachers and I'm hoping I can gain a lot from the book.
DeleteBecky, WAY TO GO!!! I know you have an elated feeling when you surpass a personal goal and it's wonderful! I also am wondering if you feel that your teaching of first and second helped you realize how important your goal was in kindergarten?
DeleteI agree...you have certainly proven yourself to be a leader. I also applaud you efforts to get rid of the idea of teaching to a test and instead pay attention to the curriculum at hand and what skills the kids truly need to know to become literate adults. I also think it is great that you are coming together with teachers to discuss what is working and what isn't working in the classroom for you. I find these brainstorming session to always be insightful.
DeleteMelissa you are clearly a leader. It is so important to help newer teachers understand we have an obligation to teach literacy skills because they are needed to produce literate adults. I love the fact that you are pushing them away from teaching to the test. I also love the fact that you have the opportunity and participate in sessions to communicate with other teachers what is working with students and what is not working with students. I find my time with other teachers sharing best practices and disasters to be some of the best and most productive time during my school day
DeleteDo your students read outside of school? My students are so busy that sometimes the only time they get to read is in my classroom. I am sure that most of them do not even own their own public library card.
DeleteCongrats on a successful year...60% is wonderful! I tend to sit silently and I need to not do that. I am so afraid of looking like an idiot because I am a new teacher and I work with so many wonderful and well respected teachers. I agree that we consent when we do not speak up. I enjoyed your post and it sounds like you have a lot to offer your team.
DeleteI think you have a great point that when you find something that works, others are missing out when you don't share. I'm more like Debbie (above) and sometimes hesitate to speak up because I am the newest one of the block. But even us newbies have a perspective to share and shouldn't be afraid to speak up at times. As a whole, that's something our building is so great about...sharing! I hope that doesn't change over the course of the next few years with RISE.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that as a teacher, an important role I can play in the current educational reform, is to be professional, well informed, and positive in my teaching position. As educators, we need to step up to the challenges and accept that the changes, while perhaps somewhat intimidating, overwhelming, or frustrating at times, also will have positive impacts on children, literacy, and education in general. Being professional and well informed includes doing what is right for children and staying the course. As Dr. Walker's power point asks: Will I feel more pressure to teach to the tests, Will I focus more on tests than ever before? My answer to this is No, I will do what is right for kids. I will prepare them for their immediate futures and their long term futures. Other questions on the power point asked if I would take a leadership role and advocate for my peers. Yes, I will be a positive leader in my building through my planning, research, collaborative efforts, and implementation. I will be a support system for my peers and work to make us better as a whole and not individually.
ReplyDeleteYou have thought carefully about this. I liked, among other things, when you said that you would be informed and professional. I believe leadership definitely includes being informed.
DeleteI like your 'support system' comment at the end of your post - all teachers need a support system. That's great that you recognize this and are willing to be one.
DeleteRobert, I enjoyed reading your post and I like your comment about being "well informed." This next year we are doing the TAP rubric and one important part of our evaluation is that we are knowledgeable about the topics we are teaching. With Kindergarten that is easier for me to do than others but I also think that I need to be well informed on how this age of student thinks and develops so that I can meet their needs the best. Great post!
DeleteI really like that you can take a stand and say no you are not going to teach to the test you are instead going to do what is right for your students. I know so many teachers feel the pressure. Many of my fellow teachers are so worried about tests...I think sometimes they forget about the big picture of their content area.
DeleteTeaching to the test is so discouraging to me. I don't want to ever be that kind of teacher. I want to teach so they will learn and not just test well. I enjoyed your post.
DeleteAs with most educators, I think the education reform has created a lot of anxiety and questions. In Dr. Walker's powerpoint, she states, "It appears that schools are expected to produce high achieving students regardless of factors that may be difficult for the schools to control." I think this is where a lot of the problems have stemmed from. Individual teachers/educators are going to be help accountable for things out of their control. For example, according to the RISE one way to measure student learning will be through a school wide measure. According to the documents on the RISE, "The school-wide measure counts equally for all teachers." This is just one example where, I, as an educator will be held responsible for what my fellow co-workers are doing or not doing. There are endless examples like this where teachers/educators will be held accountable for things they have no control over. However, even though the education reform can be very discouraging, I think we have to be willing to adapt to change while making our voices heard through voting, informing the parents/public of what exactly is taking place and how they can help, and continue to do the best and most that we possible can for our students. Another question asked in Dr. Walker's powerpoint was, "Will you be a school leader in some way?" I think we have to strong leaders step up and work together to meet the ever changing demands that are being placed on the public schools. Just by completing this literacy team assignment, I feel as if I could approach my principal about the possibility of forming a literacy team with knowledge about what it should look like and how it should work. Because we are in these classes right now, we have an opportunity (obligation?) to share what we know in order to help improve our schools. Before this class, I knew very little about what a reading specialist actually did and knew nothing about literacy teams. I have a feeling my fellow co-workers are in the same position I was in; therefore, I need to be stepping up and sharing what I know and can do to help the situations at hand. Good, informed leaders are essential to the success of students and schools.
ReplyDeleteYou have been very reflective here and I am very glad. I have to say I am trying to better understand why part of the evaluation of teachers includes the performance of all the teachers. Do you think it could be to keep them from totally sandbagging other teachers?
DeleteI think you should definitely share your new knowledge with others! Plus, it's something you can show during evaluation time...just being honest!
DeleteYou make a great point about so many things in education being out of our control. The administration at my school keeps reminding us that we will focus on those things that we can control and not worry about the rest. I know we are fortunate to have this attitude coming from the top. It helps set the tone for handling all that comes to us through mandates in which we have little to no say.
DeleteRoberta-- My school administration has said the same thing... I can control what I teach and do the very best that I can and if I do that, they'd work on the rest! It does make you feel a lot better that the administrators are understanding and looking out for you!
DeleteDr. Walker-I think you make a good point. Hold teachers accountable for other teachers so that teachers won't sandbag other teachers. I had not thought about that. In some school settings, I could see where that might be a problem. I feel it's unfortunate it has to be this way.
DeleteRoberta and Nicole-I think it has to be such a relief to all teachers in your corporation who have adminstration basically saying control what you can, do the best you can, and let us worry and work on the rest. What great leadership. I think by the administration letting their staff know they're going to work with them up front will make the changes and transitions into the new situations much easier for everyone involved.
DeleteThere is so much out of our control; however, the sad part is that we feel like we have to worry about it. We SHOULD only have to worry about what we can control. Also, at the risk of "opening a can of worms" -- how about the attendance for students and teachers for AYP and RISE?
DeleteIn our compensation model, the attendance portion fits under a yearly stipend - not the raise. We can miss 5.5 school days and still receive one out of two points needed for the stipend. I am not sure about AYP. I do know that we have been a 4 star school for the past 4 years in a row.
DeleteAdrienne, I was referring to AYP being a category on its own. You have to have a certain percentage of attendance (by the students) or you don't pass that category. I have always had issues with that because we can't control when the kids miss. We have issues with receiving any help from the legal stand point, in the county in which I teach they just don't really do anything about a student that misses a lot. (For example I had a student that entered on November 29 and missed 24 days of school after that. We called and called and nothing was done!)
DeleteIt is hard when we can't control things that we will be judged on (for lack of better word). I had a girl that missed over 35 days this year and was always first done on ISTEP because she rushed through. It doesn't seem fair that I will pay for that. It is also unfair to the other students when I have to take time from them to teach her all that she has missed because she just doesn't want to come to school. I don't get upset when kids miss for a good reason but this child missed because her mom was mad at me! How crazy!
DeleteIt is sad to think that anyone would throw another teacher under the bus to make themselves look good, but I know personally that it does happen. I am surprised at the politics that are involved in teaching (but they are probably everywhere). I have a very supportive team and I am so grateful for them.
All I know is that I am going to do the best I can to prepare for next year and be ready to teach to the best of my ability. That is all I can do and that is all any of us can do.
Jeanne,
DeleteIn our corporation a student may miss 10 days of school in a quarter (total, not consecutive) before a meeting is called with our social worker, school psychologist, administration, and team of teachers. If the missed school is because of medical reasons (need dr.s note stating so), then we set in motion the thoughts of homebound teaching. If it is not, then the social worker takes it from there. A few years ago, our PTC would give out ice cream sandwiches or cookies during lunch time to students who had perfect attendance. Then H1N1 hit and students were coming to school because they did not want to miss out. Also, because our school is on block scheduling, missing one actual day is like missing two days of instructional time ... in each of the four classes that day.
I believe, at my school, I have the most influence in our educational reform. We are in a state of transformation and we are losing students because of administration issues. We are on the uphill climb, but I am leading all of the reading uphill climbing. I just finished writing my Literacy Team assignment and found it very enlightening. It empowered me to step up to the plate and take a more active role in creating the Literacy Team and evolving our school with it. I really enjoyed the textbook reading and in fact printed out many pages to bring to our first meeting as a Literacy Team. I specifically liked the 3 tasks on developing a literacy vision statement, although step 1 does not apply to us as we have never had a literacy team! I really enjoyed learning about the surveys to find out more information for the literacy teams. What a great idea to gather information, but also, to make sure we give all people the right to be heard in this reform. I also perused the INTASC principals (it ahd been a long time!) which I believe will prove useful for our team to consider. FInally, I printed and am handing out to the teachers (in a few moments!) the Aligning standards 5 step process - I want each teacher to do this over the summer because we have had so much backlash this year on whether or not we are up to standard with the Ohio standards. Because we are a private, Catholic school, many parents have become exhausted with their efforts to see this progress and have pulled their students for next school year. I am hoping with the Literacy team and an accountability factor involved, we, as a school, can start to evolve into a confident, literacy rich school.
ReplyDeleteWow! It is wonderful to see how you are using your new found knowledge to create a change within your school! Good luck and hopefully your parents will see the hard work you are putting in to making a school that is there for their children.
DeleteTricia, like you after doing the literacy team assignment, I was also ready to step up and help do more in my school with literacy reform. We already have a literacy team of sorts in our school, but working on this paper did show me that I can help the team by sharing ideas that I have gained even though I am not a member of the team. Good luck with your school, it sounds like you are working very hard!
DeleteTricia, sounds like you are a whirlwind waiting to happen -- I love it! Maybe I have missed it, but what is your position? We have never had a literacy team at our school, but we have had data meetings in which the reading coach, grade level teachers, principal and inclusion teacher attended to discuss data and interventions. I'm hoping that we will also be able to create a literacy team in addition to our data meetings.
DeleteTricia, it sounds like you have your hands full with quite a few needed changes. I am surprised to hear your parents are pulling kids because of administrative and academic issues. As a former private school attendee k-8 and current public school teacher I have always thought of private schools as the utopia of teaching. Good luck, I think your a saint for teaching at a parochial school.
DeleteYou are doing a lot! Would you mind explaining more the standards for Ohio and the parents? Are they moving into your school now?
