Why Every At-Promise Student Needs College ReadinessAn Interview with Dr. Dan Lopez, President of TurnAround SchoolsBy Alex Kajitani
At the middle school where I teach, it is statistically assumed that only half of our students will go on to complete high school. Similar to many schools in high-poverty, mostly Hispanic/Latino neighborhoods, this often puts us, as teachers of at-promise students, at philosophical odds. Do we:
A) Focus mainly on the 50% who will go on to finish high school (with a significantly lower percentage of that group (hopefully) going to college)?
B) Focus on basic academic skills, so our students will have the minimum skills necessary to survive?
C) Focus on character education, so they’ll at least be nice people?
The answer:
D) None of the above. |
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Visibility is EverythingHow to Increase Your Powerful Presence in the Classroom By Seeming Like You’re Everywhere All At Once*Or: How a Broken Window Changed My Teaching Forever.By Alex KajitaniAs a new teacher, I really struggled. All the typical “new teacher” clichés applied – students constantly off-task, I shouted more “be quiet or else” warnings than I had time to enforce, and I left each day feeling disrespected and, above all, that my at-promise students hadn’t learned anything that day. I’d excelled in all of my teaching theory classes in my credential program, and had been a pretty decent student teacher. But now, on my own in a real classroom, I was sinking. Then one day, my dad gave me a book that had seemingly nothing to do with teaching. And yet, it changed my teaching forever. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, outlined the work of two sociologists, James Wilson and George Kelling, and their “Broken Windows Theory.” |
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Please Stop Thinking!Four Things Teachers Say that Sabotage LearningBy Alex Kajitani
As teachers, we always keep an eye out for the “teachable moment.” Those unexpected twists and turns (usually student-provoked) in our daily routine that allow us to grab hold of a question, comment or mistake and spark in our students knowledge that is real-time and interesting. We’re also taught to ask questions that are thought-provoking and lead to “higher-level” conversations. As teachers of at-promise students, we know that the teachable moment is often the most powerful, memorable part of our day.
However, often below our consciousness are words, phrases and instructions that do the exact opposite. Instead of invoking thinking, they actually sabotage it. Below are four of these phrases (as spoken by the teacher), how they are perceived (as heard by the students), and a few alternatives that will keep your classes on-track, on-target and ready for the next truly teachable moment.
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A First Look at the Common Core and College and Career Readiness |
By ACT, 2010
The Common Core State Standards Initiative represents one of the most significant reforms to U.S. education in recent history. The efforts
of 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have—for the first time—given consensus to educators on the essential knowledge and skills necessary for the college and career readiness of our nation’s students.
As of October 2010, 41 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards. |
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Getting Good Quick: Effective Support of Teachers Who Are New to Working with At-Promise LearnersBy Sarah Miller
We’ve all had our first year of teaching, or maybe you’re in yours now. It’s hard. It’s long. It’s unlike anything else you’ve done. It’s isolating. It’s a year your social-worker friends or architect parents or engineer schoolmates will never really understand. The people who know you will never know your work and the struggles it brings, the emotional and psychological tax it will levy. And in your first year, this work (lifestyle, really) will encompass so much of your personality and definition of self.
In this year, it is vital that schools take the responsibility of enabling quick, effective professional development and new kinds of supports for teachers new to this work. To be sure, even if your staff is not made up of all “new” teachers, seasoned professionals who have not worked with this particular population experience the same growing pains as first-year teachers. For the academic success of students and for the sustainability of these teachers, we need to facilitate effective support. It’s a matter of urgency.
As a new school leader, I have noticed the urgent need to quality teacher support, and I have had a lot of help from supervisors and consultants in figuring out what to try at our school. What I’ve learned about supporting new teachers is what follows.
Effective new-teacher support must cover two arenas: social emotional well-being and professional development. |
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