Susan Fedor/00-01/Diary Entry 9

Entry # 9:
What's Good for the Teacher
Is Good for the Principal

Why does my reading and thinking stay separate from my doing? How do I integrate what I learn into what I want to happen in this school? Why am I quick to judge others when I remain blind to my own shortcomings? Why do I urge others to take risks while I stay on safe ground?

These are the things I ponder as I plan January, a return to school, and how to approach change in a different way. My plan of action has evolved from mandating a new procedure for evaluating student work to an approach that embraces the notion that I, too, am a teacher.

I could appear at the department meeting with a prescribed procedure for developing student-writing folders and present a direct teaching lesson. Or, I could be the sort of guide I believe my teachers should be for their students. The first approach is in the dead center of my comfort zone -- and theirs. They are able teachers, dedicated and professional, and they will do as I ask regardless of my method. But, if I truly believe that "meaning" comes when learners work at and control their learning, is that not a lesson to me as I pursue this new approach to student work?

An empty school, a delicious time

Three days for thinking preceded my winter break. Teachers and students had an early start on the holiday. I wallowed in the delicious time nearly alone at school. Mostly, I read and made requests for copies of notable articles for various groups. I read back issues of Education Week, Educational Leadership, Middle Ground, The Reading Teacher, Phi Delta Kappan, and Electronic Learning.

My minimum daily requirement of professional development comes from a couple of on-line discussion groups, and a comprehensive compilation (with their clickable weblinks) of middle school articles. This weekly e-mailing (from MiddleWeb!) is like having a personalized clipping service. Like everyone else, I rarely have an opportunity to really catch up on the print material that arrives weekly and builds into formidable piles behind my desk. It becomes a silent, nightly reproach when I pack my bags for homegoing having added to and rarely subtracting from their ever-increasing height.

But after three days, the piles were gone and the important messages among them slated for dissemination. I have an abundance of new ideas to think about. Soon, I hope, others will, too.

Then I reviewed samples of student writing folders each language arts teacher had prepared for me. I took notes and developed a long list of my findings. Most striking was the degree of difference I found among teachers who were giving the same generic assignments to all students. Editing of grade level work was mostly superficial while the really insightful suggestions were abundant on the papers of honors students.

I also made observations about the kind of student work included in the folders. There was little "free writing" that reflected a personal significance for the writer. There was well-crafted work but little work that resonated with the individual interests of its author. Some teachers had students to reflect on their work; most did not. There was ample evidence that the teachers were still doing all the hard work (I remember the Phil Schlechty quote to the effect that school is a place where little people come to watch teachers working very hard.) Well, these language arts teachers were not stinting on the effort but also were not making students share the responsibility for their learning.

My unspeakable arrogance

My initial plan (a direct teaching lesson) had been to present a summary of my general observations. I would create a table comparing the folders of grade-level, advanced and honors students. I would present a list of the things I thought I would find in the folders but did not. I would celebrate and describe those folders that were exemplary. I would design a record-keeping form for all evaluated writing. I would require all students to complete a reflection piece on their work. I would encourage different kinds of writing, more open-ended sorts of assignments. I would ask that individual conferences and a summary of the conference be included in each folder. Finally, I would present a listing of the required content of each folder. Over. Done. Neat.

What unspeakable arrogance! Maybe I do not have all the answers. Maybe my solutions ignore some obvious truth that the classroom teachers know that I do not. Maybe my plan is all wrong.

In devising my initial approach, I set aside everything I advocate that good teachers do to craft lessons that are meaningful to students. Remember, these fine teachers would have done whatever I asked. But telling them exactly what to do ignored their prior learning and their deep knowledge of the students they were assigned to teach.

Show, don't tell

Back to the drawing board. I needed more time to read and reflect. I finished Mosaic of Thought and What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know. I wished every classroom in our school looked like the one described in these books. I thought back over the articles I had read and finally a glimmer of light. If I wanted classrooms like those I have been reading about, I have a responsibility to demonstrate what the teaching in them looks like.

How much easier to stand and deliver. How hard to merely guide.

So, this is what I am going to do. I hope I do not stutter as I try to teach in a different way, just as I hope my teachers are willing to try. It is scary to leave a secure place of reasonable competence and venture into a place of less control with less skill and no experience to speak of. I understand how they must feel every day.

Here is my new plan. It is frightening not to know the answer before I ask the question. I have no list, no preconceived outline, and no forms to distribute. They do not exist. These will be developed in a group process.

First, I will ask teachers to make observations of two sets of folders from other teachers. They are not identified by teacher name. I'll avoid the pitfall I saw in peer editing included in students' folders. A middle school student would take any alternative rather than risk friendship as a consequence of critical assessment. As a consequence, peer editing was mostly a "praise fest." I imagine that this group of caring teachers would feel the same constraints.

We will chart the observations of each teacher and try to make general lists and sort them into categories (an opportunity to model the use of Inspiration software perhaps).

Then, I'll pose the questions:

"What is the purpose for a student writing folder?"
"Does a folder of work contribute to improved writing?"
"Do we believe that the work involved in keeping one is worth the time it takes?"
"If we believe students should keep them, what should they contain?"
"Does there need to be schoolwide consistency?"
"Do they need to include writing from other subjects?"
"Should we share responsibility among all teachers and students for the record of writing progress?" "What sorts of writing are we asking students to do?"
"Are students thoughtful in evaluating what they have learned about their writing?"
"How is vocabulary development and spelling and knowledge of mechanics incorporated into writing included in the folders?"
"Is the six-trait writing model being used as an assessment?" "Should it be?"
"Are students able to discuss and seek help for specific problems they encounter with their writing?" "How can parents be involved with their children's writing?"
"What resources could help us find answers to these questions and do we need them?"
"What do we need to do next?"
"Who will do what?"
"When?"

I do not know what the answers to these questions will be, but whatever they are, they will be more significant than anything I might have presented as a fait accompli. I trust the teachers to analyze deeply. I trust their experience. I know they care about the developing writers in their classes.

And irrespective of the outcome of this work, I have learned the deepest lesson. Letting go is hard. But is an imperative.

Entry # 9: What's Good for the Teacher Is Good for the Principal

Entry # 9:
What's Good for the Teacher
Is Good for the Principal