ReplyDeleteOn a personal level, I will lead myself to have more reflection throughout my day. I need to ask myself more questions about how my lesson went, did my students understand and address those questions to become a better a teacher. I am moving into first grade next year and have already bought a little notepad to quickly jot down my thoughts about my lessons. On a professional level, I will be an advocate for the students, not focusing on “teaching to the test”. I think that, yes, students need to understand what they are going to encounter, however we also need help them master concepts that they are going to need throughout life. I have found myself in faculty meetings, since my first year teaching, being one of the first to discuss lessons, ideas, or new research I have discovered. I would love to start a blog for the teachers (like the one for class). I think it would be a great outlet and resource. I am not a very outspoken person, however when teaching strategies is the main topic, I go crazy. I love learning about new strategies and methods. Since I work at a Catholic school we are under a Diocese. Our diocese has a wonderful superintendent who loves input from teachers. Many of our teachers complain about how things are working, I have mentioned several time that we could host a meeting with him to discuss our concerns. I would like to see this happen next year; I feel that we cannot complain if we are not willing to try to change it. This class has helped me find the leader inside me, I feel energized and excited to help my school become better, especially within the literacy aspect.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you feel the need to do something for change. I love your enthusiasm for learning new strategies and method and that you are feeling so energized at the end of a school year!
DeleteYou are so right, you can't complain if you don't try to change it. Maybe while you are "going crazy" on teaching methods you can slip in some ideas on how to change things at a higher level. I do have to ask this question: Do you think the other teachers that complain have reason for their complaints? Just curious.
DeleteJeanne-They definitely have reasons. The curriculum set out by our diocese isn't working for the students or teachers. Everyone is miserable. Things are supposed to be changing, thank goodness, because of the Core standards. I think they are frustrated and they should be. However, we have to try to fix it instead of just complaining.
DeleteRoberta- I am not energized at all. I cannot wait for this year to be over. I am just really looking forward to next year and all the things I get to try.
I see a common theme here ... don't sweat the stuff you can't control. It is easier said than done I believe though. I think that after the first year of implementation, everyone will better understand what is going on. I think it is the not knowing that has a lot of teachers in a spiral.
DeleteWith all the changes coming next year with the Common Core standards and the expectations continuing to increase from grade level to grade level, I feel that I will have a large part in this change within my building. As the Title 1 Reading teacher, I have been getting a lot of questions lately from other teachers within my building about what they can do differently to their 90 minute reading block to be as effective as they can! It's been interesting to listen to both sides of the conversation, because I hear from the teachers and well as our principal. I know that the teachers have been getting stressed, which is understandable. However, a lot of the changes I feel are going to be good for the students and I think in the long run the teachers are going to enjoy the Common Core standards.
ReplyDeleteThis module has made me truly think about the strong leaders in reading within my building, especially with the Literacy team assignment. I spoke with my principal yesterday about some things and didn't realize until then how much the other teachers are looking to me! It kind of made me nervous; however, I think I'm welcome to the challenge.
I liked the quote on page 58 of the text. It says, "The literacy team is responsible for creating and implementing a collaborative vision with the goal of improving the school's literacy education program." I'd like to think that all of us throughout the state are kind of one BIG literacy team! The state has set these guidelines for us, and while there are some questionable calls, most are for the common good of the students! So maybe we are just one big literacy team, working to improve reading throughout the state of Indiana?! :)
Well, I am sure they are looking to you because you have done things that they respect in the past. It sounds like you keep up to date with material and practices. Do you feel the principal of your school looks to you to guide the teachers instructionally?
DeleteI agree with your comment on the common core -- it has been crazy trying to cover both st standards and common core. (Even with the transition documents) I have high hopes that once all the dust settles, we, as teachers will still be standing and will feel relief!
DeleteWhat role will I or can/could I have as a leader in this current climate of literacy and education reform?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the chapter and creating my own literacy team I think I do have the tools to be a leader in literacy. I am currently in the process of moving to a new school in my district and co-teaching with another teacher who has only taught in 1st grade for 2 years, like me. We have already started meeting to organize our reading and literacy time. We want to recreate the current reading model that has been set in that school for some time. We are working together to create a reading block that will benefit all of our students, both with reteaching and advanced thinking build in.
I think this chapter has taught me to focus on my strengths, but also look to the strengths of my peers. Working with my new co-worker has already helped us both to take our own ideas and help them grow. We have also been able to work with the Reading Specialists at both of our current buildings to help us to take the 'best of both worlds' for our new school.
After rebuilding the reading program I think I can help the other grades in our building to add a few newer resources to their curriculum as well.
Your situation sounds very similar to mine. It sounds like you are off to a good start. Good luck!
DeleteI am also moving to a first grade position at a different school in my school district due to redistricting. A lot of the teachers are moving to different schools. My team met today to combine our curriculum maps to meet our own team's needs. It sounds like you are doing great as well.
DeleteAbby, I loved how you posted that you are going to focus not only on your strengths but also find and use the strengths of your co-teacher. I think this is a powerful thing! Too often teachers do not speak up or share ideas because they feel like their ideas/strategies are inadequate. By seeking out your co-teacher's strengths, you may help him/her find strengths in themselves that they didn't even know they had. This sounds like it will be a great opportunity for you both next year to learn from each other!
DeleteIt always exciting when you can share with a co-worker. You say you are co-teaching, can you elaborate more? Will you be sharing students? Just curious because we do some of this at our school, sometimes even across grade levels. Even though we all have our own rooms and own students, we split them according to needs at different times throughout the day.
DeleteIt is so exciting when you have others to share with. I think it is great you are able to share your ideas.
DeleteKristen, Are you going through this now, or last year? How did it work for you?
DeleteJeanne, we will share a little bit, but with interventions and ELL it is hard because our students are pulled out at different times. We collaborate and share units every week to make sure we are on the same page.
Are you located in Indiana or out of state? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI am in Illinois.
DeleteAfter reading chapters 2 and 3, I think part of being a literacy leader in the school is demonstrating the ability to work together as a school-wide team to achieve the same vision. As I reflect, I realize that all of the veteran teachers I aspire to be like are those who collaborate and share with the teachers around them. Those teachers are leaders. With all of the mandates, tests, and evaluations it is easy to let the pressure overcome us as teachers. I myself have definitely been guilty of this. I found myself really able to reflect upon this question, because I will be switching grade levels. I have been teaching second grade for five years, and I will be moving to fourth. I am fortunate that I will have a very experienced teaching partner (she is our former literacy coach), but we are walking into a grade level that had a difficult time collaborating last year and really had no yearlong plan. In addition to a new literacy coach, our school will also have a new vice-principal. With these changes, I know to be a leader I must be flexible, positive, and collaborative. Referring to the article, “Principals as Partners,” it is fortunate that our principal’s attitude about a literacy coach is much more like Barbara’s than Emily’s. He believes in the importance of a literacy coach. As teachers, we don’t have the ability to change many of the mandates like IREAD and RISE, but we can embrace the change and work together to make literacy successful throughout the school.
ReplyDeleteFourth grade is a tough grade anyway, to be there with others that have "no plan" that's really tough! Hopefully you and your teaching partner will be able to create goals and visions within the grade level. I think you have a good start by realizing what it will take to be successful in this!
DeleteThe school district that I work for is redistricting next year and teachers are being moved around within the district. I will be teaching first grade next year after teaching a year of Title 1. Prior to that, I taught a full-year maternity leave (my first job in the district) in a first grade classroom. Due to this, I am familiar with the first grade curriculum. Today, the first grade team at my new school met to combine curriculum maps in order to form a plan that will work best for us. With all that in mind and based on what I have learned from Module 2 and the Literacy Team Assignment, I believe that I am in a place where I can take on a literacy leadership role within my team. One teacher from our teacher is assigned to a subject in which he/she completes the lesson plans for that week and sends them to the other teachers on the team. Since we have more teachers on the team than subjects, I will be working with another first grade teacher to create the reading and science plans (we combine reading and science plans by connecting science topics to the story we are reading that week). We will be co-leaders by doing the reading and science components of the curriculum. The important thing that I learned from this module is the value of collaboration. It is important to work together to achieve a goal of maximum student success. This past year, I took on a literacy leadership role as the Title 1 teacher. I managed data and collaborated with teachers on best literacy practices in the classroom. I also think that it is important to stay up-to-date on best literacy practices. In order to be a leader, it is important to keep up on these strategies and practices and convey them to colleagues in order to achieve optimal student success. The one question that stuck out for me on the PowerPoint was whether or not I would focus more on tests. I think that it is more important to focus on my students' needs. While tests are good at determining students' strengths and needs (to an extent), there are also a lot of pitfalls to tests (i.e. test biases, test anxiety, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI just went to a meeting to talk about CCSS for next year and am seeing just how nice science and language arts will tie in together! Our kids need more non-fiction and they will get it through science :)
DeleteI will also be moving to first grade this next school year. Interesting how many of us are in that same position! At my school the lower grades (k-3) have been told to stop teaching science and social studies as a separate subject. Both need to be integrated into the reading block. I am going to have to follow your lead and look at how our reading series and science curriculum go together over the summer. It seems like such a daunting task!
DeleteSometimes I think that focusing on testing is not as much the content of the test as the format and problem solving. I try to take care of test anxiety by giving them many types of formats throughout the year and many ways to problem solve through math journals. The actual content, well we teach that anyway, the hard part to overcome is those "pitfalls".
DeleteThe other first grade teacher and I work together on nearly everything and this year our big push from our principal has been to work with students by ability. "It is probably safe to assume that most people recognize the power of teamwork to solve both long- and short-term problems and bring about change" (Vogt & Shearer, 2011 ,p. 58). We have seen such great growth from our students and they have made greater gains this year than in the years I have taught in the past. As far as leadership goes, I am certified in the Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Approach, which is a phonics based way of teaching children to read, write, spell, grammar, break words apart, etc. Because of my knowledge from O.G. my students learn to read and write a little differently than other students do. They learn the "why's" behind everything rather than just seeing something and being told that's how it's supposed to be. Both myself and the other first grade teacher in my building are certified in O.G. and our kids leave first grade, for the most part, ready to tackle 2nd grade reading. Other teachers come to us and ask us how O.G. works because they see such great improvements from children who know the "why's" behind phonics rules. Because we team together, our students who need specific instruction are much more able to get it. Because we team together, we are leaders together. Not all of our students come to the end of first grade as fluent readers, but most do. Sometimes building fluency comes with time, parental support, and readiness, but we have found that O.G. has helped many reach their greatest potential in first grade.
ReplyDeleteWe believe that teaching children through this approach (it is research-based) will help them be much more successful than just teaching out of the Basal (although, we do that too!), and hope that by the time they reach third grade, they will have no problems passing IREAD.
DeleteClearly the teaming approach is working for both you and your students. It makes perfect sense to team with another staff member. The benefits for all involved seem to be unlimited. I do however believe you and your teammate are clearly extremely open to working with each other. This collaboration is clearly a positive in your work environment. If everyone could find another teacher to collaborate with in such a way I am sure all of our classrooms would grow and improve.
DeleteI have not heard of this. I really want to check into it though. Don't be disheartened by the few children that didn't make it to your goal, that's the beauty of being a teacher and our frustration with legislation, we realize we aren't dealing with widgets, we have living breathing children that develop and grow at differing levels. With continued support, they too will make it! Congrats on your success.
DeleteI have also not heard of O.G. I would love to hear more about it. Did your corporation train you on it or is it something you did on your own?
DeleteSarah Beiler-
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the readings this week. I know that at my school, we don't have a literacy team, and I think it would be very beneficial for us to explore the idea. I liked reading the Principals as Partners article. I saw each scenario as not that extreme. I, fortunately, have a great principal that is very willing to let others lead when appropriate, but also has a very good understanding of the classroom like Lorraine's example. I saw one common thread through the readings: Have a vision. Having a vision with clearly stated goals and job descriptions is a must. I could see myself on a newly developing literacy team, creating surveys and getting information organized to make a presentation to our administration as to why we need a literacy team. I could see myself being a part of a team who wants to research our district a little more, and who would want to apply what we have learned about our students to better serve them. Furthermore, I could see myself having a role on a literacy team representing our K grade level. I think I could/would talk to my other K colleagues and present their ideas to the team accordingly.
