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Learning:
The beginning of the first year of teaching is rough for almost everybody. But few new teachers have ever started out as roughly as Stephanie Urlage. At the start of her teaching career, Urlage couldn't even stand up in front of her Richmond, Kentucky classroom. Urlage had been in a construction accident and couldn't walk. To get around White Hall Elementary, she had to use a wheelchair. She also had to miss a lot of her first school days, to see doctors about blood clots in her leg. But things weren't totally bleak. The school's principal got a special chair to help Urlage maneuver between student desks, and the children vied for the honor of wheeling "Ms. Urlage" around. "I had days when I thought I'd never dig myself out of my hole," recalls Urlage, the former president of the Kentucky Education Association Student Program. "But I had the greatest kids. They were part of my recovery." It wasn't until March of her first year that Urlage realized that, despite her recovery, she could have failed to get her teaching certificate. Under Kentucky law, a teacher's first year is an internship, and first-year teachers must meet a long list of requirements. Urlage was at risk for failing to teach a minimum number of days. She met the requirement, but she realized, then and there, just how easy it is for new teachers to lose track of all the rules. Now in her third year, Urlage has joined forces with two other young teachers, Gigi Miller of Lexington and Gala Catron of Frankfort, to help today's first-year teachers avoid the same problems she faced. Urlage and her colleagues have designed a three-hour Kentucky Education Association workshop that aims to help interns master the tricks of the trade that so many teacher education programs leave out. The program's title: "So you want to be a teacher. Is that your final answer?" Almost all the trainers in the program are young, notes Urlage. "They can say, 'This is a headache I had. I don't want you to have it,'" she points out. Last fall, more than 700 interns and resource teachers took the training. The first hour covers both the detailed requirements of the internship regulations and the intricacies of special education law. Trainers also offer neophytes an array of useful tips covering everything from grant writing to relating to parents at conferences. For example, Urlage tells new teachers that at conferences, they should sit with the parents and not have a table in between. She suggests that they keep a box of tissues handy because at least one parent is likely to cry. Urlage also likes to tell new teachers that "you must have a life outside of school or you'll go nuts." Workshop leaders distribute a host of materials to help interns cope. Among the most useful, says Urlage, are three books from the NEA Professional Library: The Best of Works4Me, Pitfalls and Potholes, and The Best of Teacher-to-Teacher. --Alain Jehlen For more: E-mail Urlage at Surlage@madison.k12.ky.us, or call Judith Gambill, president of the Kentucky Education Association, at 800/231-4532. For info on the NEA Professional Library, check www.nea.org/books. Dilemma I live in a rural town where the majority of parents work in agriculture and are monolingual Spanish speakers. Yet, last year, I had all but two parents attend their child's IEP meetings. I accomplished this in several ways. First, I had the parents set the meeting times. This meant I had meetings from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Parents want to be involved in their child's education, but sometimes they risk losing their job if they miss work. Second, I worked on learning some Spanish. Each meeting has a translator who speaks much better than I do. But I always add something in Spanish on my own, because I want to show the parents that I value their culture and language. Third, I get to know the parents outside of school. This is a small town, and I often run into my students and their parents. I stop and at least say hi, and I relate how their child is doing, in my limited Spanish. I don't do this all on my own. I work in an exceptional elementary school where everyone works to help the students achieve. Brian Berghout After 14 years as a special education teacher, I've heard almost every excuse for why a parent can't attend a meeting. I'm prepared for most of them. If the parents say they have no babysitter, I tell them to bring the children along, and I make sure there are games and a snack. If transportation is an issue, the school social worker is sometimes able to provide that. I may schedule an IEP meeting the hour before back-to-school night or the winter concert, so that only one trip needs to be made to school. If a new baby is the excuse, a conference call can be set up in the principal's office. I've even been known to meet parents in the school parking lot as they pick up their children. Susan Kreiner Coming to school to talk about a child's disability is an emotional issue for parents. IEP teams are often large, and parents feel outnumbered and overwhelmed. Or parents may appear disinterested if not asked to actively participate in the meeting. To make this experience more parent-friendly, I've developed a method for conducting IEP meetings. I print an agenda. The first item, after introductions, is "Questions/comments from [parent's name]." Next, we highlight the child's strengths, with the parents first noting progress they've seen. Then we provide samples of student work. Finally, we list the child's progress since the last IEP. Parents leave the meeting with a folder of student work, a list of "positives," and, most importantly, a feeling that they have been an integral part of the IEP process. Mary Michaels Be sure to offer meeting times that are convenient to you and the parent. Stay open to any form of communication the parent is comfortable with--phone, face-to-face, E-mail. IEPs and the like can be a very intimidating process for parents. They're hearing lots of terms for the first time--things that we deal with every day. I talk with the parent ahead of time and explain what an "IEP" is and why we are meeting. I walk them through the process. On the day of the meeting, I have the parent come to my room first, and we go to the meeting together, if possible. I sit next to the parent, to be sure they understand and are comfortable with the process. Barbara O'Brien Got an Answer?How do you raise morale at work? E-mail your answer to dilemma2@neatoday.nea.org. You can also fax to 202/822-7206 or use regular mail. Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. Published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug! How I Did It
