Could Someone Inform me What Makes a "Real" Educator?

Ed Reform... Public Education is failing. Do people disagree with that? We need good teachers in classrooms, any arguments there?  As a democracy it is vital that we have a public schools to educate our population. There are schools all over the country, public, public-charter, charter... that are having success. 

I think one of the things that no one anticipated with NCLB was this idea of stress and pressure. I have seen really wonderful principal forced to move into failing school, and fired after not being able to turn it around in two years. I see teachers and principals feeling stressed looking at students formal benchmark assessments leading up to state exams. I see students performing well below grade level, continuing to be passed on, and budgets being cut to prevent students from receiving the academic assistance they need. When animals are backed into a corner they fight back. Right now I feel like urban public schools are somewhere in this process... some have given in and given up, some are still fighting back against Ed Reform, some are just going through the motions, many are desperately trying to change with the common core, larger class sizes, and staff cut backs leaving the teachers over worked and under supported. Many strong veteran teachers have moved to closing their door and just doing their thing. 

In my time off I get to read a lot of articles and blogs. I read frustrated teachers venting about Common Core, blaming administrators, blaming charter schools. I get it. I was definitely there. So stressed out and frustrated you lose an element of rationality. So I understand where the teacher who had originally written this statement comes from. She writes "To real educators, corporate education reform ideas are simply insane." 

I would really like to know who are "real educators"? And perhaps this is why I feel like I'm a limbo teacher. I have an BA in Education, I've taught in public schools, my time in charter schools made me a better educator, and my masters program focused more on data, teacher performance, and teaching techniques was a great balance to my much more theoretical background from undergrad. 

I believe in public education. I think competition from charters should be allowed. I think we can all learn from each other. I believe in the long run common core is good for education. I think there is an element of "Fit" for teachers, administrators, and it's okay to admit things might not be a good fit, fit for age, fit for subject. We all need to breathe, relax, and remind ourselves why we got into this profession in the first place. We are at our best when our hearts and minds are at peace. 

I believe that I am a "real educator" and I don't think that every idea coming out of education reform is insane. Is it hard? Yes. Does it need to be financially supported? Yes. Do we need to re-educate teachers to make these changes? Yes. But just because something is hard doesn't make it insane. Think about our kids with learning disabilities, we can't just give up when things get hard, we have to keep fighting, just like so many of our kids do each and everyday. 

Technology is NOT the Key It's a Tool

I wrote this topic down a while ago and finally the research is coming out about the poor results of cyber charter schools. Technology is NOT the key!! This idea that we can spend $2,500 to set up a student with a computer and software and they receive a quality K-12 education is complete crap. I am not negating all online course options or that online education might be a good option for special cases. The olympic gymnasts are good examples of this idea of unique cases.
Technology is a tool, but tools are only as good as the people using them are skilled. And technology in the classroom can be hard. It's time consuming, takes a lot of prep, and can waste valuable classroom time. On the other side, it is an absolute necessity of not only college readiness but any type of career readiness.
It's fascinating to see and read about different ways teachers are using technology in their classroom. From my old cooperating teacher using wiki pages to have the students write their own history textbook, to using clickers to engage students and work towards accurate calculations, to the school I read about in California with 7 math teachers in a computer lab with 200 students, and little rooms around the outside for small group instruction and culminating projects. Everyday I'm finding new tools, Glogster is my newest.
But there is no way teachers have the time or resources to keep up with the ed tech world. It has been almost a full time job for me to follow blogs and tweets, to be familiar with new resources, forums, and not to mention everyone is re-inventing their curriculum for the common core... it is exhausting.
I love using technology, I love teaching with technology, and it has really amazing things to offer, but it is not the solution to all our problems. And video taping great teachers and putting them up on youtube might seem like the way to go so everyone receives great teachers, but I assure you a youtube video does not show empathy, or a kind smile, or a handshake. Perhaps there is a segment of our population that wishes to create a troop of isolated, robots, working from home, completing tasks, and checking off boxes of objectives to be reached.
 I don't want to live in a world like that. I want, no, I crave art, and music, and movies... I love creativity, and humor. But most of all life is about people. People are what make our lives worth living, building relationships with actual people. And the skill of building relationship start in the home and in schools. One could even make the case that part of the reason charter schools might be out performing public schools (in the places they are), someone is looking out for the child. There is clearly a relationship in that child's life.
I left teaching feeling more like a mother sometimes then a teacher, and when I returned to visit my students after my travels and was greeted by hundreds of hugs and grade updates. There are just no words... smiling from ear to ear, a sad place in your heart missing them, so proud and surprised of how much they have grown.
And then you think how many millions of kids just like them are out there fighting everyday.