Does your district have a literacy team over it? Is there a team that you could go to to get something like this started? At our school, there was a grant that ran out last year, that paid 3 professionals to help our RTI students, primarily in reading, but the grant ran out. They were a great resource to us now. We currently have a literacy coach at my school, but her candle is burning at both ends because she is split between two schools and children in grades 2-5. She's got quite a load on her plate. Being a classroom teacher, it's hard to see where I could help her out, but a team would be a great resource for all of us to have once again, staff and students alike.
DeleteI am the first grade lead teacher within my school. There are several roles and responsibilities within this leadership position and a few of them relate directly to our discussion this week. One responsibility is to lead team planning to ensure that all the new Common Core Standards are being addressed within our curriculum. I have provided team members with resources for the Common Core Standards and have worked closely with our reading coach to guide professional development for the CC standards. Our team began meeting during the second half of the school year to scope and sequence our curriculum and match our lessons to the Common Core. We will also be meeting during the summer to finalize our scope and sequence and create our pacing calendars for the year.
ReplyDeleteI am also in charge of training each team member on the administration of DIBELS Reading, DIBELS Math, and TRC using mClass. Next year, I will have the additional responsibility of leading weekly data analysis meetings and helping team members to plan/implement interventions utilizing the RTI process. The administration of mClass has been a source of stress for many teachers due to the time it takes to administer. As a lead teacher, I discuss concerns with our administration and work to find solutions to the issue. It can be a difficult role because I need to remain positive about school initiatives while being understanding of the needs and concerns of my colleagues. It can be a tight rope to walk, but I am part of an amazing team. They are always willing to discuss issues with me and they trust me to discuss these issues with the administration and leadership team. Our administration always listens to our concerns and works with us to find manageable solutions.
Our school has time for professional development built into our schedule. It is one of my responsibilities to set grade level meetings and communicate our grade level needs in order to guide our professional development. I create a calendar for grade level planning and professional development each week and work to ensure that each team member is supported in any way needed.
Next year, we are utilizing the TAP model for teacher evaluations. I will be working closely with our new Master Teacher to train the grade level on the rubric that will be used as part of the TAP model. I think the new evaluation system and merit pay scales are a source of anxiety for many teachers. I work in a high collaborative school with many talented teachers. I feel fortunate to work with such outstanding colleagues and learn something new every day. We have built a successful school program and a positive school culture by working together to achieve our common goals. My greatest fear is that the evaluation system and merit pay scale will promote competition between teachers and destroy the collaborative environment we have now. I don’t think we will know for sure until everything begins to play out, but I believe my role will continue to be one that supports our team and benefits our students.
In my school district we will be "practicing" with RISE next year. We are still under contract so it won't "count" until the following year. I look at this as a positive! It's sort of like learning a new game -- the first time you play doesn't really count and you all work together to figure it out. Also, I'm hoping that if there are any glitches that become apparent, they will be worked out before we have to implement RISE fully.
DeleteWe have talked a lot about RISE at my school, but watching the video provided on the website was incredibly helpful for me to begin to understand what is about to take place. It's scary, but I am sure that we will get it in time. At my last meeting for CCSS, we were reminded that when State Standards were first issued, it took even the best of teachers a couple years to get a firm grasp on what they needed to do. That was helpful and lowered my stress as a perfectionist quite a bit!
DeleteJeanne,
DeleteI like how you look at the RISE evaluations as a game. I think there are going to be many changes in the next few years with the evaluation process. I remember when I first started teaching and for licensing, we had to do a portfolio. When it was my second year, they did away with the portfolio. Who knows what will happen in the next two years?
As I think about all the information I read and looked over in this Module, I know literacy is a hot topic in education right now. The question that sticks with me the most is from the Power Point and Dr. Walker’s discussion video: Why is all of this happening now? The obvious answer for me is that it has been shown there is a great need for education reform, especially in the area of literacy. There are students who are coming to fourth grade and are unable to read at a level where they can be successful. I know because of this, I have more responsibility as a teacher. As I read through the Power Point, I realized I can be a leader when it comes to certain areas. If I have an idea or strategy that is working for my students, I need to step up and share that with my colleagues. Last school year, students began to receive reading intervention in what we called the Learning Lab. Our school’s instructional aides were the intervention instructors in the Learning Lab, and many of them were apprehensive and nervous if they could handle this task. I could definitely be a leader for them. Just by sitting down with them and sharing my instructional practices and resources in my classroom would help. I could also invite them into my classroom so that they could observe my teaching. I need to remember to collaborate with others in my building besides my grade level team. The RISE evaluation system video on the DOE website also reminded me of how important teacher collaboration can be for student achievement. I also recognized that I need to be a better leader for parents and communicate with them more about their children’s strengths and needs. I have to communicate strategies and ideas they can do at home to help their children. I often get so busy and caught up at school that I forget how important parents and guardians are to student success. I need to be an advocate for parents!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth,
DeleteAre the instructors in the Learning Lab teachers? Our Title One instructors are not teachers and sometimes they have the same feelings or nervousness.
One of the Learning Lab instructors has a teaching license, but the other three do not. I know this definitely makes them feel nervous about their responsibilities. It is really neat to see how the students respond to them, though. Everyone in our building sees them as teachers.
DeleteAs we have read and discussed this year, education is ever changing and is something that we have to adapt to as the changes occur. Many of the mandates that have come down this year, RISE, IREAD3, etc., are out of our control and have created a lot of extra stress on our jobs - across the entire school. As an instructional coach at my school, I am forced to be a leader. I don't feel like it's just my job to lead. There are many times that teachers say, 'it sounds good, but can we see it in action?' Teachers are the leaders in the building and offer a perspective that I can't offer. In the last 6 years, I haven't been in my own classroom, except for covering a medical leave for 2 weeks last year. I was able to practice what I preach, but teachers practice it everyday. I was in a room yesterday and told the teacher how impressed I was with what was happening in his room. He said, 'it was all your idea'. I told him yes it was my idea but he was the one that put it into practice. Teachers are leaders right along side with me. I receive the trainings about instructional recommendations the district has made based on the state recommendations - 90 minute reading block, readers and writers workshop, etc., and communicate that with my staff. I also feel like my leadership role is to be the cheerleader at times. The stress that everyone is feeling because of the evaluations and assessments is very high. I had one team at my school that doesn't want to collaborate any more because they believe that when being evaluated, there is going to be a ranking system (RISE) and they don't want to be at the bottom, so if they do something good, they don't want to share it so they can show growth with their kids. It's sad that they believe the competition is the way to go. We have incorporated readers and writers workshop this year - 90 minutes of reading, 60 of writing. There are times that we have had to break up the reading block due to scheduling - but the majority of the time kids read independently is as close to 90 minutes as it can be. Teachers feel that they are able to meet with their kids often, they are reading at their level and through mini-lessons and conferring, they are able to teach to their individual needs. One unit we focus on is 'testing genre'. It's great to show kids that this is how we teach you to be an independent reader, this is how it applies to taking a test. It was very successful in the classrooms we implemented it in this year. Dr. Walker asked 'will you feel pressured to teach to the test?', the answer in our school is not really. Using the testing genre unit and improving our instruction throughout the year is what we are working toward. According to Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches: Leading a Collaborative Vision, page 83 discusses the importance of making a plan and evaluating as needed, answering questions such as 'how are we doing relative to our goal, do we need to adjust or add any elements to achieve our target by the end of two years.' I think that we need to evaluate what we are doing often, think about our demographics and think about how our instruction is impacting all of our children, even the children that come from impoverished environments. Hopefully the state re-evaluates often too to see if what they are doing is what's best for our kids and teachers. (sorry, personal opinion)
ReplyDeleteBrynn,
DeleteI love how you mentioned that sometimes you just need to be a cheerleader for others. With all the changes I think that is what some teachers need. They need confidence that they are doing things right. Just like students need positive reinforcement, so do educators. As teachers we are constantly questioning our ideas/lessons and how to improve them. Kuddos to you! Sounds like you are a positive influence to have in your building and teachers are lucky to have you!
For the past few years I don't feel like I have been able to really solidify myself as a leader of change within my school. I taught 3rd grade for three years and I felt like I had finally found where I needed to be. Each year I felt like my curriculum in all subject areas improved. I was able to bring some "fun" into the classroom knowing that it went with what the kids needed to learn. This past year I was thrown out of my comfort zone when told I was going to be teaching fourth grade. Being the only teacher at that grade level I went at it alone. I did my best at following the curriculum but felt like we I was going through the motions. After a lesson I would always say, "This will have to change for next year." Or, "This went great!" Well, now I'm being moved to first grade (the only class once again) and will not have a chance to make those changes. I have taught first grade in the past (5 years that included 2 years of a 1/2 split) but never felt like I did the kids justice. I am really nervous about this year, especially since it is my goal year and I will be one teacher to pilot the RISE within my school. I know that I am going to have to depend on the previous years' first grade teacher. She is a wealth of knowledge! I love to read and love to teach reading as well, but I also know my limitations (self-imposed maybe?) when it comes to helping kids learn to read. I really enjoy helping kids read to learn!
ReplyDeleteHowever, when it comes to math, it is a different story. I know this is a reading class but math is my thing. I was asked to be on the math committee two years ago when it was time for our math adoption. I loved looking at the all the new series. I felt like I brought a unique perspective as I had taught essentially every grade level of the previous math series. I knew what the kids needed to know. Even though our new series has brought about a lot of discussion (most not so positive), I look forward to seeing how everything shakes out over the next couple of years as the kids go from grade to grade!
Kristine,
DeleteWow, you have been moving around a lot lately. I think that it shows you are a great teacher that can handle flexibility and run with a new challenge. I know there are major differences from first grade to fourth grade, but you could still adapt those great lessons from fourth grade to fit your curriculum for first grade. This way you can still use some or change some of your great ideas from last year. Will you have an instructional aide to help you next year?
I agree that you are obviously flexible, and able to adapt. Do you have a support system in the school? Do you know why you are being moved to different grade levels?
DeleteElizabeth--I do not know the aid situation for next year but should have one at least half the day.
DeleteDr. Walker--I do not know the reason behind the move to third grade but this year I did ask to be moved from fourth so I wouldn't have my son. However, I wasn't expecting the first grade position. We just received an e-mail stating all the changes taking place at the various grade levels. No one was asked to share opinions. We were just told. I am lucky that I work well with the lower grade teachers, so I will be relying on them heavily this next year! I am assuming (I should clarify that I am a bad assumptionist) that we will not have a literacy coach this upcoming year. We will be going at a lot of the changes on our own--not that she did much the past two years.
Given the climate of education reform that currently exists, it's very hard to maintain focus and a positive attitude at times. I feel as though it is our job to look at what we are told to do and what we know is best for children; then try to combine the two. Dr. Walker questions what each of us will do in response to this reform. I would like to create a literacy community within my building to help myself and other teachers be able to collaborate and have discussions. I think this would be a positive step in taking control over what we feel we have none. This is where leadership and teamwork becomes imperative. There will have to be clearly set goals for what we are trying to accomplish. For example, we might look at data of the first and second grade students to find specific skills (maybe decoding of r-controlled vowels) lacking in those students so they might be grouped together for a short period to improve the skill). We also will need to make certain that when we focus on blending mandates with best practices, there will need to be leadership that pushes for the literacy community to "keep their eye on the prize" and not turn into a complete "gripe session" that has no positive outcome. Chapter 2 in our book clearly outlines how important it is that teamwork, leadership, and specific components are in existence in order for groups to be successful. I would like to use this information to turn anger and helpless feelings into feelings of overcoming and achievement.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned the complaining, I believe you really hit on something. There has to be a good way to set up a gripe free zone. I don't know if people get some other way of unloading or what, but when it is time to meet it is done taking into account realities and what can be done. Griping can be a way of saying it isn't the person's responsibility. Though it may seem like that is true, the reality is they are in the situation and have chosen to keep teaching.
