Mainely Middle
Journal of the Maine Association for Middle
Level Education
|
|
|
|
2003/2004 |
Teacher Retention. How This Teacher MADE Her Way!In order to address the issue of teacher retention, we must first look at the reason people choose to pursue a career in education to begin with. Being an idealist, I prefer to think that most people choose to teach because of a great desire to make a difference in a child's life, to see the spark of interest that is ignited when new learning is discovered, to see students aspire to and achieve greatness because of the workings of their own minds. As a senior in high school, making that all important college choice, I gave no consideration to "spending school vacations with my children" and no one misled me with the hope of making it rich in the lucrative field of public academia. So, if life is as rosy as I believe it to be and we selfless souls have chosen to teach for the shear love of it, what is happening to that love that drives so many away? Is teaching like a marriage, you sign up for the good, the bad and the ugly? For poor and even poorer? Do you stay with that pie-in-the-sky dream no matter what, or run for the hills when something seemingly better comes along? Is the reality of a career in public education really that bad? Does it have to be? What can one person do to change it? I was extremely lucky to fall into a position as an eighth grade math teacher on a traditional three-person team. We were departmentalized except for the fact that myself and another team member shared the responsibilities for the social studies curriculum. My teammates were two wonderful women who had each been at the school for about ten years. I would categorize our team and our structure as very traditional. It was not unlike my own middle school experience. In this sense, it was easy to know what to expect. What was not so easy to anticipate, were the number and variety of issues I would face in this first year of teaching. Where did the daily attendance slip go? How do I record lunch count? What else should I be doing in homeroom? Why did they have to come back to homeroom before going to lunch? Why did they have to come back again after lunch? How do I fill out these report cards? Where's the IEP? When's the PET? And what's a weekly monitor sheet and why do I have to write down the same late homework assignments on this thing EVERY week? By the way, who reads it? Who was going to support me??? By the end of the first quarter, the Special Education Director had thoroughly chewed me out in front of my team mates. On the off chance that I had a glimmer of hope left or an ounce of self-respect, that was now gone! I was a complete failure. And to further cement that point, as Parent-Teacher Conferences rolled around in November, one severely upset couple came in with their child's report card in hand and the child in tow, demanding to know why their child received such a poor grade and why had I not let them know before they got the report card that their honor-roll student was slacking off! In my own sad defense, I explained that the student was well aware of his status and impending grade. In fact, he had been given several opportunities to improve it. But, apparently, this was all my responsibility &endash; another one of those minor details no one had bothered to share with me! You see, being the naive idealist that I was way back then, I assumed that the purpose of quarterly report cards and mid-quarter progress reports was to communicate these things with the home. Evidently, I was legally bound to fill out weekly monitor sheets for all students with an IEP and then personally call home with weekly progress data for all others. My idealist view of education was quickly fading. What had happened to rigorous, challenging academics? Meaningful, personalized assessment? Higher level thinking instead of multiple-choice (easy to correct) assignments? Who has time for anything but photocopied worksheets with right or wrong answers in a straight column? If it took more than a day to correct I'd never get it on the monitor sheets! To complicate matters more, my three-year-old daughter and fifteen-month-old son were now spending more time with Nana than with Mama. On the up side, I was lucky enough to have the nana option available. On the down side, I was a horrible teacher, as well as a horrible, tired mother. By Christmas Vacation, I was wondering what I was going to do. I could finish out the year and forget about this thankless profession and salvage my reputation as a good mother. Or I could stay put and work toward a cushy Maine State Retirement and hope to redeem myself as a good grandmother! Whatever the choice would be, I had to survive until June! I needed help! Help came in the form of a class at the University of Maine called "Teaching in Middle/Junior High School." All these crazy teachers, mostly much older than myself, talking about advisories, thematic units, authentic assessment, and team planning time. Where did THEY work? I was just trying to survive! All of a sudden I was contemplating advisory; "challenging, integrative and exploratory" curriculum; assessment and evaluation (as if there were a difference); and the notion of developmentally responsive practices in general. Suddenly it all made sense: my kindergarten teacher who wore her clothes backwards and dressed like superwoman to teach a new concept; my middle school OM teacher who challenged us to think outside the box and be creative; the high school chemistry teacher who picked up on my desire to learn and encouraged me to lead the class (did he know that I had dropped the class after first quarter the year before?). In each of these cases, my teacher engaged me! Now, how could I apply this to my own classroom. By the end of my first year of teaching, I was beginning to contemplate what my ideal teaching situation would be. And low and behold, do you know that VERY little of what I identified as essential to quality learning was subject specific! A relationship between teacher and students in which THEY feel respected; an opportunity to learn new concepts in a variety of ways (multiple intelligences); an opportunity to show evidence of new learning in a variety of ways (varied assessment); and a learning environment that meets their many and varied needs (Maslow's hierarchy of needs). In short, Flexibility!!! I sought out the knowledge and experience of another teacher in the middle school whom I respected for her innovative style and enthusiasm. We talked at length about what we each considered an "ideal" teaching situation and the possibility of making that ideal a reality. As we continued to talk (and dream) a plan began to