Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents
(Page 3) “Mastery involves strong initial teacher education and career-long staff development…There is a ceiling effect to how much we can learn if we keep it to ourselves.”
To me, so much of this article supported Airport’s mission in becoming a professional learning community. As educators, we’ve got to be able to admit that there’s always room for improvement, and we need to continue to learn new things (kudos to all of y’all for already doing so by taking this course!) and work together. Think about how much we’ve learned from each other in this class by having the opportunity to share our successes, concerns, and strategy spotlights. And how much have we accomplished by having time to work with our colleagues during delayed start? I don’t think there ever comes a point to where we don’t need to take another class because we already know it all. How would we feel if our physicians took this stance? Would we want to go to a doctor who was doing things the same way he did 15 or 20 years ago? What if he didn’t use any of the latest practices in his work? We would think such a doctor was outdated and couldn’t possibly serve us appropriately. When my husband and I were having all sorts of issues with my daughter and she didn’t seem to follow the textbook on a diagnosis, I was thrilled when my pediatrician (who is absolutely wonderful) told me that he spoke with a few of his colleagues about her case to try to see if there was anything he was missing. By using that same method in education, we can become even better teachers and take our students to the next level.
(Page 3) “Mastery involves strong initial teacher education and career-long staff development…There is a ceiling effect to how much we can learn if we keep it to ourselves.”
To me, so much of this article supported Airport’s mission in becoming a professional learning community. As educators, we’ve got to be able to admit that there’s always room for improvement, and we need to continue to learn new things (kudos to all of y’all for already doing so by taking this course!) and work together. Think about how much we’ve learned from each other in this class by having the opportunity to share our successes, concerns, and strategy spotlights. And how much have we accomplished by having time to work with our colleagues during delayed start? I don’t think there ever comes a point to where we don’t need to take another class because we already know it all. How would we feel if our physicians took this stance? Would we want to go to a doctor who was doing things the same way he did 15 or 20 years ago? What if he didn’t use any of the latest practices in his work? We would think such a doctor was outdated and couldn’t possibly serve us appropriately. When my husband and I were having all sorts of issues with my daughter and she didn’t seem to follow the textbook on a diagnosis, I was thrilled when my pediatrician (who is absolutely wonderful) told me that he spoke with a few of his colleagues about her case to try to see if there was anything he was missing. By using that same method in education, we can become even better teachers and take our students to the next level.
Subjects Matter
(Page 167) “We need to make the classroom a community, a place where students feel safe to take the risks involved in learning where they see it connected with their lives, and where they help and learn from one another instead of working only as isolated individuals.”
Daniels and Zemelman stress the importance of building community and having a rapport with kids in order to increase student achievement. We talked about this with Beers’ book last week. The authors have given lots of different examples of how to accomplish this in our classrooms. Rather than just writing about what the authors have shared, I’d like for you to share one or two things you do with your students to build community, so we can learn from each other. It may be something that’s included in the chapter, or it may be something completely different that we haven’t read about. Tell us what you do and how you think it makes a difference in your classroom!
(Page 167) “We need to make the classroom a community, a place where students feel safe to take the risks involved in learning where they see it connected with their lives, and where they help and learn from one another instead of working only as isolated individuals.”
Daniels and Zemelman stress the importance of building community and having a rapport with kids in order to increase student achievement. We talked about this with Beers’ book last week. The authors have given lots of different examples of how to accomplish this in our classrooms. Rather than just writing about what the authors have shared, I’d like for you to share one or two things you do with your students to build community, so we can learn from each other. It may be something that’s included in the chapter, or it may be something completely different that we haven’t read about. Tell us what you do and how you think it makes a difference in your classroom!
11 comments:
“Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents”
I agree with Diane. Airport is already on the right path for changing the way things are done. I think one of the keys is finding out what people are experts at and make sure that’s what they’re teaching. I spoke with LeKeisha Caulder today during common planning and was so intrigued by her passion for British literature (I wish I could audit her class; you know get all the instruction without having to do all the work). If we hadn’t been required to meet together, I probably would never have known what an expert she is. Another key is that not only are teachers given time to plan with each other, but that teachers have time to plan as individuals. I feel like my planning period is filled with counseling students, meeting with other teachers about students, grading papers, and all the extra “stuff “I have to do. I feel like I have very little time unless I use my personal time to truly plan for instruction. Without teachers being willing to change the way things are done, our educational system will continue to be outdated and not meet the needs of today’s high school students. Today’s students have to be able to work in teams in order to be effective in the workplace. If we don’t model that for them by coming out of our classrooms and sharing with each other what works for us, our students miss out. Plus we’re expecting something of them that we’re not willing to do ourselves.