Achievement Gap or Innovation, The Impossible Challenge of Both

We as a country, state, district, school, classroom have hundreds of decisions to make each day about the education. I find two of these ideas very much at odds. The Achievement Gap focus on getting minority students to the levels of their white or asian counter parts. But here's the problem according to our schools the bar that the white and asian students are hitting is still not adequate to complete in the global market. It's like a person being trapped in the middle of a ladder 3/4 of the way up a building. Then you have this group sitting at the bottom... So you push that bottom group, and push them and hoist them up with all your might. And by golly they make it. They reach out and grab on to that group 3/4's the way up the ladder. Now you have this whole group of students stuck 3/4s of the way up the ladder. Ok, perhaps not my best analogy but I think it kind of gets my point across for my frustration of these two ideas at odds. We spend so much time and energy getting these students caught up to where they should be that the ones who start off in good shape never get any further to keep progressing the group forward.

In the world of education we are limited by time, by resources, but quality educators, parent support, ya-da, ya-da ya-da... but as we spend so much time, energy and money getting everyone 3/4s of the way up the ladder, couldn't we be using some of those resources to get the kids 3/4s of the way up all the way to the top. Can't we have some of the most amazing minds making it to the top of the ladder, can't we invest some resources and energy into pulling those kids up towards the top? As a result the kids that move quickly from the bottom aren't stuck 3/4's of the way up too. I think my brother put it as if our goal as a nation is to get every student at or above grade level haven't we created a large group of mediocrity?

When we focus on getting every student achieving a minimum bar, the only students that are having opportunities to learn how to be innovative are the ones who's parents acknowledge this creative gap in formal education and pay for other opportunities to develop this skills. Real, true, concrete learning, takes place through experience. That experience can be calling out flash cards over and over again, it can being memorizing the problem solving technique CUBB (Circle the key words, Underline the question...oh wait I don't know what the last two letters mean) And yes there are students that need the flash cards, and students that need the problem solving technique but the more authentic, simple, interactive the experience is the more memorable.

2 quick stories: First in 7th grade I worked in a group to create and ending project for our mythology unit. Now I know the name of the game was Journey Through Tartarus. I think there were 4 of us in this group and if I remember correctly I was the only girl. I remember Kevin and Jon were in my group, and one person that was absent all the time. I can't really tell you much of anything about Greek Mythology that I haven't seen in Disney's Hercules (was that even greek). The point is that I remember Tartarus, I remember trying to make the board look more dark, more hellish like. I remember being surprised that we got such a good grade on it. And I remember what different perspectives we had when we sat down to start the project. I remember the project but most of all I remember having to get along with these guys with completely different ideas about the direction we should take. I wouldn't be surprised if Jon could still rattle off some random facts, and Kevin remembered his awesome design on the game board... and they probably don't remember my name. But my social intelligence is a strength and I had opportunities to develop it and feel successful, and so did they.

Story 2: Kids at play is one of the most wonderful, fascinating things to watch as both an educator and a math teacher. I was visiting my friend Lauren who has a son Alex who's not quite 2. He had letter blocks that he was stacking. He used the blocks in the area built a small tower. Clapped for himself when it stayed up and toppled as he tried to add one more. He collected all the blocks he had and started to build again. This tower was much straighter. He had to stand-up to add the last couple blocks. He used every block and built a tower with a similar level of ability that any adult would build. He used every block available and when he finished he clapped for himself. But he noticed the top block was not straight he moved to make it straighter and the tower toppled but some may say... isn't that showing some understanding of priniples in physics and the idea that the wider the surface area of the base the more structurally sound (that is so wrong, someone that knows something about physics feel free to help) but at the same time he is reasoning, he is finding patterns and putting them into practice...