form. As we started to extend our discussions to the larger school community, fellow teachers, the principal, and the Middle School Design Committee, we learned that while there was a flicker of interest, there was also a twinge of doubt. We did our homework. We put together a proposal addressing Maine's Learning Results and specifically incorporating each of the Eight Key Carnegie Recommendations and our own Middle School Design Plan! We took our plan to the School Board and gained favorable support. I was beginning to have hope again! During my second year, my new partner and I along with another teacher taught seventh grade together. We did it all. Our students did daily and weekly evaluations from developing goals to citing specific evidence of achievement; we had group exploratory twice a week where we worked on a new skill or explored concepts from a different perspective; we piloted student-led conferences; and we worked as a team to develop and execute thematic units. But, we were "doing it all" separately. We each had our own room and our own area of the curriculum. What I did with my group during exploratory was different than what the others did. Some people (students and parents alike) saw this as unfair. Why did some groups get to build and race sailboats made out of mouse traps while others had to sit in a study hall? From a teaching perspective, I had a great year. But what did I have as a basis for comparison? The real key this year was my teammate. We planned units together and made a concerted effort to carry out those plans in tandem. We put in countless hours gathering and processing information about HOW to do student-led conferences. Which model worked best for us? We planned activities for our exploratory times. We read and commented on each student's self-evaluation. And when things seemed to feel overwhelming, there was someone else to bounce things off of &endash; How can we tweak this to make it more manageable? Are we getting the results we desire? What is the next step? Are we doing what we said we would do? A lot of reflection took place during that year. By the end of the year, it was clear that our three-person team lacked a common vision, but as a two-person team we were perfectly in sync. Our incompatibility was sensed by others around us and another proposal was made! The three eighth grade teachers proposed a four-person/four-subject team following the traditional model while my teammate and I would become a two-person team teaching "our program." Again, we tweaked this plan and made it a proposal for a two-person seven/eight multiage program in one classroom (we would knock out the wall between our rooms). And again, the school board supported our plan! To their credit, they were meticulous in assuring that we had all of the components in place necessary to make this program work. The actual execution was now up to us. Thus, during my third year of teaching middle school, I found myself in a self-contained multiage classroom with a full-time team teacher! We begin each day with a class meeting, group goals, and a forum for agenda items. Prior to morning meeting, we check in and make contact with our students. We integrate all of our subjects, with the slight exception of math since some of our students leave for higher level math classes. We do a great deal of cooperative group work and mixed-ability grouping. We intentionally try to assure that every group has a seventh and eighth grade student. Due to the innate desire to impress their peers, our seventh graders continue to impress us as well! We also follow an inclusion model for special education with all students receiving services with the aid of an Ed. Tech in our classroom full-time. We make modifications and provide support to our students in conjunction with the Special Education teacher assigned to our students. This is now my fourth year as a public school teacher! I continue to teach within a self-contained multiage classroom. The benefits to this setup are enormous and I can't imagine a better situation for my students, or myself. We have huge blocks of time to work together on projects. We can recognize if a trend begins to develop and work begins to slack off. Once an issue is identified, we are able to work toward a solution more quickly. We plan our lessons based on a theme and consciously work toward varied approaches and assessments. Our math classes (pre-algebra and general math with a mixture of seventh and eighth graders in each) are taught simultaneously on opposite sides of the room, but with each class working with the same overarching concept. Often we introduce a new concept to the whole group and work together on lab activities to investigate the possibilities. When it comes time to apply the mathematical formula and manipulate variables, we break back into our groups. This ability-grouped model is not our preferred method, but we are doing our best within the constraints we are given! We pre-assess each student for mathematical aptitude and logical reasoning to try to ensure proper placement. From a teacher perspective, I no longer plan for three different levels of math and a social studies class every day. I am now able to integrate my exploratory activities with my science labs to enhance student learning and enthusiasm. Record keeping has become more manageable as I only have forty-two students to keep track of. My partner and I have more time to keep in touch with parents, either by phone, written memos, or e-mail. We even maintain a classroom web site with upcoming events and assignments and links to helpful resources. I have direct access to an Ed. Tech who works with us during planning time to best meet the needs of all students in our classroom, we no longer need monitor sheets. I am a valued member of a team. My opinion is sought and respected, even if it isn't always agreed with! I look forward to seeing my students every day. Losing my eighth graders is difficult after working with them for two years and building a relationship! This is the ideal situation I had hoped for and dreamt about three years ago. In my quest to gain greater understanding of middle level students and best teaching practices in middle level education, I took enough classes to obtain a Master's Degree in Middle Level Education. Through this professional development I have met pioneers in the field, debated with leaders who have "walked the walk," and learned from those who work every day to advance the state of middle level education. Through them I have found the justification to do what I know is best for myself and for my students. Without these experiences I honestly believe that I would presently be in search of a new profession.
|