Subjects Matter Chpt. 7
Building a community of learners is vital to student learning. At the beginning of the semester I make sure my students talk about who they are in front of the class for two or three minutes so they actually know the people they’re spending 90 minutes a day with. (I think it’s sad when seniors don’t know the people who walk across the stage at their graduation.) Certainly one of the first steps in building a community of learners is to make sure you know the names of the learners in your community. I also do many of the activities in the book, like sharing my own passion for reading, valuing students’ questions, conducting student interest surveys, providing class time for book clubs, etc. One thing that I don’t think this chapter mentioned was providing students with shared experiences through class assignments. I actually consider building that sense of community in the classroom is one of the things I do most effectively as a teacher. I believe that my students know my classroom is a safe place for them to ask questions and express their opinions. They know that I value them as learners and just as people. So many of them just want someone to listen to what they have to say without yelling at them or being critical. The dividends that building a community of learners pays are immeasurable. I believe one of those dividends is the fact that I don’t have any real problems with classroom management.
On page 170, Daniels and Zemelman list strategies for building communities in the classroom. After reading their list, I realized that already do quite a few of these things.
After reading Diane’s blog and the chapter, I thought I would share a few things that we do in my classroom to build a community. “The authors discuss sharing with your students your passion for reading about your subject and struggles.” (p.170)
My students know my passion for music and know that there are days when I struggle with my hands working “just right”, and they also know that I am not ashamed to ask Mr. Knight or anyone else for help or admit when I make a mistake.
We hold class meetings to discuss upcoming concerts, festivals, etc. We share with each other our honors and accomplishments, both in chorus and outside of my classroom.
We have sectional rehearsals, where sectional leaders teach the music and then report back to me their concerns of the music. We also use rubrics (for grading) to learn about our strengths and weaknesses, and we tape and video ourselves and critique ourselves to learn from our mistakes.
We expand our music outside of the classroom by having music with Shelley Hardin/Becky Pierces classes each week. This is a wonderful inclusion experience for both my students and theirs.
We also read about things, people, places that interest us. We are currently reading Fantasia’s story, we have read about Clay Aiken, we discuss American Idol, and other concert, musicians, and songs that interest us.
I try to encourage all of my students to become a family within my classroom. I tell them that there is no “I” in the word chorus, but rather “Us” is found in the word. We also extend our family to support the band and orchestra students.
Daniels and Zemelman talk “about a classroom becoming an effective learning group when it has certain features”. (p180). I believe that my classroom does have high positive expectations from the students and myself; we do share leadership; we have a strong sense of friendship, we do have flexibility; open communication between us; and we try to handle conflict constructively when it arises. My classroom truly has “my children” in it and they feel that I am their mother; therefore they call me Mama G.
Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents
I agree with what everyone has said to date! It is wonderful that ya’ll have the opportunity to collaborate every Wednesday. The PLC concept is compelling. Even though you do not see us during common planning, I would like to take this opportunity to invite members of the SCRI Study Group to collaborate with either media specialist!! We love to work with teachers and students and welcome the opportunity to teach DISCUS, United Streaming, general OPAC use, copyright compliance, etc.!
Building a Community of Learners
I agree with Lola’s comments about the importance of clubs and getting to know students and better understand their backgrounds. Without a doubt, one of the best activities coming out of the media center to date have been the political clubs that originated during the 2004 presidential election. Students were able to participate in active, authentic learning opportunities. For example, when the Airport High School Young Dems went to Inez Tenenbaum’s campaign headquarters in downtown Columbia and watched a live debate between both U.S. Senate candidates with USC students, our students absorbed every single minute of the telecast AND the comments made by Tenenbaum’s staffers and university students. It was a very magical teaching moment.
Another evening at Democratic Headquarters downtown, we made telephone calls to targeted neighborhoods to try and gauge whether the person was leaning toward DeMint or Tenenbaum. One of my club members confided that she might as well bypass her mother’s name since mom was a convicted felon and unable to vote.
