Great Teachers Make Great School's Conference August 9-11 continued
By Deb Tully
Ohio Federation of Teachers and SDCO Board Member

Learning sessions will focus around five strands:

• Great Teachers Lead the Way
• Great Teachers Create Conditions for Success
• Great Teachers Assess FOR Learning
• Great Teachers Respond to Their Students' Needs
• Great Teachers Keep Current

The keynote speaker will be Ron Clark, a 2000 Disney Teacher of the Year whose success in his New York City classroom was the subject of a made for TV movie starring Matthew Perry.

The conference is 2.5 days (.5 pre-conference day and 2 main conference days) and will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. For registration forms with full session details and schedules visit www.BattelleforKids.org/Go/TeacherConference.

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Battelle Conference Greatest Teaching Strategy Contest continued

Contest entries should include the following:

   1. Description of the Need: Why is there a need for this strategy?
   2. Description of the Strategy: What are the steps for implementation?
   3. Evidence the Strategy Works: What evidence do you have--qualitative or quantitative--that the strategy works?
   4. Optional: Share Illustrations, samples, and/or photographs of your strategy, if applicable

How will contest entries be judged? All entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

    * Universal Strategy: The strategy meets the needs of a wide array of student/teachers. It is applicable in various disciplines and/or grade levels.
    * Evidence/Results: Solid data/evidence has been presented to support the strategy's effectiveness.
    * Practicality: The strategy is doable for novice or experienced teachers. It offers practical steps for teachers to follow to address a common need.
    * Creativity/Innovation: The strategy clearly offers a creative solution for a common need. This strategy may not be used in classrooms everywhere, but it should be!
    * Student Impact: The strategy greatly impacts students in a positive way. It either helps to give students ownership of their learning and/or improves student learning or learning conditions.

Who will judge the contest?
The Greatest Teaching Strategy Contest will be judged by the conference committee, comprised of Battelle for Kids' staff, representatives from the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association, and classroom teachers.

How many entries can I submit?
We know that great teachers implement many great teaching strategies in their classrooms, so feel free to submit as many entries as you wish.

When will the winners be announced?
Winners and their strategies will be announced on the last day of the conference.

When is the entry deadline?
July 15, 2009

The winning strategies will receive a prize package worth $500. All winners will be recognized at the conference and on Battelle for Kids' Web site.

Questions? Contact Sandy Ritchey, Learning Facilitator, Battelle for Kids at sritchey@BattelleforKids.org or (614) 481-3141.

Additional information at:  http://www.battelleforkids.org/Professional_Development/Conferences/Ohio_Teacher_Conference/Contest.html?sflang=en

Good luck!

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Substitute House Bill 1 Proposes Changes to Ohio's Licensure Structure continued
By Michele Winship
Education Reform Consultant for Ohio Education Association and SDCO member

4-Tiered Licensure Proposal

• 4-year, renewable Resident Educator License requires:
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited program
• A residency program (including mentoring)
• 5-year, renewable Professional Educator License requires:
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited program
• Successful completion of the residency program
• A demonstration of a value-added measure of student achievement
• 5-year, renewable Senior Professional Educator License requires:
• A master's degree from an accredited institution
• Previously held a Professional Educator License
• Meeting the criteria for the accomplished or distinguished levels of performance in Ohio Teaching Standards
• A demonstration of a value-added measure of student achievement
• 5-year, renewable Lead Professional Educator License requires:
• A master's degree from an accredited institution
• Previously held a Professional Educator License
• Meeting the criteria for the accomplished or distinguished levels of performance in Ohio Teaching Standards
• Either Master Teacher designation or National Board Certification
• A demonstration of a value-added measure of student achievement
  
  

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Collaborative Learning Not Just for Kids continued
By Andrea Callicoat
Teacher at Waggoner Road Junior High School

At Waggoner Road Junior High School in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, my fellow teacher, Stephanie Kiss, and I work together on a daily basis to provide opportunities that would otherwise not be possible.  Together we are able to tap into outside resources and share the workload of finding and securing things like guest speakers for our students.  On many occasions we have brought in free resources from the community, such as educators from the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation, to provide hands-on field experiences for our students.  By combining our classes together, we are able to have 3-4 educators providing much more individualized attention to our students and provide opportunities that might otherwise not be feasible.

