Really a Risk-Taker?

If you did not follow #satchat this morning, you really missed a great discussion on Autonomy and the Learning Process in Education. The moderators did a great job posing questions that challenged conventional thinking on Professional Learning for Educators to creating a challenging environment for students as well.

The part of the hour that really hit home for me was a side conversation I had with Dea Conrad-Curry (@doctordea) about the impact of testing on teacher risk-taking. I started with a statement about state testing crippling the risk-taking of educators. I stated without these tests, teachers would feel freer to take risks in their classrooms. We would be able to create a culture for learning that we know should exist in every classroom.

This was followed up with a thought from Dea: "On Twitter we talk risk taking because we are risk takers. Reality: we are a minority. On the whole, educators not risk takers."

I immediately responded with: "I just do not know how much risk taking we will get when state tests are about half of teachers' evaluations."

Dr. Conrad-Curry followed with the statement that is the thesis of this post: "But before Educators can control they must become learners who apply their learning for change. Right now too many avoid stretching."

This statement hit me like a ton of bricks. The reason why? I AM ONE OF THOSE EDUCATORS! I have attempted to make adjustments in my instruction/assessment (many thanks to @WHSRowe, @garnet_hillman and @jsprfox for your continued conversations in this area). I have made changes in my availability to my parents and community by joining Twitter and starting this blog. I have started making myself available for mentoring at school to assist new teachers on their journey to improve their craft...

That sounds good, but after honest reflection, I AM NOT FULLY COMMITTED! I read what @ScottCapro is doing in his classes with both project based learning and flipped lessons, and think to myself: this guy is really pushing the envelope!

Also, I read about @mssackstein using Twitter in her high school classes to create engaged students in a student driven learning environment and think to myself: Why can't I do that?

The bottom line? I can. The problem is, I can not break myself away from those state assessments. I am still holding on to the excuse that my students are not going to do well unless I follow the same script from the past several years. They will not grow unless I keep doing things the same way because my test scores are good...

I need to get fully committed. I need to jump into the deep end of the pool. Currently, I am in the part of the pool where it is just deep enough that I can use my tippy toes to stay above water. This is not an educational deviant. The social deviant would be in the deep end of the pool showing everyone else that it is a great place to swim. Encouraging both colleagues and students to join them where the learning is engaging, beneficial and relevant.

Thank you, Dr. Conrad-Curry for lighting the fire. I am hopeful we can do that research project we discussed. I believe that is just the work I need to do to get me into the deep end of the pool. My students deserve that bit of risk-taking from me.

How have you gained the confidence to jump into the deep end of the educational pool?

"When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

A couple of years ago, my school started treating Columbus Day as a day for Professional Learning for our staff. Prior to this, we typically treated it as a normal school day. The decision to switch this was voted on by our Association to give us a day of professional learning before January. As a group, we decided to give our staff a chance to learn some great new methods or strategies while the school year was still young, instead of waiting until it was half over.

Today, we focused on Student Growth Objectives and Tier 1 Interventions. I do feel these are two very important elements to not only a well run classroom, but a highly achieving school as well. Both of these areas are also very important for impacting instruction and achievement in every classroom. We were given a lot great information on how to help us write effective SGOs along with ways to implement Tier 1 Interventions for struggling students.

Even with all of this new information, I was having trouble quieting the voice in my head that was screaming, "When am I suppose to find time to teach?" See, each of these areas have a lot of paperwork to complete. Not just a sheet or two, but pages upon pages to complete during my "free time." This is time I am taking away from what is the most important part of my job: creating high quality, engaging lessons!

The implementation of our new RTI program includes a new computer program to learn that will help us document all of the ways we interact with our students. I know this is a critical component to creating a culture of learning in our classrooms. I know this will ultimately help me reach a number of students that maybe before I may have missed. But...

"When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

My main complaint is that all good teachers do this already. We take the time to pre-assess our students to determine their current level of understanding. We constantly provide formative assessments that assist us in adjusting our instruction. We reach out constantly to struggling students to find ways to get them involved in the learning that is going on in our rooms. But...

"When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

I am insulted that now we need to document all of the things that we do naturally. I do not like that I have to take time to fill out forms on how I am helping Johnny instead of actually helping Johnny! I am now expected to use a checklist to document my conversations or actions with a number of my students to show my effectiveness as a teacher. Yes, I am offended...because..."When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

Where on these forms is the place to check off that through my relationship with a struggling 8th grader, I convinced him to sign up for the school newspaper because I know he likes to write his own rap lyrics? Where on the form is the spot to check off that shows I can now hold a conversation with a student that last year grunted at me with his head always down? Yes, I am offended...because..."When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

Good teachers do these things naturally. Not because we want to fill out forms, but because we genuinely care about the people that occupy those desks. I did not become a teacher to fill out forms. I became a teacher to make a difference. I hope making teachers complete these forms does not have a negative effect, our students do not deserve that!

