Standard 4: Faculty Development
To recruit and retain quality teachers is a huge challenge for today’s administrator. Many of our teaching staff in our district and throughout the State are reaching a mature age. While this may be wonderful for retention numbers, eventually it causes issues for there is a huge retirement wave approaching. Special concerns involve curriculum critical shortage fields such as Science, Math and Special Education. Often districts do not have the funding to participate in out of State job fairs. so it is extremely important to be trained in hiring quality teachers.
I worked for the School District Human Resources Department as the Instructional and Personnel Director. It was my job to assist alternative certification applicants as well as certified teachers in the application process for renewal of their certificate. I attended State job fairs in Tampa interviewing out-of-State teachers and looking for the best fit with the openings available in the School District of Manatee County. I would call Principals and let them know if I had a great potential applicant and I would set up a school interview. I was trained in hiring, while working at HR and attended State hiring training sessions. It is important to hire the right people for the right position for it is very expensive to train a new teacher, only to lose them due to lack of support. Providing a mentor program for new teachers is essential. I went through district training on becoming a peer teacher and then once again on how to support district teachers through county training. I worked with a local teacher and we provided training to include such processes as: how to set up your classroom room, how to write a lesson plan, how to complete the grade book requirements, and how to deal with an upset parent. The group I mentored attended all eight sessions. I informed my peer teachers that I would write a reference letter of completion for them once they had completed my new teacher training sessions. It is the little things that often matter, my new teachers were pleased with receiving the completion letter (example attached below).
Timely feedback is essential if the classroom walk-through (CWT) or the observations are to be considered effective. I feel it is important that instructors understand that teaching the core standards are essential and just because the State test has been completed, does not mean that the school year is over. It is time to prepare for the next grade level of standards. After the FCAT, I hold a data-chat with my team teachers and I print out the next grade level results from the first quarter benchmark mastery. The teachers can see how many of the standards their former students’ retained in true mastery (example found below). These standard driven glimpses are indicators of what needs to be taught during fourth quarter. I also hold a meeting with students and inform them that there is still four weeks of school remaining and welcome to the next grade for now we will be working on the next grade level standards.
When I present to my faculty I provide data research with supporting articles on why certain pedagogy should be followed. I model the process and expectations I wish to see within the classroom. I use technology and provide training on technology use within the classroom. I provide both voluntary opportunities and scripted time instruction in an engaging and motivational manner. Time is the enemy often with so much changing in the educational systems. Providing the voluntary opportunity for learning, leaves the teacher with the chance to learn and collaborate for greater understanding and professional growth. I have studied Wagner, et al. (2006) on Change Leadership A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools. In his book Wagner, et al. (2006) describes seven disciplines for strengthening instruction (pp. 33-34). The tool is an example of how to assist with assessment of a change process, or any process for that matter. The importance of constant assessment of a process will help either lead the process through to success or indicate that the process is not working and needs review or removal. If you place short assessments (just like student exit slips) in the hands of your teachers, their voice is heard. The results should be sent through email and reflected on in the next meeting, indicating a change will occur based on these assessment reflections. Even the small changes will make a huge impact in creating a culture open to change on your campus.
It is important to remember the global world our students are now growing up in, for no longer are they playing down the street with the neighbor, they might be playing a technology game (such as Mindcraft) with a student from another country. Learning cultural differences is extremely important, if we are going to continue as a competitive nation. Culture is an easy subject to discuss in a History class and is very natural to compare and contrast cultural differences. As an example, in a math class, I often suggest to my teachers to change the measurement, or talk about conversion differences from country to country. I often suggest to them to use Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and have students look up differences in money, measurement or temperatures and using current data, discover why it is important to learn math for everyday global use. It is essential to make sure our student are developing a global curiosity to be able to problem solve beyond their current environmental surroundings.
SUPPORTING ARTIFACTS:
Data-Chat Examples: A data chat is important for faculty development. I talk with my teachers on what they observed when they look at the comparisons in benchmark assessment scores. I show them new applications as they become available for better resources for comparing data.
To recruit and retain quality teachers is a huge challenge for today’s administrator. Many of our teaching staff in our district and throughout the State are reaching a mature age. While this may be wonderful for retention numbers, eventually it causes issues for there is a huge retirement wave approaching. Special concerns involve curriculum critical shortage fields such as Science, Math and Special Education. Often districts do not have the funding to participate in out of State job fairs. so it is extremely important to be trained in hiring quality teachers.
