Greetings, this week the Leadership Team attended an excellent professional development class; Adaptive Schools. At our next meeting we will implement some of what we learned. Be mentally prepared for a shift in how we conduct all of our meetings Altona!
I have two questions for you regarding our readings, and we will also discuss the chapters at our meeting:
1. Can "withitness" be taught, and if so how?
2. Why should we "deprivatize" our practice at all levels of education?
See you this week.
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26 comments:
I think that “withitness” is something that can be taught. Just being more aware and proactive as a teacher will help to eliminate problems and nip them in the bud. I struggled a little with that section of the reading because I also believe that as a teacher and a parent I have to sometimes pick my battles. Sometimes a little annoying behavior will be self-corrected or will be resolved with peer pressure before it becomes a bigger issue or disruption.
Regarding the second question, I think that all of the chapters we read this week points to the reasons why we must deprivatize our practice and be more collaborative as teachers and administrators. Knowing little about what goes on in each other’s classroom is a way to “reward mediocrity.” I’m not sure this is such an issue at Altona, but I can see how this is pervasive in a lot of schools. The reading brought up concrete data that supported this notion. We need to know what is being taught and assessed in our school, and we need to hold each other accountable for mediocrity.
I especially liked the part of the reading that talked about the dangers of isolation with the Jim Crow laws in the south. Because people were not migrating to the south, they didn’t know how people were really being treated. Relating to education, isolation allows and encourages people to teach what and how they want to teach. This is why it is imperative that faculty and administrators are aware of what is going on in the school building. Only then can efforts be made to make the system better.
1. Although I think some people are naturally blessed with more withitness than others, I do believe that it can be taught. As it's described by Brody on p. 135 (continuously scanning the class, intervening promptly and appropriately), I think observation of excellent modeling teachers would be an effective way to show new (or veteran) teachers the way to withitness. I agree with Jenny that it can be tricky to decide when the best time to jump into a situation is; however, I found that if you demonstrate your withitness early and often at the beginning of a school year (My personal favorite technique was to observe a behavior during a quick scan of a class, then turn my back to write on the board and, after a pause, address the behavior. Therefore, the eyes in the back of my head were respected greatly!), and then the expectations were clear for the rest of the year.
2. Again, I agree with Jenny; all of this reading and everything in our Adaptive School training supports the concept of deprivatization. Why isn't that word in the dictionary, anyway? I digress. Anyway, we know that the way we've been doing it, the status quo, isn't working in this country. I think the reason Altona has been so successful is due to a willingness to shake things up, to really address best practices. You cannot do that with each individual behind locked doors.
As the text points out, "isolation ensures that highly unprofessional practices are tolerated and thus proliferate in the name of...professionalism" and "we are denied the all-important opportunity to study and learn from our actions and our results." How can we honestly reflect on our actions and results without deprivatization? We are teetering on the edge of a seriously controversial subject in education here-- comparing the results of teachers in similar teaching situations-- and I ask, is that part of a full deprivatization of a school and/or a district? I'm honestly not sure.
I agree that withitness can be taught, and I think that it helps when we deprivatize our practices. I look back at what type of teacher I was back on the prairie when I first began my career. I was concerned with all of the things new teachers have on their minds, and I often felt very isolated. It was hard for me to get a handle on curriculum, school politics, parental interactions, and discipline all at once. When problems arose, I was usually in a reactive mode, and I did not have the knowledge, experience, or awareness to be more proactive. Now, I look at all of the small things I could have done that would have made my life easier and would also have made me more effective in the classroom. I like the description of withitness on page 135. I often focused on the most obvious unwanted behaviors after they had happened and did not realize that there were small things I could do to prevent them from happening in the first place. I also did not know how to properly use consequences. The vice-principal’s office was quite busy with students who were sent by many teachers, myself included, who could have prevented behaviors from escalating by being more aware of some of the simple strategies presented in this chapter.
One thing that would have helped me immensely is being able to view the classrooms of my peers. We all knew which teachers had fewer problems and were more successful with the students, but we just presumed that it was because they were more popular. They would give me advice if I asked, but what I really needed was to see what made their classes run smoothly. We mostly just left each other alone, and it seemed awkward if someone was in your room for more than a few minutes. After I had been teaching for 6 or 7 years, we started peer-coaching. This process allowed me to finally observe other teachers with specific goals in mind. I often found myself focusing on small things the teachers did to be effective. I saw how teachers moved around in class, checked for understanding, seated students, used time, scanned the room, and established norms and procedures. Most importantly, we always had a conference before and after observations.