The Young Dems also debated the Teenage Republicans in the media center and that too elicited a lot of comments from Airport High School students in the audience regarding the performance of the debaters as well as their preparedness. We all (teachers and students) learned so much from each other during the fall campaign of 2004!!
We also led a group of students through the NEFE (National Endowment for Financial Education) course Wednesdays during lunch. That was a very eye opening experience. When we went through the educator portion of this class, our facilitator mentioned she didn’t think students would confide personal information (about their family’s finances) to their teacher. That was not the case (at least for us). We were told about bankruptcies, phone calls from creditors, bounced checks, etc. I think students really wanted guidance about how to avoid these financial pitfalls, and they felt it was a “safe” community of learners in which to confide.
Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents - I was struck by the list of 12 guidelines of "interactive professionalism" towards the end of the article. Our common planning on Wednesday mornings touches on a lot of these if people would buy into working together - "commiting to working with colleagues" and "commit to continuous improvement and perpetual learning". I think one of the best concepts that I model for my students is a love for learning, especially reading and finding the answers to questions I don't know. I find those answers from my colleagues! I laughed when I read what Lola would teach, because I could so relate. March Madness, my favorite time of year is upon us. I have a true passion for college basketball. Once the brackets are announced on Sunday, feel free to ask me my opinion!!
Chapter 7 - Subject Matters- I can't imagine doing this job without building community in my classroom. I also believe that we are here to educate the whole adolescent, not just the one that sits in our room for ninety minutes. I love attending school events; it's a great way to get to know parents, too. I enjoy when my students come to my room early in the morning or at lunch. Sometimes they need help, but often they just want to talk or have a safe place to complete homework. Bottom line (that's for you Claire) is that students will work harder for teachers who care and build community and create a family atmosphere. Remember, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Rita 3/12/07
Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents
Out of the four core capacities for building greater change capacity, collaboration is the catalyst. I have greatly benefited from our delayed starts and the team meetings. It’s so much easier to make changes when you have fellow teachers to help inspire and encourage you along the way. I have learned so much more about technology through the help of fellow teachers.
I also enjoy listening to other teachers that teach some of the same students that I teach. I have an opportunity to learn more about my students and how they interact through out the day with others. This really helps me to relate to them on a more personal basis.
Chapter 7
Building a Community of Learners
I agree totally that school needs to be a place where kids feel some ownership and control. I tell my students my responsibility is to teach and their responsibility is to learn. I provide them opportunities to share with each other by working in groups. When there’s a problem that their group can not solve, they feel more confident to ask for help since they know they are not alone. Usually I will talk to one student and then he/she will explain the problem to the group. Just like the Geometry teacher on page 173, I also circulate around the room and watch students work. It’s amazing how many will ask questions and require assistant when you are next to them, but will not ask anything of me as I teach at the front of the class.
I have two Geometry Honors classes and I love to get them to compete with one another. I tell the two classes that the class with the higher nine weeks average will get a party. This really encourages them to help each other understand objectives and help keep each other on task with class work and homework. It always amazes me to see how competitive the two classes become through out the semester. It’s so true that an effective classroom must have an atmosphere of trust, friendship, and a sense of community.
Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents; Subjects Matter: Chapter 7
Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents
(Page 3) “Mastery involves strong initial teacher education and career-long staff development…There is a ceiling effect to how much we can learn if we keep it to ourselves.”
Like so many of the other posts, I found this article repeatedly hit on the reason many of us SHOULD have entered teaching- to make a difference in the lives of our students. However, far too many times you see a young teacher getting discouraged by many of the realities that weren’t taught in graduate school that Fullan refers to as “the inevitable difficulties of teaching”. But as was mentioned in the article, personal vision comes from within.
The heart of the article speaks so much of what we are trying to do here at Airport, be change-agents. I agree with Lola’s teaching that that which we create we are likely to support. At Airport I think the common planning on Wednesday is really giving teachers an opportunity to be change-agents. As teachers are given more opportunities to collaborate we are actually impacting policies and like Christy said who better to do that than the teachers in the classroom. I agreed with one of the closing statements of the article that what gives teachers’ roles within schools less importance is the absence of leadership opportunities on the part of teachers. Fortunately for us, we have many of our cohorts embracing the leadership opportunities here at Airport High School indeed becoming change agents.
Subjects Matter
(Page 167) “We need to make the classroom a community, a place where students feel safe to take the risks involved in learning where they see it connected with their lives, and where they help and learn from one another instead of working only as isolated individuals.”
