I remember the day when I asked my mom why. "Why mom, why are people so cruel to each other? Why can't everybody just get along?" I remember her response.
"Dani, they are just ignorant. It is just ignorance. They don't know any better."
I remember when I learned what ignorance meant; the lack of knowledge or information.
In high school I realized that meant that people could be taught to be different. If ignorance caused hatred than education could create kindness, compassion, and peace. If ignorance caused people to despise difference than education could help people understand. If ignorance caused people to be unambitious than education could inspire them.
To me this is what it means to be a teacher. Our teachers are our first line of defense against prejudice and bigotry. The first people who tell us that not everyone is like ourselves and that is a good thing. And for some teachers are the only people who will ever tell them that they can be anything if they work hard enough.
I didn't get into teaching because I wanted to torture kids or because I loved school but because I thought I could make a difference in the world. I realized before I even started that our system is broken. I know which kids almost didn't graduate high school with me and I know why. I know it had nothing to do with their ability or their intelligence. I know which kids school didn't work for.
I thought I could make school work for them.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Saturday, January 9, 2016
7 Must-Read Books for the Proficiency-Based or Mass-Customized Classroom
All public Maine schools must be making progress towards handing out a proficiency-based diploma at the end of high school. This means that all public school teachers must be transitioning to PBL or MCL in their classrooms. Now we are teachers, which means that often we learn best when we have something to read. Below you will find 7 books, all of which I personally own, and all of which have helped figure out what PBL should look like in my classroom.
1) Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning: Learning in the Age of Empowerment by Charles Schwahn & Beatrice McGarvey
My first year of teaching the school I was at did a book study on this book. It was a great introduction to the vision of learning that the district wanted to move towards. After reading this the staff was able to develop a new mission statement and a vision of what PBL would look like in our school. This makes for a great introduction for any one, not just teachers.
2) Dimensions of Learning: Teacher's Manual by Robert Marzano and Debra J. Pickering
The school I was at the longest was a member of the Maine Cohort for Customized Learning. This cohort believed that learning took place at the intersection of complex reasoning, habits of mind, and content. Dimensions of Learning is a manual on how to deliberately teach complex reasoning skills to students and in doing so up the rigor of any assignment or assessment.
3) Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success by Arthur L. Costa and Bena
Schools are responsible for teaching more than just content. We are also responsible for teaching students how to be successful. This book is about the 16 habits of all highly successful people. There are excellent explanations of each habit and ideas for how to help students learn these habits.
4) Students Taking Charge: Inside the Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom by Nancy Sulla
This book completely changed how my co-teacher and I structured all of our units! For the longest time we struggled with how to organize learning in our ELA classrooms without packetizing every thing. This book was the answer. It tells you step-by-step how to design all the pieces you will need to turn your classroom into a learner-centered, PBL or MCL room. Warning, it does require a lot of time, energy, and patience on your part. You will need to be willing to let the students struggle some. There is a steep learning curve in your first unit for both you and the students. However, I encourage you to not give up! As Nancy Sulla says in this book, "If something isn't working then add another structure."
5) Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams.
The "Nancy Sulla Method" requires some flipped classroom pieces. As such this book about the flipped classroom model is a must. This will help you figure out which pieces students absolutely need you for and which pieces they can do without you, thus freeing up time to work one-on-one with students.
6) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill our Potential by Carol S. Dweck
Again, schools need to teach students how to be successful. This book will change your perspective on what it means to persevere.
7) The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano
This book is the foundation for MCL, PBL, and teacher evaluation. Therefore it is a must-read for every teacher.
I hope that this list is helpful to you. Please comment any other books you feel are musts for PBL and MCL teachers to read.
1) Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning: Learning in the Age of Empowerment by Charles Schwahn & Beatrice McGarvey
My first year of teaching the school I was at did a book study on this book. It was a great introduction to the vision of learning that the district wanted to move towards. After reading this the staff was able to develop a new mission statement and a vision of what PBL would look like in our school. This makes for a great introduction for any one, not just teachers.
