Art and Science

The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric is attempting an incredibly difficult task.  Think about trying to list all the factors that go into “good teaching.”  Any list you might start would soon get lengthy, and the various items on the list are likely to overlap and influence each other.  You can see this happen with just a quick run-through of rubric we are using.

One way to look at what the TER is trying to do is to think about the dichotomy of good teaching:  Teaching is both an art and a science.

The Science

The science of teaching is about being intentional and reflective.  Educational research is clear that not all instructional strategies are equal when it comes to student learning.  There are what Robert Marzano calls “high-yield” strategies, and others equally respected in the field talk about “best practices.”  The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric calls these instructional strategies “Effective” or “Highly Effective” instruction.  By any name, these are strategies that do not come with guarantees.  When used well, however, the research—the science—shows the chances of student learning is significantly increased. 

For example, we know from educational research the value of increasing student engagement, how quality formative assessments result in achievement gains, and that building background knowledge will improve student retention of new concepts.  We have seen the research on meeting the needs of English Language Learners and how regular collaboration results in improvement in both student achievement and teacher satisfaction.

The science of teaching is about taking what we learn from the experts in the field, experimenting with strategies, and adapting this learning to our school, our classes, and our students.  It calls for us to be constant learners and experimenters. 

On one hand, we all should strive to be educational scientists.

The Art

If teaching was all science, anyone could do it.  Teachers could plug a strategy into a lesson, follow the recipe, and recreate the experiment using perfect scientific methodology.  In fact, this seems to be the understanding behind some of the latest initiatives, both state and national, to open the field of teaching to all comers.

Those of us who remember what it’s like to be a student and those of us who know what it is like to teach probably have different perspectives on this concept.  When dealing with people, especially young people, controlling the variables is impossible.  This is where teaching becomes an art.

The art of teaching is about the literally thousands of decisions you make every day inside and outside a classroom.  It is about knowing your students well enough to know which instructional strategy will work in one class and not in another.  It is about how you read body language and adjust lessons on the fly.  It is about knowing when to ask the right question and about sequencing questions to push the students to the next level.  It is about knowing when to scaffold and when to let students stand on their own.  It is about intuition and creativity, nuance and perception, perseverance and passion.

So on the other hand, we should all strive to be educational artists.

The Journey

The fact that teaching is an art and a science is not a new revelation to most of you, but naming the twin aspects of good teaching might help provide another way to think about what we do each day and about what is measured by the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric.  The reality is that the better we get in both the art and in the science of teaching, the more effective we will be at helping students learn at higher levels.  This constant improvement is at the heart of our journey at Hamilton Southeastern High School.

Take up the beaker and Bunsen burner.  Take up the brush and clay.  It’s a great week to be an educational scientist, an educational artist, and a Royal.

Enjoy the journey, HSE.

Phil

Follow Your Own Advice

Mark Twain said, “I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.”  This entry is meant to be an arrow pointing directly to a great opportunity that is built into our current evaluation system.  As I have been talking to teachers about extended observations, one question I often hear is: “What kind of lesson do you want to observe?” 

The best advice I have to give on this topic comes directly from you HSE teachers earlier this year.

Some Background:

This year for Extended Observations, you will meet with your primary evaluator for a pre-conference before he or she comes in for the full observation.  This is an opportunity for you to put your best foot forward by making sure you are thoughtful in your approach to this part of your evaluation.  By this time, you are somewhat familiar with the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric and you know that observers are looking for any and all connections to the rubric during observations.

Many different kinds of lessons will score well on the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric, but some lessons, because of their structure, are less apt to make multiple connections to the TER.  Hopefully, you also know that when a lesson starts “hitting” on the rubric, observers are often able to make multiple connections across the competencies.

For example, a lesson in which the teacher is doing all or most of the work will likely have fewer positive connections to the rubric than a lesson in which the teacher and the students share the work load.  A lesson in which students are passive recipients will have fewer positive connections to the rubric than a lesson in which students are active participants. 

A disclaimer: There are times when “sit and get” lessons are appropriate, and there are certainly times when students are working most of the day independently.  These are not “bad” lessons.  They, however, will not have as many connections to the TER as other kinds of lessons, so if you can choose a lesson for an extended observation—which you can this year—I suggest choosing with this in mind.

Words to (and from) the Wise

During one of our late arrival times in first semester, along with others HSEHS teachers, you completed a “Placemat” activity in which you came to consensus about what makes a good lesson, a Rock Solid lesson.  In bold below are the traits of Rock Solid teaching that you identified during our work time together.  These traits are as solid now as they were then.  This is what you said:

• Prepare Thoughtfully: A Rock Solid lesson is one that is structured and uses all of the class time wisely and efficiently.
• Provide a Clear Objective: A Rock Solid lesson has a clear and measurable daily objective.  The activities should be directly aligned with this objective and should have a way to measure which students do and don’t meet the daily objective.
• Engage All Students: Engagement can take many forms in a Rock Solid lesson, but the students need to do most of the “work” in class, and it must be engaging work.  Remember that Phil Schlechty says that designing engaging student tasks is the key to improved learning.  
• Vary the Activities: Doing “one thing” for a class period may have its place, but a variety of activities will help with engagement, help with learning, and help make connections to the TER.  Grouping can play a role.  Giving time for whole group, small group, pairs, and independent work can add to engagement and contribute to making a lesson Rock Solid.
• Check for Understanding: A Rock Solid lesson will include monitoring progress.  This has to do with providing a variety of formal and informal assessments. (It avoids the “I taught my dog to whistle” phenomenon.)  Good questioning techniques are essential and should push students to think and move them toward meeting the daily objective. 
• Finish Strong: A Rock Solid lesson has students working bell-to-bell.  It starts well and ends well.  Exit tickets or other assessments of student learning can be helpful and will make more connections to the TER.