Every person's mind can be opened in a different way, the question is are we going to just make sure everyone can read and write, that be our only goal and focus, or are we going to find ways for students to discover for his or herself their way to a great life in the academic world.

Outcomes of My Gap Year thus Far

So first I just owe an explanation to anyone following the blog. It is REALLY hard to type long messages on an iPhone. And although the app to let me update the blog worked well. I resorted to working mostly in my journal. I believe somewhere in the ADD journal from this trip there is in fact a really wonderful fictional story to tell. So let me say this about the story and that will be the end of it until the book is in a coherent form. It was a wonderful exploration of myself. Love, Passion and Life.

The blog is going to steer clear of the big themes of the book. They are smaller ideas that I had thought about and have feelings about that I want to get down but aren't necessarily connected to anything in any big way.

View from my window

It's much more challenging to type from my phone and have spent most of my time writing in my journal. But this picture I have to share. It was the view out my window when I woke up this morning. What a fantastic place to conclude my trip!

Start of a Journey

This is a bit of a test. I have about 6 more hours in the states. My morning started with a bit of bird watching in the airport while waiting for the fog to lift.

Babies

The world of Babies is crazy, wonderful, and annoying to those not in the club ;) I got back from North Carolina and had a wonderful time taking a glimpse into the baby world. Watching my friends, the new parents racing to change diapers quickly before they get peed on. We googled questions about storing breast milk and put on crazy outfits the 2 week old and took tons of pictures. I sat in the car when my friend took her new born to a doctor appointment. I don't think I've ever seen her drive so slow ;) It changes your life forever. One of my other friends who had come over to see the baby is 6 months pregnant.
Then there is the non-baby couple. They have a dog and a cat and they are wonderful parents to their pets. But the baby divide can be far greater. They have found some new couples that do not or are not planning to have children in the near future. They travel, have active social lives, and still have a desire to explore other places. Being their friend exposed me to wonderful new things to do and places to go.

My grandma was on the phone with my cousin. He and his wife have a son about 9 months. When she was asking him about the travels of his family, his father had been in Namibia, his bother in kenya, his sister spending time in europe. She asked if he was coming to visit anytime soon, he admitted to no trip planned. To which she responded "I guess you're kind of stuck." Leave it to Grandma to state the obvious, but sometimes things are not as they seem. Being with my friends as they embark on their journey into parent hood was a true blessing. And as my Grandma said those words I wasn't sad for my cousin. I knew that he and his wife were on a journey of their own. There might be an element of being physically stuck... I mean you are not going to take a 2 year old on an african safari. But my friends did not seem stuck, they seemed to be on a new type of adventure.

There are some really funny things going around social media to address the baby pictures overload. Like the app that changes all the baby pictures to pictures of cute cats... Things that those of us who do not have children or plan on them in the near future find funny or amusing. My conclusion is that everyone will go through these different stages at different times in life. The question to ask yourself is if these friendships are situational or long lasting. When you live and work in certain places you naturally build a community around yourself. But the true friendships are realized when paths diverge and situations change. Even though you're not spending as much time with these friends it doesn't mean that you care about them any less.  Be tolerant of little annoyances that don't matter, be excited that they are sharing this wonderful time in their life with you. And some day if you are in the same position, hope that they will return the gesture of support and positive thoughts as you embark on your own life journey.

Teacher Unions: Moderation

I've been avoiding writing this because its so controversial. But avoiding problems is not the way to fix them. So I'm just going to try and process while I type. So I'm going to start with the national news first.

Chicago city schools: I've never even been to Chicago but after working in a New York City Public School building I think I have a good idea of what it's like for Chicago teachers. I understand that there are bad teachers, but I don't think they all started out that way. I think everyone who goes into teaching has a desire to help. They care about the future and want to do their part to shape the future. But somewhere in feeling unappreciated by some parents, some administrators, and some students paired with the stress of testing and being judged on student performance, you loose sight of your passion that brought you to the classroom in the first place. I think about some of those teachers that work in Chicago schools might seem irrational. I bet that there are a lot of those teachers could really use a break. If I had kept teaching, I don't think I would be in the best mental health to be the best teacher I could be. Teaching tougher populations of students is even more challenging and exhausting. Those Chicago teachers have a really hard job, and I bet there are a lot that ran out of steam a long time ago.