2) Dimensions of Learning: Teacher's Manual by Robert Marzano and Debra J. Pickering
The school I was at the longest was a member of the Maine Cohort for Customized Learning. This cohort believed that learning took place at the intersection of complex reasoning, habits of mind, and content. Dimensions of Learning is a manual on how to deliberately teach complex reasoning skills to students and in doing so up the rigor of any assignment or assessment.
3) Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success by Arthur L. Costa and Bena
Schools are responsible for teaching more than just content. We are also responsible for teaching students how to be successful. This book is about the 16 habits of all highly successful people. There are excellent explanations of each habit and ideas for how to help students learn these habits.
4) Students Taking Charge: Inside the Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom by Nancy Sulla
This book completely changed how my co-teacher and I structured all of our units! For the longest time we struggled with how to organize learning in our ELA classrooms without packetizing every thing. This book was the answer. It tells you step-by-step how to design all the pieces you will need to turn your classroom into a learner-centered, PBL or MCL room. Warning, it does require a lot of time, energy, and patience on your part. You will need to be willing to let the students struggle some. There is a steep learning curve in your first unit for both you and the students. However, I encourage you to not give up! As Nancy Sulla says in this book, "If something isn't working then add another structure."
5) Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams.
The "Nancy Sulla Method" requires some flipped classroom pieces. As such this book about the flipped classroom model is a must. This will help you figure out which pieces students absolutely need you for and which pieces they can do without you, thus freeing up time to work one-on-one with students.
6) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill our Potential by Carol S. Dweck
Again, schools need to teach students how to be successful. This book will change your perspective on what it means to persevere.
7) The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano
This book is the foundation for MCL, PBL, and teacher evaluation. Therefore it is a must-read for every teacher.
I hope that this list is helpful to you. Please comment any other books you feel are musts for PBL and MCL teachers to read.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
What No One Really Knows About Teaching Until They Try It
I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I was in 7th grade. Here were my reasons when I was a 7th grader:
1) I liked books and reading books.
2) I liked to teach my brother things.
3) I liked kids.
4) I would have summers off which would give me plenty of time to work on writing and publishing my first book.
5) I wanted to travel and I could do that in the summer too.
At first I thought I wanted to be a math or social studies teacher because those had always been the subjects that came easiest to me. When I was in high school I took AP Language with Mr. Wells. That was when I realized I couldn't ever be a math or social studies teacher. I have always loved reading and writing. Ever since I learned how to read I haven't been able to read enough. And once I figured out that I could create my own stories, I never wanted to stop! I loved Mr. Wells' class because he was just as passionate about language as I was. His passion made me want to be a better writer and a better reader. I enjoyed his class because he enjoyed what he was teaching. I did not have that kind of passion for math or social studies. They were subjects that just came easy to me. I also realized that the best part of reading and writing was sharing it with others. I wanted to to share my passion with students who would understand it. I knew then that I wanted to teach English and that I wanted to work with students who were in middle or high school.
My reasons for teaching when I was in high school were:
1) I LOVED reading and writing and I LOVED talking about reading and writing.
2) I wanted to be surrounded by books ALL day!
3) I liked kids and I thought that I might be able to inspire them.
4) I would have nights off to be with the family I would eventually have.
5) I would have weekends, school vacations, and summers to write and to travel. I still hoped to publish a book some day.
So I went to college and majored in Secondary Education with an English concentration. I felt that I was learning from some amazing professors who were all former teachers, principals, and/or superintendents themselves. And I finally entered my first classroom and made my first attempts at teaching my sophomore year.
It was hard. I saw a lot of kids who needed love and expressed that need in some of the worst ways. I saw a lot of kids who were just goof balls. I saw a lot of kids who wanted desperately to do well but had given up because they never thought they would succeed because they never had before. I spent an hour every day after school napping because I was so drained of energy. They just needed so much from me and I wanted so badly to every thing that I could for them and I just couldn't do enough.
