This past Wednesday at the American Education Week Northfield Staff Appreciation Breakfast, I was recognized as the 2011-12 Northfield Education Association Teacher of the Year. I am humbled and honored to receive such an award.
This award is not about being the best teacher. This district is full of outstanding teachers. This is about someone taking the time to say, “I appreciate what you do.”
True teacher appreciation begins with us. We don’t expect it. That’s exactly why we should pat ourselves on the back every once in awhile. We should appreciate our dedication. We should appreciate our professionalism. We should appreciate our diversity. We should appreciate ourselves for who we are and for what we bring to teaching.
We should appreciate our power. If knowledge is power, and we know that it is, we should all think of ourselves as super heroes. We should realize our potential power as spokespersons for the good that goes on each day in our classrooms and in public education. If we don’t tell it, who will?
While serving in the Minnesota legislature there was plenty of discussion about school budgets, school funding, curriculum, education policy, and the teaching profession ……a lot of voices from all kinds of people, politicians, experts, bureaucrats, lobbyists… but only one teacher. I was proud to be a voice for teachers.
This award is for all of us who choose to teach for a living. Thanks for what you do.
Teacher of the Year
Monday, November 28th, 2011Summer Gatherings
Thursday, July 8th, 2010The past few weeks allowed me a chance to visit with several groups about a range of issues. The University of Minnesota College of Education and and Human Development held a forum in Northfield a few weeks ago with several educational leaders from the area in attendance. The discussion focused on quality teaching and how higher education must work diligently and directly with school districts to make sure high quality educators are the norm and not the exception. The college has a long range plan to improve teacher effectiveness by connecting ongoing research to teacher programs. The programs will focus on improving teacher support, strengthening curriculum, diversifying the teacher workforce, adaptive teaching, enhanced student teaching experiences, while measuring student progress. It seems like the right approach to “education reform” in an area that has received a lot of attention recently.
Last week I attended the Northfield Rotary Club meeting luncheon. Representative Bly talked about the recent legislative session and provided our thoughts on some of the budget issues that the state will face in the next biennium. It was a great meeting with a super bunch of local individuals who have our community’s best interests at heart.
This Saturday I will be attending a meeting in Waterville with the Waterville Lakes Association. They have some concerns about the DNR’s plans to possibly designate Lake Tetonka as a Muskie lake. The State DNR is considering several sites and are gathering feedback from local citizens about future plans. The Sportsmen’s Clubs, Darkhouse and Angling groups are also weighing in on the issue. The DNR will not make any final decisions until later this year, but are wanting to get the dialogue going this summer.
Rush to the Race
Sunday, May 9th, 2010What’s up with Article 6 of the Education Omnibus bill (SF3189) awaiting action in the Minnesota Senate? The title is Race to the Top and there are several provisions in the article that raise serious questions about our future education policy.
I have already expressed my concerns about the Alternative teacher licensure provisions in the bill. To address those concerns I have offered an alternative teacher preparation amendment which focuses on mid-career professionals. Alternative licensure candidates would find work where there is a need for teachers in shortage areas or the school identifies a need to eliminate a student achievement gap. The eligibility requirements under the proposal maintain high standards for teacher candidates and require at least 12 weeks of student teaching under a fully licensed classroom teacher.
Other sections of the bill create a tiered licensure system for initial, standard, and master teacher along with statewide teacher, principal, and superintendent evaluations. I am all for evaluations but one provision under this bill would consider a teacher “highly effective” if the students test scores on statewide student assessments improve. We want to raise the bar for students but labeling teachers with this approach needs much more discussion and input. Would it require even more testing in more subject areas in our already over-tested schools? Can we truly measure student growth in an overloaded semester class full of at risk kids? Where does the parent and community component fit in?
Section 4 allows the Commissioner of Education to take over the collective bargaining process if labor and management are unable to agree on a school’s continuous improvement plan. That plan may address, but is not limited to, hiring, reassigning and transferring employees, work rules related to the educational calendar, retention, and employment performance incentives. Should the Governor’s appointed commissioner be allowed to intervene in a process that allows both labor and management ownership in local decisions regarding employment and working conditions? Will decisions by a commissioner create the buy-in necessary to turn a school around?
Section 3 allows the commissioner and the chairs of the House and Senate to provisionally adopt common core state standards now, never mind the work done on state standards over the years, or the lack opportunities for input from our teachers, administrators, or even legislators. Should we adopt national core standards that no one has seen? It all seems a bit rushed.