A new twist on multiple choice answer sheets teaches while testing, giving students immediate feedback on whether they've gotten the answer right. Students who use traditional multiple-choice test forms, Scantrons especially, leave the test without knowing the correct answers. What's more, psychologists know that the last answer a test-taker gives is most likely to be repeated--even if it's wrong. That means students exit tests remembering incorrect information, answers they gave without corrective feedback. With my husband, a psychology professor at Rider Univer-sity, I've developed a new multiple-choice testing technique that teaches students even as they're taking their exam. It's called "Immediate Feedback Assessment Tech-nique," or IF AT--a reminder of "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." This method uses a form in which the four multiple-choice options are covered, much as a lottery ticket is. If the right answer has been selected, the student will uncover a star beneath the opaque covering. The student who uncovers the star knows that he's correct and earns full credit. The student who uncovers a blank is instructed to try again by re-reading the question and the remaining options. If he is correct on his second try, he earns partial credit for his "proximate knowledge." So often, a test taker eliminates all but two options and guesses at the correct response. With traditional multiple-choice forms, that student would guess randomly--and sometimes correctly, though he wouldn't really know. With the immediate feedback forms, students can work through their top two choices--they learn while taking the test. Students like the game quality of these test forms, and they like leaving the test with correct information and their scores. They also tend to read the question and options more carefully than when using traditional forms. For more information on the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique form, contact Beth Broder Epstein at 609/895-5424 or E-mail epstein@rider.edu. Longer Days, More Learning
In this K-6 public school, the district agreed to pay teachers so that the 850 students can attend classes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for 200 days a year. What good is all that extra time? In December, kindergarten teacher Linda Little asked her students to write letters to Santa. "I taught first grade for 18 years," she says, "and I would have been pleased to get the quality of letters that my kindergartners wrote today. In extended-day schools, Little adds, educators get to spend plenty of time with students. "We spend more time together than they spend with their families," Little says. "I know their learning styles, and we understand each other in ways other classes don't have time to develop." DeLois Hoover, a kindergarten teacher, notes that the extra times gives educators time to nurture students. "When I started out 14 years ago, if students could tell you the names of shapes and identify some letters, that was enough," says Hoover. "Now they have to count to 50 and practically be reading by the time they leave." To meet these more demanding academic goals, Hoover points out, teachers have had to shortchange emotional developmental work. With the long day, there's room again for both academics and emotional development. Second grade teacher Jim Wamboldt says the extended-day students don't get tired because they have so much variety. "They're not just sitting there, looking at another book," he says. "They're moving constantly, making maps, going to the science teacher, doing art." Specialists make it possible for classroom teachers to have a 50-minute prep period each day. Teachers in the same grade share the same prep time. "It used to be, you would close your door and that was your little domain," Wamboldt says. "Here, everybody's constantly exchanging ideas." State test scores now confirm teacher reports that student achievement has blossomed. The Lakewood Intensive Learning Center was created after a 1997 proposal from Edison Schools to take over a district school and run it for profit. The Edison proposal included a longer day and year. To help evaluate the proposal, the school board decided to visit selected Edison schools. Representatives from the NEA local affiliate, the Bellflower Education Association, and the local support staff union joined the board on the site visits. Linda Little, then chair of the teacher local bargaining committee, went on several of the visits. She found that the Edison schools had good materials, but the staff had no input. "They told you what to teach, how to teach it, and when to teach it," she says. One school Little visited had recently eliminated naps for kindergartners--without consulting the teachers. Little and her colleagues persuaded the school board that, with a significant investment, the district could create a truly superior, extended-day school on its own. The board agreed, and the Intensive Learning Center was born. In the school's first year, teachers were paid for the extra 20 days they worked, but not for the extra 90 minutes in the school day. "Some people said