High stakes OAT testing is always on our minds as teachers, and in Reynoldsburg we work together to create common quarterly assessments that model the state tests to assess the progress of our students.  Through collaborative teaching, we are able to compare our students' scores not for the purpose of competition among teachers but to be able to share teaching techniques.  When it is clear that Stephanie's students outperform my own in a particular area or mine outperform hers, we get together and share our teaching techniques and evaluate ourselves and one another to find the best way possible for teaching each and every standard.  With that in mind as well, we are well aware that our teaching styles are often different and that we are each able to meet the needs of students differently.  On many occasions, we will take the students that performed well in a certain area on testing and separate them out from the ones who struggled, sharing students with each other. One of us will provide enrichment opportunities for the students who are showing they have a very good grasp of the concept while the other will provide intervention to those who need it for a class period or two.  This has proven to be invaluable to our students in raising achievement among all students by meeting each individual student's needs.

Collaborative learning is not just for students.  Each one of us brings a very unique perspective to the teaching community. By working together to share ideas, strategies, and even students, we can provide a great deal of individualized and higher quality education to our students.  Teaching is not a competition.   It should be about providing support for one another and providing the absolute best that each of us can bring to the children we are given each year.

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Your First Days of Schools continued
By Michael White, Amy Crouse, Cara Bafile and Harry Barnes
The Leadership and Learning Center

Pictures for Learning photo: Nancy Biddinger

What's your first order of business?  Put aside teaching standard 4.01 for a moment.  Instead, concentrate on getting to know your students, students getting to know each other, and students getting to know themselves.  The time spent collecting this data will pay big dividends throughout the year. 

The more you know about your students' background knowledge, interests, culture, and learning styles, the better your relationships, classroom management, and instruction will be.  Just how critical is this information?  Robert Marzano, one of the foremost educational researchers, believes that "the quality of relationships teachers have with students is the keystone of effective management and perhaps even the entirety of teaching." (Marzano 2007). 

Find a colleague who can take you on a tour of the community where your students live. Do your students live in single-family homes or apartments?  Are they walkers or bus riders?  Are there recreational facilities for use after school and during the summer months?  See what businesses are located in the district.

In some communities, things can change quickly.  So even if you think you know the neighborhood from working there last year, check again.  Often these driving tours are revelations.  You will see the poor conditions in which many students live, revealing why schoolwork may not be the first thing on their minds.  After you have developed a relationship with one of your parents, have that parent give you a community tour, too.  He or she may provide a very different perspective than a colleague.

Beg, borrow, or build a questionnaire and an interview script for use during the first week of school.  Both your questionnaire and interview should elicit a variety of data to confirm the basic information you have about where students live, etc., and help you form a more complete picture of each student. Ask students how they learn best.  Asking them to write and talk about themselves and their learning can provide you and them with valuable data.

They may share information about siblings and extended family members who might live with them. You can learn how they spend their time outside of school. For example, are they supervised or left to their own resources?  Are they on a soccer or basketball team?  Are they in a Brownie troop?  Do they work at a fast-food restaurant?  The survey can even reveal how they interact with and view other members of the class. You also want to learn what your students value.  Asking questions about whom and what they admire can give you insight into their cultural norms.

Use an interest survey several times during the school year as well as other methods to elicit student data.  Don't pass out the #2 pencils on the first day of school, require students to use their best handwriting, and quietly complete survey questions.  If you want to know what makes your students tick, you're going to have to be more creative than that.

Getting to know your students is important regardless of your grade level.  If you're teaching primary grades, consider giving each student a small journal and some old magazines and see what they value.  They can paste pictures of their interests and date that page.  They can add to the journal as their interests grow and evolve throughout the year.  Have them interview one another and introduce themselves to you.  If you're in a secondary classroom, have students bring in pictures of people who are important to them.  Have them write poetry or songs.  And, perhaps most importantly, model the activity by participating along with your students.  Students who know and love their teacher will work harder to meet their expectations.