This really helped me examine my own practices and is one of the reasons I tend to be so organized. I found that if I had a specific plan for every period, was prepared with materials, and knew exactly what I wanted to do as far as content was concerned, I could focus on the little things that I had been overlooking. The organization also helped me feel more relaxed because I knew I had done what I could to be prepared. Planning ahead helped me anticipate problems (not that they didn’t happen). I started looking at transitions and how I started each class. I learned how to decrease the amount of dead time when problems often begin. There are always situations that arise that I can’t anticipate, but they are easier to handle if I don’t also have to worry about what else we are doing in class. I can probably name a dozen teachers from whom I collected little tips to make my life easier. Personally, I also think that it is more professional and responsible to be organized and prepared, and the students respect that. Just my opinion.
The new teachers at Altona have it much easier than I did. There are always things you will struggle with your first year, but now there is the opportunity to observe others. You can see how discipline is handled, how norms are established, how teachers use their time, and so much more. I still benefit from watching other teachers, especially those who have the same students. I also think it is our responsibility to help our peers. We all benefit if things run smoothly, and teaching is not a competition. A friend who moved to an elementary school a few years ago told me how the teachers there still locked their doors once class began. They consciously chose to isolate themselves, almost afraid that they would be exposed if someone entered, or worse yet, something valuable would be stolen. What a shame.
Due to a class am taking for sped, I am unable to attend this PST> However, I wanted you all to know that I am enjoying your posting immensely!
I firmly believe that “withitness” can be cultivated, but that it can’t occur magically in a short amount of time with a small amount of effort. As I was reading our assignment in The Art and Science of Teaching, I kept thinking about those teachers that made a difference in my life. Everyone has that image in their minds of the handful of teachers we aspire to be, as well as the handful of teachers we vow never to be anything like. It is very difficult to translate that into our own classrooms without constant support, reflection and opportunity to work with the other teachers in our school.
When I was a first year teacher, my science department head at the high school level was my mentor. We had the same prep so that she could meet with me anytime necessary. One of the first tasks she had me do was observe each of my science colleagues. She wanted me to have a first hand view of what the entire science department was about, as well as view different techniques and best practices from an array of science teachers. Next she had me come to her classroom during instruction time and map her flow around the room for one class period. She then came to my classroom and did the same thing. Throughout my first year of teaching we chose other things to map: teacher initiated questioning, student initiated questioning, teacher initiated questioning of female vs. male students, etc. To be handed a map with a specific focus helped me to develop my “withitness”. That time, money and effort invested in me, I feel, was well worth it.
I have learned a great deal since coming to Altona from observing other teachers in subject areas besides science and working on a team for several years teaching sixth graders. The time I have spent with language arts teachers greatly influences my expectations for written answers in my science classroom. Math and science go hand in hand, but until I talked to the math teachers and referenced things with the same words as they did, I sometimes confused my students. Connecting with my elective teachers has helped me look at their organizational techniques for hands-on activities that are directly transferrable to my science labs. Last year’s summer PST completely altered the way I work with ELL students because I learned more about the big picture of what they are dealing with and I now have better techniques in working with them. Attending a workshop a few years ago with the special education teacher helped forge a strong working relationship and made me focus on the needs of special education students in my classroom. I truly believe that the key to this growth and development is communication. I also feel that is the key to improvement in my classroom and instruction. How well I can communicate to my students, their parents, my peers and our administration will most definitely affect the quality of my teaching and improve learning for my students. If I had sat alone in my room, none of these improvements or changes would have occurred.
I also agree with the previous postings in regards to "withitness." I believe that as teachers, we would hope that we would be able to teach any idea, some concepts/ideas are just more challenging than others. When in graduate school, classroom management was a whole class in itself. We did not use the term "withitness," but we definitely touched on this idea in many ways throughout the semester. I agree with Pulley in that certain people are naturally more "with-it" than others. However, this relates to everyday situations, such as spotting the police car before they catch you speeding, for an example coming from a NorthEast diver. When narrowing down the environment to the classroom, I think it is very clear to teach how to make your presence in the classroom cover all corners by walking around and definitely through eye contact. Starting with this will help make teacher more aware of situations that can occur in their classroom. Just a few years again, students texting/sexting was not even an issue to be discussed in a classroom management course. Today, this is a huge issue that teachers need to be aware of more than note passing. As with most things we teach, the information needs to be kept current and this includes teaching "withitness" inside the classroom.
To me, Joe's first question relates to his second question in the idea of isolation. In class this past week, my group's conversation seemed to keep coming back to this idea of isolation and how to break through. We mentioned partnerships for learning experiences, both getting feedback and establishing new ideas. As Kathleen said, communication is HUGE. With communication is the importance of respect. Once respect is established, it makes it easier to trust co-workers and their comments/suggestions. Even though I do not know how other teachers run their classes, I think Altona does not have a problem with "deprivatizing."
In our second set of readings, I like the part on p. 146 where the principal hands out roses to honor teacher success.
I also liked the rose thing!