DeleteLike in the site that discussed the 90-min. block, it sounds like your school is willing to work together to group the students even if they need to be in another room for a period of time. Kudos!
DeleteYes, Kristine the school I work in tries very hard to group kids by need!
DeleteOur school climate right now is very negative. The administrators at my school seem to think they are the only people qualified to suggest any type of educational reform. A real disconnect is evident between the administrators and teachers. I have very little opportunity to promote literacy reform at a school wide level. With all of the negativity, I try to focus my time towards continueing to be a master of my content area. As with everything I try to do instructionally, I try to let a moral and ethical compass guide me to instruct and use techniques which will truly help my students. In the four years our head principal has been in his position he has used many buzz words to describe different teaching techniques. I can barely remember all of the terms. As a teacher I do my best to implement all curricular changes and techniques, however using formative and summative assessment sometimes, clearly favored practices just don’t work in every classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think the opportunity exists to be a leader within a community of teachers who believe and think literacy education reform is important (Vogt & Shearer p.60). Teachers are often grouped by content areas. It makes perfect sense that additional teaching communities would be made of teachers with similar interests and goals such as improving literacy education. As a community we can support each other in improving literacy goals. As a teacher with an interest in literacy I can be a leader by using evidence based practices to promote literacy within my content area. I would also love the opportunity to work with other teachers to help them promote literacy within their specific content area.
I am sorry that you are in such a negative climate. That can be tough. We went through a rough patch last year-it can be very exhausting. I completely agree that some favored practices do not work with every classroom. It totally depends on the group of students and the environment. It sounds like you are doing a great job!
DeleteI too completely connect with the negative environment, when our school was failing there were so many unanswered questions that our morale was at an all-time low. It's hard to keep your focus when you are surrounded by gloom and doom but it sounds as though you are aware of it and that is half the battle. When your environment changes (and it will) you will feel so much pride in the fact that you kept focused!
DeleteI am sorry to hear that there is such a disconnect and negative energy at your school. Just remember the kids.
DeleteAlthough I play a small role in the area of leadership with literacy instruction, I am gaining the confidence to be a bigger role. Put me in a classroom with 30 kids, I can do my thing. Put me in a room with 30 teachers, I freeze up! At my school I am fortunate to be able to attend up to 3 professional workshops a year. Many teachers do not take the opportunity to continue with professional development and my principal always seeks me out to see if there is anything that I would like to attend. The money is there, someone needs to spend it. I always take him up on the offer. The only condition is, I have to come back and showcase to my fellow teachers what I have learned. This is how I feel I show my leadership role at my school. I take the ideas from professional development, and lesson examples in my classroom and model to other teachers. At first, this was difficult for me, but I am gaining more confidence. I feel that I try to stay up on new teaching practices and am constantly trying new ideas. As a teacher, it is my job to be a professional and continue with new teaching practices. I found Dr. Walkers Power Point to be very interesting and it made me questions myself. Do I teach to the test? I must say as a 3rd grade teacher I was very nervous all year with the IREAD. I did find myself doing more test prep this year than I had ever done before. I do not feel that this was teaching to the test, I was teaching the students about test taking strategies though. Since 3rd grade is such a big, first year with standardized tests I do feel the need to teach for test taking strategies and testing vocabulary. Do others consider this teaching to the test? I continued my instruction as I have always done in the past. With all the changes I am trying to stay positive. I feel that in a couple of years many policies the state has created will be re-evaluated and fizzle out...maybe not. I love teaching and I am not going to let all this craziness drive me away! I am going to do my best and show the state, that as teachers, we know what we are doing!
ReplyDeleteI think we have to teach to the test in some aspects. I don't think content should be taught but there are so many test taking strategies that must be taught beforehand to get the kids ready. Plus, like you said, the vocabulary used is not always the most common so I think that I would do that too. Maybe we're both wrong, maybe we're both right!?!?! Even as a 2nd grade teacher, I'm working with my kids on filling in bubbles and how to answer a writing prompt. If that was all I did, that'd be teaching the test but since it's sprinkled in as test taking strategies, I've never considered that to be teaching the test.
DeleteI also agree that we have to give our students guidance on testing and provide them with tools for the genre of testing. Some of the teachers that I taught with a few years ago were demanding that the best way to prepare students for the test was through doing two weeks of test prep pages. Model question after model question, where some questions made no sense at all, was what we surrounded our days by in the weeks leading up to the test. The kids were already tested out and the test hadn't even begun yet. Finally we were able to hire a curriculum director who put an end to this practice of test prep. This is what I consider "teaching to the test." Does anyone else use test prep books leading up to the testing date?
DeleteI appreciate your sharing all of this.
ReplyDeleteThe things you have mentioned are definitely leadership.
ReplyDeleteAs a former Title One Reading teacher, and current first grade teacher, I have always played a role in literacy reforms within my school. In the last few years I have been a part of our school “leadership team,” which is our literacy team. I have also been involved in curriculum mapping and assessment creation at the corporation. This summer I will also be involved in presenting some of the digital literacies I use in my classroom to teachers from across the state of Indiana.
ReplyDeleteThere are no literacy coaches in my school corporation and as much as I like to dream that one day we will get them back, I know that in the current economic state we probably will not. I was moved into a first grade classroom this year, due to budgeting. Although I love my classroom, I hope to one day go back into a reading specialist position. That being said, I know firsthand, that some of the best teachers in our school are the same teachers that like to “shut the door and teach.” They do not often voice their opinions in meeting due to their fear of negativity. “When we remain silent in our agreement or disagreement, we unknowingly support the status quo. Chomsky (1999) calls this ‘consent without consent.’” (Vogt & Shearer 2011, pg. 69)
I think that a great next step for our current literacy team would be to help create an environment where everyone can easily share with each other without fear. This collaboration could help other teachers implement strategies in their classrooms that could improve the teaching at the school. Vertical collaboration could also help our school to increase test scores, especially making sure that we are using common vocabulary and instructional methods. For instance, last year I went to a first grade teacher and ask her how she was teaching segmenting. I learned that she was leaving blending sounds together. This explained why her students were very confused when I asked them to take the sounds apart. I feel that teachers are very concerned about whether or not their teaching is “effective,” especially with RISE. Collaborating could help us ensure great teaching in the classrooms, taking the “effective” scores to a “highly effective” range. High stakes testing, and teacher evaluation are a part of our profession. The best thing that we can do is to give teachers the resources they need to meet their goals.
I love that you want to create an safe environment to share among the other teachers. This was something that was very hard for me when I began teaching.I know we talk about creating that environment in our classrooms, but we should definitely have it when we are sharing with our colleagues.
DeleteYour point about vertical planning is right on target. Our school focus a lot of attention on horizontal planning, but we rarely take the time to plan vertically. I think this will be extremely important as we move to the Common Core Standards. In order to successfully cover the Common Core, each grade level needs to work together to ensure the scaffolding of skills.
DeleteI try my best to be a leader at my school by providing help whenever I can and being actively involved in every aspect of my school’s literacy development and programming. I am constantly going to my administrator with new ideas on what I learned on either improving our reading scores or motivating students, but I believe that my ideas are not given much thought once I leave the office. Mind you, that does not stop me from sharing my ideas. I have taken my ideas to the teachers, so that even if I cannot get my ideas across school-wide, I can share them with a few teachers who will see the benefits and share with other teachers. I teach only literacy, so I am constantly seeing what my students are struggling with and their thoughts towards literacy. I am a member of the reading committee at my school, the Merrillville Community Teacher’s Association, and the RtI team. I feel like by doing what is best for my students, I am a leader within my classroom, and I hope that it is contagious. I do not fear the upcoming teacher evaluations because they are coming no matter what, so I have come to terms with that, and I know that as long as I am doing what I believe is in the best interest of my students and have scientific research to back it, hopefully, I will be fine. I will not compromise my educational beliefs if it is not in the best interest of the students.
ReplyDeleteIt's so important that we keep the best interest of the students in the forefront of our thinking. Thanks for reminding us, sometimes our students are looking more like data points and dollar signs unfortunately.
DeleteI believe there are opportunities for everyone to act as a leader in our school community. Our school realigned last year and as we were planning for the transition, all of our teachers were allowed to sign up for a committee that they felt passionate about. This allowed us all to feel like we were involved in making our new school the best that it could be. Like Dr. Walker discussed in her powerpoint, education is changing. We have adopted the common core standards. A leadership role I have taken on is working with another team member to develop a math curriculum map that our grade level will use for planning math instruction next year. We are also developing new grade level common assessments that we will use to pre and posttest our students to show growth on these new standards. I also try to act as a leader by constantly sharing standards-based activities and ideas that are working in the classroom. As teachers, I believe we can all learn so much from each other.
ReplyDeleteWe have done a lot of work with the Common Core too. I'm on the committee that is in charge of figuring out the order that we'd like to teach the math standards. It has been such a process to figure out what the standard means and then fine resources that align to it, etc. I do feel like I'm learning this inside and out though! I'll be ready to teach them because of all the time spent on it so it's been 100% worth it!
DeleteAs a leader in my school, I think I just need to embrace the changes and work toward meeting the new goals. I don't know anyone that loves change. Especially when we get used to doing certain things a particular way; however, I think we can all agree like a lot of times (probably not EVERY time), a lot of good can come from change too. At this point in time, the changes are made so we can either suck it up and embrace them or whine and complain and be miserable about them. By having a positive attitude, I hope to be a leader by example.
ReplyDeleteI think having a positive attitude towards the current changes in education is a good thing to have. I agree that noone really likes change, but we have to have change to move towards a positive future. Change can be intimidating to teachers because we often feel that others who want us to change think we are not doing our jobs effectively. When we are trying our bests it can be very frustrating to feel that noone thinks we are.
DeleteI feel that creating a literacy team during this module was very beneficial. I had never put much thought into who at my school should be members of such a team. I think that is because I never thought I would be in the position to be assigning members to a literacy team. This assignment made me really think about the school as a whole and which educators stand out as being most knowledgeable in reading. 3 stated, "a school's literacy team is made up of a variety of stakeholders, often with seven to fifteen members" (Shearer & Vogt, 2011, p. 60). When I first read the module assignment, I was thinking a literacy team would probably consist of only a handful of people. I was surprised to learn a literacy team can be quite large! I included myself in the literacy team I created because I feel that I would be a valuable member to the team because I am a teacher and a current student. I have been teaching third grade for four years and know a great deal about the current I-Read and ISTEP+ tests that students must take. I am currently researching, learning about, and teaching research-based literature skills and practices that I could bring to such a team.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this week's assignment too. It made me analyze what my school's needs are and who make good team members.
DeleteLeanne and Sarah, I agree completely about this week's assignment. I really enjoyed it and it made me look long and hard about what our school needs.
