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Learning:
The concept of teachers taking charge of their profession has hit some lofty new heights in Jefferson County, Kentucky. For starters, a teacher--Judy Brown, a 27-year veteran--now runs the district's New Teacher Mentoring Program. What's more, the program was developed by the 4,800-member Jefferson County Teachers Association, working in conjunction with the Jefferson County Public Schools. And last year, in filling the position that eventually went to Judy Brown, the district gave this NEA local affiliate a majority say in the hiring process. Brown now works out of the JCTA office. The original idea for Jefferson County's mentoring program came out of brainstormings that involved local activists like JCTA Treasurer Sandy Hoover. The activists worked with UniServ Director Paula Cramer to create a mentoring program that could help newcomers grow--and stick with the profession. The New Teacher Mentoring Program was the right idea at the right time. Jefferson County has more than 5,000 teachers, nearly 2,000 of whom have been hired within the past four years. In some district schools, the certified staff has almost completely turned over. Faced with the need to hire hundreds of new teachers for the 150-school Jefferson County district, the school superintendent had supporting new teachers high on his priority list. So did the local school board, which has fully funded the JCTA-inspired New Teacher Mentoring Program. In Kentucky, new teachers are assigned a resource teacher for one year through the state-mandated Kentucky Teacher Internship Program. But that's not enogh support for new teachers. "What's been really an eye-opener for us has been the number of teachers who resign during their second year," says Judy Brown. "Our focus now is teachers in the second through fourth year of teaching." In the New Teacher Mentoring Program, veteran teachers facilitate small support and study groups, serve on workshop panels, and become one-on-one advisers via an online mentoring network arranged by grade level and content area. The program offers monthly content-specific workshops on topics like understanding the school system, classroom management techniques, achievement test preparation, stress management, and financial planning. Informal sessions and dinners add to these lessons and cover everything from where to go with questions on recertification to how to read a pay stub. New teachers in the Jefferson County mentoring program pair with teachers who have at least five years' experience and, if possible, teach the same grade or content area. To help emergency credentialed teachers get up to speed, the program also targets recent retirees. The mentoring program, Brown points out, is changing how veteran teachers perceive newcomers. "It was an awakening," notes Brown, "for mentors to see there's such a diverse group coming into the profession--retired military, teachers from other districts, people from business, as well as fresh-out-of-college types." Brown is currently negotiating with the University of Louisville to offer professional development credit to mentors, and mentors can fulfill some state and local performance criteria by participating in the program. In its first year, the Jefferson County mentoring program attracted 29 mentors and 38 new teachers, including a group under emergency certification. "I work with union and non-union people to develop the program," says Brown. "My hope is that others will see the benefits of Association membership and get involved." --Michelle Y. Green For more: June Karr I love to cook and bake, so I started "Patti Cake Bakers" to encourage learning and raise self-esteem in my developmentally delayed preschool students at Watson Elementary. We now start each unit by reading a children's book and end with a cooking activity related to the story. We've made "chicken feed" (trail mix) for Chicken Little and baked chocolate chip cookies for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The process of cooking teaches the students several key lessons. They learn how to follow directions. They can see what happens when they mix things together and the importance of counting how much they put in. This process is also a great way to get students excited about simpler tasks, such as describing the shape of a pancake or the colors in a salad. And, for them, the best part is having an edible finished product! Before the final cooking project, we go through a series of other activities that tie each story to several subjects. We make cookies out of paper plates, and the students have to color each cookie and count out paper chocolate chips to put on them. We also cut turkey-shaped paper and glue on different colored feathers. The students learn to work together and retell stories by using role playing, puppets, or story event cards. Some children read the names on recipes, and others help count to make sure we have enough of everything. At the end of the year, I give each student a recipe book of all our activities to use at home. This type of teaching lends itself to hands-on activities that address many areas of development. It's not so much that it's different from other ways of teaching--it just does a great job of tying everything together. Learning doesn't occur only by sitting down and making a child do a worksheet. I hope to expand this project to include more parental involvement. My goal is to help parents realize that something they do every day--cooking--can become a learning activity. If parents realize early on that learning can occur outside of a classroom, then their child will have a better chance at success. Dilemma