On the 2nd reading I again start questioning pay for merit. While this is a legitimate argument I question the "fairness" of it because of that 1st year teachers lack of experience and perhaps "withitness." I also then wonder is the popular teacher the good teacher, or the easy teacher, or the teacher that plays, or....
I'd like to hand some roses, but it would be more like The Bachelor!
I would pay good money to watch Joe hand out roses to the staff. I really would.
I think everyone, to some degree or another, has a form of withitness that they use in their classrooms. And I think Kathleen used the perfect term when she said it could be cultivated. To me that implies that a teacher not only works on and continues to build their own "withitness," but also has a collaborative and nurturing atmosphere to observe and garner tips from. It has never ceased to amaze me how simple and effective proximity changes are in my classroom. It doesn't stop the flow of the lesson, it doesn't embarrass the student(s), and it lets students know that I'm not removed from what they're doing.
I think everyone thus far has narrowed down on what needs to be done for deprivatization to be incorporated into schools. But how would we enact these plans? I would propose that if teachers just made two observations per month of other classes during planning period, a culture of collaboration could be established. That makes a total of 18-20 observations during a given school year. Just half of that amount would serve teachers with enough new systems and practices to try! During my Post-Bachelor's program, we observed many teachers as a part of our high school and middle school practicums. I know that those observations were crucial to the synthesis of my core beliefs and my philosophy of who I want to be as an educator. Without deprivatization, how can other teachers do the same?
I would like to end with a slightly modified excerpt from John Donne.
No teacher is an island, entire of themselves
Every teacher is a part of the continent, a part of Education
If a class be washed away to sea,
The school is the less
Any teacher's unwillingness to participate diminishes me, because I am involved in Teaching
And therefore never send to know for whom the Standards toll, it tolls for thee.
I forgot to add something about the "pay for merit" that Wendy talked about. I think this can be a dangerous idea in the same way that providing external rewards for students can be dangerous. I would fear that by changing to a merit based system we would be weakening the intrinsic motivation that teachers have. On the flip side, it can be said that not all teachers have an intrinsic motivator. That is a risky assumption though. The whole argument seems like a sticky situation to me, but admittedly I don't have much knowledge of it.
I think teachers can become more aware of what is going on in their classrooms. I believe it takes a lot of effort on a teacher’s part that does not have “withitness” to improve this skill. To improve this skill I would concentrate on improving this skill during a time of teaching something that I am very familiar with in order to practice “withitness”. I would ask a team member to come and observe me teaching a lesson before I changed anything and then after I have practiced with classes I would ask them to come back to observe again and track certain behaviors that they see in me during class.
In order for me to know if I am being effective in my teaching I need to be open to having others come in and observe my classes. If we are working together as a team we learn from one another. Each has something different to bring to the team. We hold each other accountable for good instruction and learning that should be going on in our classrooms.
I suppose a certain degree of “withitness” can be taught, and I would agree with the opinions already voiced, but I maintain that there are those educators who are just naturally more attuned to the best teaching practices and are intrinsically more effective than others. We have all had wonderful teachers and some who are not so wonderful and the difference isn’t what strategies and techniques have been taught to them; the difference is in who those teachers are and how they relate to others in and out of the classrooms in all aspects of their lives. Some are just better suited to be effective teachers than others. Yet everyone, the good, the bad, and the indifferent, can benefit from training, including that elusive trait of “withitness.”
Yes, I would like to discuss a "liked" teacher vs. a "good" teacher....maybe....at some point!
As several colleagues mentioned previously, “withitness” does come more naturally to some than others. However, working to develop it and hone it can certainly be achieved. There are strategies that can be employed, but if a teacher is lacking in “withitnes,” it would be important to try to implement these a few at a time until they are mastered and then add a few more. “Withitness” is a balancing act by nature; it is the ability to be aware of multiple aspects of the classroom all at once AND still be able to focus on the lesson being taught. If one tries to take all of these aspects on at once, it would be difficult to improve at all. Laurie makes a good point in that it is easier to work on improving areas one lacks with regards to “withitness” when one is very comfortable with the content being taught.
For my classroom, I have discovered that one of the best ways to stay “with it” is by giving very clear expectations, especially for behavior. The rest is simply a matter of being aware of these expectations being met or not, then taking swift, decisive, consistent measures accordingly.
With regards to question number two, it is clear from all of our reading up to this point that deprivitization in education is what is best for students, therefore we should do it. Teacher collaboration and consistent standards and expectations across the board improve instruction; therefore, it is good for students. The difficulty comes in breaking down barriers and showing fallacies in reasons teachers have for wanting to remain isolated. As the author of Results Now clearly articulates and convincingly argues, this isolation has often been done maintained in the name of “professionalism.” However, what we need to do is recast our definition of “professionalism” to include aspects of collegiality and mutual accountability.
