Teacher Preparation

This workshop was a panel based discussion on the need to improve the entire teacher preparation process.

 

From the PBS Celebration Of Teaching and Learning Website

With the consensus building around the importance of teacher quality and its connection to student achievement, many questions arise. What does "quality" mean? What are its different meanings over the course of a teacher's career? How do our systems and policies support that quality? How do we measure and evaluate it? What can we learn from the way other countries support teachers? This panel brings together practitioners, scholars, and profession leaders to discuss what could be the single most important challenge in education today: building the capacity of teachers.

BIOGRAPHY

Colleen Callahan is the Director of Professional Issues for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers & Health Professionals coordinating the union’s extensive program of professional support for members and leaders. A 6th grade teacher for twenty years, she represents the RIFTHP on numerous state and national boards and committees and serves as an appointed member of the RI Board of Regents.

James J. Hennessy is dean of, and a professor in, the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University, where he has taught on a variety of subjects in psychology and testing. He has co-authored two books on the psychology of criminal and aggressive behavior, co-edited a book on research ethics and fraud, and most recently co-edited a book on drug court research.  Dr. Hennessy has published extensively in the psychological and criminal justice literature, and recently was guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation devoted to drug court research. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 articles and has presented more than 75 papers at major conferences.

Johanna Duncan-Poitier is the Chancellor’s Deputy for the Education Pipeline at the State University of New York (SUNY), the largest comprehensive higher education system in the nation, where she is leading the development of a comprehensive system of P-16 networks for SUNY’s 64 campuses, K-12 schools, and other education partners to improve college readiness and transform the future of teaching. She formerly served as New York’s Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education- P-16 and has been recognized widely for educational leadership.

As Vice President & COO in ETS’s Programs & Services Division, Linda Tyler is responsible for all Teacher Licensure and Certification programs, including The Praxis Series™ teacher licensure program, the Texas Educator Certification program, and numerous teacher performance-based assessment programs for individual states.

 

Interesting idea- take teacher prep out of the undergrad level and move to the graduate level. This would make it more akin to medical/law professions.

When I left college, I was technically a teacher. I had control of most of the behaviors in my class. I was able to set and attain goals for my students to strive to achieve.   I didn’t really become a good teacher until after year two. Under the tutorage of my AP, and my colleagues, I was able to meet the needs of not only of my average to high end students but also my at risk students. In year three, my Principal helped to further shape and seek quality from my students. The teacher three years out of college was was vastly superior than the one that graduated St. Joseph’s.

 

Practical experience shaped me into the skilled professional I am today. Cookie Lasker, taught me how to be organized. Marty Cole taught me to be real with my students. Mitch Bialos taught me to be a professional. Neal Rosen taught me to be caring for even my worse student. Andrea Stewart challenged me to take a clinical approach to lesson planning and meeting the needs of my students.  Frank Brancato challenged me to continually challenge my students.  Sharon O’Reilly taught me to embrace my creativity and use it to improve the learning in my class. Noma Blechman taught me how to produce results each and every day. Both Noma and Mike Rothfeld turned me on to the power of using technology in the classrooms.

That education could not be taught in a classroom. My colleagues and supervisors set the standards and as a new teacher I had strive to meet them.

CTE teachers are different.  We need their practical experience in the field. I can’t teach them to be an electrician or a chef, but I can teach them to be a teacher.

Bobby McFerrin

 

WOW!  Speechless!

He came out wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans.  He even had a chain connected to his wallet. He turned around and then ripped through 4-5 vocal songs in his own unique styling. Blackbird in the Middle of the Night and a beautiful rendition of Ava Maria and Bach.  He provided the Bach portion and the audience sang the Ava Marie portion.

Here are some video clips from other performances:

 

 

He then walked off of the stage and engaged the audience in a Q&A session. He came off as a genuine person.

The last album he downloaded- Soundtrack of Unforgiven- Richard Geer

Famous quote- Artists are the architectects of heaven by ____

Top 5 Artists- Bach, Gerswhin, his father, Miles Davis, weather report

60s, 70s 80s music had a sound that reflected the times. 90s- had a hard time identifying a particular sound.

His take on modern music was not postive. He feels that modern music is too negative. He stated true art should elevate us. It helps us forget about all our troubles and focus on the positive

He ended with an almost 10 minute version of Wizard of Oz , it was AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

When PBS posts the videos, I will re-post them here.

While we didn’t learn anything new, it was very entertaining and thrilling. Everyone left the auditorium extremely happy and feeling great!

Literacy w/Struggling Students

 

Nancie Atwell presented a great case study of a student of a struggling 8th grade student who eventually became a prolific writer and a passionate reader.

Typical story- underachieving disabled student comes to English class as a complete mess. Ms. Atwell used a 80 minute reading/writing workshop approach to teaching reading and writing.  She uses young adult novels to capture the kids attention and, as a by product, the imagination of students.

The strength of her approach is the personalization she attaches to each and every student. Her approach includes conferencing both large group and individual. This allows students to open up and speak frankly about literature and how it relates to their lives.

She used examples the young man’s work as his skills progress through the school year.

Her old school approach of sharing was great! Overhead projector with color transparency pictures, student handwritten assignments and typed student responses was perfect for her style.

Alternative Power Sources:Shaping a Greener Future

This was an interesting workshop of a NYC CTE program promoting a green approach to CTE in an Auto shop program. They’ve used hydrogen synthesis' to fuel vehicles.

