Is School What Holds American Students Back?

I recently read an article by Peter Gary that called School is a Prison. In this article he takes the position that today's school system as it is, is damaging to our students. He quotes research that followed middle school students and tracked what they were doing and their emotional state during that time. That research stated that kids were less happy when playing with friends as opposed to while in school. Thank you for illustrating nothing!  Monitor how anyone feels and chances are the vast majorityof people will feel the same way working and out relaxing with friends. I am fortunate enough to be someone who loves my work, and I can honestly say I generally enjoy being there, but even I would say that relaxing with friends would rate slighlty higher on the enjoyment scale. Dies that mean that I should not work?  Obviously not. So for starters, his argument is based on pointless research. On top of that, you could most likely put a middle school student on the sideline of an NFL game or backstage at a concert and they would rate the experience low on the excitement scale!

He argues that society shrugs it off as preparation for life in which they will often be limited in what they are able to do in their post education life. The truth is, unlike whatever world the Author lives in, most of us have to learn to work within a system in our workplace. Their are schedules, constraints on our time, expectations, and demands; as well there should be. To remove this from a child's education is to further advance the culture of entitlement that has developed as my generation grows into parenting age. 

The article then goes on to discuss the value of using Student Directed Learning. The author praises homeschooling and then the Sudbury Valley school.  In both approaches children are free of the "shackles" of traditional school. The students are "free to do anything they want as long as they don't break the rules."  The rules are created by tge students. The goal is to foster and indulge the educational curiosity of students. 

I find this article to be both simple minded in its attenpted solution and offensive to all good educatiors.  I have done a bit of reading on Self Directed curriculum because I wanted to improve my ability to reach my Kindergarten students. I realized that I can incorporate many of tge principles of Self Directed learning and foster and inspre student curiosity. If you read my blog "What Can You Really Teach on the First Day" you will know the value I place on developing curiosity and a love of learning fir children. Giod teachers incorporate student interests, develop interesting learning opportunities and provide chances for students to explore their learning environments. They create situations in which students can develop a love of learning that lasts beyond school. Sure, many kids will still say that they are happier playing than in school. Students are generally very happy in my class, but they still love playtime. 

My point is sinple, in my class students learn to love learning and indulge their curiosity, and explore things that interest them academically, but they also learn to manage their time, be responsible for their work and their actions, and how to put forward good effort when the activity is not their favorite. All of these are valuable skills. 

While students may report being burned out by schooling, tge major issue is not being jn the classrooom, but the stress we place on grades and testing. As teachers, parents, society, and now even politicians, the extreme emphasis on test scores and perfect grades that burns out students. 

Comparing schools to a prison is a harsh misguided concept. The key to inspiring students is balance. Teaching students that they can enjoy some things while meeting obligations is a crucial lesson. Teachers and students alike need to remember Theodore Suess Giesel's advice to graduating college students, "So be sure when you step. Step with great care and great tact. And remeber that life's a Great balancing act."  

Students and people in general can take a great deal from this. No one method ever fixes everything. Through taking the best practices of many concepts, we can come closer to achieving all the goals at once. 

Thanks for reading!

Finding it Hard to Manage?

As school creeps around the corner, I see more and more social media posts about how to manage your classroom. Classroom management isn't complicated on paper, in fact, telling you what to do is extremely easy. Just like parenting however, it is the execution of management, not the theory that is most important. So with that in mind, I will touch on some of the ideas I believe are most important. 

1. Somewhere inside, no matter how crazy they might make you, you have to like your kids. Short of brilliant acting, kids can tell when you don't like them. If you want your students to respect you, like you, and most importantly respond to you, you must show them you care about them. Here are a few simple things you can do to show them you care:  

Learn about something that interests them!  

Remember important events in their lives. 

Look at them when they talk, and do not let others interrupt. 

Compliment them to other people, especially if they are in earshot. 

Praise publicly, discipline privately. 