Article 6 has more questions than it has answers. Even though Minnesota has a long history of educational excellence, there is no doubt we should continue to look at real educational reform aimed at reducing the achievement gap. We can focus on the teacher, but we should not ignore early childhood education, all day kindergarten, extended school programs, targeted services, class size reduction, and other proven initiatives. Race to the Top could be a race to Mediocrity if we rush into “reform” for reform’s sake.
Wheels of Tragedy
Saturday, May 1st, 2010With the recent headlines highlighting teen driving tragedies, we ask ourselves, “Do we need stricter driving laws and are 16 year olds mature enough to get a license?”
I have been teaching driver education since 1982. Personally, I don’t believe we need to raise the minimum age at which a student can get a license to drive. We have, over the last few years, implemented tighter graduated driving license requirements and I believe our laws are adequate. But we can do a better job of enforcing those laws and educating both parents and students about their importance. It takes time to make those laws a part of the driving culture and routine in terms of expectations and practice. Look how far we have come with seat belt laws. If I ask a classroom full of students, “How many of you buckle up regularly?” All hands are in the air. When I first started teaching, seat belt use was spotty at best and now, starting with the infant seat, we have changed teens and adults attitudes about seat belt use significantly. Making seat belt violations a primary offense during the last session was the right step in making sure seat belt use has even more compliance among our drivers, both young and old.
It is easy to explain to young drivers the importance of driving safely. Education, modeling good behavior and increased enforcement can help reinforce those rules. Unfortunately, there are some very bad decisions being made by a handful of students who choose not to follow the law after they get their license…alone or with a few friends. Peer pressure, a sense of invincibility, cell phones, and inexperience can all lead to bad choices. Some of these same students make poor decisions about alcohol use, drugs, or even friends. That being said, I believe that most 16 year olds are mature enough to drive safely. For every excellent 16 year old driver I see, I can find a dozen 19 year olds who display immature driving behavior. Drivers need experience. Delaying the age at which our teens get a license is not the solution.
We can legislate so far. It is up to the schools, parents, community, and local law enforcement to continue to speak to our students about why these laws are in place. The unfortunate and tragic events of the past week were certainly a wakeup call to all of us as to why these laws exist. I hope it was a prelude to hundreds of heart to heart conversations between parents and student at the dinner table or during those practice driving sessions. If parents took the time to ensure their students receive as much time behind the wheel as they get with hockey practice, piano lessons, or in front of the TV, we may be able to lower our teen death rates. Car accidents are the number one killer of teenagers. It’s not even close. Having a student driver is a license to worry, renewable every day. Help me help your teenage sons and daughters live to see another day.
Race to a Deadline
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010Much of the work of the Education committee over the past few weeks has been on Race To The TOP (RTTT). Last Friday I attended a three hour meeting at the Minnesota Dept. of Education and this morning I was a part of the Joint House and Senate Education Committee. Today’s discussion focused on the Governor’s proposal for Round Two of the application process, specifically in areas where Minnesota scored low on its initial application. The committee took up three items. Two of those included alternative teacher licensing and using a student growth model as a measure of teacher effectiveness. I wasn’t sold. The main questions I still have, will these proposals close the achievement gap, improve graduation rates, or raise the bar for under performing schools?
The third item made some sense: using teacher mentoring and staff development to improve classroom instruction. But we can do more. Let’s focus on proven strategies we know can make a difference. Let’s invest in early education and all day kindergarten. Let’s support after school programs, extended school, and summer intervention programs. School counselors, school social workers, and strong parent and community involvement is essential. Let’s demand reasonable class sizes. Let’ be sure our professional development funds improve teacher quality and raise expectations. Staff development must include strategies and measures for aligning curriculum with accepted core standards and outcomes. Let’s give teachers time to collaborate and develop lesson plans that improve student learning across disciplines.
With over 200 applicants for every teacher opening in my school district, let’s make sure we hire the best and brightest teachers. More importantly, make sure we weed out ineffective teachers during the three year probationary period. Let’s provide ongoing peer review and mentoring programs for all teachers. Let’s beef up teacher preparation programs in our colleges and universities. Let’s consider student loan forgiveness in under served areas.
We can all agree that teacher quality is important, and we can do better with the system we have. Federal dollars would be nice, but money and an unreasonable deadline should not drive our state’s education policy. There were plenty of good ideas presented at this morning’s meetings. The Governor’s tired proposals regarding teacher quality were not among them.
