Teacher Education

On Wednesday, October 24, the NY Daily News  ran an editorial:  Central challenge:  Teaching teachers.  The article talks about many of the controversies in education today but the part that interested me the most was the part about teacher education and the need for high quality teacher preparation programs.  And, while I agree this is important (I had a dynamite methods teacher and advisor when I student taught) it did not prepare me for what I faced in my own classroom.  The article recommends a year of paid clinical practice under the supervision of an experienced mentor.

This editorial brought me back to my first term teaching.  I was 21 years old, fresh out of college.  I walked into a classroom, green.  I expected things to flow, like they did when I student taught. I was heart broken when my lessons did not go over as I expected or when the kids did not listen.  I was blessed with the most wonderful teacher next door who took me under his wing and showed me what it was like to be in a classroom and how to get kids to listen and learn.  So many years later, we are still friends and he still never lets me forget that he was my savior.

The new teachers today are not going to get paid mentors.  The schools won't spend the money.  Besides, there are just too many new teachers.  And, there aren't enough experienced teachers left to help as all the veterans are being pushed out.  The article says that parents would always prefer a seasoned teacher to a rookie and I agree. What I disagree strongly with is the statement that there is a sharp increase in teacher effectiveness in year two and a small increase in year three with performances then leveling off after that.  A teacher learns more each day and while effectiveness will level off, it will take at least 5 years  and closer to 10 do this.

(Pictured above is a Jones Beach pigeon, very well fed)

Attention: NYC Teachers

TRS had a great seminar today on retirement options for Tier I teachers. It was worth the trip to 55 Water St. Don't despair if you are not Tier I. They also run these seminars for Tiers II, III and IV. Even if you are not ready for retirement, it is still worthwhile going. There is a special form to fill out that will give you a projected retirement income.

Views from the windows

South Street Sea Port

This street performer was fantastic. One of the few I have actually given money to. The box he ends up in is only a 17 inch cube.

No Teacher Left Behind

Teacher education today is just not what it was years ago. I see it in the new teachers coming up, particularly in mathematics.When I started teaching, my AP (a woman known throughout the city as being a major bitch) demanded that her teachers used correct mathematical language. It was not acceptable to say that the kids were weak students, or in remedial math, we had to use precise vocabulary. Our kids learned. We learned how to ask questions and how to write exams. My AP could walk into any classroom and teach any lesson for any subject given in the department. We might not have liked her, but we learned from her, AP's today are not master teachers. I had an AP a few years ago that could barely teach Math A and had no concept of how to do a geometric proof. He observed a calculus class and raved about a problem I had gone over which was really a poorly written question. I used it to stress a couple of points, none of which he grasped. When he left, a kid said "does that guy know any math?" He obviously did not. With AP's like this, new teachers are not getting the guidance they need.

Teacher education is also lacking. Group work is the thing to do and that seems to be stressed in a lot of education classes. Education professors have been out of the high school classroom for so long that they have forgotten what is needed in those situations. I see young teachers that only use computer generated exam questions, never writing their own. I see new teachers totally relying on the one textbook the class is using, and never referring to other sources. The school days are so jam packed and structured that teachers do not have time to talk to others in their department and to see what others are teaching and how they are doing it.

I know that most of the things I learned about teaching was learned from my peers. In this country, there are plenty of teachers being left behind, not because they don't have the ability, but because they don't have the proper education.