DeleteI find it is often hard to think critically about the leadership role I can take in the current climate of literacy and education reform. As I read through Dr. Walker’s slide on her PowerPoint the following question really caused me to reflect: “will you focus more on tests than ever before?” It is dis-heartening to think of teaching to the test in Kindergarten. I absolutely love teaching my little ones and seeing their pure excitement and desire for learning. I do not use the word test with my Kindergarteners, rather I will state: “ I need you to show me what you know”. I want school to remain a positive and nurturing place for children, not a place where they have anxiety over high-stakes tests. While I completely agree with Dr. Bennett’s statement about student learning: “Our goal is to make sure all students in Indiana gain the reading skills they need to be successful in school and life”, I am troubled that the way students need to demonstrate their learning is through high stakes testing.
ReplyDeleteAfter much reflection I have realized that I have the power to continue to be a powerful leader for my students. I believe the best leadership I can show is to continue to work as hard as I can to teach my children to the best of my ability and challenge them. I will continue to research and learn about literacy development, ensuring that I am keeping up with the best practice. I want to keep challenging my colleagues as well, making sure that our school is collaborating and coming up with the best literacy plan and teaching techniques possible. I will also stay active in my school and serve on many committees and cohorts. Although the current shift in education may seem daunting and scary at times, I do agree with the core message behind the movement: we want to make sure ALL students can succeed. As a leader I will try to maintain a positive attitude and support all those around me in an effort to work toward our shared goal of student success.
I totally agree with you! I do not think kindergarten and test go together! Kindergarten is a safe place where (many) students are first introduced to school, and they should not be subjected to constant testing. I too often use 'show me what you know'.
DeleteI agree that my way of being a leader currently is to continue to challenge my students and myself. If I continue my education, then I am helping to be a better leader for my students and a good example for both my students and fellow staff members.
Sara,
DeleteI really like that you never use the word test in your classroom. Young children will hear that word enough after they leave kindergarten. I think I might bother the way you do announce a test. That is very clever on your part! Of course we want to make sure all students can succeed and that all teachers are doing their best, but the teachers that are working hard should not be punished in the process. I stay until 5:00 pm every night (school lets out at 2:45) and I come in every weekend. Am I going to be let go eventually or not given raises because my students are not meeting a number? I just don't think that's fair and I belive these new stipulations are going to dishearten the teachers who are teaching for the right reasons.
Currently it is very hard to think of myself in a leadership position. I teach in a country where I am the minority and our ideas are overlooked. This is a struggle since I like to be active and participate; that’s what I have always done! While I try to make the best of it, sometimes it is quite hard to think that your ideas are second rate or that you know you have a great idea that will never be seen through because of your nationality. Since I do have a few other teachers at my school who are also ‘Westerners’, we meet occasionally and I express my ideas there. I would like to see a mini literacy team established to help the students and school, even if only for the English staff, but I do not foresee it happening in the near future.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dr. Walker stated in her PowerPoint that we are ‘expected to produce high achieving students regardless of factors that may be difficult for the school to control’, I thought she was talking about me and my school/district. We are expected to have students meet all the standards, even though they start school late, miss two weeks before each break, and regularly do not attend school. That means for winter break they were gone for five weeks! How are you supposed to fit everything in, especially if no one is willing to listen to your ideas?
I would like to be an active supporter and provide the knowledge I have acquired throughout my time at school and teaching, but how is the question. I am still trying to accomplish this, and hopefully before my time here is over, I will have successfully helped to increase the literacy skills of my students as well as others…and by providing teachers with my knowledge, hopefully I will get ideas in return!
Heather, I think you have the knowledge in something to be a leader. It makes me so disappointed that because you are the minority that your ideas are overlooked. I think you should work really hard to establish a literacy team. Your comments on children meeting all standards has been a huge topic in my school. We are wondering the same thing. One thing stressed is to make sure you are doing your job and controlling all things you CAN control. Mapping out the standards has been extremely beneficial to making sure we have covered everything we need to cover.
DeleteI have the least amount of experience on my first grade team, but I do feel that I have become a leader in my own grade level in certain areas. I use Reader's workshop to teach reading, and I'm so excited to work with the literacy coach at my school. When we have grade level collaboration I have to much to take to the team because they don't utilize the resources that we have. I feel that I have become their leader in trying new things during our workshop time. Also when thinking about the RISE model I think it is always scary trying out new things and figuring out how it will all play out for our own situation. I do have to say though that the testing that my students did this year showed a lot of growth from the beginning to the end of the year. I have ENL students and several with special needs and they all made huge growth even if they weren't where I would have liked them to be in the end. My team members are all very nervous about the RISE model, but I feel that I have taken a leadership role there in trying to figure out how to look at this positiviely and looking at our grade level data and the huge growth that we are making. I think we are starting to feel better about it now. I have found that the reading specialists often come to me to find out about meeting times because I can be a good inbetween person for our grade level. I think with so many things changing we have to do our best to meet our students needs and still try to have a good attitude about the climate in education so that we don't forget what our main focus in the job really is.
ReplyDeleteI agree about not losing sight of what our sole purpose is...educating each and every student in our classroom! It is too easy to get caught up in all the changes that are happening in education and forget what it's really all about. To be honest, I try to not even really keep up with what is happening and just focus on the task at hand. I know that whatever happens, I will still be teaching and I will still enjoy touching those little lives that sit in my room every day!
DeleteI think I can have a significant role as a leader. This was my first year as a kindergarten teacher in a new building. I thought it would be like me going in and somebody already having the routine set for me and activities planned. But, it wasn't. I am thankful for the flexibility. It was a transitional year for all kindergarten teachers because of the implimentation of the Common Core Standards. I felt like I was ahead of the game because of the previous school I worked at really focused on and had several meetings about the standards. Therefore, I felt like a resourceful person for others. My new school already had a 3 week calendar in place for the kindergarten standards, but it needed to be modified. The training I recieved in the 8 step model at my previous school helped me lead my K-team in the process of revising to meet the obligations of the Common Core Standards. I was familar with the approach and had been through the training. I was prepared. As a group, we decided to meet once a week to go over curriculum and map out our school year. Once a month we would look over our standards and calendar together. I felt like I could bring experience to the table and help lead our team in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I could be a leader is to demonstrate and share my training in guided reading. I have been part of guide reading since the beginning of my teaching. The first school I worked at was at the beginning stages of implementing guided reading in k-2 classrooms, and I had to go to lots of workshops for it. Since we got a new kindergarten teacher this year, I felt I could help him with setting up stations/centers and help him get his guided reading groups started. I use the Daily Five approach in my classroom. It is very much adapted to meet the needs of my classroom and time. I feel have enought background knowledge to help others who will need it.
We also have book club. I think the best way to lead would be to bring my ideas to share. Even if others don't want the idea, I can share my idea and see what, if any conversation comes from it.
Your team is showing that implementing the common core standards can be fairly easy if everyone works together. Our kindergarten team mapped it all out last summer, and then the first grade teachers observed kindergarten several times to have a better idea for next year as they transition to the common core. It should be interesting for the first grade teachers as the new kindergarten class comes in. This was the first year our school had all day kindergarten, as well as the common core. Hopefully they will see huge growth.
DeleteIn Dr. Walker’s discussion, she mentions the current conditions of education reform and how we have not had this sort of reform during the modern area. I think the climate of education today is in a changing era. This change can be felt in all areas of education from the state and district levels as well as at the school level. Teachers, students, and families alike all have felt impacted by the current climate. I view my role in this climate as one that supports education and puts children first. Dr. Walker asks if teachers are more likely to teach to the test in order to conform to current educational policies. In some ways I do think it is important to teach to the test. Standardized test taking is not a natural skill that students know how to complete. It is important that they are informed of test taking strategies. In this way, I believe teaching to the test is important for student success. Although, when it comes to the specific skills students are required to know in order to pass state mandated standardized tests, I think using more creative, student-centered activities are more beneficial. It is in this way that I want to be a leader at my school. I view sharing literacy related activities with my peers, researching reading programs and interventions, and looking at literacy data to understand the needs of the students as a whole and individually. This is what literacy leadership in the eye of educational reform means to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that teaching to the test is important since these tests are so important to our state and local government. I feel though we can still teach students in fun and creative ways that motivate students do well on these tests and other learning that takes place in the classroom.
DeleteI believe I am a leader of change in my classroom and also on our 7th grade team. For some reason, the two other 7th grade language arts teachers (one has only taught for 2 years, the other has taught over 25 years) always come to me for suggestions or questions. I create lessons, and they want copies. I created a chart of the Indiana State Standards complete with days that it was addressed and the activities I used. It also had a place to list standards that were also taught in that lesson. They wanted a copy of that. I plan to create such a chart with the Common Core Standards this year – I am sure they will want a copy of that as well. I’m okay with that. I started an independent reading program in my classroom last year before any other teacher in our building or the other middle school. This year it was a required component for each LA classroom (came down from our Assistant Superintendent). I also try to lead by example. If I want my students to read quietly, then I read quietly too. If I want my students to be a good audience while someone else is reading out loud, then I model what I want them to do. By creating the literacy team assignment, I believe I will be able to enact more change and lead my school into making great literacy strides. As I watched the RISE video from the IDOE, I can’t help but think how most Indiana educators feel right now. As posted previously, I do not fear the RISE model. Our school corporation has created our own compensation model. Our administration has been very forthcoming and upfront about our model. On our last teacher day (Wednesday), our Assistant Superintendent, Director of Human Resources, and two SACTA member representatives presented a PowerPoint which closely detailed our compensation model. They wanted us going into the summer having a clear idea of the plan and have the opportunity to ask questions. I feel confident that all will go well in the fall.
ReplyDeleteI commend you for sharing your ideas and lessons with your colleagues. So many teachers at my school would never think of sharing their ideas or lessons.
DeleteIt sounds like your school really has their act together.
DeleteWhile it may get old that other teachers want to copy your work, it is also a compliment to you and hopefully will open doors for more communication among your staff to address other problems.
Leanne, It is a shame that your colleagues do not wish to share. At a recent in-service (February), each teacher was allowed to pick the four mini-sessions they wanted to attend. Collectively as a department, we shared information from the different workshops. It was like attending almost all of them.
DeleteElaine, We really do have our act together. I would describe it at education utopia (at least for now). I don't mind at all that teachers ask me for ideas, suggestions, lessons, etc. It actually does make me feel good about my ideas ... it validates that what I am doing is fun and educational at the same time.
DeleteMy perspective is slightly different because I teach at an independent, college prep school so we are not mandated to participate in the new rules or legislation. But, as my school's reading specialist, I feel like one of my roles as a leader in literacy instruction is to keep up to date with what is happening in the public sector and what expectations are being placed on students and teachers. Before looking through module 3, I had no idea that every elementary school is required to submit a reading plan each year to IDOE. While thankful I don't have to work to meet this requirement, it did give me pause and made me think about how an internal practice of developing an annual reading plan could positively impact my school. I feel like it could help teacher's to be more uniform and united in our approach to reading instruction that follows research-based strategies. It would also help to make our curriculum more transparent and help us to track growth.
ReplyDeleteI was also taken aback that the elementary schools have to submit their reading plan EVERY year. Since I teach middle school, I was unaware of that mandate from IDOE.
