Bravo Zulu!
We have another nominee for district teacher of the year. Casey Alexander! Bravo Zulu Sir. The news broke last week that Mr. Alexander is a nominee for the Gold Star Outstanding Teacher award. The Gold Star award is a district level, annual, recognition by the Highline Schools Foundation. Teachers are nominated for demonstrated commitment to kids and in some way providing for them high caliber and over the top learning experiences. You do not get picked as a finalist without consistently exercising excellence in teaching, and that speaks highly for Casey. As I have gotten know Mr. Alexander over the last several years, he has shown nothing less than commitment to teaching all of his students with passion and humor. He pushes their thinking and has high expectations for each and every child. We all knew this was coming, but it happened much before we expected, so Congratulations Casey for a well deserved nomination for this prestigious district award. Bravo Zulu.
Instructional Point: Back in Class Reflection
I recently finished a teaching experience in the classroom last session at New Start. I had the honor of teaming with our esteemed Mrs. Ann Magyar in her Second Period Digital Media class throughout Session Five. Have no doubt, it was a good experience for me, and I hope for Ann and the kids as well.
We were moderately successful having students complete the culminating project, which was a video describing their experiences and perceptions of history. I believe the project got students thinking at an abstract level about their place in a larger world. It helped them articulate some of their thinking. Along the way, we hopefully taught some skills and gave experience in creative thinking, planning and design. Working in groups the students had to communicate with each other and espouse a larger idea that was the central thought of their video. More students completed than didn’t, so I am happy with any student success…but never fully satisfied.
There is always room for improvement. Always, and that can be frustrating to see in ourselves and others. Almost painful to see in our students for whom we work so hard. Happily, I also learned some things from being back in the classroom (or at least was reminded of) the importance of deep planning and assessing along the way. Here are a few reflective notes:
Teaching Point: Clarification of Teaching Point and Learning Expectations are as big a deal as we have been making of it. Keep at it. Communicate, relentlessly, reiterate, again, and never let up on expressing teaching point and purpose! If we are not clear what is being taught, or what is expected, there is no way our students will be…can’t say it enough.
High Impact Relevance: Student motivation is very difficult to seize and draw out if we haven’t made a project, or the learning, important to them. Especially amongst a highly diverse group of learners, we need to be very thoughtful and creative to make the experience important to our kids. Our students have many challenges, but they do get done what they want to get done. As teachers we are responsible for making the opportunities enticing and engaging for them. (And that is very, very, hard to do for some students who have incredible pressing challenges at hand)
Two Railed Learning: Think of the train on a two railed track. One rail alone does not work. Content is important in any classroom subject, but it is the softer skills of big picture thinking, longer term planning and self preparation which give access to the greater learning of content. Without thinking big, learning is reduced fill-in worksheets and compliant attendance (not learning). Whether we like it or not, the most excellent teachers, must teach on dual railed tracks, the so-called soft and hard skills together.
Success begets success. I may be splitting hairs here. In the project development these last six weeks, the successful students “got it” immediately. It was clear as day. The student’s who didn’t quite understand what we were asking them to do were experiencing failure and confusion from the beginning of the session… a very difficult place from which to move forward. Some never got it. Understanding gradual release and scaffolding is important, but if we are to build learning capacity in students, we need to equally embed the scaffold with opportunity for success. They may be one in the same, but I think if we are explicit and thoughtful in our planning, we can call out (loudly) the learned content skills as successful learning experiences. Remind students they are on the right track to achieve. Build on success rather than focusing on recovering from failures. (Again, easier said than done, but it is the best practice.)
Thank you, Ann, for letting me work directly with your students. I hope I was more of a help than a hindrance. Your work with students is immense, and tireless, and often feels thankless. Having been an admin type for some years now, being in class, nearly daily, with the same bunch of kids, was a bit like being in a reality show. (Think “Undercover Boss”) The experience of getting back into the classroom was invaluable and held a much different meaning than walkthroughs or scheduled observations. I hope to do this again in future sessions with other teachers, but thank you, Ann, for this last round.
PCT: Friday January 30, 2012
Our collaboration time is still in development but will focus on seniors and next year planning. This week’s PCT will likely be a split with site-based working teams. Standby for expectations, times and places coming this week.
My Schedule:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
New Start | New Start | New Start/CHOICE | CHOICE | ERAC/New Start |
March 26 | March 27 | March 28 | March 29 | March 30 |
NS Session Opening Morning Meeting In Classrooms Observation Writing IEP Meetings | In Classrooms Observation Writing Audit Prep Sped Meeting | Becca Policy Meeting CH SOC CH PSO Parent Meeting (Evening) | ESD Presentation Planning Observation Writing District Webpage Meeting NS Math Planning | District Principal PD PCT Senior Tracking 2012-13 Staffing Planning |
Because I missed writing last week, I didn’t have a chance to thank all of you who had a part in our successful administration of the HSPE! There were some bumps, but we weathered them like we do. Ms. Love’s oversight is a fantastic asset in the coordination of multiple schools and programs taking the test. I can never adequately thank Andrea for her work and extra time. On the ground, I was especially impressed by the teamwork at CHOICE to demonstrate to our students and families the importance of the HSPE and that their success was our priority. Of course this came across powerfully at New Start too. The students I saw were really working hard to do well for themselves, and their teachers. They want us to be proud of them. For Career Link, Gateway and Southwest there was a lot of learning going on, and added logistical complexities. Such testing will continue be a challenge to our models…you handled it very well, and I am sure your scores will reflect. In the end, I think personalization and dedication to our students won out. And, that’s what I like to see. Thank you everyone for another exciting test cycle…and have a great week!
Mike