Imagine that? We are reading yet again about building a community within our classroom. I agree with Pam’s assertion that it would be impossible to teach if the students didn’t feel that you had established that you care about them as individuals. I also think (as someone else mentioned) that if the students realize that you know things about them as a person that they will perform better because they realize that they are not a number to you or a seat on a seating chart but a person you value. As chaper 7 began the research study done at the University of Chicago proving that classrooms providing high social support achieved one-year gains that other classes did not. This research is also information that has been emphasized by the National Board Certification for several years and if you’ve been in any successful teacher’s classroom you will notice that a community of learners has been well-built.
I also think that when students find what is being taught in class is connected to their lives then they find additional reasons to do well. The examples that were given of teachers bringing their own research papers in to show their students as well as providing the students an opportunity to reflect on their own work. I think one of the easiest ways to help your students find relevancy is to also share your own experiences. It is a good thing for students to see that we are not perfect and that we care about them as individuals not just their grades. Another way to build a class community is to give students responsibility within the classroom. I had a student named, Quincy, who was a behavior problem in my homeroom. I paired him with, Fred, one of special education students whose mom refused to sign him into special education program despite the fact that he could not read. I put him in charge of taking Fred out to the lockers during homeroom and getting the first two books that Fred would need and then seeing to it that he made it to the right classes until he learned his schedule. I also asked Quincy, who was already a varsity football player as a Freshman, to see to it that nobody picked on Fred. Quincy never gave me a moment’s trouble after that and Fred learned his schedule although he never did master the combination lock. One morning I noticed that both students had not returned to homeroom and opened my door to find Quincy with another student pinned to the wall telling him not to pick on Fred ever again. I just knew as a new teacher that that would be the end for me as I got Quincy to let the student off of the wall. But I also knew that I had built a community in my classroom and they formed an odd friendship that endured throughout high school. Even though it was only homeroom, many of those students ended up in my classes and each already had the idea that I cared which made my job much easier every day.
Why Teachers must become change agents -
Diane has a great point and I am very happy that I am a part of a school that values improvement through many different avenues. I love that I have had so many professional development opportunities (because you don’t learn everything in college) and that I have such great colleagues that are willing to assist me.
Subjects Matter -
Pg. 168 “It may seem like the simplest truism to say that all learning takes place in a context that colors everything taking place. But it’s a major issue that must be factored into every teaching activity we plan: whatever strategies we try to teach, they won’t work if kids are turned off to school, or are just passively waiting for the teacher to give them the answers. School needs to be a place where kids feel some ownership and control, where they take responsibility and learn how to help one another and why it’s important to do so, and where they inquire into the big questions that matter to them. Otherwise, even when we teach strategies to help students deepen their understanding, they will only learn them mechanically, not recognizing when or why such strategies are needed. ”
This statement defines how I feel quite often when I leave school at the end of the day. I always stress myself out over students who are not doing well, not necessarily because they can’t do it, because they are choosing not to or waiting for me to spoon feed them the answers. I get frustrated when I ask a class to do something or ask them a question and they stare at me like deer in headlights. They become silent and unwilling to answer or even try to answer. I have to coax it out of them and it usually ends up being the same couple of people who answer. I am constantly trying to come up with ways that my students can feel comfortable in the classroom. One of the suggestions in this chapter is having students help one another or work in groups. I have found that it is very hit or miss with my students and I even try to adjust how I do groups as well as the independent work.
I completely agree with Pam’s response! I love having my students all year and really getting to know them as a person and allowing them to get to know one another. I think it is important to take a few minutes every once in a while to have a good laugh or good conversation that the whole class is a part of – even if does not relate to the content. Sometimes I have a student tell me a quick story or ask me a question and it turns into everyone being interested. I think the more the students realize they are similar (in some way) to the person they are sitting next to, the more comfortable they will feel.