DeleteSuch great comments/points are made in this blog post. I am in a unique situation where I teach this year. I am part time title one and RTI coordinator..I get to work closely with our Literacy Coach on ways to improve our Reading program K-3...This coming school year, will will focus more on 4th grade Guided reading in conjunction with the common core standards. As as informal literacy team, we have seen great strides in our lower grades with setting up our 90 minute blocks, NWEA scores have come up, and our ISTEPS in grade 3 improved. For being an assistant this year, I feel like I have been able to make strides with having say in making schedules, suggestions and forming new literacy groups to meet the needs of struggling readers. I also have a leadership type role in forming groups for RTI interventions and scheduling monthly grade level meetings, forming new groups, adjusting tiers within groups, etc. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to take on a leadership role, given to me informally by my assistant principal. I guess I should feel good about this, but it puts me in an awkward position at times with the teaching staff. On the flip side, I take my job very seriously and don't for one minute want to step on toes, but educators tend to get that impression fairly quickly. I guess it is a fear of job security? I am well aware that IA's don't have seniority, and are thought of as "less" in most eyes, but the idea bothers me due to the fact I've gone through just as much schooling, but chose to take a break to raise my children...
ReplyDeleteJodi,
DeleteI worry about the same thing. I have taken the past two years off in order to get my masters and be home with my 15 month old. It has been a very difficult decision of whether or not to jump right back in the classroom next year or continue to stay at home with my son. I've decided to go back in the classroom in the fall, as I do not want to be out of the loop on the new changes and feel like it will be a challenge for me to get hired if I've been out for too long. With so many changes happening in education I really want to be a part of this process and make informed decisions.
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ReplyDeleteAs a kindergarten teacher, who is currently taking classes to specialize in reading, I feel I can have an important role in my school’s literacy team. Because our corporation is no longer paying for individual professional development, it is very difficult to learn the latest research in literacy practices. However, since I am learning new things every day in the reading field, I feel I could be an important leader on the team. There are so many different things to think about when discussing the current issues and the upcoming issues in education. Because of these changes that are occurring, my administrator has decided it is time for him to leave education after 32 years. Therefore, not only are we trying to grasp the idea of testing over these Common Core Standards, but my building is wondering what our next administrator will expect from us. Are we trying our best? I can honestly say that the RISE model does scare me a bit; however, I do not think it will change my dedication to my students and my team members. I am afraid that other colleagues will eventually become enemies due to the idea of them stealing their pay. Money is the root of all evil. However, what can we do? We can create literacy teams to collaborate all of our knowledge together; however, will this be sufficient? As a school we had 8 students not pass the IREAD. Therefore, what did we do wrong to fail these students? What can we do better? Of course these standardized tests worry me; however, I honestly don't feel any more pressure than I used to. Teaching is so much more than it used to be. Due to meetings and paperwork, I feel I barely have time to plan lesson plans each week. However, as a teacher I have dedicated myself to do what is best for my students. I am afraid that some teachers won't be doing that in the future.
ReplyDeleteWoo Hoo!!! It let me post!!!!! I have been in tears over this blogspot!!! YAY!!!!
DeleteI also worry about how other teachers will handle these changes. There are several in our building that have already expressed a desire to retire and some of them are certainly not our "veteran teachers" and some are the ones you really want to stay because they are doing a great job.
DeleteThe skills students need to get a good score on a test are the same skills they would need for academic success anyway and it is my job to make sure they have those skills. As Dr. Walker said in her discussion, these changes are putting more responsibility on students as well. I don't see it so much as "teaching to the test" but as teaching skills I would have anyway. As a classroom teacher i will definitely make sure I am hitting the skills covered by standardized tests, but I would make student success, not test scores, the focus of my teaching.
ReplyDeleteI know some of my students just recently missed passing ISTEP by 2 points (oh, the agony of it all). I requested my Assistant Principal to ask the state for rescores (6 of them missed passing by 5 points or less). I know these kids and they should have passed with flying colors ... these were NOT the kids I would have expected to fit into this category. I wonder know if it is more of a test-taking issue. Should I spend more time explaining the actual test format ... should we do more scantron tests so they know how to bubble in? I did a scantron test a few days before school ended. One young lady used pen and circled the answers - of course they were all marked wrong.
DeleteI think that is a great way to put it. I just fear that my students who see 'the test' and freak out and don't do well. What do we do for those students?
DeleteI don't agree with all of the changes that are taking place, but I do believe it is a good thing that teachers are being held accountable. I know several students that are just going through the motions and producing the same type of students. Teachers should be looking at how effective they are and how their students are performing in the classroom. I just with this was being done out of a desire for greatness and not out of fear for their jobs. Teachers are worried and uncertain right now. I would do my part in helping my feelow teachers focus on what they are doing right and form a closer community with each other in which we could share our concerns and ask for help.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe any of us knows how this will play out. Who knows what part groups like Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst will play in all of this? There will always be changes in education and it may not be long before it changes again.
I like your statement about doing what we do out of a desire for greatness and not out of fear for our jobs. That is part of being a leader! Forming a closer community will only make us more confidant in ourselves and what we do in the classroom. Collaboration has never been more important with the recent reforms! Nice post, Elaine.
DeleteYes, I agree that our government does not have students best interest in mind because if they did they would stop and see how much help our students actually need to succeed in the classroom and stop cutting extra help and resources from them. I know that the government wants to do away with public education and just have charter schools, so they can get out of funding the schools altogether. I feel that eventually there will be a teacher shortage very soon so it may backfire if they don't start treating teachers better. I do agree though that keeping teachers accountable is important so that the best educators are preparing students to achieve great things for our future.
DeleteThe role that I can play in being a leader is to be involved and have an active role in the mentoring of literacy in my school. Chapter three stated that when we remain silent in our agreement or disagreement, we unknowingly support the status quo Chomsky (1999). I have always had the philosophy that if you don’t speak up then you have no room to complain. This year in addition to the adopted basal I incorporated Orten-Gillingham and Road to the Code in my instruction and as a kindergarten team we collaborated on the strengths and weakness of the two programs. I suggested that use the strengths of the two programs and we take one half hour a day to divide the students up in groups driven by the needs that the data reflects. We had more data because we just started DIBELS this year and we found success in reaching more of the skill needs of our kindergarten students. In this current climate of literacy reform I feel I need to stay positive for my colleagues and work with them to master the assessments and the data that they generate. There are so many more expectations we must remain positive for the students and their success.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in first and second grade I remember a lot of attention and time attempting to decode words in written text. I remember learning the letters and their sounds [phonics]. Then I remember blending sounds and segmenting sounds in words. The best clue I remember is look at the picture to try to figure out a word. I can remember Wordly Wise and chunking words by recognizing parts and from their language roots. I recall also doing a lot of vocabulary work in class, but as others have stated my teachers didn’t really explain how some words could be totally sounded out and other could not. This was confusing at the time, but I just went with it and luckily it didn’t hinder my learning. Now as a teacher myself I try to tell even my youngest students the why behind learning something. As mature reader I use the language roots, word parts, and context clues the most when trying to read difficult text.
We have also used DIBELS for at least five + years in our school district it is very beneficial for our K-3rd students to see what students in our building our struggling with certain phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency skills. Those that are struggling get extra help in reading during our intervention time. Yes, this is also part of our RTI process for Tier II and III students. I agree that students need to be told what they learning so they can understand why they are learning.
DeleteThe statement in the powerpoint, “...schools are expected to produce high achieving students regardless of factors that may be difficult for the schools to control” helps clarify my leadership role. The first part of that statement means collaborating with my colleagues to ensure our curriculum is aligned with Indiana Common Core State Standards so students achieve their academic goals. Finding engaging children's literature and activities and then sharing these with other teachers is also part of my leadership role. The second half of the above statement reminds me that I need to create rapport with my students' parents and maintain open lines of communication to get them more involved in their child's schooling. The more family involvement the more academic success the child will experience. I feel I can lead the parents in helping them support their child's reading goals through communication and providing them with helpful information and resources to practice and reinforce reading skills at home.
ReplyDeletePiggybacking on the powerpoint statement I have to say that I was super impressed with some of the school districts that the superintendent recognized that had a very high population of students in poverty and/or ELL and had a 90% plus passing rate. This is a true testament to this statement that all students can learn. I also found merit in the explanation of how those teachers made such outstanding progress...establishing a close realtionship with students, using data to inform instruction, etc.
DeleteCurrently I am between buildings and I am not quite sure what my new school family will bring into my life. I like to think of myself as a good team player that can lead if the opportunity is given. I am currently on our Reading/Language Arts committee and I hope that it is a committee that can see accomplishments. With four new elementary configurations in our corporation, I think there will be some collaborative situations at hand. A few years ago, before I started teaching, I would hear community members comparing local elementary schools, stating which one was better or who had the best teachers. Competition should be kept on the sports field, not among teaching staff or buildings. If we want to continue to be successful in what we do we need to work together inside our building, in our corporations, and across corporations. The learning and growth of our future is what is important. In Chapter 3 I really could relate to the statement, “I close my door and do my own thing.” I have heard this in the halls of my school as well and I agree with Patrick Shannon that when we remove ourselves from a reform or program or mandate, we are silent supporters. I do not want to let that happen. So what will I do? I will teach! I will do my job to continue educating students and myself. Along the way I hope to share my knowledge with other teachers to make us successful. It may mean leading others through a literacy team or just being a mentor to others. At this point in my career I do feel that I have some knowledge to offer and of course as a mother of three I have plenty to say in that department. I went into teaching because I love to teach. I enjoy watching children learn, and being a part of a child’s learning makes me feel fulfilled. I have also been around long enough to see things come and go in education. Is the merit pay or new evaluation plans one of them, or is it something that will be tweaked and tuned to not be such a heavy weight over our heads?
ReplyDeleteI think you make a great point about collaboration and being a team player. My biggest hope with all of the new reforms is that teachers will learn to work with each other and not feel so defensive about their teaching practices.
DeleteI am also a kindergarten teacher. I agree that we are the foundation for future success with our students. We have to be sure to lay a firm foundation in phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and decoding strategies so that the next grade level will be able to work on building fluent readers. After reading Chapters 3 & 4, I feel that our input on a Literacy Team is crucial because we have the experience of teaching students at the earliest stages of learning. Our knowledge of best-practices in literacy must be top notch so that our students are ready for the first grade curriculum. In addition, it is very common for upper elementary teachers to ask our team for advice when working with a student who is a slow reader. They often forget the basics of teaching reading because their students usually come well-prepared for upper level thinking strategies rather than basic decoding skills. Therefore, when thinking about the PowerPoint question, "Who are you?" I want to engage as a leader who advocates for our school rather than conforms due to the pressure of the new evaluation system. I think we must remain faithful to best-practices in literacy. We must remember to teach to the kids, not the test.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the use of best-literacy practices in primary classrooms. I also think that it is paramount to include kindergarten teachers on a literacy team. Early literacy development is the key to producing well-rounded literacy skills.
DeleteThe focus of the education reform is that our economy is only providing jobs to individuals with a higher education because of this our country has taken a down turn. This has affected the school systems in the U.S. to look at education more closely and only pay teachers who are willing to work hard and be highly effective. The government has also cut funding for school over the last five years due to the budget crisis at the national level. Our schools can’t have a science and math innovation unless students are able to read.
ReplyDeleteA lot of teachers including myself are feeling the pressure more than ever before for our students to pass the tests we give and teach to the tests for our jobs to be secure. I try to be a leader in literacy in my building by sharing information I have learned about current trends in reading and by observing other teachers in my building. The current assignment I have completed about creating a literacy team showed me that team work is important and that if we can create a group of teachers that are passionate about literacy and are willing to try new things then great things can happen if we have a vision to follow. I feel, though, that it is a scary time in education, since things keep changing at a rapid rate.