When I mentored a fifth grade teacher, I helped her by continually anticipating anything that could catch her off guard during the day. I made a list of these potential pitfalls and gave it to her at the beginning of each day. I also copied my file folder of tests, quizzes, and worksheets before she started each unit. She knew it was there to use as she needed, with no pressure. Mike Buleza When I was new, my mentor said to ask if I needed anything. But I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even know what to ask her. I think it's most beneficial to offer help to new teachers before they need to ask. Before the first day of school, let them plan with you so they can see what you'll be doing. Talk to them about attendance, lunch, and other procedures. Let new teachers know when things are coming up that they should be preparing for--report cards, conferences, principal evaluations. If the mentor teachers mention both curriculum items and management items as they begin to prepare for them, the new teachers will be able to prepare in a timely manner as well. It's good practice to help new teachers, even if you aren't their assigned mentor. When we help the new additions to our profession, we become better as a whole team. Laura Eliason When you make worksheets or plans for yourself, copy an extra set for the new teachers. They tell me this is great, especially when they get things from sources they might not have. Samantha Garrity Tell new teachers about procedures, procedures, procedures! I can't stress that enough, especially being a new teacher myself. At the start of last year, I created a list of 40 classroom procedures that were important to the success of my class--sharpening pencils, coming in tardy, going to the restroom. The first two weeks consisted of modeling, practice, review, and testing these procedures. Little did I know the positive impact it would later have on students' school performance and self-esteem. Genevieve Peters We hold a special meeting (with food!) for new teachers during fall in-service. At this time, Association leaders and our UniServ representative welcome them, provide handouts and other useful items, and answer questions. Marjorie Rios Last year, our fourth grade team decided to meet regularly to plan curriculum units. Our goal was to help our new teacher pace the content she needed to teach and organize the materials she would need. The extra benefit was that the two established teachers (one with eight years, the other with 30) also got well organized and only had to transfer lessons to daily lesson plans. Susan Simons Never isolate a new teacher from other teachers. Set up a newsletter system where experienced teachers can share their ideas about methodologies and techniques that have made their classroom successful. Invite a new teacher to lunch or dinner after work, and exchange phone numbers. Debora Davis Got an Answer? Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. All published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug. Learning:
Four years ago, Walkersville Middle School in Maryland's Frederick County received low ratings-from its own staff. On a survey, educators indicated that they lacked a unified vision. They also didn't feel empowered. And ESP staff felt they were treated unequally. Located in one of the fastest growing counties in Maryland, Walkersville was ranking lower than average on achievement tests, and many teachers were requesting transfers. That survey, though, proved to be a turning point-the "KEYS" to the school's current success. Walkersville eighth grade teacher JoAnne Wilson discovered the Keys to Excellence for Your Schools (KEYS) program at a summer leadership training retreat run by the Maryland State Teachers Association. "The more questions I asked," Wilson recalls, "the more I realized that this sounded like the vehicle to get us going as a community of learners." KEYS, an NEA program that helps analyze a school's organizational health, is based on a simple fact: Successful schools consistently display the same 35 characteristics. These characteristics include everything from a shared commitment to basic goals to open communication and collaborative problem solving. At Walkersville, communication was not the staff's strong suit. So Wilson and Kim Lewis, then the Frederick County NEA local affiliate president, went to work with principal Paul Dunford to introduce KEYS as a new common language. All five feeder schools into Walkersville were convinced to buy into the plan as well. Staff, students, and parents all took the KEYS survey, which identifies 35 definable factors essential to developing and maintaining a quality education program in a school. In the survey, participants rank 125 statements (one example: "My school has explicit goals for student learning."). The answers help indicate the level of quality present in the school. The school improvement team used data from all the groups surveyed to identify those specific areas where staff, students, and parents needed to work together to create change over time. That change has already started. Walkersville now has six master schedules, and teachers have full autonomy within these blocks. Staff work two shifts, and, by staggering teacher time, there's more planning time. Teachers have also found a way to build in group study time before the Maryland statewide high-stakes assessment exam, an idea that came from eighth graders who took the survey. The KEYS survey data also revealed that ESP staff weren't treated as equal partners in the school. Per diem pay for ESP on the school improvement team, for one, was less than for teachers. Now ESP receive comp time