Dreaming Big
I was a frustrated would-be teacher leader six years ago. My fellow middle school science teachers were in a bad way. Our district had a high level of turnover and weak support for new teachers. A number of experienced teachers were scattered around the system, but they did not widely share their expertise.
One day I got a call from Eileen Engel, then director of education at the Chabot Space and Science Center, who invited us to imagine what we would do with a small grant. We dreamed big. We imagined that a dedicated group of teachers could create a coherent curriculum and share it with our peers.
I wrote at the time:Our creative teachers have a tremendous amount to learn from and to teach one another. We want an ongoing process that recognizes this collaborative process as central to our growth as teachers and makes teacher leadership not only possible, but expected.
We imagined creating a community of teachers and sharing the wealth of knowledge among us. We were able to realize what we imagined through a project we called Curriculum In Focus (CIF). Over time, “thinking big” gave us access to other district grant funds aimed at improving science education. We even got money to purchase materials for the activities included in our new curriculum.
We divided into three teams, one for each middle grade level. The teams went beyond the textbook to find and describe excellent activities. They shared their plans and techniques in workshops for their peers and developed sophisticated strategies to integrate math and literacy and to address student misconceptions in physical science. We kept the process open, and we had other teachers step forward, including novices who had their own valuable lessons to share.
The most gratifying outcome was the feedback from our peers. At the end of the year, a survey revealed that our project had a big influence on some teachers. One teacher said the project “allowed me to increase my hands-on classroom activities by 50 percent.” A novice teacher wrote, “It has essentially guided me through my first years of teaching. Without the CIF curriculum and support from CIF leadership, I would not be teaching now.”
We sustained this teacher-led effort for three school years. By the end of the 2003–04 school year, funding dried up and the project ended. The curriculum we created is still in use, however, and one of our CIF leaders is now in charge of secondary science professional development for the district, where he is developing some exciting new plans for teacher leadership.
—Anthony Cody, Consulting Teacher with Peer Assistance and Review, Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, California
Of Teachers, By Teachers, For Teachers
“You want us to do what?”
“We can't do that!”
“Is it a requirement?”
“No, no, no, no. Not me!”
Eight years ago, I heard these all-too-familiar questions and pleas from my colleagues, the teacher “students” in my Teacher as Leader classes. They were reacting to those sections of my syllabus that mentioned conference planning, practice, and presentation. These teachers comfortably and confidently stood before their elementary and secondary school students each day. Each day, they planned, they practiced, and they presented. But doing so in teacher leadership classes was different, and the prospect was challenging.
I had recognized that many of the teachers in previous Teacher as Leader courses were risk takers and initiators. They welcomed hard thinking and tough questions, but in my course, they merely studied leadership without experiencing it. The course needed restructuring, so I started a conference “Of Teachers, By Teachers, For Teachers.”
I did not invite outside experts or dictate a focus for the conference. Each group of presenters selected a topic important to the professional development of their district colleagues. Each group read, discussed, designed, reflected, redesigned, and rehearsed. The preparation culminated in an afternoon of presentations to their classmates, as well as other teachers in the district who attended.
The conference was a success, and the tradition has continued as new Teacher as Leader students accept the challenge of putting on their own conference. In March 2007, the eighth annual “Of Teachers, By Teachers, For Teachers” conference drew its largest audience. The presenters' expertise and energy are no longer hidden. The teachers who attend see their colleagues in a new light and are challenged and inspired by them. We are growing teacher leaders.
—Lorraine Bedy, Instructor, West Genesee/Syracuse University Teaching Center
Saturday Service
Schools have long struggled with whether to suspend students. Out-of-school suspension gives students a day off from school, and in-school suspension programs still require students to miss class.
With the support of Principal Mark Mattle, I sought to solve some of these problems through an alternative discipline program for our rural western New York school district. Students who are disciplined for lesser suspendable offenses, such as repeated tardiness, horseplay, skipping class, or missing a detention, are now assigned their suspensions on Mondays, but they are given the option of participating in a structured community service program on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. Instead of taking a day of suspension, community service participants can return to school on Monday without any loss of instructional time.
Projects have included washing ambulances and fire trucks, raking lawns, and cleaning the school. The program has been well received and supported. When parents who complain that suspension gives their children a vacation from school, we can now suggest that they make sure their child comes on Saturday instead.
A side benefit has been that students have begun to take ownership and police themselves. One student who helped paint the locker room noticed that someone had thrown some trash in the corner, and he reprimanded his physical education class himself. Successful discipline requires teaching and learning, and the Saturday program forces students to pay for breaking school rules while they give back to the school or community.
The Saturday program has succeeded largely because the principal inspired leadership in a teacher. Instead of building roadblocks, he paved a path. Since the program's inception, the number of disciplinary infractions has come down. The program also saves the district more than 150 suspensions a year! The remarks of a mother and her daughter summed up the experience best: The mom said that she loved the program, whereas the daughter said she was not going to skip class again! Exactly the response we were looking for.