I believe that I am a literacy leader in my classroom and within my Kindergarten team. There are ten Kindergarten teachers in my building and this year was our first year together. We switched from two K-4 schools to a K-1 and a 2-4 building last summer. I adjusted to the uninterrupted 90 minute block this year and have found ways to make it work with 5 and 6 year olds. I frequently share ideas at our weekly teacher collaborations and have developed good relationships with my fellow teachers. One thing that I noticed is that teachers will ask me about my bulletin boards and compliment my students writing or just stop in when they can and take a peek. I like to teach with my door open both literally and figuratively. I want others to know what we do and how we learn in my classroom. I am not in a position of leadership, but we can all be leaders.
ReplyDeleteI am sure it is a challenge to share among 10 grade level colleagues. It sounds like you have already established yourself as a great collaborator.
DeleteI am a first year teacher in a school that is really changing. It is hard to see myself as a leader (being low man on the totem pole). I also work with a group of very strong, knowledgeable, and wonderful teachers which makes me feel very inferior. However, I do know that I am a leader in my classroom and can plan and really implement a great reading program. It has been a very hard year and at times I have felt very alone in trying to figure it all out. I am really excited about the summer so that I can really plan a great literacy program for my classroom. I hope to share my plan with my team and hopefully will have some ideas that they can use. I have to build my confidence first though before I can really be a leader. Hopefully next year will be as wonderful as I dream and my students will show a lot of growth (along with me learning more about what really works). I feel like I need to "prove" myself to my team and then they will take what I say and do as being good.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand your feelings regarding sharing your knowledge with the older, much more experienced teachers. I have felt the same way every year I have taught. I have taught a different grade level each year and it has been challenging to feel like I could really contribute to conversations because I am/was constantly trying to "figure out" what exactly I was suppose to be teaching and how to teach it. I do feel that simply sharing your ideas with your colleagues, whether they listen or not, is part of being or becoming a leader. There is always room for growth as an educator, whether you've been teaching for 35 years or in your first few years of teaching! So keep on sharing!! :)
DeleteI think that I am/can be a leader through collaboration with my peers. I am not currently in a leadership role, but just by sharing and offering ideas about literacy to others is being a leader. I also think that by allowing others to come into your classroom and observing them teach your students is another way of being a leader. You are accepting ideas from others and able to see different teaching styles and ideas. Our literacy coach taught several lessons in my classroom this year. I feel that part of being a leader is taking what is proven to work and implementing that into your instruction.
ReplyDeleteOur school did have a literacy council that teachers were a part of. It included helping to research and make decisions about curriculum choices. It also included taking the curriculum and resources that we had and aligning it to state standards. They also created the curriculum maps that we use to help drive our instruction. I think that I could be a leader by participating in this literacy council.
This module really made me think about the great change and direction of our educational climate, especially in regards to literacy instruction. I am very passionate about teaching reading and writing, and love making learning come alive for my students through authentic reading and writing. I am not currently in the classroom, but will be returning next school year and certainly see a huge shift in standards, even from just 3 years ago. I honestly get a little nervous when I think about reaching and meeting all of the tiered levels of instruction and finding time to fit everything in. I have mixed emotions about the new methods of teacher evaluations and increased student testing requirements, but do have high hopes that they will produce positive change. I think my role as a leader in this current climate of literacy and education reform is to collaborate with other teachers on doing what’s best for our students. It’s important to not get bogged down by all the requirements and focus on motivating students to become life long readers and writers. In the past I have opened my classroom to teachers who are interested in learning how I conduct reading and writing workshops and meet individually with my students during independent reading time. I’ve also enjoyed going to other schools that have a similar model and take notes on things that I was inspired to do. I do feel that teachers need to learn to be more open and collaborative, this way we can have more conversations about what works. Through this module’s readings it’s very clear that in order to produce effective and long-term change everyone needs to have a clear vision and be on the same page. My job as a literacy leader would be to seek and help build a literacy team within the school that works together and feels supported. If my school has this cohesion we will be able to work together to support our collective beliefs about the direction of literacy reform.
ReplyDeleteAs a classroom teacher, I tend to focus more on my students and on my own children than the ongoing changes in education. I realize that this sounds like I’m dodging a bullet here, but I would consider the students and their learning my highest priority. In every new policy, I look for the impact it will have on students. Often the impact that I worry most about is not on the academic or the teaching strategies that I will have to change. I worry about how students will grow in spite of these mandates. How will they emotionally grow? Personally, I think that children have an amazing amount of potential, and they will rise to the occasion if we expect it. I think that the growing expectations will show us how far students can go in their education, yet I wonder at what cost. The new policies and parent expectations may form children that are anxious about their entire world because we have moved the achievement bar so often. So, even with the new reforms and changes in education, I will continue to look for the most effective literacy strategies to use those to provide positive support to all students. The mandates are coming, but if I don’t work for the children, who will?
ReplyDeleteMichelle, I love your last question! Even with all the changing mandates, the reforms, and the assessments, we need to remember to do what's best for children. To me that means, make sure I use SBRR instruction; use my assessments to further children's knowledge; and keep up-to-date on the latest reading research. For teachers to survive the latest reforms, we need to work together. So don't close that door! :) I have learned so much from other teachers (even the negative ones) that I have become a better teacher for it. As teachers, we need to stop thinking my students but as our students. We're in this together!
DeleteNicely put Michelle & Kelley! Teaching our children today seems to be more important each and every day. We will guide these children in becoming the best that they can and encourage a positive direction in each child's life. I have had many parents say they love how happy I am about each and every day. They say it rubs off on the kiddos and gets them excited about coming to school! :)
DeleteAmidst the current educational reform, I would like to become an advocate for teaching in a well-rounded way that addresses the "whole child," not just the "tested child." Teachers need to be reminded of this, for the sake of our students and for the sake of our own sanity! I really appreciated the thought provoking questions posed in the power point. Will I feel pressured to teach to the test? Yes, I think the pressure will be there. Will I conform? I don't want to and will do my very best not to. "Will I focus more on tests than ever before?" Again, I hope not. I think the best way to make sure we don't focus our entire attention on testing, is to make sure we have curriculum guidelines on which we can place our focus instead. I should focus on the depth of my curriculum, reassuring myself and the teachers around me that there is still freedom in teaching if we teach the things that need to be taught according to the standards/curriculum. Excellent teaching based on the standards and good practices, will prepare students for the tests. Test taking skills and strategies can be plugged into a well-rounded literacy program, but not vise versa. Well-rounded literacy cannot be found in "teach to the test" settings. True literacy is not based off of a test. I want to set an example that shows a rich literacy environment is still crucial and necessary in a testing world. Do you all have corporation curriculum maps/guidelines to follow? How heavily are they enforced? We have maps (except for reading, which doesn't make sense to me at all...) but they are not necessarily enforced. A few months ago, I spoke with a literacy coach who used to teach in Florida, and she said they had corporation assessments every two weeks that aligned with their curriculum maps. The tests were sent to central office and the results would be posted for parents to see. Does anyone do something similar to this in their corporation?
ReplyDeleteI am on a committee that is creating a 4th grade Common Core Language Arts Curriculum map (other grade levels are doing this too) along with benchmark assessments. We have also done this for other subject areas as well. We do not have to report any results from these tests.
DeleteOur corporation has created curriculum maps in the past and then these are suppose to be used to guide grade level teachers to create their own map for the school year. I know my team creates a new map every year and would be lost without it.
Our district has created curriculum maps and assessments, too. We do have to report these scores to the district with our evaluation of student scores four times a year. The assessments help teachers drive their instruction.
DeleteWith the common core, our district is reevaluating the assessments to make sure they coincide.
At my current school, I’m the third grade team leader. I participate in the school’s leadership team (Plan Team) and the literacy team. As part of the these teams, my duties are to be a liaison for the third grade team, assist in writing the PL 221 plan, and lead team meeting discussions. I have served on these teams for the last 2 years. Prior to that, I was the team leader, plan team member and literacy team member for 10 years.
ReplyDeleteI am comfortable being a school leader since I learned from some awesome lead teachers. At my previous school, the leadership was very focused on improving instruction and children’s knowledge. Our staff was a cohesive unit with the same vision. Everyone participated in many hours of professional development, analyzing assessment data, and discussions. I truly learned a lot about literacy and education reform since we were restructured by the state. It wasn’t always easy but the payoff has truly been rewarding for me and the students.
Currently, my new school and staff is not a cohesive unit. They tend to follow the closed door policy as described in the readings. The staff only skims the surface of trying to improve instruction and learning. The school’s neighborhood is changing from middle and upper working class culture to a lower economic class. The staff struggles with the change that is needed to help the children of poverty. Over the last three years, the staff is starting to change their practices. The plan team has set up a time line of how to implement best researched practices. We still have a lot to accomplish but we are getting there. With RISE, our staff will have to work collaboratively and efficiently to help our kids.
I am glad to hear that your school now has a plan for improving instruction for your students. Having a timeline is a great way to slowly implement the changes that need to be done.
DeleteMy first few years of teaching, I never really saw myself as a leader. I didn’t speak up a lot and really tried to take in what others would share. I’ve taught five years and find myself feeling much more confident as a teacher and in what I do. As stated in the PowerPoint, there are many changes occurring in the field of education right now. There is so much pressure being placed on teachers to get their students to perform well on standardized tests. Although my students did very well this year, I find myself becoming very stressed and overwhelmed when my students take these tests.
ReplyDeleteI’ve found that with more experience, I do see myself as more of a leader. I certainly see myself as a leader within my own classroom, working to ensure that my students learn all that they need to over the course of the year. I also work with a great team of teachers. We work together and share ideas, which I think is an important quality of leadership.
I think that many new teachers do spend a lot of time listening, learning, and trying to take everything in. Then after a few years and you grow more comfortable with your abilities as an educator you begin to open up more and share more of your thoughts and ideas. I had a very similar experience to yours! :)
DeleteWhen I think of myself and what my role could be or should be in my school, I think that I could definitely be more of a leader. As I was doing our reading for this week, watching the video, and reading other posts from you, I realized that there are different ways to approach these new changes to our education system. I can be nervous and afraid of the changes and hope that I will be able to handle them and do well with them, or I can embrace the changes and make the most of them. I know that I'm not always going to agree with everything I am told to do (if I have learned nothing else in my first 4 years of teaching, I have learned this!). However, I do think that there comes a point at which we need to make the most of the hands we're dealt. I don't think this means taking the changes without questioning them and truly reflecting on the larger picture. I do think that it means taking them and making them work for us and our children. When I first saw the RISE document that my district has adopted for next year, I was terrified! I thought, "How on Earth will I ever be able to do this?" However, after spending more time thinking about it, looking at it, and studying it, I came to the realization that I am a good teacher (not the best, but good) and that I do work hard and that I do everything I can to meet the needs of the learners in my classroom. It helped me gain a little bit of my own confidence back and I began to look at ways to make the document work for me rather than me working for it. I don't want to have to "teach to the test" and disregard my entire teaching knowledge that I have spent years accumulating for someone to come in and tell me I don't know anything and hand me a script. Instead, I want to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to these new changes and look for ways for these changes to help me become better and improve my teaching for my students. This is much easier said than done, but I'm hoping if I can hold on to my core beliefs and my educational philosophy, I will be able to become a better educator in the long run. I know it's going to be challenging, but I know that we're all in this process together and if we work together, we will be able to make it work!
ReplyDeleteI also can relate to your comment about "I can embrace the changes and make the most of them." Nicely put!