I worked for the School District Human Resources Department as the Instructional and Personnel Director. It was my job to assist alternative certification applicants as well as certified teachers in the application process for renewal of their certificate. I attended State job fairs in Tampa interviewing out-of-State teachers and looking for the best fit with the openings available in the School District of Manatee County. I would call Principals and let them know if I had a great potential applicant and I would set up a school interview. I was trained in hiring, while working at HR and attended State hiring training sessions. It is important to hire the right people for the right position for it is very expensive to train a new teacher, only to lose them due to lack of support. Providing a mentor program for new teachers is essential. I went through district training on becoming a peer teacher and then once again on how to support district teachers through county training. I worked with a local teacher and we provided training to include such processes as: how to set up your classroom room, how to write a lesson plan, how to complete the grade book requirements, and how to deal with an upset parent. The group I mentored attended all eight sessions. I informed my peer teachers that I would write a reference letter of completion for them once they had completed my new teacher training sessions. It is the little things that often matter, my new teachers were pleased with receiving the completion letter (example attached below).
Timely feedback is essential if the classroom walk-through (CWT) or the observations are to be considered effective. I feel it is important that instructors understand that teaching the core standards are essential and just because the State test has been completed, does not mean that the school year is over. It is time to prepare for the next grade level of standards. After the FCAT, I hold a data-chat with my team teachers and I print out the next grade level results from the first quarter benchmark mastery. The teachers can see how many of the standards their former students’ retained in true mastery (example found below). These standard driven glimpses are indicators of what needs to be taught during fourth quarter. I also hold a meeting with students and inform them that there is still four weeks of school remaining and welcome to the next grade for now we will be working on the next grade level standards.
When I present to my faculty I provide data research with supporting articles on why certain pedagogy should be followed. I model the process and expectations I wish to see within the classroom. I use technology and provide training on technology use within the classroom. I provide both voluntary opportunities and scripted time instruction in an engaging and motivational manner. Time is the enemy often with so much changing in the educational systems. Providing the voluntary opportunity for learning, leaves the teacher with the chance to learn and collaborate for greater understanding and professional growth. I have studied Wagner, et al. (2006) on Change Leadership A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools. In his book Wagner, et al. (2006) describes seven disciplines for strengthening instruction (pp. 33-34). The tool is an example of how to assist with assessment of a change process, or any process for that matter. The importance of constant assessment of a process will help either lead the process through to success or indicate that the process is not working and needs review or removal. If you place short assessments (just like student exit slips) in the hands of your teachers, their voice is heard. The results should be sent through email and reflected on in the next meeting, indicating a change will occur based on these assessment reflections. Even the small changes will make a huge impact in creating a culture open to change on your campus.
It is important to remember the global world our students are now growing up in, for no longer are they playing down the street with the neighbor, they might be playing a technology game (such as Mindcraft) with a student from another country. Learning cultural differences is extremely important, if we are going to continue as a competitive nation. Culture is an easy subject to discuss in a History class and is very natural to compare and contrast cultural differences. As an example, in a math class, I often suggest to my teachers to change the measurement, or talk about conversion differences from country to country. I often suggest to them to use Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and have students look up differences in money, measurement or temperatures and using current data, discover why it is important to learn math for everyday global use. It is essential to make sure our student are developing a global curiosity to be able to problem solve beyond their current environmental surroundings.
SUPPORTING ARTIFACTS:
Data-Chat Examples: A data chat is important for faculty development. I talk with my teachers on what they observed when they look at the comparisons in benchmark assessment scores. I show them new applications as they become available for better resources for comparing data.
| data_chat_example.pdf |
Agenda for Peer Program: New teachers need the support to develop their skills in teaching. Often new teachers do not feel comfortable asking about certain challenges with their administrator. I was a peer teacher for the district and we helped new teachers with information and guidance on common teacher procedures.
| 6-new_teacher_inst..pdf |
Agenda for Meeting: Having an agenda for a meeting, organizes thoughts and ideas and keeps teachers on pace. It is important to ask for input of items needed prior to the meeting so that everyone has by-in.
| 2-agenda_esteam.pdf |
Inclusion of all teachers: Attached is a document that assists non-core teacher teams to learn to collaborate with core curriculum teams. I have found that, at times, elective course teachers do not participate, for they do not yet understand that we all are teachers of Math and Language Arts. This document is one that I have used to develop the first steps in collaboration.
| collaboration_activity_for_non-core_teachers_2.doc |
Mentor Example Letter: During the peer teacher program, I wrote a letter for my new teachers noting they had completed the program. This was information for their portfolio and was shared with their principal for renewal consideration. Offering a letter of reference or a certificate of completion is often a motivational artifact for completion of a program or learning cadre.
| redacted_new_teacher_letter_of_recommendation.docx |