NEW TEACHERS

Too often, new teachers are left withering on the vine without the proper support to help them survive that tough first year. The attrition rate of new teachers is astounding. New teachers should have a friendly, wise, helpful, and understanding veteran educator as a mentor. Someone who can lend an ear, give professional advice, and provide support when the kids and the job get tough. Four years of college, a few practicums, and a semester of internship is usually not enough to get a person ready for his or her own class.

On the job is where the real learning happens, In other words... in the fire, without the benefit of a safety net. That's a crazy way to treat a new teacher. Too often do the new teachers get the crummy converted trailer as their classroom, and they're stuck out there all year long trying to get by... alone. Administrators need to ask themselves, "Is it easier to replace lost faculty each spring, or is it in my best interest to nurture the newcomers, and help them succeed in the profession.” That seems like a no-brainer to me.

Teachable Moments

I LOVE it when creative tangents, or teachable moments occur. Chances are they're related to the theme that's being explored, but even if they aren't, more times than not, there's a good reason the discussion went in that direction, and I like to see how it plays out.

Unbelievably, principals have written me up for this very thing. "It was too far removed from the essential question." What a load. I think teachable moments are the best, and so much good can come from them. I'm a firm believer that not everything learned in a school must be measured by a standardized assessment.

People Who Write Textbooks

People who write textbooks tend to be academics that are far removed from the day-to-day happenings of the classroom. Many, who were classroom teachers, did so prior to NCLB. NCLB changed the rules and nothing is the same any longer. In my opinion, if someone is writing about how things should or should not be in the classroom, and they haven't been an active k-12 teacher since NCLB, they’re fossils and should be analyzed by carbon-14 dating.

Professional Learning Communities; PLC's

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s)

There are so many reasons why teachers resist PLC's. Personally, I have been on some wonderful PLC's and some... not so good.

Here's the problem from my individual standpoint as a rank and file educator. In other words, I’m being totally biased.

I have witnessed many benefits from working in a PLC, probably more benefits than not, but I also understand why people are reluctant. Speaking for myself (and including some of the attitudes and opinion of my former colleagues) I have come up with some alternative reasons why people resist PLC’s.

Administrators say that PLC’s are needed to increase student learning, but in reality, many teachers believe the main purpose is to increase student test scores. Test scores and learning are not the same.

People do not always trust their colleagues

People don’t always trust their administration

Repeat… people don’t always trust their administration

People hate being forced to do anything… especially if the reason seems like a waste of time or smells nefarious.

PLC’s do indeed take away from vital school duties

Professional Learning Communities:

Authentic Assessment

Only multiple measures of achievement
can provide an accurate picture of student
learning and school success (Guilfoyle, 2006)

Looking back over my own educational career, I cannot recall a single score I earned on an achievement test. My ACT and teacher certification scores are long since forgotten. However, I do recall making a letter opener in 7th grade. It had a walnut handle with a stainless steel blade. It was horrible. I couldn’t get the rivets in the handle to tighten the blade securely to the wood. This flimsy letter opener only lasted a couple of weeks before breaking in two. I officially knew that I wouldn’t make much of a carpenter.

When I was 16, I took two tests to get my driver’s license. The first one was a written test to prove I knew the rules of the road. The second part was a driving portion where I was responsible for demonstrating my driving skills. I couldn’t parallel park, so I didn’t pass the exam. I don’t recall the questions on the written test, but I’ve never forgotten failing the driving portion.

I wanted that license in a big way so I practiced parallel parking like crazy in front of my parent’s house and passed the driving demonstration with flying colors. This is a good example of authentic assessment.

Authentic assessment measures what one can do well, and what one does… not so well. And, that’s OK.


What is Authentic Assessment?

Authentic assessment is “A form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills,” (Mueller, 2008).


Having been an educator since 1992, I have worked with students with incredible artistic ability. One student in particular could draw with amazing accuracy and detail. His graphic art talent on the computer was enviable too. Although this student was recognizably a gifted artist, his reading ability was limited to relatively easy texts. In general, his academic skills were many grades behind his same age peers. Using standardized measurement assessments, his annual yearly progress would be nil.

By giving credence only standardized assessment, a great disservice would be done to this student and many other talented folks who excel differently from the established norm. Within the context of authentic assessment and portfolios, such students are encouraged to reach their highest reasonable and obtainable potential.

OK, what can we use instead of high-stakes end of the year assessments. Well, how about student portfolios?

What are Student Portfolios?

Portfolios are collections of selected student work representing an array of performance (Education Research Consumer Guide, 1993)


My letter opener could have been an artifact for a portfolio. Sometimes it’s appropriate to have evidence of what one can’t do so well. Other portfolios artifacts might be writings, reports, drawings, maps, songs, video of accomplishments, photographs, documented digital projects, and and many other materials that prove what the student was able to learn and generalize into other academic contexts.

Measuring and reporting student progress via authentic assessment and portfolios encourages the student to become a self-directed learner. In doing so, it allows students to learn from experience, approach problems with flexibility, view situations in multiple ways, change as needed, and to recognize and appreciate the ebb and flow of personal growth.

References
Education Research Consumer Guide,(1993.Student portfolios: Administrative uses. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/admuses.html

Guilfoyle, C. (2006). NCLB: Is there life beyond testing? Educational leadership. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/nov06/vol64/num03/NCLB@_Is_There_Life_Beyond_Testing%C2%A2.aspx

Muller, J. (2008). What is authentic assessment? Authentic Assessment Toolbox. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm#definitions

It’s almost as if new teachers must go through some rite of passage before he or she can be fully included in the “League of Surviving Educators”. This concept is rather counterproductive and counterintuitive when one thinks about it. I had a most unpleasant student teaching situation. My cooperating teacher was a jerk, and completely unhelpful. I barely made it through this experience, and the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I didn’t want to chuck four years of schooling out the window. I desperately needed a mentor; someone to help me through the inevitable rough patches a student teacher faces. It didn’t happen, and I worried that it would be this bad when I got my first teaching job.

Luckily, for me, I was surrounded by a bunch of other teachers who helped me survive, and even flourish in my first year as an educator. John Donne, an English poet wrote in his meditation, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624) that “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…” Forgiving the obvious sexist language that was apropos for the time, Donne, was correct, no person can survive the teaching profession alone. We are all part of the collective whole.