And one of my favorites to start a new year... Make a positive phone call to their parents!  Nothing gets a student and their parents more excites then when a teacher calls and talks about how great a child is doing. 

I known it seems silly, but many teachers forget this stuff as the year gets going. Again, its the practice that actually makes you successful. Make a list of 5 things you want to incorporate in the first month of school that will show students you care. 

2. The next and perhaps equally inportant task for classroom management is to teach students the appropriate behaviors you expect.  

As a teacher, when you expect a student to present you with demonstration of some skill ( for example multiplication), you would teach them how to multiply first! You don't test Kindergartners on tgeir ability to read before teaching them the prerquisite skills, right?  So why would you expect students to know what you expect for behavior without teaching them?  Instead, spend time teaching them how to behave, give them the opportunity to get involved in the how and why of the classroom's appropriate behaviors.  Most kids know what they are supposed to do in isolation, but doing it is not always easy. Having them hash out why the behavior is important will help the action set in. 

3. Expect the right behavior all the time!  Lots of people use check lists, stop lights, and otger visual aides to let students know they are not following rules. What are you really saying however, when you use these methods? What you are saying is that I do not expect you to behave the first two times, but by that third time you better get it right!  A quck reminder of the rules is all that it should take, if disruptive behavior continues, then whatever the agreed upon consequences are, they need to ensue but respectfully!  Discipline needs to be done without anger, calmly and fairly!

4. Fair is not equal. Remind students that fair only means that each student is getting exactly what they need to learn.  That is not the same for each student. 

5. Be yourself!  Don't waste your time being pertending to be anyone else, kids can see through you. If you like something you have seen someone else doing, make it yours.  Do not try to do anything how someone else would. You can never be someone else as well as you can yourself!

Remember, there are a lit of great concepts for classroom management, many of which are effective. The key is to remember to use them. Put the ideas on your calendar if you have to, but do not let them get swept aside as the hustle of the year sets in!  

Thanks for reading!

Decoding NJ Eds New Abbreviated TES

Teacher evaluations have hit center stage over the past year or so. Quite simply put, the process has changed, some for the better, some seemingly for the worse, and much of which will remain to be seen.

Let's start with the worse. SGP's:

Student Growth Percentile's. on the surface it sounds reasonable if not horrifically confusing. But a quick peek into the information behind the fancy charts and initials shows a major problem, and other potential ones down the road. Here us my biggest problem with using the system right now:  New Jersey will be switching from the NJASK to the PARCC test following this year. It is fairly clear that the NJASK does not adequately reflect tge Common Core, which is what NJ has endorsed. Yet we are going to start using a Teacher Evaluation system where we put peoples' livelihoods at stake with the first year's data coming from a test that is considered obsolete?  Furthermore, student performance is expected to drop witg the first run through the PARCC test because of the significant differences in the tests. Now the conspiracy tgeorists may say we are being set up for a major failure. I won't go that far, but lets be honest it makes NO sense not to wait until next year to incorporate SGPs and in doing so, it will give the state a chance to actually clarify the process and expectations. I am not saying a year will make the system great, or even good, but at least it can be clarified and make some sense. 

Next up: the to be determined SGO

Student Growth Objective is a fancy term that basically says we want you to envision where your students will be and measure the progress toward that point. Read that again. That is what good teachers already do in their class. They identify where students are now, teach accordingly based on where they need to get them, monitor and adjust. There are lots of concerns over how this is going to be completed, what impact it will have on  evaluation, and how we will "deal" with this added pressure. The truth is, all we are adding is the documentation of our success. We have little to fear when it comes to this so long as we treat this as just keeping track of how our students progress toward what we envision for them. We can take some good from this, or we can drag our heels and turn this relatively minor added inconvenient paperwork into an unnecessary battle.  The truth is that we can use these SGOs to benefit us in two ways.  First, it will force us to better document and focus on the vision we have for our students.  Second, and more importantly for many of us, it will reinforce and validate our success.  Many of us see our students end up where we expected them to be, but providing documentation will simply reinforce the claims that most teachers do in fact perform at a high level.