My reasons for teaching when I was a sophomore in college:
1) I LOVED being around the kids. They were so much fun.
2) I LOVED teaching them something new about reading and writing.
3) Kids need someone who cares about them to be their teacher.
4) I had personal experience and could relate to what some of these kids were going through. I wanted to help them.
5) I was enjoying what I was learning in college.
My next experience in the classroom was way more intense and required me to be an even bigger influence in the every day. I needed to plan every day, grade every day, make copies every day, attend meetings, and be a teacher as much as possible. I became even more certain that this was what I wanted to do. I came home every day wanting to talk about my kids. Wanting to think about new ways to teach them. Wanting to plan another unit for them. Every minute I spent thinking about teaching was the best. I was exhausted All. The. Time. But I LOVED it. I could not wait to get my first job as a teacher.
My first year as a teacher was hard. I had a group of kids who while not considered by other teachers to be overly naughty, needed a firm hand in order to stay on task and unfortunately, my first year, I was not a "firm hand." For the first month I came home once a week thinking that I was going to get fired. But this lessened gradually until by the end of the year I was confident in my abilities. And even though there were some rough days, overall, the experience was positive and I couldn't wait for my next year.
As the years have gone on I have continued to love working with the kids. I have continued to love the professional development I have had and have continued to enjoy my fellow teachers.
But here is what no one knows until they try teaching. There is no such thing as "non-teacher" time. When you work as a customer service representative, a CNA, a secretary, etc you get to go home, forget about work, relax and enjoy some time off. This is not true of teachers. Sure the kids are gone by 3 or 3:30 but very often the teachers are still in the building working or they have taken the work home and are doing it at home. If you are a teacher you might get an angry email from a parent at 5 or 6 and you feel obligated to answer it. If you are a teacher you probably spend at least one day every weekend grading, planning, and generally prepping for Monday. If you are a teacher you probably spend at least one day out of every school vacation grading, planning or prepping for school to resume. I usually drive to school two days of vacation for work on unit plans and then spend one additional day grading and planning. In the summer you take classes, go to workshops, plan units, and work on your classroom. One summer I went to school three-four days out of every week to work on new units and to put my classroom together. That summer I also lead one workshop that was three days long and attended a two day workshop.
My life has been consumed with teaching since I took my first job. And before that it was consumed with doing everything I could to land myself that first job. I have probably thought about this career choice almost every day for the last eight years.
I hear so many people say that they plan to teach when they retire from their current job. That sounds crazy to me!
I know that there might be those out there who are reading this and thinking, "Why don't you just work what the contract demands of you?" or "Why are you putting in so much extra effort? You aren't going to get paid more for doing more!" You know I could try to do that. But I am best at my job when I am prepared. Which means that I need to know what I will be teaching Monday morning before Monday morning rolls around. This means staying late on Friday or figuring it out Sunday. It means having my units planned out ahead of time so that I know I am hitting all the learning targets I need to over the course of the year. I also teach reading and writing. This is one of the subjects with the most grading. If you disagree then you should try reading and grading fifty short stories on top of fifty reading logs. You will see that there is no way you can complete all of that during your one forty-five minute prep period every day. Which means you are going to have to do at least some of it in your own time. Yes, you have to grade. And the workshops have to be taken in order to keep your certification up to date and to help you ensure you are staying up on the latest and best educational practices. Some of those can be done during the school year but that means writing sub plans and filling out the paperwork to be out. And then it means trying to figure out where the classes are when you return and taking care of behavior problems that cropped up because you weren't there.