3/12/2007
I loved what I read in Chapter 7 from Subject Matters. I think it is so important to build a community of learners in our classrooms. I want the students to feel comfortable in the class so that they will share their ideas with me. In order to build a community of learners, I do several things mentioned in the chapter and I also got several new ideas. Some of the things I do in the classroom include developing jobs for my students. The students have certain roles when we read a novel together. One day, a student might be the illustrator and another day they might be the word wizard. I also share with my students how I struggle as a reader or writer. Just last week, the students were working on spelling. I told my students that there are several times that I have to look up a word or check my spelling. I told them that I never won the spelling bee in school. This made them feel more comfortable and we were able to complete an assignment. I also reminded them of the no putdown rule. If students feel like they can’t share because someone will laugh at them, they will not speak up. I also have students help me with the classroom rules at the beginning of each school year. After telling them that the rules must respect others, they seem to come up with the same rules that I would. However, they feel like they helped build the community and they feel important. When we expect a high expectation from our students, leadership is shared throughout the classroom, there is a strong sense of friendship within the classroom, and communication flows easily, and then the classroom becomes and effective learning group.
Why Teachers Must Become...
As an agent of moral change I have had to make decisions about exactly when and why I go to guidance about a student. There's a delicate balance between students feeling safe enough to confide in us or their feeling betrayed when they learn we have referred their problems. Two years ago a female student told me that her mom wanted to kick her out of the house. I referred her to guidance, and her counselor told her mother so she couldn't kick her daughter out because she was under 17. Not long after that this student told me that her mom wanted her out of the house so her boyfriend could move in. She said her mom's boyfriend made her uncomfortable and that she was worried about her younger sister, too. I sent her to guidance again, and although I knew I was doing the right thing, I worried that she might feel betrayed by another adult. One day she didn't come to school, then a week passed, and she still didn't return. I went to guidance. I learned that she had been referred to protective custody, then I heard that she'd moved to Florida. I thought I'd never know what happened to her, and this bothered me. Last Thursday she knocked on my classroom door. She said she had come back because her mother was in jail facing robbery charges. She said she wanted to let me know she was happy, she has a job, and she's expecting a baby. I've taught roughly 150 students a year for seven years, and this one came back.
Chapter 7 Building a Community of Learners
Our professional community has made a difference in the school atmosphere, but this April has been difficult as far as safety in schools. I realize that our mission is to educate the community, but there's still a gap in communication between parents and teachers. What do schools do to get parents of teenagers involved?
I think so many teachers enter into teaching to become a change agent, but often get inundated with so much going on that they settle into routines that does not allow that of them. I also agreed that Airport High is definitely working on changing how things are done here. I think so much of that is owed to Mr. Jovanelly and his dedication to student’s success, but also to our faculty for taking on the task of being willing to change. Through interdepartmental meetings, grade level meetings and meetings with other teachers in different departments to develop strategies we are able to best meet the needs of our population. The Late Start that we have been allowed to do over the past couple years and has truly been an asset to our group planning has greatly impacted this. The freshman program also is a very unique program that I truly believe will have a very positive impact on students.
I guess with such a small group of students and staff that I have always felt like my classroom really has always been its very own little community. I think most of my students feel that way too and feel like they are in a family type setting. This really does give them the freedom to be completely open and comfortable to work with each other and learn from each other.
Although Fullan’s article is fourteen years old, the call for change is still needed. This demonstrates how slowly educational research affects real life in schools, if it affects it at all. It is true that more teachers fit here today than five years ago, and even more than ten years ago. Changing the culture of a school is difficult and takes courage and patience. Airport High School’s effort to become a professional learning community illustrates this fact.
Good teachers willing to change must believe that they can make a difference in students’ lives and must be willing to invest the effort to do so. The discussion of inquiry and mastery describes the results process. Collaboration is essential to a professional learning community. The movement of schools towards professional learning communities came out of schools, not out of schools of education.
“Currently, teacher education . . . is not geared toward continuous learning.” Is this true fourteen years later?
While teacher leadership and professionalism are important, the leadership of the principal is critical. A leader of an organization must lead the change in that organization. In a school that can only be the principal. I agree that we are fortunate to have a principal who is a true instructional leader and who has the vision and patience to lead us toward a PLC.
Daniels’ and Zemelman’s chapter on “Building a Community of Learners” describes what is necessary to create a classroom in which students feel safe to take the risks necessary to learn. Building trust is critical. Students must trust the teacher and each other. Students know that they are in school to learn. Teachers communicate that they do not care whether students learn in many ways. They need to make sure they communicate that they believe all students can and will learn. Our question, “What will I do if they don’t learn it?” contributes to the communication of that belief. Pam has already used my favorite quote: “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
I’m so glad that so many of you expressed your belief that we are on the road to becoming a PLC and that it’s the right road. I really enjoyed reading the various ways you create community in your classrooms. I miss having my own classroom.
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