Finally, the new Evaluation system:
This is where I feel like the school system will really benefit.  Up until this point, teacher evaluations were inconsistent at best.  Teachers and administrators have been left with little to go upon for evaluations other than the fancy of their superiors.  While some schools have established procedures, the system was not consistent and could change from school to school, administrator to administrator, and for teacher to teacher.  Although there are several different models, most of the popular models (Danielson, Marzano, McRel) are very similar.  Although I prefer using Danielson, the differences are minor.  Each has their own quirks, these models provide us with some important advantages when it comes to evaluation.  First, teachers will know what is expected of them.  These models are not that hard to understand and many of the key aspects are things that teachers do to a certain degree.  Also, they provide a focus guidance on what each of us can do better.  Every good teacher knows they have many areas of improvement as well as things they do well.  Laying that out for a teacher, although in some cases may be frightening, is a great way to aide in their improvement.  Finally, the newer evaluations provide for teachers a chance to defend themselves.  Using the rubrics from any of these systems, a teacher can provide evidence to defend themselves against ratings that they feel are incorrect or unjustly earned.  This portion of the evaluation system will ultimately prove helpful for all teachers and administrators. 

As teachers, and as administrators we have two responsibilities.  First, we must see both sides of the coin.  Even though man of the changes we are seeing are set forth by people that we may not agree with on many policies, there are always positives to take from the viewpoints of another.  We cannot just say no, drag our feet and pretend it will go away.  These changes are newly included as part of our profession and we need to be able to take whatever positives we can find in them.  Second, we need to take these issues on in a proactive way.  Creating alternatives that embrace the positives while addressing the negatives will give all of us a better, more functional improvements in our profession.

And then there were none....

I typically would prefer not to go political for two reasons:  1. I do not have time to adequately read up on and make educated statements about what is going on, and 2. It tends to bring out the worst in everyone as the argument progresses.

In this case however it pertains to my journey and these two reasons do not hold up. 1. It does not seem that even those who are paid to make the political decisions are bothering to read up on and make educated decisions anymore and 2. The debate has long since gone well beyond ugly.
 

I started toward teaching and working in education 8 years ago with a love of the profession and the knowledge that it would never make me wealthy financially. I did however have a belief that I would be able to provide for my family with a relatively stable position (assuming I was good at my job). All these years later, I would by no means claim to be the best teacher in the world, there are far too many great teachers for me to dare put myself near that conversation. I know that there are always areas in which I can improve and grow. I do however, consider myself to be very good at my job. No matter how you wish to judge my performance, by student actions, growth on test scores, or parent response, I would put them up against any benchmark of quality. This is my perspective as I watch the education landscape change:

In four years at my school I have been both given great fortune and torment. All of it stems from the political landscape that has developed in the shadow of Chris Christie's governorship. When I say I am fortunate, it is in the sense that I was able to retain my position long enough to gain the skills that have made me good at my job and allowed me to have a positive influence on so many young lives thus far.  

The torment however has been significantly more freequent. I am one of the lucky few who found and retained a job as a teacher in the last four years. Though I do not have fancy numbers and charts to quote here, the large number of friends and fellow educators that either take other positions or work as subs and aides is my basis. I see good teachers out of work in many places. Also, young teachers with great potential are giving up hope of ever finding a job.
 

I am proud to call myself an educator. In my opinion there is no more important work that a person can undertake. Yet for the past four years I have had to be appologetic for doing that noble work. It has gotten slightly better each year after the initial smear campaign Christie ran after the election. Now when I tell people I am a teacher, they think that is great. They are supportive until the conversation turns political.  Then they tend to regurgitate whatever has recently come out of the Christie megaphone.  I am not someone who spouts blindly from the union book of retoric, nor am I against their positions. The bottom line is that, as is typically the case, the reality in education is somewhere in the middle.
 