So teacher unions... I think we have lost what we should be fighting for. The places I see teacher unions struggle with compromise are teacher evaluations, pay for performance, and teacher tenure. My local suburban school district gives teachers tenure after two years, yes, two years... I can't even believe it's so short. In two years of teaching it is almost impossible to identify good teaching and once you have a tenured teacher they will be there forever. Certain teachers aren't cut out for teaching in certain populations. Sometimes it's just not a good fit. I truly believe teachers must find a school that they fit. They are a huge contributing factor to the community both of the school and of the neighborhood.  If teachers receive tenure after only two years they get stuck, many times in places they don't want to be. There is nothing worse than miserable teachers. As a teacher, I don't want to work with bad teachers. I don't want to get kids in the 6th grade who struggle to read, or add. I want my profession to draw great, talented people and keep them. I want teachers to be observed more often and supported by others though observations to better their instruction.  It shouldn't matter when or how many times a person comes into your classroom. There should be an element of team with administration and teachers. I believe the statement: Great teachers open their doors of their classrooms to anyone and everyone that wants to see.
On the flip side...
Let me give an example of what happens to teachers without teacher unions. Imagine making $28,000 a year, having student load debt, and no supplemental funds provided to further your education. You have no pension so you do your best to save for retirement.  But after time, as your earn seniority, your salary increases, right? Sorry but no. Surprise! the economy goes down the tubes and a salary freeze will be placed on teacher wages indefinitely. Five years later, your base salary is still the same. You've  worked to receive their national boards, and your  masters degree out of your own pocket in order to see increases in your salary. Imagine getting a job as an administrator in the building only to still be on your teacher salary. There are millions of great teachers out there wanting learn more pushing themselves and working to make their classroom a better place. We have to help them. We have to support them.

Why is it so hard to find middle ground?  Why does it always have to be such extremes?
Why can't we work for balance?

Lions, and Twitters, and Blogs, Oh MY!

This is a bit a vent but I feel as if there are many people (including my father) that are in the same place. My struggles began when I first started my gap year and found the thing I had missed so much the past three years... free time:) I'd missed out on a lot of really cool technology and resources available to educators and life long learners (personally I believe these two go hand in hand). It started with a recommendation from my friend Jenny. I had taught with Jenny for a few years in Brooklyn and when I had talked to her about looking into integrating more technology into my instruction she turned me on to EdSurge. It's a great resource but (T.A. - Stands for teacher appropriate) Good Lord... there was so much stuff. This little newsletter that I was sent twice a week took me over three hours to get through. The first hour was awesome. I clicked on the links and read about more edtech companies, was fascinated by the amazing innovation that exists and learning about things I had missed out on while working the trenches.
But that hour quickly spiraled out of control hitting the third hour know as "the hour of total despair." How on earth can I take in all this information. I'm an auditory processor, I like to think through things out loud and reflect about what I have just learned. I'm not working in a strong learning community and my parents have to be sick of listening to my slightly nutso rants. What about other students who learn like me, love to take in information but process it verbally... cyber schools, teachers being so isolated in their classrooms... I lost the joy in my classroom because I lost the part of education that inspires my teaching... Learning.
Listening to podcasts of world class educators, discussions with some promising edtech start ups. Reading about new virtual curriculums like Amplify which will dramatically change the way we envision classrooms. When I started listening it almost seemed they were speaking a different language. How was it that I felt so isolated from all of the information and conversations around our education systems?? I was IN IT!!
I'm realizing there are a couple of explanations. (I'm going to keep these short because I could probably write 4 pages on each of these... but lets start with the basics.

1. When you're on the front lines, in the trenches it is so hard to see anything but what is right in front of you. When teaching that is 25 pairs of 12 yr olds eyes staring right back at you (or possibly sticking their tongue out at a frienemy).

2. I've been out of Grad School for 2 years now and as much as it was a pain to complete assignments on top of school work, and write papers, or respond to posts what I realize is missing is the professional adult community we had established. It was a safe space to share experiences, resources and frustrations. I don't talk to many of them on a regular basis but I think that connection will always be there. Just teaching you are not exposed to new resources.