Thank you for giving me a chance to vent my frustrations...now to get started on my lessons...because... "When am I suppose to find time to teach?"

Another Instructional Change

I have spent the last several weeks unhappy with my lessons. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what I need to change in my presentation. Over the years, I have created the following routine during all of my lessons: I review with the students a concept from the previous lesson. Then, I provide an overview of how this skill will connect to the skills we will learn today and tomorrow. Next, I present the new skill for that day. Throughout the lesson, I provide several forms of evaluations to determine if the students are learning what I am teaching. Lastly, I summarize the key points that I want my students to take away from the lesson.

After some reflection, I realized my concern was centered on the number of students not completing assignments for homework. Several of those students claimed they "did not get it." Do not get me wrong, I know some of them just did not complete it and used that excuse. My worry was an increasing number of students being truthful about not understanding the lesson. I could not figure out why, since I provided several examples in class prior to assigning the practice at home.

My "light bulb" moment occurred during a recent conversation with @WHSRowe. During our conversation, Rik mentioned he delays homework until at least three days after introducing a new topic. During this time, he provides examples over a few days to help students become familiar enough with the topic to attempt the practice on their own. Sorry for the pun, but it was a very enlightening conversation for me.

Since our conversation, I have intentionally delayed home practice on topics until three days after introducing a new topic. In addition, I have made a commitment to starting each class with a student centered review where they can work in groups. This delaying concept has made several noticeable changes in my classes:

1. There is an increase in practice completion
2. I am able to provide more examples for the students to work through
3. There is an increase in students' grades for the practice
4. There has been a noticeable decrease in students claiming "I did not get it."

It has taken me a little bit of time to get use to the structural change of my lesson, but I am very pleased with the changes I have mentioned above over the last week. I have grown accustomed to integrating two problems from each of the last two days prior to introducing the new topic. It was a little tricky at first, but I have gotten use to it.

I think I have found the answer to my lesson dilemma. I am happy with the changes I have made. I am glad I gave Rik a call. He helped connect a lot of dots for me.

Please let me know if you made any lesson changes that increased student engagement or achievement...

SGOs and SBG, Perfect Together!

The new school year is off and running. We are beginning to dig deeper into the CCSS in my math classes, along with attempting to blend technology into my lessons when appropriate. Also, we are continuing to learn more about the implementation of the new PARCC assessments. Lastly, our district is beginning to implement the state required Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) for all teachers. It can all seem like a big bowl of alphabet soup after awhile.

The addition that will impact instruction the most, in my opinion, is teachers starting to use SGOs. The idea behind the SGOs is for teachers to focus on the growth of the students towards a particular objective or standard. First, teachers are asked to provide a pre-assessment to determine where the students currently are with their understanding of the concept. Once the teacher has scored the pre-assessment, he or she can begin to create a growth scale to get the class moving in the right direction. The role of the teacher is to now focus on the  instruction to reach the above mentioned goal. The teacher can determine the current level of the class by providing frequent formative assessments. Still need to improve? Challenge yourself to use alternate methods to improve student achievement.

The great part of this is that the teacher is focused solely on learning. The teacher can not stick with the old school view of "I taught it, so they should understand it." Since the teacher is focused on the learning of the students, he or she will attempt several methods of instruction to guarantee the students are reaching proficient on the standard. All the teacher is concerned with is the success of the students. This sounds exactly like the  kind of classroom I would like my own kids to be members of.

I believe the impact SGOs will have on instruction in the classroom will lead to more teachers heading towards Standards Based Grading. The framework for SBG is imbedded in the SGO process: Teachers must focus solely on the students learning, not what their percent grade is currently. If the students are not getting it, the teachers must try alternate methods to get the students to grow. This is the main concept behind SGB as well. How do teachers determine if the students are getting the concept? Simply put, we must use formative assessments more. This will provide feedback for teachers to gauge the growth of the students. Ideally, this information can provide areas or students to focus on to maximize the growth of each individual student. Getting the students to actually get a concept, what a novel idea!

What better way to have students work towards mastering a concept than to provide multiple attempts at learning? The idea of retakes and redoes is at the core of SBG. These retakes give students a chance to learn from their mistakes and make corrections to improve. The idea behind this is that students must continually work on improving towards a specific goal or standard. It is almost like these two were made for each other.

I do not know if the state thought about this when requiring SGOs in every class, but I think they have made a huge impact on changing teachers' instruction. Focusing on if the students are learning should be the only thing we pay attention to. If done correctly, the usage of SGOs could have greatest impact on instruction in my career. I wonder if the state knew what they were doing...