New Jersey has a pretty good education system overall, but I am not a beliver in the old addage, "if it ain't broke don't fix it."  The reality is, education should never be reformed. Reform implies that education should be stagnant at some point and then change. Instead, education should evolve, changing gradually to stay ahead of the times. Just because we are doing pretty well does not mean we should not be in the business of getting better. I almost never hear a teacher say, "I don't want to do something that will make me better."  I do however hear them complain sometimes about a lack of time, training, and compensation for learning and inplementing thise skills.  We as educators should always be hoping to get better, but we ought to be properly trained and compensated as well.
 

America cannot continue to work on educational ideas of reform. We need to learn how to gradually change and improve our learners for the world they will enter rather than the world they are in now.  

The changes that have been cannonballed through are not leading us toward this goal of educating children for tomorrow's endeavors as of right now.  The combination of policies has lead to a clinate in education where good teachers are leaving the profession; not from burnout or retirement, but because teaching is moving toward a profession where it is nearly impossible to support a family.  Although I am not against healthcare reform, the bill was passed hastily, with many admitting they did not really read the whole thing. How could they have done so in less than a week?  The bill will put many New Jersey public employees over the maximum health contribution required by the national health care reform movement. This will cost the state a lot of money ( I am unaware of any fixes since the bill went through, but I am admittedly not as knowledgable as I ought to be.). The pension reform was a joke. For years the state has not made their own payments and now with the funding hitting a low point due to poor financial planning by the state, teachers bare extra responsibility. All this combined with the 2.5% cap for municipalities means that teachers are likely to continue to see a decrease in net pay for several more years at least.  The latest fear is that there will be a push to eliminate any seniority rules.  I am certainly for eliminating teachers who continually prove they are not capable or do not care enough to get better.  From what I have experienced however, the ratio of these teachers is very low.  The bottom line is that, the more we move toward lower teacher salaries, decreased benefits packages, at-will employment, and privatization of the education system, the less likely public education will be to attract quality teachers.
 

In my four years with my district I have watched my net salary decline in each of the last four years. While my performance continues to improve, I take home less. As I said before I did not get into education for money, but as I get ready to start what may be my final year as a classroom teacher, I cannot help but notice how hard it will be for someone to be the main provider for their family and be a teacher.

My main ambition when making the transition to administration is to help create and support new great teachers.  I was fortunate enough in my path to have some great leadership to guide my learning and development and I want to be that person for as many people as possible. Money is not the main reason for my transition to administration, it is certainly a consideration and I cannot pretend the potential to be financially stable is not alluring. 

Like myself, many of the good young teachers I know are looking for other options (especially those who do not have a significant other with quality income).  As many good young teachers move into leadership roles, it will be imperative to retain great teachers.  It will also be crucial to attract great new teachers to the profession and train them.  Older teachers have told me that these political storms rise and fall like the tides and that they can wait it out.  I do not believe that waiting it out will work.  So much is changing, some for the good, but much of it without thought of what it means for those we mean to serve.  Education needs to evolve and we as teachers must evolve as well.  Change however needs to be done with students in mind.  Politics is changing education to serve its own needs at the moment, and in doing so, it is pushing out many of the best teachers.  It is making it nearly impossible to recruit and retain great new teachers.  Eventually, as the sides fight over who gets to "win" the losers will be the students, as one by one the best teachers are driven from the field.  One by one as they exit the profession in various ways, there will be none....and a sad day that will be for all of America's and New Jersey's education.

Thanks for reading.

Lunchroom Blues

We have almost all been there.  After a tough morning we walk into Teacher's lunchroom and for the short time you get to let your self relax, you are bombarded with negative comments and complaining. You head back to your classroom and you are weighed down by all the negativity. Likewise, on days when things are going great, those negative comments can drag you down. So what can we do to keep the Lunchroom Blues from ruining your day and maybe more?