“Withitness”, can it be taught? I think it can to some extent. I just thought about driver’s ed where we were taught to look at the things going on around us and in the mirrors. Not everyone will be as conscientious, but we all have the ability to learn to pay attention to what is happening around us. I try to follow “withitness” in my room, but even then some things get by me – like the sneaky kid who lit the lighter under the desk in DL. I smelled smoke, but didn’t realize where it was coming from…
I read a few of the posts before it dawned on me that I had an advantage when I started teaching. My first job was in a 5th/6th grade classroom where the secretary’s office was in the back of my room. I ALWAYS had someone in the room with me knowing what I was doing right or wrong. When parent volunteers started coming in to use the copier – even if they were for another classroom, I learned to not let it bother me. One comment was made about preparing a good lesson for an observation vs. all the lessons taught when you weren’t being observed. I want to do my job right whether I’m being observed that day or not. In 2007-2008 you had us observe each other and now I know why. Even with teaching different subjects, we could learn from observing others and not being so isolated. With being the only world language teacher in the building, I feel isolated to some extent, but I also get the chance to get into others rooms as the ELL person.
Can ‘withitness” be taught? I really like how Kathleen phased her answer to this question. I agree that it can be cultivated. Like Victor was alluding to, we lead by example. If we are organized, motivated and planned students respond to that. Being on a team, it was very easy to see how students responded to different teacher expectations. I am a strong believer that high expectations for students and myself is a winning combination. I also believe that you need to build this behavior into your daily plan. Just like you discuss the objective for the day, you must also discuss with students how to be “within.” This means having them use their planners to schedule re-assessments, write down homework and set goals.
Deprivatizing education is an invaluable tool for success at any school. Collaboration can be accomplished many ways, through teaming, PSTs, mentoring programs, continuing education. I think to establish a true collaborative spirit at a school, teachers should have time to meet with grade level teams on a weekly basis and subject level teams at least twice a month. Again I would say that Virtual Campus could provide us with a good avenue to “observe” other teachers.
I think that "withitness" can be taught. Like many things it takes practice. It can also be learned by observation. "Whithitness" should not only be used to notice behavoir problems, but good behavior and achievement as well. Students will respect you more if you know everything that's going on, good and bad, not just that the kids in the back are messing around, but what the good kids are up to as well.
One of the best ways to learn/teach "withitness"is thorough observation...which brings up the next question...why should we deprivitize our practice?
I was shocked to hear how little we know what's going on in each other's classes at Altona, but I can see how it can happen very easily. I feel we do a fairly decent job of knowing what's going on down in the music wing (maybe my teammates would beg to differ). We just have to coordinate so many events and our recruiting with each other. Also, the physical arrangement of our teaching space does not allow for very much privacy. I have to admit though, I have know idea what is going on in any other elective classes, or in the students' core classes.
Every year the music teachers go to a convention called CMEA. Yes, we drink and party a lot, but we TALK. And every year I catch one or two little ideas or nuggets of information that completely change my teaching.
I think it's so important for us to observe each other. Even just one little nugget of an idea can make a huge difference.
I think that "withitness" can be taught. Like many things it takes practice. It can also be learned by observation. "Whithitness" should not only be used to notice behavior problems, but good behavior and achievement as well. Students will respect you more if you know everything that's going on, good and bad, not just that the kids in the back are messing around, but what the good kids are up to as well.
One of the best ways to learn/teach "withitness"is thorough observation...which brings up the next question...why should we deprivitize our practice?
I was shocked to hear how little we know what's going on in each other's classes at Altona, but I can see how it can happen very easily. I feel we do a fairly decent job of knowing what's going on down in the music wing (maybe my teammates would beg to differ). We just have to coordinate so many events and our recruiting with each other. Also, the physical arrangement of our teaching space does not allow for very much privacy. I have to admit though, I have no idea what is going on in any other elective classes, or in the students' core classes.
Every year the music teachers go to a convention called CMEA. Yes, we drink and party a lot, but we TALK. And every year I catch one or two little ideas or nuggets of information that completely change my teaching.
I think it's so important for us to observe each other. Even just one little nugget of an idea can make a huge difference.
Sorry, I am having problems with my identity!!!!! It has me as mom15......
One thing that this discussion on withitness brings to mind is Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. We all have intelligences that we are strong in and some that we are not so strong in, but one of the key points of this theory is that our strength in any given area is not static! It changes throughout our lifetime and can be strengthened through training and practice! I would describe withitness as a combination of several intelligences including Interpersonal, Naturalistic, and Visual-Spatial. A "withit" teacher needs to be able to read the dynamics of the classroom at any given time and be aware of any shifts that may lead to an issue. As the teacher strengthens their "withitness," issues that were previously out of control can be resolved much quicker and with a minimal amount of time spent away from instruction.
I honestly believe that by opening our doors to our colleagues, we can strengthen our "classroom intelligence" and help each other become better teachers. How else will it happen?
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