The Teacher Leaders, one from every elementary, middle school and two from each high school began their first class of seven that will be presented throughout the 2012-13 school year by Dr. Jon Saphier. (http://www.RBTeach.com).
The purpose of the course is to:
- Develop collegiality and non-defensive examination of professional practice.
- Build a common language and concept system for talking about teaching together.
- Expand their repertoires of skills and strategies and our capacity to match them skillfully to: students….situations….curriculum
Dr. Saphier began by sharing research that shows teachers are the most important factor in increasing student achievement. What teachers know, believe and can do, determines how well their students achieve.
Based on our knowledge of research:
- Teachers are preeminently important.
- There is a knowledge base about teaching that is practical, accessible and real… and it’s different
- Building and strengthening teaching knowledge and skill depends most strongly the culture and professional practice at building level. (Not only there, and not entirely there, but most strongly there.)
- The teacher leaders, principals, coaches, and other building leaders must have shared images of what good teaching looks and sounds like and a common language and concept system for talking about it, if teaching is to improve.
The knowledge base needed for good teaching is very complex as illustrated in this diagram:
(Research for Better Teaching• One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 www.RBTeach.com)
A teacher must have the foundation of essential beliefs. One essential belief is that all students can succeed when taught with well designed and presented instruction. Another belief is that IQ’s are not set, but can change as a student learns and expands their abilities.
Once the solid foundation of essential beliefs is in place the remaining building blocks of the pyramid (The Skillful Teacher ) illustrate the complexity of teaching. Areas that must be considered in classrooms every day: Management, Instructional Strategies, Motivation and Curriculum. There are many factors within each of these areas that need to be in place. How they are presented in practice depends upon the needs of the students in the classroom. There are many teaching strategies connected with each key concept.
When developing the curriculum, classroom objectives are a critical first step to planning the daily lesson. A worthy objective is one that has a focus on learning targets that would benefit the students most. It often is posted on the board or written in lesson plan. Students should know their learning target and what they are expected to know. The value of the learning objectives, being addressed through activities in class, need to be clearly understood by all students. More to follow in October…..
