It was a pleasure spending the day together with all of you on Saturday. I hope you enjoyed it, too. We learned much so far about the National Board Process. Also, the most important thing we learned was the fact that everything we do in the classroom translates into a level of impact to our students. That we make choices which take into consideration who our students are. That because we know about our students, we choose to do certain things in our classrooms, and those things we do, those decisions we make, impact our students in a multitude of ways.
For the blog this week feel free to comment on any one of these topics:
Our statement...Because I know ... I do ... which impacts.... is a key sound bite for us as we move forward. How do you see this unfold in your classroom?
What does "equity" mean? Where were you able to find this concept in your standards?
What role does Core Proposition 1 or 2 play in your classroom?
As you comment, feel free to write to one another, as well as answering the statements above. Let's see if we can get a conversation going. Thanks in advance for your participation.
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6 comments:
Congratulations to you all for participating in Nancy's class. She is a remarkable educator and you will find her an amazing source of support as you make your journey towards National Board Certification. I am not sure I have any keen insights into her topics, I will tell you that "Because I know what a difference National Board Certification made in my professional career and personal life, I continue to support teachers throughout the process which ultimately impacts student learning."
While I can go on and on about the benefits of National Board Certification (which there are many) the one that is most significant to me at this point in time has to be the personal and professional relationships I have established over time. Teaching is such an isolated profession and the opportunity to talk to teachers across the state of Arizona about my teaching practice is amazing. We live in such a diverse state. Yet, I have found that teachers in Chinle and Somerton face many of the same challenges I worked through on a daily basis teaching in Paradise Valley.
Pursuing National Board Certification was by far one of the most humbling and gratifying experiences of my teaching career. While it was hard and often times I wanted to quit, I am so glad I did not. Eleven years later it continues to be the one professional development experience that most impacted my career as a teacher.
As I head into my first year out of the classroom as a Master Teacher Mentor, I'm struck with the huge responsibility of helping other teachers apply the "Because I know...I do...Which impacts..." statement to their teaching. I've mentored many teachers through the years, but I've always remained in the classroom at the time.
The "Because..." statement will be on the wall in the office along with several from Cognitive Coaching to remind me of best practices every day.
While the mentoring process I will use includes modeling lessons for new teachers, I know the situation will be different because they will not be able to drop in to my class for informal observations. I hope the adoption of another teacher's class for NBC - and working with that class more often - will keep me grounded.
"Because I Know... I do... which impacts". I have been thinking about this statement as I have been working this week. It applies to the work I do with both individual students and the work I do with students as a counselor school wide. I have to learn about my students from as many sources as I can. These sources include their grades, attendance, school behavior, their parents and themselves in order to guide them appropriately as a counselor. I have to look at data. What trends do I notice happening in our school? Is attendance improving? Do our test scores need to improve? Using data I can find ways to contribute to the growth of students through comprehensive guidance and provide the appropriate intervention my students need. I can also use the data to see if the interventions I am using are effective.
Excellent, Melissa. So what would be a "Because I know..." statement you could make regarding one aspect of your data?
I have to comment on core prop #1 -"Teachers are committed to students and their learning." As a counselor I spend so much time creating rapport with the students I work with that committment to the learning seems to come naturally. I find that I am constantly monitoring and adjusting individual needs based on the bits and pieces of information that "leak" in to my office. It can be a thankless challenge at times, but I truly believe that if I can make a difference for one or two - it is worth the challenge.
I am in the unique position of having most of the same kids next year that I taught last year. As I have been organizing my room in preparation for the coming year, I have repeated the phrase "Because I know...I do...Which impacts..." over and over as I prep curriculum, projects, supplemental materials, set up seating, and plan the compliance component required in my students Individual Education Plans (IEP's).
I will be fortunate to have an awesome new teacher to share in educating the ED kids next year. 6 preps instead of 12 a day Yeahh!! As I review their case files with her, I see how this phrase is one of the most pivotal aspects to working with ED kids. For example, in knowing their personalities I realized that because I know XXX has extremely high anxiety regarding bugs, I vacuum the class every morning and febreze the carpet which impacts his ability to relax and tend to learning. If I don't do this, and an ant wonders in XXX isn't going to learn a thing that day!
Because I know TTT expells his built up stress and agressive tendencies each hour by reading quietly in a snug corner, I have his desk at the top corner of the class, by the bean bags. He completes work, goes and reads, then returns to his desk when prompted. Until I figured this, he'd freek out by lunch and learning stopped for him.
For me it's not knowing a learning style, modality or the standards, (which I do)I have to accomodate the mental health issues my kids struggle with in order to level the playing field for them and bring them some equity in their educational experience.
I'm very excited about this class and am looking forward to understanding and improving what I do for the kids.
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