When I first started teaching I followed some good advice that came from a former principal. He told me, "stay out of the lunchroom, nothing good can happen in there!"  For a while I was convinced he was right. As I started to get more comfortable in my career I began venturing out into the lunchroo , where I found a mix of good and bad. Eating with fellow teachers has given me a few great benefits. It hped develop my relationship with my coworkers, which helped in getting better at working collaboratively.  It has also privided me with ideas for my own classroom when listening to successes.  There have also been some drawbacks, and nothing as bad as those Lunchroom Blues. 

I would argue that the benefits of being in the lunchroom make it worth the fight. I understand that some days we all need to vent and the Lunchroom can be a great place to do it. But as teachers and leaders, it is up to us to help our fellow teachers pull through and overcome that stressful time. Instead of comiserating, we should be offering support, ideas to help, or changing the mood to a more positive atmosphere.  It is up to us to save the lunchroom as a place where teachers can vent and share while at the same time helping to make each other better. 

We need to help our fellow teachers. This is just one small way that you can help make one another better.  If we can commit to this small change, all of us will have better days and a better year!

Thanks for reading!

What Can You Really Teach on the First Day?

So in just a few short weeks we will all be embarking on that exciting and equally terrifying endevour... Teaching. Whether you are an aide, a teacher or an administrator there are still things you worry about,and jitters you have on the first day. 

While the importance of the first day of school has often been discussed, I feel like the main goal is often overlooked. All teachers are versed in the importance of establishing their routines and setting the tone for the year in their first day. Although your routines and expectatio s are important, the reality is, it will take days and for some students a week or so to get them down. 

What then can we actually accomplish on the first day?  I would agree that the first day is the most important day, but fir a different reason. 

On the first day we have a different responsibility. Every year on the first day of school a teacher needs to accomplish two things in order to ensure. Layi g the foundation for a good year.  First, make your students feel safe!  No matter what age, all students come into their first day of school with at least as many nervous thoughts and seeming silly concerns.  Some students come in with more serious concerns. All students however, need to feel safe and secure in their classroom environment. This is a simple statement amd most tachers know this, but it will be an ongoing battle. The second and most important thing we need to impart on our students is to create a sense of wonder in the classroom. No matter how old, no matter how apathetic, a great year starts with a teacher capturing the attention of their class and sparking a curiousity that will fuel them head first and full speed ahead into whatever learning destinations the teacher has planned.

You have the rest of the year to teach them, spend your first day making them desperate to get back for the next 179 days and you will have a great year!

Thanks for reading.

The same old feeling, but different every time

With just a few weeks left of summer I am beginning to get that same old feeling.  For the past 8 years I have anxiously anticipated the first day of school.  Unlike some teachers, though I think it is less than they would like to admit, I relish in the beginning of the year.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that waiting tables is low on my list of enjoyable ways to spend my time, but more importantly, I think there is something magical about that first time in front of a new class.  Learning unfamiliar faces, conquering the new challenge, and the thrill of watching new students start their process of growth.

Every summer I spend plenty of time rummaging through sale bins, flipping through Pinterest pages (that's a newer one) and following one of my favorite Harry Wong sayings: beg, borrow, and steal!   It is around this time of year that I start to get that feeling in my stomach, the one I have heard so many other teachers talk about.  There is a twinge of nerves about starting over with new students.  You wonder, what will they like, how will they respond, and what new challenges will present themselves as you begin this new journey. 