Anyone else have thoughts on this? Please let me know...

Hitting the Ground Running

I am in my classroom on and off all summer long. I go in for a couple of hours a few times a week for a variety of things. My two kids like it because they get some freedom and can head to the gym to play basketball while Dad works in his room. I like it because I feel like I can prepare better for September. I could not be the person who leaves in June, never setting foot again in their class until September. I like heading to school, it gives me peace of mind for the new school year.

Then why did it feel like I was sprinting all week long? Between meeting my new students (and several I already knew from teaching them the year before), IEP meetings, SIP meetings, review of policies and procedures, assisting the new teacher two doors down and getting involved in our District Improvement Plan, it was tough knowing which end was up.

A couple of real positives: I was able to discuss a new grading policy with the Special Ed Teacher that co-teaches in my room. I believe we are looking at focusing on Standards Based Grading for those classes. We are focusing on measuring them against a standard using a 0-4 point scale. We have not come up with what we are labeling each number in the scale, maybe we will leave that to the students next week. We are hoping that this new approach will increase their interest in learning the topics instead of concentrating on their grade percentages (regardless of how low or high they were). Bye-bye traditional percentage grades!

The second positive is getting involved in our District Improvement Plan. During our QSAC audit last spring, we did not reach the required 80% in a couple of categories. I have been the "data person" for our small district the past few years and was asked to join the team. I am looking forward to finding solutions that will help both the teachers' instruction in the classroom and student achievement. It is going to be tough work, but one benefit is our school is finally looking into creating a school-wide Response to Intervention (RTI) Program. We will be responsible in the Math Professional Learning Community for finding Level 1 Instructional Strategies that we can use to begin working on improving student achievement. It will be challenging and fun all at the same time.

Needless to say, I am ready for the weekend. A chance to regroup and recharge...now, let's get ready for soccer games both Saturday and Sunday along with a sleepover for my son's birthday. Yeah, I should be well rested for Monday!

How Being a Coach Made Me a Better Teacher

I love sports. I have been involved in sports since I first started playing t-ball in the late 1970s. I played sports during every season of the year. Sometimes, I played on multiple teams in different sports during the same season. I honestly do not know how my parents did it. I love the competitive nature of sports as well. I love how it makes you focus on improving your skills. Along with having a pet, I believe every kid should be on one sport team during their lifetime!

Not only do I love playing, I love watching sports as well. I will watch any game that is on television. ESPN has made this easier for me since they have about six different channels with games on all of them! I would prefer to watch a game over a drama/comedy any day.

I am thrilled that I get to continue my love for sports since both of my kids are very athletic. I have enjoyed helping to coach their teams for the last six years. We do soccer in the Fall, basketball in the Winter and baseball for one, Soccer for the other in the Spring. On the occasional free weekend, I honestly do not know what to do with myself.

Now, how has working with these kids on the playing field improved me in the classroom? First, teaching the players a particular skill requires breaking down the movement into steps they can understand and replicate. It may be dribbling a soccer ball, completing a layup in basketball or turning a double play in baseball. Each of these have several smaller steps involved in them. Missing one step makes it difficult to compete at a high level.

BREAK THE PROCESS DOWN INTO SIMPLE STEPS!

This is exactly the approach I take while explaining a complicated topic in my math classes. When covering polynomials with my 8th graders, I simplify the steps to make sure that everyone can follow them. It is the best way I have found for students to succeed.

What do you do with a player that is not doing something correctly? What do you do with a player whose missing something with his or her fundamentals that it is keeping them from raising their play to the next level? Of course, you tell them: "That's too bad, I showed you. Now you are on your own!" No, you watch them complete the skill. As long as it takes to see what the problem is. Once we find it, I need to be specific with how they can improve. I just can not say, "You need to start making your jump shots." Instead, I need to inform them that their elbow is sticking out when they shoot. It really needs to be tucked in before you release the ball.

FEEDBACK NEEDS TO BE SPECIFIC. EVEN IF IT IS TOUGH TO TAKE!

I know this is the one area I really need to improve on in my classroom. I typically wrote "Good job!" at the end of a writing assignment. There might be some suggestions from me about writing a better opening, but that was it. I have realized recently that I need to be specific with my feedback while in the classroom. I need to tell them that they are getting the equations wrong because they are confusing the Distributive Property, not just put an 80% at the top of the paper. I need to challenge my students and tell them that there are 5 incorrect problems on the paper, without showing them which ones they are!