DeleteI am in my second year of teaching second grade. I find myself always changing and adapting my writer’s workshop in order to benefit my students. Writer’s workshop became a part of my teaching this year after a new team member joined our team from another district and encouraged us to try writer’s workshop and give up theme based curriculum. I fell into writer’s workshop and haven’t looked back! I absolutely love how involved the children are and love having students make connections. This year, my school has mandated a 90 minute reading block. Too often I found myself not incorporating writing into my reading block. I am currently taking 2 other classes and have learned the importance of combining the two! Another new change to come for next year! I feel as though I can be a positive leader in the aspect of letting others know that change is scary, but most of the time good! Having a positive outlook can encourage others to try similar things in their classroom.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since I am a new teacher in the building, I consider myself in having a small role in literacy in my building. There are many older staff members who are set in their way and do not agree with this new approach. Since my building is of all females, imagine someone coming in with more experience and ruffling their feathers! It didn’t go over well this past year! Since I am younger and have a love for learning new things, I found myself accepting new ideas. Why not try them and see what happens? I ended up loving this new learning style...when others were scared of changed and continued on their own path. Nonetheless, as a leader, I do feel as though I can contribute to my team with “new” ideas that I have learned from my recent college years, taking online classes, and collaborating with other teacher friends from outside of m district.
Don't be discouraged, lead by example. Once teachers see the "proof is in the pudding", they will be more open to your ideas. The new teacher evaluation system is going to force some teachers who are set in their ways to change. Show them that the strategies work by using them with your students. Once they see best-practices in action, they might feel more comfortable to try them.
DeleteI agree that being a leader means being open to change and open minded. With time, I'm sure your enthusiasm will encourage your team to jump on board!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of enthusiasm is so important. The climate in our building is not always the healthiest right now and prior to a recent meeting the principal actually sent a few people and email and said Could you please show your enthusiasm for this idea at our meeting tonight? I know it is not the best way, but it is a leader who knows the importance of excitement in an idea.
DeleteI feel that even though I am not a literacy coach, there are many ways for me to be a leader in my building. First and foremost, I am a leader on my grade level team. We constantly discuss our student’s data and progress, best practices we are using, and strategies to help our struggling students. Working collaboratively is the best way to maintain student achievement. The chapters we read talked about one issue that keeps a literacy team from being effective, which is the ability/inability to work as a team. All members of the team need to take ownership of their role in the education of our students. A team is only as strong as its weakest link.
ReplyDeleteOur school is moving from state standards to national core curriculum. By embracing this curriculum and adapting to a new way of teaching, we are being proactive in literacy reform. Creating a vision statement is a big part of creating a focus for all members involved. This vision statement should take a look at what literacy used to be and what it is becoming in today’s society. By creating a vision, teachers will be able to focus on what needs to be done and assume their roles in the process. Next year, almost half of my staff will be new, including my reading coach. I feel it is my responsibility to inform the new staff of how we have done things in the past, while I embrace the change that is surely to come with so many new ideas from new staff. I am in a position to offer assistance, as well as be a learner in the process of education reform.
I think that it is great that you are ready and willing to help all of the new staff that is coming to your school next year. I am sure they will have an easier transition with a helpful teacher like you!
DeleteI think I could be considered a leader in the current climate of literacy and educational reform. It wasn’t until reading blogs posted by others and viewing Dr. Walker’s video that I realized that I am a leader. In my school I am part of the Language Arts PowerCycle, which in many ways is a Literacy Team. As a member of this team we worked on several of the items that were posted under government related mandates. Our team worked on the reading plan and aligning our curriculum calendar with the common core standards. We also discuss how we are meeting the 90 minutes of uninterrupted instruction and what we can do to make improvements. We have also worked hard on determining our literacy goals for the future. Another way that I am/could be a leader is at my grade level. At grade level meetings we analyze data and then discuss the progress that has been made and how we are accomplishing this. We share ideas and best practices to help all students, especially struggling students.
ReplyDeleteAfter completing all the reading assignments I keep coming back to the PowerPoint presentation and reflecting on the questions that Dr. Walker asked on the slide titled, “Who are you in all of this?” In the school that I teach at we are very focused on data and raising the scores, which is good, but I hope that I do not get wrapped up in test scores and teaching to the test. I believe there is so much more to teaching than scores. I really am not sure how it will all play out, but I want to keep in mind the reason that I am in this profession is to make a difference for the children.
I love that you say that you do not want to get wrapped up in tests. I keep telling myself if I teach my students to read, they can take any tests given to them in any format it is given! It helps me stay focused on my goal!
DeleteI think that my school has utilized me as a leader this past year. I have been doing some after school professional development meetings regarding the 90 minute block. I have conducted many meetings, done some data training as well as held lunch meetings and discussions with grade level teachers. I have found however, that as the book states my role needs to be defined not only for myself but for collegues in the school. This was not set up this way this year and there was some confusion by teachers as well as myself as to exactly what my role was. I finally decided the best way for me to lead was by example and opened myself up for teachers who wished to see a certain strategy come into my room and observe and then vice versa. I loved going into other rooms to learn from the teachers I was working with also. I do agree with the other comments that sometimes being a leader simply can mean trying new strategies and then I will take that a step farther, being willing to share what you have done.
ReplyDeleteSharing effective strategies is definitely something I would consider as a characteristic of a good leader! Sometimes sharing your ideas is the most difficult part - you never know how accepting others will be of those ideas! :)
DeleteI agree with you on how it can be confusing with other staff when your helping lead the school. It can, also, be scary when you open yourself up to other professionals.
DeleteWith all the change that has been happening in education and the evaluation process, our staff has had many many meetings and discussions about what we're going to do. It's frustrating and stressful but I know that I have to be open to the changes and do what I think is best for my students. In all of our meetings we've discussed not wanting to teach to the tests but to find the best practices that will help our students succeed. I'm currently on a committee at school for our primary grades that looks at data from our DIBELS tests. We spend time going through the data finding trends and other information that will help us drive our instruction. Because not all of our primary teachers can be on the committee, we then meet with them and show them what we've found and what ideas we came up with. It's just one way that we're trying to help each other and our students but also keep up with all the changes going on.
ReplyDeleteEven though I just finished my second year of teaching, I did play a role as a leader. I accepted the position of the Quality coach for my school and will also continue that leadership role next year. While I was doing the reading from the textbook, some ideas popped out at me that happened in my school this year. A lot changed within our reading program, testing, and scheduling and that caused a lot of disequilibrium for teachers, especially those who had been there for 40 some years and taught the same way their whole lives. As a leader, I was able to provide professional development on the 90 minute reading block that we just implemented, literacy stations, six important comprehension strategies that we decided to teach district wide, and I also made myself available to help teachers in their own classrooms. So, for example, I may use my prep time to go observe a reading lesson and then that teacher and I could talk about what to do after, how to improve, or maybe that time was just spent talking with the teacher about how things were going. Furthermore, as a quality coach, I keep in close contact with any new teachers in the school. We meet several times each trimester and talk about goal setting, data and anything that they may need. The first year of teaching is a scary time, but I think it helps that they have someone to go to.
ReplyDeleteThere was a part in the reading that talked about how you cannot expect to hand teachers something new to do, or talk about a new skill and then just say, "Okay, ready...go!" It's important to model how to teach the skill, spend some time with it, just as we do as teachers with our students, before releasing them off on their own. I have found that is more meaningful and the teachers are more likely to have more confidence if certain steps are taken before they implement it into their classrooms.
I am actually in a really good position to help develop leadership quailities in our teachers. Ironically this course came at the perfect time. I am the curriculum coordinator for ELA and world languages. I am not in the classroom currently but I realize in order to get teachers on board you need strong teachers leading the way. We have been discussing at our administrative meetings building leadership qualities in our teachers. Often if you lead too much people begin to sit back and wait for a directive instead of leading the change themselves. In the literacy team that I created we have teachers from every grade level and a few of our instructional coaches, Unfortunately at a district our size we still have some "closed door" people but it is my hope that as this team and our professional developments grow the great happenings will be heard in every building in the district. As mentioned in the video education is undergoing a drastic change and we need to be prepared for CCSS and our change in instruction. THe literacy team will serve as a support for teachers who need help making the change. Another great piece to the literacy team is that this group of 25 teachers has learned a lot tremendously just by collaborating and learning about the CCSS and the 4 major shifts in literacy. I am really excited that I was able to do this for the district I work in considering the short time frame I had putting it together. I forsee this being an ongoing support for teachers.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has is still trying to get a full time teaching position, seeing all of these changes in educational reform and the demands for more accountability of the teachers, is something that is very overwhelming for me. Many times I wonder if I will even be able to meet all of the expectations and if I will even be able to obtain a highly effective teaching status. After watching the RISE video, I felt a little more comfortable about my worries because of the support and feedback I would be receiving as a teacher. I think what they are trying to do can be a positive thing for schools. All schools should work collaboratively and support one another and it’s important to use the evidence-based instruction so that we can be sure our students’ are reaching their academic potentials. I also liked how the teachers are told what they need to do in their classroom to be in the category of a highly effective teacher. When looking and listening to the questions posed in Dr. Walker’s PowerPoint and video, I realized that these are some of the questions I have already asked myself. I never really liked the idea of teaching to the test, I feel that when we do this we might miss out of other educational opportunities we could be having with our students. Teaching to the test helps alleviate the pressure to make sure we are meeting our accountability expectations, but then as an educator I would feel like I may not be giving my students all of the learning opportunities possible. I hope when I do get a job that I am able to find a good medium in between where I would be able to give them what they need to pass the tests but also engage them in a fulfilling learning experience. I don’t want to work so hard to conform to teaching to the test that I loose who I am as an educator. I want to continue to see children as the creative, unique individuals they are; I don’t want to simply see my students as a test score will allow me to keep my job. I would hope to one day be a leader, but I know that it probably wouldn’t happen for me right away. I do understand the importance of working collaboratively with your colleagues and maybe just beginning there would help me become a leader. I am one to make sure that I am doing everything correctly and have enough knowledge about the situation before I start to lead others.
ReplyDeleteI like to believe that I am a leader in both my classroom and my school when it comes to literacy. I think that many of the teachers at my school have been teaching for a long time, got their masters when they were much younger if at all, and have been coasting for awhile. I've never really been a coaster in my life. I get bored easily, so am always moving and changing to try to make things better. I'm in the last semester of my grad school program and I feel as though I have taken a lot of what I'm learning and tried to put it immediately to use in my classroom. This has led to me trying new techniques and also a lot more variety in how I do things. Along with this, when I learn new things that excite me, I always share it with at least my grade level team. There's no use hoarding information just for myself! I'm also fairly vocal in my opinion about things in our school, so I feel like my principal also looks to me for an honest opinion and is open to me sharing, and some times applying school wide, things that I have learned and can convince him would be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI like to believe that I am a leader in both my classroom and my school when it comes to literacy. I think that many of the teachers at my school have been teaching for a long time, got their masters when they were much younger if at all, and have been coasting for awhile. I've never really been a coaster in my life. I get bored easily, so am always moving and changing to try to make things better. I'm in the last semester of my grad school program and I feel as though I have taken a lot of what I'm learning and tried to put it immediately to use in my classroom. This has led to me trying new techniques and also a lot more variety in how I do things. Along with this, when I learn new things that excite me, I always share it with at least my grade level team. There's no use hoarding information just for myself! I'm also fairly vocal in my opinion about things in our school, so I feel like my principal also looks to me for an honest opinion and is open to me sharing, and some times applying school wide, things that I have learned and can convince him would be beneficial.
ReplyDelete