A new school year gives us as teachers the chance to start over.  Most teachers have the annoying habit of being either perfectionists or controlling.  The most wonderful part of getting to start over, is that we get to make it better with each year.  Some people will ask how a teacher can keep from getting bored teaching the same thing over and over, but the truth is that we never teach the same thing repetitively.  With every new class there are new variations, new ways to increase our quality and new things we can do to increase the growth of our students.  It is my firm belief that once you start teaching "the same things every year" that you have reached the beginning of the end as a teacher.  You may have long ways to go before retirement, but you have certainly checked out.  Great teachers never have two years that are so similar that they find themselves doing it exactly the same.  If we do something the same way twice it can only be for one of three reasons.  The first, we got it perfect.  Since teaching provides so many variables that perfection is nearly an impossibility, it is almost never this option.  If it were however, it does not change the fact that your students have changed and therefore require something different.  The second option, we do not know any other way.  If this is the case, you have a lot of work to do.  Doing it the same way twice will not be successful and gaining new tricks for your bag will be vital.  The last, is that you just do not care enough anymore to put in the effort required to update and revive your practice.  If that is the case, then you are headed for a long, torturous road toward your final days as a teacher and you need to either get out or find a way to renew your passion.

For the majority of us however, a new year is to the teacher what Spring is for nature.  It provides an opportunity at a fresh start, renewal, and the chance to work toward the perfection we seek for our students.  So as  you get ready for your new school year, remember to enjoy even the slightest feeling of nerves.  It does not mean you will not be ready, or that there is a chance you will not succeed.  Those tingles in your stomach are the signs that you will have a great year.  Your students will benefit because those nerves mean you still care enough about them and your craft to worry even the slightest bit that despite your many previous successes, this time might not be the same.  Of course, in the end, it will be the same old success for your students.  The only difference will be the twists and turns the journey takes along the way. 

Good luck to everyone in their preparation for the start of another new year!

Thanks for reading.

Teacher Training: Ready or Not, Hang on for the Ride!

Up until now I have simply shared with you my early jorney, only hinting at any of my underlying viewpoints. If you read any of the other posts (thank you) my first expressed view might be pu in perspective. 

Teacher Training is absutely crucial to creating capable, quality educators. Most of us have heard how important it is to a student's success to have a quality teacher and that having back to back years with a "bad" teacher can be devastating to a student. Why then do we think it is sufficient to throw teachers into the mix with only a few weeks of running a classroom? Teacher observations and student teaching are great ways to give teachers exposure to the classroom environment. Unfortunately as most teachers and administrators would agree, first year teachers are often ill equipped to handle the high demand of running a classroom. 

In my first three years in education I had the good fortune of working in several capacities within my school. Despite my frustration at not getting my own classroom, I was able to spend a great deal of my first three years working as an aide in inclusion classrooms. Unlike student teaching, being a classroom aide gives you a unique perspective. There is one major thing that many first year teachers struggle with as much as anything, planning out their year. One skill that separates great teachers from the rest is the ability to plan. Not simply planning their day or their week, but developing a vision of the student growth throughout the year.  Not only is it impossible to understand this skill through student teaching, but through any typical teacher preparation program. Getting the chance to spend the year watching and collaborating with a Master Teacher gives a young teacher a glimpse at how this skill works in practice. While being present for an entire year, a young teacher can add so many tricks to their tool bag. They can also get a great view of how teachers vary their techniques throughout the year. In a short sample, young teachers cannot always see how a trick or strategy may only work fir a short while. 

In my first year, I faced a class that will always be one of my favorite groups yet they were a tremendous challenge. Despite the difficult combination of personalities the group came together and the experience was great. If not for the huge collection of tools and experiences that I had gained from my years as an aide, that year could have made me question my ability and my choice to teach. Instead it was a calidating experience that encouraged me and kindled in me a belief that I could teach anything to anyone. 

The bottom line here is that the stakes are too high to leave our newest teachers underprepared. No matter what, there will be no substitute for  ding in your classroom and working through your first year, but giving teachers the opportunity to gain the tools they will need and the ability to envision a long term plan is crucial to creating successful teachers. Interning/aiding for a full year is a far better source of learning than subbing or even traditional teacher preparation programs. I am not discounting the value of learning to teach, but mere heralding the value and need for quality, hands on experience that will enable teachers to be more prepared to meet the challenges they will face upon being thrown into teaching. It seems unfair to let someone "sink or swim" if you've never let them in the water.