The Auto programs have expanded to include converting diesel cars to run on bio diesel fuel. Lesson includes on how to convert diesel from cooking grease. It really does take the lessons taught in the classrooms and put them to practice in the shops.

This approach models how the future of the Auto industry is going. Retooling and marketing their skills on the fly is a great skill to teach and learn. Teamwork is stressed through out the program. The PLTW students work alongside the the Auto Shop students.

Presenters were from the Automotive HS in Queens

These changes in the Auto Tech program was a result of a collaboration with the Project Lead the Way curriculum and how it incorporates STEMS skills.

One of the great benefits of the approach is that it requires students to not only complete projects, but also share their projects. The public speaking skills are not just taught but practiced weekly.

Cutting Edge Skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We should be doing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess the key is how to convince the teachers that this is do-able.

They are focusing their PLTW to become automotive engineers. One of the goals of the program is to reverse engineer auto products and have the students to improve upon or re-engineer.

Simple Energy Solutions is their industry partner.

Always knew PTLW was a cool program. We our proposal lacked was a focus on the TYPE of engineering we would be preparing our students. I wonder if we focused on Auto Engineering would it help attract students.

Kids at AHS go zero and first period for PLTW. Could we do it in a PM session for the Auto tech kids who demonstrate and interest?

Could PTLW help with the year one breakage? Capture the attention of kids interested in Auto but not sure what part of the field?

Celebration of Teaching and Learning

I’m an currently attending the Celebration of Teaching and Learning 2010 conference in Manhattan.   I arrived on my motorcycle around 9am. I visited the Vendor area first. The Epson Printer display caught my attention. I will be sure to talk with our Arts cluster about the large printer that can print on fabric. They can even print  their digital image on canvas to make prints as if they were paintings.

 

 

 

The first workshop I attend was the presentation of Queen Noor, Queen of Jordan.  She gave a great presentation on need to teach tolerance while also teaching compassion. I found her to be a fascinating mixture of a modern, articulate and brilliant. This was in stark contrast to my mental image of a devout Muslim woman.

 

 

With all due reverence, she quoted the prophet Mohammad-

The best among you is he who wants for his brother, what the wants for himself.

Powerful stuff!

One of her focuses was the way the media portrays the Muslim world a vast majority of movies and shows produce Hollywood in a negative light. The study shows that this only serves to reinforce negative stereotypes. These stereotypes only serve to limit students from living and working in a multicultural world.

Queen Noor stated that Media can also serve to humanize people, not just demonize.  Her charity works to nurture media projects that display positive insights for global tolerance and mutual cultural  respect in new media.

In closure, she gave a great We will not solve our problems with new weapons or technology, but by teaching today’s youth to be tolerant of other peoples culture and religions.

There was a Q&A with the Queen. She was able t0 point out how only 370 our of thousands of colleges in the US teach Arabic. Her hope is that this number will continue to grow. My thoughts- it had better if we’re ever going to resolve the mess that is our relationship with the Middle East.

12 Behaviors You Can Practice to Make You a More Inspiring Leader

by Michael McKinney - Leadership Now

Jack Zenger, Joe Folkman and Scott Edinger conducted a four year study of over 200,000 responses describing 20,000 leaders to determine what makes an outstanding leader. The results pointed to the fact thatthe ability to “inspire and motivate to high performance” was the single most powerful predictor of being perceived as an extraordinary leader.

It was the best predictor of overall ratings of leadership effectiveness by direct reports, peers, and managers, it was the quality most valued by employees, and it was the factor most correlated with employee commitment and satisfaction. And it was found to be cross-generational.

Inspiration, they point out in The Inspiring Leader, is not sufficient in and of itself. “Its power comes when it is placed in combination with other leadership attributes.” It works as a catalyst. Throughout the book, they discuss a large number of steps you should consider to become a more inspiring leader, but here are a selection of twelve behaviors that you can apply now:

1. Use emotions more frequently and be attuned to the emotions of those around you. For example, express heartfelt appreciation, get excited about organizational success. Show energy and enthusiasm.
2. Reach out to people. Find more ways to interact with your subordinates. Practice management by walking around. Initiate conversations and be constructive.
3. Set an aggressive target. With the involvement of your team members, set a target that will stretch the group.
4. Create a vivid picture of the organization three years from now. Get each person to identify how this affects their job. Align systems and initiatives around the vision.
5. Practice lavish communication. Take the time to be inclusive by being diligent in passing on information that you collect to your colleagues. Controlling information is not inspiring.
6. Delegate tasks with the development of the other person in mind.Delegation can be elevated to an important discussion and can be wrapped with important messages that inspire and that generate positive motivation. “I see this project as a real opportunity to help you develop your skills in….”
7. Make having a personal development plan a priority and review it at least twice a year. Create positive consequences for having a personal development plan in place and for pursuing it.
8. Schedule regular coaching sessions with each subordinate. Make yourself available. Also, leaders who are strong in self-development are very frequently rated higher on their ability to coach and develop others.
9. Involve more people in decision making on every important issue.Seeking the opinion of others communicates that what they are doing is important and it conveys respect and appreciation and strengthens the bond with the leader.
10. Shower positive attention on new ideas. If you have a “no” approach to new ideas, you will unwittingly close down creativity and innovation. If you don’t know, ask those who work for you, they’ll know.
11. Be the example. Demonstrate to your colleagues with your actions what is valued by the organization. You may also need to selectively model behaviors that need to be emphasized in the organization. A “do as I do” approach.
12. Take the first step. Be the one to initiate changes, projects, or communication that is necessary for the organization. Nothing says leader like being the initiator.