A student's passion for the Dallas Cowboys can quickly move to NASCAR.  The fascination with a specific toy or classmate can quickly become indifference.  This is why we suggest spending a few minutes every day with students, talking about their interests and life inside and outside of school.  You don't need to spend half the morning chatting with students.  You will be amazed at the wealth of unconventional and valuable information you can gain from brief "morning meetings."  Purposeful collection of student interests doesn't just help you to form relationships; it helps you to develop engaging units and assessments.

Morning meetings also offer students choices when it comes to the way they communicate their interests, talents, and home life.  Students who might struggle to write about these things will often be able to talk passionately about them, draw them, or describe them to you in a one-on-one conversation.  These meetings also allow students to learn about their classmates as the discussion unfolds.  If you work in a neighborhood school, morning meetings may be a critical time for students to begin to collectively make sense of neighborhood drama before they can become ready to learn that day.

Second-grade teacher Kathy Gaji of Brookside Elementary School in Binghamton, New York, has a check-in that is part her class's daily morning routine. This quick meeting allows her to connect with her students in a personal way every day. "I sit at my desk with an alphabetized checklist of names in front of me," she explains. "As the children bring their bags of books and pencils to me, I greet them and check off their names. This is a good time for a quick word of encouragement, a reminder of needing to turn in late homework, or just a quick hello. It helps me connect with the kids as individuals, rather than just as members of my class" (Bafile 2006).

It may feel overwhelming to consider how you might cater to every student's interests, cultural background, natural intelligence, or learning style.  Take small steps and think about choices.  Involve students in the design of assessments, and they will tell you how they would best like to show you what they know.  Understanding how students best communicate their learning to you can help you better deliver instruction that hits the mark for more students. 

References:

Bafile, C.L.  October 13, 2006. "Morning check-in paves the way for a great day." Education World. http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature129.shtml.

Marzano, Robert J. 2007.  The art and science of teaching; A comprehensive framework for effective instruction.  Alexandria, Virginia:  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Is Teaching Really a Team Sport? continued
By Mike White, Amy Crouse, Leadership and Learning Center, & Tyrone Olverson, SDCO President-Elect

Pictures for Learning photo: Lathers Elementary

The irony isn't troubling; it's frightening!  We value teaching our students to work together, to learn from one another, but we don't model this behavior for them.  We sing the praises of two heads being better than one, while we ignore the expertise of our colleagues and field experts.  We expect teachers to hone their skills while incarcerated in a cafeteria for 8-hours of mandatory, once-a-year, district-wide professional development.  Aside from such events, it is the norm for teachers to work in isolation like independent contractors, sharing only the refrigerator and the parking lot.

Last year we surveyed 427 teachers in grades kindergarten through 12.  The teachers were from public schools in Florida, Michigan and Ohio (Crouse & White, 2008).  Here's what they told us about collaboration in their schools:

Even though eighty-five percent of the teachers thought collaboration improved instruction (Question 1), our remaining questions uncovered an alarming disconnect between "knowing and doing."  While teachers clearly understood collaboration was important, forty-four percent felt like they were "on their own" when it came to improving student achievement (Question 2).  Nineteen percent of the surveyed teachers did not think their materials or instruction matched their same-grade colleagues, while another 12% were not sure (Question 3).  And, nearly half of the teachers did not see their school's calendars, curriculum maps or scope & sequence charts helping their situation (Question 4).  Perhaps it should not come as a surprise that almost half of our surveyed teachers would not like to see their own children become teachers (Question 5).  Why not?  Maybe because for them it is a lonely profession.

We decided to try another look at this collaboration issue.  But this time we surveyed sixty-three new teachers, those with four or fewer years of experience.  Our original survey did not control for years of experience and therefore had a random mix of newer and veteran teachers.  Maybe newer teachers, trained in the ways of Data Teams and child study groups, would be more likely to seek out other teachers and embrace collaboration?