Mark Twain said, “All generalizations are false, including this one.”  Even so, I’ll take a chance and generalize:  In general, your extended observation lesson will score very well if you know what you want to accomplish in the lesson, have students do meaningful work, check for how well they learn what you want them to learn, and help kids who struggle.  This generalization also follows your own advice about Rock Solid teaching.

Hope this helps.  Have a great week HSE.

Phil

Post Script:

In April 1968, I was a fifth-grader living in Winston Salem, North Carolina.  I have vivid memories of hearing over the school intercom of the shooting of Martin Luther King, Jr.  We were sent home early that day and stayed home for several more during the turmoil that followed immediately after his tragic death.

Today, as on all Martin Luther King, Jr. Days, I am reminded of 1968 and the events that followed, and I am reminded of the journey still ahead of us as a nation.  We still have work to do, but Dr. King did give us an idea of how to get there in his Where Do We Go from Here speech: “I have decided to stick with love….Hate is too great a burden to bear.” 

Thanks for all you do, Southeastern, to keep the dream alive.

Of Illness, Hobbits, and Adventure

An Unexpected Journey:

When I was in seventh grade, I came down with one of those childhood illnesses that in all probability is practically eliminated by now.  I was in bed for several weeks, and to pass time began reading The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  I wasn’t quite to the end of the third book of Lord of the Rings by the time I was feeling better and had to fake continued illness to finish Return of the King.

Once I was in high school, our librarian (before the time of media specialists) found out about my interest in Tolkien and started throwing books my way, as did my high school English teachers.  From them, I learned about Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Lewis, Le Guin, Brooks, and Herbert.  I spent extended time in Earthsea, Majipoor, Shannara, Narnia, and Dune—and became hooked as a reader.

There is no question in my mind that these authors and those educators at Hesston High School made a significant impact on the courses I took in college and my eventual major and profession.

This also explains why over the break I was in line with family in tow to see the film version of The Hobbit—twice to be exact.  I have also downloaded the book to my iPad and am reading it with my sixth grader.  Together we are anticipating Peter Jackson’s release of the second episode.

You may have a similar story to tell.  When you start talking to educators, they often point to a significant teacher or school experience that hooked them and started them on the path into education.  In fact, many of you can quote almost verbatim what one of your teachers said to you and remember well how you were encouraged by those words.  Or you can remember an assignment that for some reason caught your interest and started you on your journey in your content area.

A Challenge to Start the Adventure:

We should recognize the influence we have as teachers and become intentional about “hooking” our students.  They may not all become teachers, but unquestionably we can help them with their first steps down the road in our content areas.  Bilbo Baggins says to Frodo:  “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Don’t be afraid of this dangerous business we are in.  Keep sweeping your students off down the road to the world they are currently creating.  Rather than walking out of the Hobbit Hole like Bilbo does, the first steps of this adventure might be an especially interesting or meaningful assignment or as simple as a few extra words of encouragement to a student.  Gandalf says, “There are no safe paths in this part of the world.  Remember you are over the edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.” 

This week, find a time to give a student who needs it a few words of encouragement.  There is no telling where it may take him or her.

A Hobbit Blessing:

Have an interesting week, Southeastern.  Make something unexpected happen, and to quote Gandalf, “May the hair on your toes never fall out.” 

Phil

Student Learning Objectives

Since we are halfway through the school year, I would like to take a minute to remind you of the purpose and intent of the “From B106” emails.  Let me state it clearly: These are not required reading.  My intention is for them to be helpful, entertaining, useful, and perhaps at times inspirational.  If they are not, or if you are feeling swamped with email and/or other work, please feel free to hit the delete button.  I in no way want to add to your work load.

If you ever want to review one of the “From B106” entries for some reason, especially those dealing with the Teacher Evaluation Rubric, you can find them at this link: http://plederach.blogspot.com/

This week’s entry focuses on two important dates in January.

•  January 14: This is the date for you to have your Class Student Learning Objective data recorded in the Standard for Success program.  You should have finished the assessment process by this time, so your task is to log in to SFS, find the link to your CLO, and enter the information about the numbers of High, Medium, and Low students who reached the Content Mastery Score.  If you have special circumstances, need help recording the data, or have any other questions, please contact your primary evaluator to work out the details. 
• January 19: This is the date for you to have your Targeted Student Learning Objective Pre-Work recorded in SFS.  Remember that the TLO does not need to “target” all students or all standards, and the time-frame can be less than the full semester.  If you need some reminders about the TLO, the PowerPoint from our late arrival in November which focused on the Targeted Student Learning Objective is posted on the HSEHS Intranet at this link: http://intranet/sites/HHS/HSEHS%20RISE/Forms/AllItems.aspx  Please contact your primary evaluator if you need help in this process.  During our January 16 late arrival, we will spend part of the time making sure you know how and where to enter the TLO information, and we will talk about uploading artifacts, especially for Domain One of the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric.  You will, however, need to start identifying the target students and standard(s) before this date.

I would like to end where I began, by taking a minute, this time to say thanks to all of you for all you do for our students at Hamilton Southeastern High School.  You are an amazing group of educators, and I consider it a gift and a blessing to work with you.  I look forward to this coming semester and to the coming years as we continue our journey.

Welcome back, Southeastern!

Phil