Friday, August 30, 2019

Advice for New--and Veteran--Teachers

This week’s article summary is Six Things New Teachers Need to Know.

It’s a great read for those new to teaching but also is a reminder for veteran teachers about the big foci of great teaching.

To me, the truly great and inspiring teachers embody the following qualities: perspective, patience, positivity, empathy, flexibility, humor, clarity of the macro concepts of their grade/discipline, and a commitment to continuous learning.

The article includes many of the above qualities but also reminds us of the importance of establishing a trusting relationship with students and their parents and making sure we always take time to care for ourselves.

As we move into the Labor Day weekend, reaching what I like to call the end of the beginning of school, and embark on the routine of school next week, it’s important for all of us—new and veteran teachers—to keep these critical needs at the forefront of our planning and teaching.

Thank you all for a wonderful start of school from preplanning to last night’s back-to-school night. Enjoy the holiday weekend and as the article’s final piece of advice urges, take some time to pamper yourself over the next few days!

Joe

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When I first started teaching, I had no idea what I was doing. Early on, one of my more experienced colleagues half-jokingly told me to get the addresses all of my students because in 20 years I’d want to write them and say “I hope you turned out OK.”

I didn’t do that, but I did quickly glean where my colleague was coming from with that advice. One of the first lessons I learned is that teaching requires patience, as you may not see results for months or years—and grit. You must roll up your sleeves, roll with punches, and get up every day asking yourself “what is best for the child?” This fundamental question will keep you grounded and heading in the right direction. I learned many other lessons along the way, of course, and I share some of the most critical ones for new teachers here.

Play the long game: You’re going to have to fake it until you make it, at least for the first few years. Not only is there a lot to learn about teaching and your students, but there is also so much to learn about working with parents, administrators, and colleagues, particularly in the independent school environment. Appear confident even if you feel unsure. Even veteran teachers falter and doubt themselves, so don’t expect to have all the answers right away. If a parent asks you a tough question, tell them you will do some research and get back to them. Then, seek guidance if you need it.

Work backward: Ask yourself, “What do I want my students to learn today?” Establish that concept as a goal and work backward from there when designing a lesson. Consider using exit tickets—index cards on which students write what they learned. Review these at the end of the day to see if you hit the mark and achieved your goal. You may think that all students understand your lesson because no one ever responds when you ask if there are any questions. You’ll know from your exit tickets who is consistently not understanding the lesson. Go directly to those students and in a one-on-one setting ask some clarifying questions to check for understanding. As you design lessons, remember that children, especially those who struggle with auditory processing, cannot process verbiage if there is too much of it. Figure out the basics of the lesson, then add on if, and when, you can.

Remember to take breaks: Are your students on their knees, rocking back in their chairs, kicking shoes off? They probably need to move. Children can generally sit about their age plus two minutes. For example, every 10 minutes or so do a quick brain break for 8-year-olds. Brain breaks promote learning. If you don’t give kids a chance to move, they will find a way to move on their own. As you go through the curriculum, don’t forget about “teachable moments.” Those will happen when you least expect them. I remember after a really hard rain, the class was walking on the sidewalk and noticing—and trying not to step on—all the worms. We stopped and wondered why they were all out there. We went back to the classroom and researched it as a class and found that worms will come out from underground after a rainstorm so they don’t drown underground where all the water accumulates. This led to more interesting questions about worms, which we further researched, and to my students imploring others to watch where they stepped after it rained.
          
Don’t be afraid to discipline: You are the CEO (chief emotional officer) of your classroom. Note positive behavior from across the class and call it out. Students will want to emulate that behavior. If and when you need to discipline a child, do so privately. Sit side-by-side when talking to children. They will hear you better than a face-to-face conversation, especially when disciplining. If you communicate head-on, most will either become defiant or shut down. Set classroom rules that make you and your students feel good. Don’t follow another teacher’s discipline plan if it doesn’t fit your style. Kids like to know how far they can push the envelope and which actions will elicit what kind of response from you. Kids would rather be praised than punished, but they would rather be punished than ignored. Sometimes their errant behavior is just a call to be noticed. There is comfort for all in knowing the basic rules and consequences.

Connect with parents: Early in the year send parents good-news emails. When you see or meet with parents, ask, “How do you think things are going?” It’s especially important to connect with parents who have a struggling learner. You will discover the stages of grief a parent may be in if their child has difficulties—express compassion and appreciation for their child. Parents usually want to know one basic thing: that teachers know and love their child. They want a great curriculum, but it is secondary to you knowing their child. During parent–teacher conferences, ask them to start with any concerns, comments, or celebrations. You might think that the conference will go one way and instead find that parents have other fundamental questions. You want the parent to leave the conference feeling heard and understood.

Be kind to yourself: Teaching requires energy. Eat well, get a good night’s sleep, sing in the morning to get your voice ready, breathe deeply, and know that you most likely will be tired for the first few weeks of a new school year—or more. Sometimes, leave the work at school: Make sure to pamper yourself, take a walk, get a massage, work out, meditate, and go out with friends. The most important things to always remember are: trust your gut, lead with your heart, rely on your training, and enjoy yourself.




Friday, August 23, 2019

Mindframes for Teachers

This week’s article summary is a very short piece I read about John Hattie’s book 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success.

Many of us have been influenced by Hattie’s work and research, particularly the interconnection of three prongs of the Instructional Core: challenging and relevant content, effective teacher instructional practices, and student engagement.

While there’s certainly an art to great teaching, there’s a great deal of science as well—and Trinity over the past number of years in our goal to continuously hone and enhance our curriculum (what and how we teach and how we assess student learning) has learned more about by the science of effective teaching.

To Hattie, the most effective teachers keep the following ten “mindframes” at the forefront of their teaching and relationships with students:
·         I am an evaluator of my impact on student learning
·         I see assessment as informing my impact and next steps
·         I collaborate with my peers about my conceptions of progress and my impact
·         I am a change agent and believe all students can improve
·         I strive to provide my students with challenge and not merely have them “do their best”
·         I give feedback and help students understand it, and I interpret and act on feedback given to me
·         I engage as much in dialogue as monologue
·         I explicitly inform students from the outset what success looks like
·         I build relationships and trust so that learning can occur, where it is safe to make mistakes and learn from others
·         I identify and build on my students’ prior experiences and initial learning levels

As we finish the first full week of school and begin to settle into the routine and consistency of the school year, reminding ourselves and each other to what extent our classes reflect these mindframes will support our work as teachers and our impact on student leanring. Just like the mindframe about challenging our students, we need to do the same with ourselves.


Joe