Only fifty-three percent of the new teachers thought collaboration improved instruction (Question 1).  Forty-seven percent felt like they were "on their own" when it came to improving student achievement (Question 2).  A whopping fifty-eight percent of new teachers did not think their materials or instruction matched their same-grade colleagues (Question 3).  Nearly half of the new teachers, forty-one percent, did not see their school's calendars, curriculum maps or scope & sequence charts helping their situation (Question 4).  Thirty percent would not like to see their own children become teachers (Question 5). 

So, newer teachers were even less likely to collaborate and share teaching strategies than our original group of surveyed teachers.  So what's an administrator to do to promote teaching as a team sport? 

First off: Respect reality.  When we discussed their survey responses teachers from both groups told us they were so busy with forty standards and fourteen committees and that they were too busy to talk about teaching.  Teacher talk now-a-days is about "what to do" and "when to do it," instead of "how to do it."  Administrators can help by eliminating some old work before asking teachers to do new work.  Sit down with your staff and do a bit of "gardening."

When Doug Reeves tells leaders that they have to pull the weeds before planting the flowers, he is warning them about bogging down their staff with all sorts of schoolhouse clutter.  Assemblies, announcements and committees or classroom clutter:  cutting, coloring, pasting, dittos, and other projects-without purpose can take on a life of their own.  He encourages leaders to implement a fifteen-minute drill at a staff meeting to develop a "stop doing" list (Reeves 2005).  On a large sheet of poster board, created a table.

In the left side of this table, staff members first list all of the initiatives adopted over the last five years.  Second, in the right side of the table they list all those initiatives that have been evaluated and eliminated because they were not working or were not related to improving student achievement.  In most schools, staff members discover that they rarely stop doing anything.  They simply throw new initiatives on the initiative cart that they are already pulling behind them. 

There is a huge contradiction in our schools.  We read books, attend workshop, and make endless references to the importance of collaboration and getting "every brain in the game," but we continue to ask teachers to do too much.  The result: Teachers develop a "if it's Tuesday, this must be double-digit addition" pace and end up covering everything and teaching and collaborating on almost nothing.

References:
Crouse, Amy, and Mike White. Spring/Summer 2008. “Teachers talk about teaching.”  Ohio ASCD Journal  11(2): 2, 30, 31.

Reeves, Douglas B. 2005.  101 questions and answers about standards assessment and accountability.  Englewood, Colo.:  Advanced Learning Press.

Schmoker, Mike. 2006.  Results now: How we can achieve unprecedented improvements in teaching and learning.  Alexandria, Vir.:  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
White, M., Crouse, A., Bafile, C. and Barnes, H. 2009. Extraordinary Teachers: Teaching for Success.  Englewood, Colo.: Lead and Learn Press.

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Read All About It continued
By Tyrone Olverson, Waggoner Road Junior High School Principal http://www.reyn.org/taxonomy/term/2/feed and SDCO President-Elect,
& Mike White, Leadership & Learning Center

Pictures for Learning photo: Amy King

But the summer is the perfect time for children to learn that reading is far from a drudge. It may be one of the most fun things they'll do during the relaxed days of summer.

Any reading reinforces a habit that will profit them for a lifetime. Fun reading exercises the brain while engaging the heart.

Studies have shown that children can actually improve their reading skills over the summer.  Here are two ideas to make reading an important and exciting part of your child's summer.

• Many libraries schedule special activities to encourage summer reading.  Call your local library to find out what they have planned for this summer.
• Here are some books recommended by the School Library Journal.

Picture Books
COTTIN, Menena. The Black Book of Colors. tr. from Spanish by Elisa Amado. illus. by Rosana Faría. Groundwood. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-0-88899-873-6.
K-Gr 8- This inventive concept book explores the sensory cues that colors evoke, giving youngsters the experience of "feeling" the hues through their fingertips. The raised black-line drawings set on black pages and the Braille translation invite readers to touch and linger over the images.

FERN, Tracey E. Buffalo Music. illus. by Lauren Castillo. Clarion. RTE $16. ISBN 978-0-618-72341-6.
K-Gr 4- When hunters decimate the West Texas buffalo population, Molly, an ornery rancher, mothers orphan calves, builds a thriving herd, and ultimately helps to save the species from extinction. Her story reverberates with a regional twang, and is enlivened by the homespun artwork.