3. There are just not enough hours in the day. Between grading, planning, parents, following up with students.

4. Leadership has to support your education as well as that of their students. When you spend $3000 to send a teacher to a conference and then restrict what they can do or try in their classroom it sends the idea that they are not valued.

So getting back to my struggles and those of my Dad... He and my mom have iPhone 4's and they continue to ask me to help them learn how to use them. But he is great at using Siri to dictate, and he can take pictures and send them, he is getting better at texting. I told him if he really wants to take the next step you have to get into social media. I set him up a twitter account... First of all, during the set up process they make you pick way too many people to follow.... we started by following only a couple people including the Wall Street Journal. Within 1 hour he comes to me concerned... "I can't do this Kate, they're sending me stuff like every 15 minutes. This is too much, how do you expect me to read all this stuff." I explained that you don't need to read every post and its just going to give you a quick blurb. We changed his WSJ to a specific section to keep the number down. But like my dad I have this same desire to learn, want to read more. I think a lot of teachers have it. Most of us are passionate about learning. It's what drew us to profession in the first place. But I'm just getting back into it, and I feel like it could be a full time job (or at least part time).

-edmodo
-The core of education
-Classroom 2.0
-21st century classroom
-Better Lesson
-edsurge
-PowerMyLearning
-Not to mention everyone on twitter now... dept of ed, education weekly, the daily show, pbs, my friends. I was looking for apps to help me organize... maybe I just don't get it but I want it to be a bit more like email that I can delete as I read or drop into files to save...

My final question is, so how on earth are teachers supposed to have time to keep up with things??? When I do go back to the classroom how to I prevent myself from getting unhappy again? And the big question I'll get back to at another time
"How do we as a society keep great, smart educators in the classroom?"

:) Katie

The Gap Year

Lang College Offers Academic Credit for Taking a Gap Year 

For those of you who don't know I am taking a bit of my own Gap Year. I've quit my job teaching in Brooklyn and am taking some time out of the classroom. 

To keep the explanation short and sweet: 

1. I am exhausted from working 13 hour days spent trying to close the achievement gap.

2. Discovered I had a gluten allergy. 

3. Had multiple opportunities to travel. 

So thus began my adventure of My Gap Year... 

I am working hourly from my computer. I found a nice little gig as a digital learning consultant for a national non-profit for a little pocket change. And my parents have been gracious enough to open their home to me again. 

The first few weeks were a little challenging. I found myself still speed walking through Giant Eagle carrying a basket. Missing my friends, being reminded of my students with pictures and messages being posted on facebook. I was cooking crazy Thai food for dinner getting irritated with not having something to do every second of the day. 

I have spent the last week down in Charlotte visiting friends, my school prior to NY. My best friend Sue had her first baby and it just so happened that I had the time to be in Charlotte with her when her husband had to go back to work. My friends have been neglected these last couple years. Sadly I've missed a lot of baby showers, wedding showers, reserving those precious personal days for the weddings and big events. The time down here has been great. I was greeted by my old principals and co-workers with hugs, questions, and job offers. I helped out in an algebra class for the afternoon and got that little dose of students that I miss on a daily basis. The amount of perspective and inspiration that going backwards brings is absolutely amazing to me. My frustrations of missing the classroom back in Pittsburgh seemed to disappear. But I find my passion of education growing with each and everyday of having the opportunity to explore on my own.  

I've spent a lot of time hanging out with people who are around during the workday, for the most part, thats the grandmothers, both Grandma and Mimi. That time has been priceless and sometimes hilarious. My most recently attended movies were the "Marigold Hotel" and "Hope Springs" both times I was the only person in the theater under the age of 50... there's nothing like sitting next to your grandma while Steve Carell is talking about orgasms and oral sex. After the movie she responds with the fact that "it's a good thing Kevin didn't come to that one, it could have been uncomfortable." I laugh in my head, but I guess she thinks I really enjoy watching sex scenes with elderly people, while sitting next to my grandma, lol.  But overall the time has been great. I am not sick of the same old stories, and too frustrated with repeating myself all the time. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder and probably more tolerant as well. 

So I leave you with this quote from Steve Jobs commencement address at Stanford: 

"you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever"

My advice at the stage, take the time to look back and connect dots from the past... I'll keep the blogging going as I continue on my adventure :) 

Katie