—Shawn Bielicki, School-to-Work Program Coordinator/Business Teacher, Keshequa Central Schools, Nunda, New York
Critical Friends
One of the highlights of the process of becoming a National Board-certified teacher (NBCT) in 2003–04 was being part of my first truly professional learning community. Using an array of learning evidence, such as student work samples and videos of classroom teaching, our diverse team of eight NBCT candidates looked reflectively and analytically at our own and one anothers' practices. This was such a profound experience that I wanted to offer my colleagues a similar opportunity.
At a spring 2005 Washington State NBCT Leadership Conference, I was introduced to Critical Friends Groups. These groups provide ongoing, authentic professional development that helps teachers reflect on and analyze their teaching and offer collegial support in a safe collaborative group.
Returning to my middle school, I presented the Critical Friends rationale to my principal and district director of learning. I requested support to attend a summer training institute. I was able to bring a Critical Friends Group to my school because both the building leader and the district director of learning shared my vision. Although I envisioned working with my building's 30-plus teachers, the director of learning promoted the idea of expanding the training opportunity to educators from each of our four schools.
By fall 2005, the vision had expanded so much that our district hosted an area Critical Friends Group training institute. Four of our administrators (including our superintendent) and nine teacher leaders have completed the beginning coaches training. Today, across our district, Critical Friends is our common collaboration model. As I facilitate one of our building's groups, I see teachers being inspired to share their learning in a trusting team. All of us are becoming more effective practitioners for all our learners.
—Linda St. Clair, Art Educator, Lakeside Middle School, Nine Mile Falls, Washington
Shining a Spotlight on Invisible Students
Many years ago, I had the privilege of working with a group of empowered teachers to create an innovative high school education program for at-risk youth—the Cross Annex in New Haven, Connecticut. Through these teachers' individual and collective efforts, students previously invisible in the school system were able to graduate from high school and become contributing members in their communities.
The Cross Annex offered interdisciplinary, team-taught curriculums in a block schedule to 150 students who might otherwise have become dropouts. Anchored by a common desire to make a difference in their students' lives, the faculty—eight teachers and one administrator—worked to develop learning experiences that nurtured students' multiple intelligences and to create the program's purpose, policies, and practices through consensus.
Teachers started their teaching day at 8 a.m. with a 40-minute advisory and ended at 1:45 p.m. with an 80-minute elective in their area of certification. Their prep period began when students' academic day was over. During the middle of the day, they cotaught a three-hour, interdisciplinary course.
Students were typically young and troubled, skilled at being anonymous at school and home. Most students had undiagnosed special needs and were disconnected from academic learning. Conventional approaches failed to engage them. For that reason, faculty had substantial freedom to experiment and create curriculums that their students found more involving.
Collaboration was central to the school's philosophy. Faculty believed students needed practice working with others because it was an essential workplace skill. Having two adults in the interdisciplinary classroom made learning more dynamic for the students. In cases where faculty members had difficulty coteaching, students could see how adults constructively worked out their differences.
All decisions that affected the Annex's education program were made by staff consensus. The school administrator facilitated discussions on education issues, and policies or practices were only adopted when they had full faculty consent.
The school's success was immediate. Eight weeks after its inception, the New England Association of Colleges and Schools commended the staff for creating an education program that worked well with at-risk students. And the staff continued to build upon its success. Since 1996, Annex students have yearly represented 10-15 percent of its parent high school's graduation class.
Now in its 12th year, the Annex remains a viable education program for at-risk students. The founding faculty's commitment to creating a more personalized learning environment continues with a new generation of teachers who are committed to supporting their students' social, emotional, and academic development.
—Michael Brownstein, National Director of Academics and Programs, Year Up, Boston, Massachusetts
Differentiation Makes the Difference
When I was first introduced to differentiated instruction at a mandated training session, I walked away wondering how I would ever use differentiated instruction in my classroom. Was it just another trick or add-on activity?
I went on a personal mission to determine what was so special about differentiated instruction. I approached my principal and requested funding to attend a one-day Professional Educators of Georgia conference on differentiated instruction. He agreed to send me and my collaborative partner to the conference. This conference clarified the meaning of differentiated instruction and sparked my interest in learning more. My principal requested that my teaching partner and I attend a one-week institute on academic diversity at the University of Virginia. I now know how differentiated instruction can help me reach and teach everyone in my classroom, from the student with Asperger's syndrome to the student who is being tested for giftedness.
This year, I have attended another conference on differentiated instruction and cotaught a session on differentiated instruction during a teacher inservice day at my school. In addition, I am a member of the school system's Differentiated Instruction Implementation Team and have cotaught a professional learning course on differentiated instruction.
I want to share my new knowledge about differentiation with others to foster change in more than just my own classroom. I continue to learn about differentiated instruction by attending conferences and reading about it. I hope to equip teachers with the knowledge, time, feedback, and support to implement differentiated instruction to improve learning for all students in my school and county.
—Nicole Page, Warner Robins High School, Warner Robins, Georgia