In sports, you can not remove a position from the field if no one can play it well. In soccer, we can not remove our goal because we do not have a person good enough to play that position. In basketball, we can not ignore the fact that we do not have a good point guard. As a coach, I need to make sure I give extra attention to the players who want to play that position, but struggle initially. I need to be extremely patient while we work and work until we have a quality player at that position.

YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK!

I apply that same concept in my classroom as well. I know I am not the smartest person in our building. I know there are a lot of teachers that are more creative, more organized and better with tech that I am. The one thing I can give my students is my time. I work with them during any free time we might have: free periods, lunch time, recess time and/or after school. My students know that I value hard work because they see me walking the walk everyday as I work right next to them. I see each class I teach as a team, and I am not happy until the entire team is working at their highest potential. My job is to constantly challenge them, push them, make them better. I have been known to push too far at times, but they see me pushing myself just as hard as I am pushing them!

I had a great mentor with coaching: my Dad. I realized one day that my Dad coached me in every sport but basketball between the ages of 8 and 15. I have modeled a lot of how I coach after what I saw my Dad do. People often commented that he got kids to play at such a high level. Those same kids did not play that well for other coaches. My Dad had a tremendous ability to get everyone playing well, even the not so athletic players. He never yelled. He never screamed. He just expected hard work and fair play. It took the adult me to realize my best teacher was my Dad!

I am not nearly the coach my Dad was, but I am improving. I enjoy being involved in coaching my kids because it has made me an improved teacher. But, the biggest win for me is I get to spend extra time with my kids. It's a win all around!

How has your hobbies/interests improved you as an educator? Please comment below!

How Being A Father Has Changed Me As A Teacher

I have two children, ages 11 and (almost) 9. My 11 year old girl is heading into middle school in a couple of weeks. My son is 9 and entering the 4th grade. I can honestly say that I am not the same person before these two came along. The additional grey hairs are a testament to that. Besides, the physical differences, I believe my two children have made me a better teacher. Many thanks to @plugusin for inspiration.

When my kids started coming home with homework, I was hit with the first eye opener: we will complete every assignment that comes home, but please do not make it busywork. I do not want to spend a couple of hours battling with my children to complete an assignment that I notice NEVER gets graded or even marked as checked. Even the month long Social Studies project my child had to do one time that had no connection to what they were covering at the time!

DO NOT GIVE ASSIGNMENTS TO WORK ON AT HOME THAT WILL NOT BE GRADED OR CHECKED.

As a Teacher, I have always been very conscious of giving my students busy work. I have never liked it, especially as a student myself. I constantly tell my students, "If you take the time to complete it, I will take the time to grade/mark it." I believe that creates the atmosphere that everything they do has a purpose. Most importantly, we do not waste time.

Speaking of grading, as a parent I find myself asking my kids about certain marks on their report cards that I use to not pay attention to as a teacher BC (before children!). I asking them why their participation in a class is just a check instead of a check plus. I ask them why didn't they get an Outstanding instead of the Satisfactory grade on the report card? Lastly, if they bring home a grade that was lower than we expected, I want to see comments to clarify the lower grade.

PLEASE PROVIDE APPROPRIATE COMMENTS ON REPORT CARDS OR INTERIMS

As a BC teacher, I was guilty of putting in the obligatory Satisfactory grade in behavior or organization for the entire class, knowing not everyone was really on the same level. Now, I spend probably way too much time providing comments for parents either on the report card or through email. However, I honestly believe the parents want to know as much information about the progress of their child as possible. It is my job to give that information.

The biggest realization for me as a parent was that I am not going to win every battle. Somedays, there are just too many of them. Before kids, I would mentally criticize parents for letting their kids get away with certain things. It did not take me long to after having both of mine that somedays you need to do this out of survival skills. If you do not let them win, someone may blow a gasket!

YOU CAN LOSE THE BATTLE, AND STILL WIN THE WAR!

I have taken this slogan to heart in my classroom since having my kids. I now handle interactions with students very differently. Before children, I was determined that the student was not going to win. I had to "win" every disagreement or discussion. Period. It took the addition of my own children to realize how bad this strategy actually is.

Now, I am able to address students with the a lot more patience. Do not get me wrong, our classroom is a well-run environment. Nowadays, I believe it runs this way because of the mutual respect in the classroom between myself and my students than their fear of getting yelled at. I talk to them constantly about trust. I can handle a lot of things: forgotten homework, accidentally breaking materials, even an occasional foul word muttered out of frustration. However, do not break my trust. This is nonnegotiable! I tell my students that if this happens, I will still help work with you when you have questions, but I will not trust you. So, if you want to leave the room, you will be escorted by a responsible student. Trust can be repaired, but it takes a while. My students (and children) are aware this.

I am a very different teacher now that I have children, and I believe my students are better for it!