FIT Teaching Academy – Day 1
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Category Archives: Leadership
DOs and DON’Ts for determining professional responsibilities ratings
(Cross posted at NJEA.org)
No matter which teacher practice evaluation instrument a district is using, now is the time of year when educators are taking a look at the standard or domain dealing with Professional Responsibilities (Standard 1 in McREL, Domain 4 in Danielson, Domains 3 and 4 in Marzano, and Standard 6 in Stronge).
Causing anxiety for supervisors and teachers alike, this is the “backstage” work of teaching — very little of it can be seen when one visits a classroom to conduct walk-throughs or observations. This is an evaluation area dealing with participating in the professional community, leading and collaborating, and practicing in an ethical manner. For many years, teachers have been evaluated on these criteria in a binary fashion: satisfactory or not. Now, state legislation requires the criteria to be examined and rated on (minimally) a 4-level rubric.
The problem is most of the models for evaluation systems are rather generic when it comes to describing a teacher’s professional responsibilities. In schools where the rubrics have not been further developed to provide concrete local exemplars of effective and highly effective practice, both supervisors and teachers may be perplexed about what constitutes enough data for analysis and exactly what those data represent.
Here are a few DOs and DON’Ts for both teachers and evaluators to keep in mind:
- DON’T make the Professional Responsibilities Standard all about the collection of lots and lots of artifacts. This leads to the “shopping bag” syndrome where teachers have so little guidance, they throw massive numbers of documents into shopping bags to bring to their end-of-year conferences. Or worse, supervisors confuse highly effective practice with enormous quantities of paper.
- DO select several thoughtful and meaningful examples of professional responsibilities that represent a pattern of practice throughout the year and consider how they positively impact student learning experiences.
- DON’T forget that ratings of “highly effective” shouldn’t be unattainable. Keep in mind that the rubrics for most models seek extensive practices, demonstrations of leadership, and meaningful contributions in order to achieve a highly effective rating.
- DO keep these standards in perspective. Both “effective” and “highly effective” professional practices result in positive learning environments for students.
It’s important to keep in mind that there are a tremendous number of teachers that put forth mighty efforts on behalf of their students. When it comes time to evaluate their professionalism, those teachers’ efforts should be acknowledged and honored.
The benefits of listening
Tim Hast says:
A theory of adult education states that a person will learn when they know there is a benefit to making the effort to learn. Likewise, customers spend money when they perceive value in the product and the benefits it provides. The greatest benefit of becoming a skilled listener is that it simply makes life run smoother, both at work and at play.
It’s not just about connecting the educators…
Cross-posted at Education Is My Life
It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea of “Connected Educator” month. I work with school administrators and teachers all over the world. Quite simply, educators either embrace the potential of connectivity or they don’t. It’s not really about the technology any more, because there are very few folks out there that don’t have a smart phone, and therefore the ability to connect with a network at any given time. Building a personal learning network comes from a desire to be connected, or a frustration in not being connected.
So educators have this amazing potential to connect with each other and continue to learn and grow. How about the students? If connected educators really practice what they preach, they are providing connection opportunities for their students as well.
I can’t help but quote from David Price’s new book Open: How We’ll Work, Live and Learn in the Future
Going ‘open’ is a social revolution that represents a fundamental challenge to the established order of things – one that cannot be ignored. It disrupts and changes, so things can never be the same again. But, as with all revolutions, there are winners and losers. The winners are ourselves, happily connecting and collaborating through global networks of friends, colleagues and online acquaintances. We are powerfully motivated by the easy access to ideas and information, and the informality, immediacy and autonomy that it brings. The losers are our formal institutions: businesses, schools, colleges and public services that are failing to grasp the enormity of the change taking place. Price, David (2013-10-02). OPEN (Kindle Locations 58-63). Crux Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Price goes on to suggest that schools and colleges don’t have to be losers, as long as they embrace the open nature of knowledge and intrinsic human motivation to learn, while shifting away from our current industrial model of schooling to embrace learning as it was originally conceived: an act for public good, collaboratively pursued, for the betterment of all citizens. At its heart is this core principle:
No one can be ‘made’ to learn anything: for knowledge and understanding to stick, we have to have learner intent. The quality of one’s learning is directly related to our desire to learn. This is why progress made in learning socially, voluntarily, is invariably far greater than in the formal, compulsory context. Price, David (2013-10-02). OPEN (Kindle Locations 1112-1114). Crux Publishing. Kindle Edition.
So, yes, connected educators are modeling learning the way it should be done – by personally embracing their own need to grow personally and professionally. How is that translating into classroom practice? When it does, we’ll really see things change for our students.
The Most Important Time to be in Education (FREE eBook)
From Education is my Life:
This past September our authors came together to discuss their own personal educational philosophy. They wrote about personal experiences, how teachers shaped them to become who they are, how their opinions have changed over the years…and most importantly, they focused on what we need to do for our students on a daily basis.
Get your copy HERE.
We need more teachers in the house. And the senate.
So they can do things like this:
That is courtesy of Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), a former HS teacher, providing feedback to the Speaker of the House.
Ken Robinson on the Culture of Education in America
TED talks hosted a special show (broadcasted on PBS) around US education, specifically focusing on reducing the high school drop out rate. Ken Robinson’s discussion of alternative education and the role of standardized testing was particularly noteworthy. Excerpt here:
Robinson-Culture of US Education
Watch the entire program here.
Leaders Must Be Learners
Cross filed at Education is My Life …
In my work as an educational consultant, I spend a lot of time planning with folks from schools and districts. In the midst of our conversations, this question is invariably asked, “In all the work that you do, what signs do you look for that will tell you a change initiative will be successful?”
In short, it’s about leadership. If I conduct a workshop – no matter what the topic – if the superintendent or head of schools stays to participate as a learner … that is a key signal that there is a seriousness about the initiative and it is on the road to success. However, if the superintendent or head of schools introduces me and says, “Hey, have a great day everybody,” while scooting back to her office … well, you can guess what happens. That action speaks volumes. There is no misunderstanding it: that school leader might as well have said, “I want no part of this initiative. I’ve organized it and arranged to pay the presenter. Now it’s up to you folks in the room to make it happen.”
Much has been written about the characteristics of successful school leaders: they are dedicated and passionate, they embrace change rather than try to maintain the status quo, they have vision. There is no denying these are important characteristics … but you can have all of them and fall short in the most important area, and that is to model learning behavior.
That means that the superintendent, central office personnel, school building leaders … anyone in a position of authority within a learning organization, must consider themselves as learners and model that behavior. There is a difference between authority and power. While a school leader’s credentials may grant her authority over others, she will have no power without first winning the hearts and minds of those she supervises.
Take, for example, the muddy waters of teacher evaluation. Principals are expected to observe teachers and then conduct professional conversations about the practices observed. During those conversations, a principal might encourage a teacher to think deeply about student engagement and instructional design. But if a principal conducts faculty meetings or professional development sessions that are monologue lectures addressed to passive faculty audiences – this will undermine any power that principal might have to shift instructional practices of teachers. And why should a teacher listen to someone who cannot practice what she preaches?
It may be a hard thing to do, but it is a remarkably simple concept. To be an instructional leader means dedicating time and energy to improve the quality of teaching and learning for everyone in the community … starting with oneself.