Teacher Quality and Development

Do/did you receive quality feedback after being observed by your school leader?

If you have an administrator’s certificate, did your program focus on how to develop teachers?

I was observed several times during my first year of teaching, as per the teacher’s union contract. Each time, a long checklist was used, which I had access to ahead of time (again, per union contract). There were three possible ratings–something along the lines of unsatisfactory, satisfactory, and excellent. During my formal observation, my AP ran out mid-class to stop a fire that had been set to a bulletin board.

He didn’t return, but we still sat down to discuss my lesson. During our conversation, he mentioned that he was required to mark at least two areas in which improvement was needed. I believe my two areas matched all other teachers I spoke with that semester.

I also received a city-provided mentor in my first year of teaching. He stopped by during math–his favorite subject–and, while well-intentioned, holds a place in my memory as being a competitive speed walker. He complained about the inaccurate average mph used in a math problem concerning speed walkers that my students were asked to solve. He brought me a fan of Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs (a favorite among teacher coaches, in my experience). He liked to talk (to me) when my students were doing independent practice.

How would you rate the quality of teaching at your school? What in-house support is provided to your school’s teachers? What additional support would you like in order to improve?

From one teacher to another

This year’s National Teacher of the Year possesses 15 years of experience in California. I read this brief article about her in the Washington Post. She switched careers, leaving the publishing world for education, after listing these requirements for her work:

“Be your own boss, work with children, try to leave the world better than when you were delivered into it.”

What’s important to you in your work? What do you hope your child’s teacher prioritizes most?

Homework that encourages self-directed, rather than compliant, young people

In his book, Drive, Daniel Pink discusses motivation. By exploring the historical use of rewards and incentives in Western business and applying the concepts to everything from schools to working out, Pink makes insightful comments that might make you question how you manage your employees, lead your classroom, structure your home or motivate yourself.

When I taught in New York, our scripted math curriuclum was based on the idea that homework is not a time for “kill-and-drill,” but rather an opportunity to expose children briefly to a new-ish concept. The curriculum recommended each student spend no more than 10 minutes on math homework. With more latitude in San Antonio, I used “lifework” as most of my former math teachers had: to review, reinforce…and review again. Pink differentiates self-directed, internally motivated individuals and separates them from merely compliant, “carrot-stick” individuals. To create the former, he suggests asking the following questions of your homework philosophy:

• “Am I offering students any autonomy over how and when to do this work?”
• “Does this assignment promote mastery by offering a novel, engaging task (as opposed to rote reformulation of something already covered in class?”
• “Do my students understand the purpose of this assignment? That is, can they see how doing this additional activity at home contributes to the larger enterprise in which the class is engaged?”

Parents and teachers, how do you think homework should be structured so that young people become not merely compliant, but active, engaged learners?