And there is simply the emotional and mental toll this all takes. It isn't just the amount of work that teachers put in outside of the school day. Some teachers have found ways to mitigate that and that is awesome. But what about seeing kids every day who don't have proper shoes? Or who don't get enough to eat? Or who are bullied at home? Or who are neglected? Or who don't have rules enforced at home? Or who don't know how to tell you that they need help? Or who don't have a quiet place to sleep, let alone to do their homework?
It is heart wrenching to know that I am responsible for these kids from 7:30-2:30 and they have all of these things going on outside of school that they need help with that no one can help them with. How are they supposed to care about oppressive governments, fault lines in the Earth, genetics, or algebra or any other school subject when they aren't able to be kids at home?
And there is nothing I can do to change the fact that I care about them. I have to care about them. I also have to tell them to do their best to leave it at the door. But how can they? Adults facing some of these issues can't leave the problems at the door and we are asking children to?
I have to ask them to not worry about their non-school problems because I have to teach them a certain set of standards in a certain set amount of time. They have to show mastery of these standards to graduate from high school. If they aren't progressing then it is my fault.
Teachers are blamed every day for the failing schools systems.
But really it is the society we live in that is failing them, not the schools, and not their teachers.
1) I liked books and reading books.
2) I liked to teach my brother things.
3) I liked kids.
4) I would have summers off which would give me plenty of time to work on writing and publishing my first book.
5) I wanted to travel and I could do that in the summer too.
At first I thought I wanted to be a math or social studies teacher because those had always been the subjects that came easiest to me. When I was in high school I took AP Language with Mr. Wells. That was when I realized I couldn't ever be a math or social studies teacher. I have always loved reading and writing. Ever since I learned how to read I haven't been able to read enough. And once I figured out that I could create my own stories, I never wanted to stop! I loved Mr. Wells' class because he was just as passionate about language as I was. His passion made me want to be a better writer and a better reader. I enjoyed his class because he enjoyed what he was teaching. I did not have that kind of passion for math or social studies. They were subjects that just came easy to me. I also realized that the best part of reading and writing was sharing it with others. I wanted to to share my passion with students who would understand it. I knew then that I wanted to teach English and that I wanted to work with students who were in middle or high school.
My reasons for teaching when I was in high school were:
1) I LOVED reading and writing and I LOVED talking about reading and writing.
2) I wanted to be surrounded by books ALL day!
3) I liked kids and I thought that I might be able to inspire them.
4) I would have nights off to be with the family I would eventually have.
5) I would have weekends, school vacations, and summers to write and to travel. I still hoped to publish a book some day.
So I went to college and majored in Secondary Education with an English concentration. I felt that I was learning from some amazing professors who were all former teachers, principals, and/or superintendents themselves. And I finally entered my first classroom and made my first attempts at teaching my sophomore year.
It was hard. I saw a lot of kids who needed love and expressed that need in some of the worst ways. I saw a lot of kids who were just goof balls. I saw a lot of kids who wanted desperately to do well but had given up because they never thought they would succeed because they never had before. I spent an hour every day after school napping because I was so drained of energy. They just needed so much from me and I wanted so badly to every thing that I could for them and I just couldn't do enough.
My reasons for teaching when I was a sophomore in college:
1) I LOVED being around the kids. They were so much fun.
2) I LOVED teaching them something new about reading and writing.
3) Kids need someone who cares about them to be their teacher.
4) I had personal experience and could relate to what some of these kids were going through. I wanted to help them.
5) I was enjoying what I was learning in college.
My next experience in the classroom was way more intense and required me to be an even bigger influence in the every day. I needed to plan every day, grade every day, make copies every day, attend meetings, and be a teacher as much as possible. I became even more certain that this was what I wanted to do. I came home every day wanting to talk about my kids. Wanting to think about new ways to teach them. Wanting to plan another unit for them. Every minute I spent thinking about teaching was the best. I was exhausted All. The. Time. But I LOVED it. I could not wait to get my first job as a teacher.