FOX, Mem. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. illus. by Helen Oxenbury. unpaged. Harcourt. RTE $16. ISBN 978-0-15-206057-2.
PreS- Effervescent infants sitting on swings and interacting together star in this winsome picture book about a perennial delight--those adorable digits. Captivating watercolors and a soothing rhyme make this picture book an instant classic.

FRAZEE, Marla. A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. illus. by author. Harcourt. RTE $16. ISBN 978-0-15-206020-6.
PreS-K- During a visit to Eamon's grandparents, two friends tough out nature camp, overload on snacks and video games, and (unintentionally) absorb the wonders of their surroundings. Summer-hued cartoons comically belie the deadpan narrative, resulting in a snicker-inducing child-pleaser.

GEORGE, Jean Craighead. Goose and Duck. illus. by Priscilla Lamont. (An I Can Read! Bk.). HarperCollins/Laura Geringer Bks. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-117076-8; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-117077-5.
K-Gr 2- A boy becomes a mother to a gosling, and the gosling becomes mother to a duck before both birds find their true callings. A perfect introduction to imprinting in the natural world, told simply and with hilarious art.

Nonfiction Books
DENENBERG, Barry. Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered. illus. by Christopher Bing. Feiwel & Friends. RTE $24.95. ISBN 978-0-312-37013-8.
Gr 5 Up- A journalistic recounting of the beloved president's death--and life--in the format of a 19th-century broadsheet. Sepia pages with an antique typeface feature articles on the impact of Lincoln's presidency and assassination on a stunned populace. Period maps, posters, engravings, and advertisements illustrate this awesome, and moving, production.

EVANS, Dilys. Show & Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration. Chronicle. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8118-4971-5.
Gr 7 Up- An armchair conversation about the growth and development of 12 distinctive artists, this beautifully designed, thought-provoking paean is chockablock with analyses, quotations, and quality color reproductions. Stimulating and inspiring, the volume sparks understanding of what makes an illustrated book a work of art.

FLEISCHMAN, Sid. The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West. HarperCollins/Greenwillow. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-06-134431-2; PLB $19.89. ISBN 978-0-06-134432-9.
Gr 5-9- With wry humor and punctilious language, Fleischman provides insight into the life of this "Missouri mischief maker," from Samuel Clemens's misadventure-filled youth to his rebirth at age 30 as America's "resident wit." A rousing reverie, illustrated with noteworthy 19th-century photographs and reproductions.

Fiction Books
PRATCHETT, Terry. Nation. HarperCollins. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-143301-6; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-143302-3.
Gr 7-10- A tsunami has hit Mau's island home and washed away everyone he has known. Daphne is from the other side of the globe and is the sole survivor (or so she thinks) of a shipwreck on the island. The two come together and each of them brings wisdom, intelligence, and a sense of humanity to the dire situation. An absorbing novel of survival and discovery liberally infused with Pratchett's trademark wit.

REEVE, Philip. Here Lies Arthur. Scholastic. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-09334-7. LC number unavailable.
Gr 8 Up- In this version of the legend, Arthur is a petty tyrant whose band of thugs raid villages and "protect" the populace from Saxon invaders for a price. It is Myrddin the bard and trickster who spins his lord's exploits into the stuff of legend and spreads his fame across the land. A rich and nuanced exploration of the power of story and its role in people's lives.

SMITH, Hope Anita. Keeping the Night Watch. illus. by E. B. Lewis. Holt. RTE $18.95. ISBN 978-0-8050-7202-0. 872-0.
Gr 5-8- When their absent father returns home, C.J.'s younger siblings are ecstatic but the 13-year-old seethes with anger and resentment as the man tries to regain the family's trust. Told in affecting free verse and complemented by distinguished watercolor-and-ink paintings, C.J.'s road to forgiveness is hard and heartrending.

For a complete list of the journal's recommendations for 2009 visit: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6617203.html

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