Week 14 Part IV: Schmoker Quotes

Quote:

“You can walk into any school system large and small, and ask to see samples of work that’s proficient from 5 different 4^th grade classrooms.  You’ll get five radically different qualities of work.”

 In m school system, it wasn’t until this past month that we made a curriculum for health class.  In the past, the teacher will just pick whatever topics they think is suitable for the student.  We would have to pick the subjects from the textbook, but we were able to pick whatever we wanted.  Everything was all over the place.  Finally, we got a new phys. ed supervisor and she stepped in and made a set curriculum.

 If I was the supervisor, and the curriculum was all over the place in the given subject, then it would be my job to fix it.  It is not fair to the students to not be on the same page and it’s luck of the draw to what they are learning.  The first change I would do is deciding what to make the curriculum.  I’d put together a curriculum team and meet with them as weekly for however long it takes to create the proper curriculum.  Next, I would go from school to school all over the district and explain the new curriculum.  After meeting with the schools, I would then take their feedback and see if I can make any last second changes to the curriculum.  Finally, each school will take a role in creating the criteria for the units, mid-term, and final exam.  The lesson plans can be made by the individual teacher, this will allow the teacher to be creative in their own way.  After the curriculum is installed, I’ll do “pop-ins,” (even though I know I will be hated by the teachers for it) and make sure everyone is up to par.  

 

Quote:  Chap. 1 “The Buffer” pg 13

“The buffer prevents communities and school boards from knowing what or how well teachers teach, and from knowing how well (or if at all) leaders supervise instruction.  In turn, building principals know very little about what teachers teach, or how well they teach.”

I love this quote because my district defines it.   The district is so big that so many teachers are able to hide behind the buffer and never get critiqued correctly.  This happened to me for instance.  My first three years teaching, I did not get observed once by my supervisor, and these were my tenured years.  He had no idea how I taught and how good I was.  I could have taught my students the same thing everyday and he would have never known it.  I was teaching phys ed in two different elementary schools and only got observed by one building principal.  She always gave me great evaluations just based on class control and involvement.  She wasn’t of a phys ed background so she didn’t know if I was teaching the correct curriculum or not.

If I was the supervisor, I would try not to let teachers go behind the buffer.  I think laziness and scared of telling the truth causes teachers to teacher with a buffer.  If a teacher is new then I think constructive criticism is the best way thing for their practice.  I would tell them what they need to improve on and then give suggestions.  I would observe them and then also call or send emails to see how they are doing.  With the tenured teachers, I would also try and do the same even though I know they will not like to be criticized.  Every teacher always need to get better, the ones who think they don’t need to change are the ones who need the most changing. 

 

Quote:  Chap. 6  pg. 64 “the miraculous power of writing”

“Writing allows writers to “contemplate thought… until it becomes the best thinking of what they are capable.”

As a supervisor, I would definitely add writing into the curriculum.  This is where the students can really share what they know, and most importantly, want to know about what they read.  They shouldn’t just have to summarize though in their writings, they should have to argue whether they agree or disagree with the information.  This will open up the students mind and really make them think about things. 

To make sure the teacher is following this part of the curriculum, I would ask them to keep a teacher portfolio, a student portfolio, and would want to see students’ work hung up all around the classroom.  The students love seeing their work rewarded and it will be an extra motivator for them to good on the writing assignment. 

 

 Quote:  Ch 9  pg 137 “Teaching Evaluation: nowhere to go but up”

“Teaching, despite its decisive and enduring impact on student learning, isn’t meaningfully monitored or evaluated (Tucker & Stronge, 2005; Marshall, 2005).”

 Administrators need to take a better role in evaluating.  So many teachers in my district become tenured because they fall under the radar when principals or supervisors do not do their correct job.  Then these teachers receive tenure and the district is stuck with them.  Also, it is very clear in my district, once your tenured, you are not going to get a bad observation.  Just like Schmoker says, administrators are scared of criticizing tenured teachers and making them change their teaching styles.

 As supervisor, while observing, you got to go in with the state of mind that you are not their friend and should not be afraid to give a bad observation.  It’s only fair to the students to do this.  Tenured or not, teachers need to know what they are doing wrong and where they can improve.  If they are doing a good job, state that, but also make sure that will every observation you state something they can work on.  Although, by doing that, make sure you remember it so next time you observe them, they are improving in that area.