Teach, Teach!

I attended yet another meeting this morning, as well as one yesterday afternoon. Both left me feeling overloaded and also blocked.

I keep reminding myself that at this time last year, I felt much the same. I remember sitting in meetings and thinking, “I have no idea what they’re talking about or what I’m supposed to do about it. Why on earth did they hire me?” I’ve had very similar reactions during most of the meetings I’ve attended so far this year. People refer to my “program” as though there actually is one. Hello? I’m the first person who has ever had this job, which did not exist 23 days ago. The only program I’ve seen evidence of is sketchy compliance with State Board of Education rules regarding remedial services for students.

As I discussed in my last post, one of the difficulties is identifying those students who are at risk and who might qualify for remedial services. It’s not so difficult in the middle schools, where standardized tests are given annually, with results that are broken down by strands and standards. However, in the high schools, there’s a marked lack of standardized testing in general, and even less that yields usable data. While most teachers know who’s in trouble within the first few days of class, what they don’t know is why. What skills or content is the student lacking? What strategies work best to assist that student? What resources are available to assist the teacher in providing the necessary differentiation for these struggling students?

All of these are questions we were charged with answering this morning in my meeting. I posed the possibility of teacher-generated performance assessments, something my old school will implement this year and which Ms. C. also suggested. The problem with such assessments is that 1) they would not be standard and available to all teachers across the district, and 2) they would not have been tested to see that they are indeed valid assessments. As one supervisor remarked, “Bad assessments yield bad data.” So what now?

I’m frustrated. And feeling stuck. Surely any moment now, I’ll have one of those teacher’s epiphanies where the answer floats up from the depths of who knows where. Any. Moment. NOW.

I’m waiting.

Blogged with Flock

Today I attended my first big meeting in my new job as a Teacher on Special Assignment. In this position, I have been charged with developing a framework for remedial instruction at the high school level, which could pose quite a challenge. At the meeting today, our “essential question” was “What does the data tell you about your program?”

My dilemma–there really is no data for my program since my program doesn’t exactly exist.

This concerns me on several levels and also creates some rather scary professional challenges. First, I now feel that part of my job will be to determine how I can collect data. It’s a little daunting to consider creating a program that has no real data to guide its creation.

One of the great things about writing, however, is how it leads me to new insights. As I write this, I realize that I do have some data, it’s just not very useful and certainly not inspiring. A quick review:

I have the graduation test results for those students who retested this summer. A depressingly low number passed. There was little to indicate that those who attended summer test prep sessions did much better. So, that’s an issue.

I have 8th grade CRCT scores for incoming freshman.

What I don’t have, and what teachers really need, is any data that identifies at risk students once they’re in the high school setting. After 8th grade, the next large scale measure doesn’t occur until the end of the junior year, which is just too late. So what can we do?

Lots to think about…

Blogged with Flock

Okay, I haven’t been blogging regularly for over a year and I finally figured out what the problem is.  I’m suffering a blogging identity crisis.

When I was a classroom teacher, it all seemed so simple. I had a blog for professional reflection and I had a personal blog where I talked about my family life and anything else that interested me.  I didn’t really have any difficulty deciding what to post or which blog to post to.  Everything was blissfully clear.

Cut to last fall, when I began my first year as a “former classroom teacher.” Suddenly, my professional issues seemed, well, uninteresting. I knew that I didn’t have the same connection to the educational blogosphere since I was no longer in the trenches. Also, it was clear that the most interesting items I might have to blog about professionally were also ones that I had better keep under wraps if I intended to keep my job.

Likewise, my personal blog withered. I felt nervous, putting myself out there. I wondered what might happen if my blog were discovered by those I worked with/for. And all that worry killed the writing.

So now I am starting up again–or trying to. I am once again in a new position, and once again, not in the classroom. It will be challenging to blog in a way that is interesting and not job-threatening. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m up to the task.  But I’m going to give it a try. Starting today.

Blogged with Flock