we were ideological fools for working all that extra time," Little recalls. But the board agreed that, over the next three years, they would phase in full compensation for the 90 minutes. Next year, under this schedule, teacher pay will range from $47,000 to more than $90,000. The board has also hired specialists to teach computers, physical education, art, and Spanish. The Intensive Learning Center differs from other schools in more ways than just scheduling, and some of these differences make teaching easier. There's no special ed program, so students with disabilities can attend only if their parents waive special services, which some do. There's a strict discipline code and uniforms. The students tend to come from families that are economically a little above average, although Principal Linda Gresik stresses that the school has students at all levels of academic ability. There is one downside to the long days, however: "The kids bounce out of here at the end of the day, but the teachers are exhausted," says Little. "You give so much energy," says Wamboldt. "It's not like an office job where you can go into your cubicle and take a breath." "But what keeps us going," says Hoover, "is the excitement of how far they're going, and how much we can do." --Alain Jehlen For more: Contact the Intensive Learning Center, 562/633-2096. How do you improve student attendance? My students use a timeclock to track their attendance. I still take attendance in my own record book, but students enjoy clocking in and out of class as though it were a job. Timecards are totaled every two weeks, and, based on their attendance, students can earn up to 50 points toward their grade. I use the clock to monitor hall pass use, too. If you're wondering how I could afford a timeclock, I couldn't. I wrote about 25 companies that sell them and asked for a donation. Two companies thought my idea was great and sent me one. I gave the extra to another teacher, and now we both use them. Briana Johnson At the end of each week, students who have not missed a day write their name on a ticket and place the ticket in a drawing box. Then I have a student pull a name. The prize: A free homework pass, a cou-pon for a free day or extra credit points, school store gift certificates, pens, stickers. Names not drawn stay in the box. This allows those students who have consistently good attendance a greater chance of winning. Every Friday, if I've forgotten to pull names, the students always remind me. Michelle Plakosh Read to your classes. I read aloud every day from a high-interest novel. For my seventh graders, I read The Giver, Among the Hidden, and Belle Prater's Boy. To the eighth graders, I read The Light in the Forest and Snowbound. Most chapters end in suspense, and that brings the students back. I choose books that are high interest, are not movies, and have not been read to them previously by another teacher. Marlis Day Since I started teaching four years ago, the best solution I've found is a pizza chart. I post a chart of an empty pizza pan. Each day that every student in class comes to school on time, the class earns one piece of pizza. Although we don't often have these perfect, on-time days, attendance has improved. Each time the class receives a piece of pizza on the chart, the students cheer out loud and are eager to come to school on time for the rest of the week. When all eight pieces are filled, we have a pizza party. I've found a local pizza place that gives us a great deal, since we're a school. Shannon Tousignant When students are absent, I make sure and greet them with a "missed you yesterday!" when they return. I'll detain a student after class for a brief moment to ask specifically why the student was absent. Sometimes I then call home to check on a dubious answer. Students don't like to be checked on, parents don't like to be bothered at home or at work, yet everyone appreciates the interest I've taken in the student. It works for me! My students usually have very low absenteeism. Of course, a low pupil/teacher ratio allows me to get involved in ways that regular classroom teachers might find impossible to do. If everyone had smaller class sizes, attendance would improve. Marie Varela Got an Answer?How do you raise morale at work? E-mail your answer to dilemma2@neatoday.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax at 202/822-7206. Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. Published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug! Idea Exchange Pass the Project The students work in groups of five. When I ring a bell, the first student begins to draw and label the diagram. After one minute, I ring the bell again, and the student passes the paper to the next student. Students offer helpful hints, but only the designated student may work on the actual diagram during that minute. The process continues for five minutes. The table with the best diagram gets a small prize. It's a quick, effective, non-threatening review for students. For the teacher, it doesn't take any preparation or grading! Susan Edge Hall Pass Agendas If students run an errand for a teacher, the agenda is signed in red ink and the trip doesn't count against them. Students don't get into the hall without an agenda unless it's an emergency. And if there's a disaster--say, someone pulls a fire alarm--we can account for students' whereabouts. Bonnie McMoran Class Photographer This student brings in a roll of film to snap pictures of classmates during the week, using an inexpensive camera I bought. Some pictures I suggest be taken, and some the student chooses. The photographer develops the film and designs a page for our class scrapbook. Tracie Vanhoutan |
Beth
Broder Epstein
What
will the school of the future be like? The Intensive Learning
Center in Lakewood, California, just south of Los Angeles,
offers an enticing possibility.
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