My first year as a teacher was hard. I had a group of kids who while not considered by other teachers to be overly naughty, needed a firm hand in order to stay on task and unfortunately, my first year, I was not a "firm hand." For the first month I came home once a week thinking that I was going to get fired. But this lessened gradually until by the end of the year I was confident in my abilities. And even though there were some rough days, overall, the experience was positive and I couldn't wait for my next year.
As the years have gone on I have continued to love working with the kids. I have continued to love the professional development I have had and have continued to enjoy my fellow teachers.
But here is what no one knows until they try teaching. There is no such thing as "non-teacher" time. When you work as a customer service representative, a CNA, a secretary, etc you get to go home, forget about work, relax and enjoy some time off. This is not true of teachers. Sure the kids are gone by 3 or 3:30 but very often the teachers are still in the building working or they have taken the work home and are doing it at home. If you are a teacher you might get an angry email from a parent at 5 or 6 and you feel obligated to answer it. If you are a teacher you probably spend at least one day every weekend grading, planning, and generally prepping for Monday. If you are a teacher you probably spend at least one day out of every school vacation grading, planning or prepping for school to resume. I usually drive to school two days of vacation for work on unit plans and then spend one additional day grading and planning. In the summer you take classes, go to workshops, plan units, and work on your classroom. One summer I went to school three-four days out of every week to work on new units and to put my classroom together. That summer I also lead one workshop that was three days long and attended a two day workshop.
My life has been consumed with teaching since I took my first job. And before that it was consumed with doing everything I could to land myself that first job. I have probably thought about this career choice almost every day for the last eight years.
I hear so many people say that they plan to teach when they retire from their current job. That sounds crazy to me!
I know that there might be those out there who are reading this and thinking, "Why don't you just work what the contract demands of you?" or "Why are you putting in so much extra effort? You aren't going to get paid more for doing more!" You know I could try to do that. But I am best at my job when I am prepared. Which means that I need to know what I will be teaching Monday morning before Monday morning rolls around. This means staying late on Friday or figuring it out Sunday. It means having my units planned out ahead of time so that I know I am hitting all the learning targets I need to over the course of the year. I also teach reading and writing. This is one of the subjects with the most grading. If you disagree then you should try reading and grading fifty short stories on top of fifty reading logs. You will see that there is no way you can complete all of that during your one forty-five minute prep period every day. Which means you are going to have to do at least some of it in your own time. Yes, you have to grade. And the workshops have to be taken in order to keep your certification up to date and to help you ensure you are staying up on the latest and best educational practices. Some of those can be done during the school year but that means writing sub plans and filling out the paperwork to be out. And then it means trying to figure out where the classes are when you return and taking care of behavior problems that cropped up because you weren't there.
And there is simply the emotional and mental toll this all takes. It isn't just the amount of work that teachers put in outside of the school day. Some teachers have found ways to mitigate that and that is awesome. But what about seeing kids every day who don't have proper shoes? Or who don't get enough to eat? Or who are bullied at home? Or who are neglected? Or who don't have rules enforced at home? Or who don't know how to tell you that they need help? Or who don't have a quiet place to sleep, let alone to do their homework?
It is heart wrenching to know that I am responsible for these kids from 7:30-2:30 and they have all of these things going on outside of school that they need help with that no one can help them with. How are they supposed to care about oppressive governments, fault lines in the Earth, genetics, or algebra or any other school subject when they aren't able to be kids at home?
And there is nothing I can do to change the fact that I care about them. I have to care about them. I also have to tell them to do their best to leave it at the door. But how can they? Adults facing some of these issues can't leave the problems at the door and we are asking children to?
I have to ask them to not worry about their non-school problems because I have to teach them a certain set of standards in a certain set amount of time. They have to show mastery of these standards to graduate from high school. If they aren't progressing then it is my fault.
Teachers are blamed every day for the failing schools systems.
But really it is the society we live in that is failing them, not the schools, and not their teachers.
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