according to a negotiated agreement, and two ESP members of the team have taken on leadership roles. Student achievement at Walkersville has shown sustained progress. Each year, the number of students who pass the Maryland functional math, reading, and writing test has risen. Last year's scores saw the highest increase of any school in the county. "We jumped up in every area," says Principal Dunford, "hitting scores near state standards in three areas and going over in one. We weren't predicted to do that until the year 2060." Elsewhere in the nation, other low-performing schools are also using the NEA KEYS program to help spark significant increases in achievement. The KEYS support package, available in English and Spanish, includes a start-up manual for schools, a resource and training guide, technical assistance, research updates, and case studies of how schools and Associations apply KEYS. "KEYS gives you basic, common sense information on common sense issues," says Lewis. "Then, it's up to the school community to run with it. That's the key to KEYS." -- Michelle Y. Green For more: Social Studies Hoops Place a basket against the wall and stick pieces of tape on the floor, starting close to the basket and then going further back. Each piece has a point value-10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100. Divide the class into two teams. Ask a member of one team a review question. If the student answers correctly, that person gets to shoot the ball. If the ball goes in, the scorekeeper records the points. Alternate sides until all students have had a chance to answer a question. The side with the highest score wins, but I give both sides a reward. Students love this game-not only are they reviewing for a test, they're having fun. Gary Deurlein Perry, Ohio Flip Chart Trick I use mine to tell whose turn it is at the computer, who gets to sit on the couch, whose turn it is for show and tell. I also use flip charts to keep a running list of story starters for those who can't think of anything to write. In catalogs, I discovered flip charts selling for $25 that were only notebooks turned inside out with a base on them. Teachers are too smart for that! Janis Highley Battle Ground, Washington Tempera Paint Secret When we make animals from waxy milk cartons, tempera paint often flakes off after they've been painted. Now I mix white glue in the paint so that about one-eighth of the mixture is glue. When the paint dries, it doesn't flake off. This mixture also helps paint stick to glass bottles, jars, or plastic containers. Vera Crisafulli Glendive, Montana Have a great idea? You can pass along your tips to NEA Today's more than 2.4 million readers in one of five ways:
Dilemma I interview the student. I always tell the student that I don't mind. In fact, I encourage parents to assist with the homework. I ask the student what was learned, how the research was done, what were some other results of trial-and-error experiments. I also ask what their parents learned, because they often do learn and express that to their children. I usually ask the students to assess the work and give themselves a grade. They are surprisingly honest, and sometimes they are too hard on themselves. It takes more time to do it this way, but a lot of students don't have the self-confidence to start or complete some assignments on their own. I have also found that some students let parents "do" the assignment just to have the opportunity to spend more time with them. This is sad. Phyllis Wright Last year was my first year teaching, and I was shocked each time a child brought in homework that was completed by the parents. When this happened, I asked the children whether they did their homework by themselves or with help. Every time, the child admitted that mom or dad did the homework. I explained to them that there is no reason for their parents to do their work. I had the child redo the homework in school, to ensure that they understood the skills and to reinforce that there are consequences for bad choices. Kelly Curtin Parents feel that they need to help their child, but they don't realize the mixed messages that the child is given. When I can prove that the parent has done the work, I give the work back to the parent with a grade and a message. The grade is what the parent earned, and the message is that I still expect the child to turn in the work. I ask for a conference, at which I let the parent go first. The main reasons they offer usually are: The child was busy with other activities, they didn't want the child to fall behind, or the child didn't understand the work. I try to explain to parents that while I understand the importance of extracurricular activities, the message to the child is clear: School work is not important, unlike ballet, gymnastics, or basketball. And I ask the parent, "How long will you be doing the work-until high school?" Most parents then realize what they've started, which is a crutch for their child. Andrea Heitzman When I read assignments that appear to have been written by someone other than the student, I make no marks on the paper other than a comment at the end: "How does it happen that this paper is so much better than any you have written in class?" Or, in the case of a routine assignment prepared outside the classroom: "Why isn't your classwork of this caliber?" As for grading the assignment, I put a symbol in my grade book indicating it was invalid. When I average the grades, I simply omit it. Mary Alice Dick Got an Answer? Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. All published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug. |
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