The Big Picture--Parent Involvement

At the request of one of my English teaching colleagues, and my principal, I picked up The Big Picture at the beginning of the summer.  I was so overwhelmed as I read it that I started taking some notes to remember parts that I wanted to enact for this next school year.  At first I was a little put off by the book because it seemed to be yet another publication bashing teachers who are stuck in a system measured by test scores.  However, I kept reading because I wanted to see what the author had to say.  While there are parts of this book that will never work in the school where I teach, there where other parts that really made me think. 
I do not disagree that my classes need to become much more student-centered.  In fact, I started last year stepping back and reevaluating what I was asking my students to do.  Actually that self-evaluation started about four years ago when I went through the National Board Certification process.  That experience required that I reflect on what I was doing, and even though I fell in the high percentage of people who do not meet the first time through, I took away from the process the need to self reflect and reevaluate everything I do in my classroom.  So, as I read I became excited to think about some of the changes I could make in the courses I teach. 

One of my initiatives for this year is reaching out to parents.  Parents have to be my partner in their child's education.  Too many times parents think teachers don't care, are out to get their student, or simply do not want their help.  And I understand why they think that.  Most often, I do not call a parent until I have something negative to report, and my silence throughout the rest of the school year probably does send the wrong message.  However, I do want parent input.  I have to know their child through their eyes.  I need to know my students' interests, needs, stumbling blocks, etc.  When my wife taught junior high, she sent home an "assignment" to her parents asking them to describe their student "in a million words or less."  At the time I was not sure something like that would work in a high school classroom; however, now I am willing to try it.  I am excited about what information I will glean from my students' parents.  I am also going to send out invitations to my parents to open house and parent/teacher conferences.  I want parents to know that I want to see them, talk to them, and get to know them and their children better.  Trust builds camaraderie and camaraderie with parents will build respect, and I hope a higher work ethic out of my students. 

I also intend to create and upkeep a fan page on Facebook.  It is my goal to send out a weekly classroom newsletter via my facebook page and by blogspot page, and  hopefully through the mail to those families who do not have the internet.  It was this part in The Big Picutre that I embraced the most.  Involving parents will take time and commitment, but I know that the end result will be worth the effort.

It is my hope that my parents will be excited about offering advice and information about their children, and it is also my hope that I will see more dedication from my students.  It cannot hurt, and I know it will help build a deeper understanding of what I am trying to accomplish with other ideas I intend to implement.  I need the input of my parents; I know they will step up!

Mock Interviews

Last week, my seniors in English 12 did mock interviews as a part of a speech grade. English 12 has always been the more "practical" English class; however, I have always observed that there were several students in English 12 who were going to go to college. This last summer, when I knew that I was going to be teaching this class, I searched for ways to make the class both "academic" and "practical." I decided to embrace another career unit experiment and add another piece. Last year, our juniors, this year's seniors, did a career unit. Apparently, these students have done several because when I introduced this again, my seniors moaned and groaned. However, some became very excited by the prospect of interviewing with someone other than me.

It took much more to get this project off the ground than I realized, and thankfully, I had the help of Ms. Seaton, one of our business teachers; and the help of a friend of mine, Amy McGilvrey, who has worked at Manpower for several years. Amy's expertise in the business sector, and Ms Seaton's expertise in arranging mock interviews, and the community's involvement in helping interview our students made this whole experience worthwhile for the students and for me.

It is important to take this time to thank all of those people who gave up their time to come interview our students. Over two days, we had 20 people from the community come to the high school to work with our students. Some gave their entire day while others gave a couple hours. No matter the contribution, it was all significant and gave our students an engaging, "real-world" experience. Interviewing skills will be necessary, no matter what line of work a student is pursuing. These community members offered our students valuable feedback, both at the time of the interview and on rubrics, that helped the students better understand the interview process and what they needed to do to better prepare themselves for interviews. I was impressed by the positive comments that these adults had about our students and by the feedback I received from my students about the process.

While this was a beneficial activity for my students, I was reminded of why some teachers, including myself, hesitate to plan something like this. Besides taking much planning, and I had wonderful help, it was quite stressful on the first day, especially, giving up that control that teachers need. By the end of that day, I was mentally exhausted, but I know that my students gained more from that experience than a lesson out of a book or simply writing cover letters and resumes. Those practices our important, but actually seeing those documents come to life made more of an impact than any feedback a grade would have offered. I put a great deal of trust in my students that day to represent me and themselves well, and from the feedback I have been given, I would say they did a fantastic job.

It has been my personal goal this year to work to better engage my students, and I know that sometimes I revert back to my original ways of teaching, yet I think that I am offering my students more opportunities to take control of their education and make school more interesting and relevant. I find myself constantly questioning the lesson plans I make, which I sometimes fail to get online in time, the assignments I give, and the assessments I use. While some may see this as a sign of weakness on my part, I know it is a sign of working to better improve my classroom for my students. Have all of my students responded? No. However, do I see more working to challenge themselves at higher levels? Yes, and that makes the questioning and constant planning worthwhile.

Take the wheel

I used a metaphor today in my classes that I hope my students take to heart. I told them that I wanted them to take the wheel and drive the car we call our class. They looked at me the same way they might look at me if I had forgotten to put on my shirt this morning. I had a few brave souls speak out and take control but most were content to sit back and wait for something important to write down.

I am going to post my goal for this year here for all to see, especially Mr. Meister who I hope will hold me to it. This year, I am going to empower my students with a much more engaging atmosphere that will inspire them to take control and get more out of their eductation than just listening to me teach.

I will admit that this scares me just a little. For as new as I still am to this teaching "gig," I am still well enough into it to have become comfortable with the idea that I am to teach(stand in front of a room and lecture and then give homework)my classes from bell-to-bell. However, teaching can come in many forms, and one of those forms this year in room 23 will be me allowing my students to guide their own learning. In my junior literature classes this semester I am going to attempt a centers-based approach. Will it work? I don't know, but what I do know is that it won't if I don't attempt it. Will it create much more work for me? Absolutely, but I know that creating several different activities for a class period will feel much more rewarding than having only a handful engaged in classroom discussion while the rest sit in the shadows and allow education to happen to them.

It is time for change, and I look forward with a little bit of apprehension but with a lot of excitement to watch how it all works. I envision organized chaos. I hope Mr. Meister is up for much movement in the classroom over his head!