Many are aware of the unfortunate statistic that almost half of teachers leave the profession before their fifth year. Teacher retention is a huge issue in relation to both the social capital of a school and the economic situation of the school district. The time and money it takes to train new teachers is quite large and could potentially be used for other, more important, efforts (like having more teachers, for example). 

To that end, the RAND Corporation conducted a literature review in 2004 on teacher training and retention. A quick glance at the Executive Summary will yield some amazing findings, including the fact that, "the highest attrition rates seen for teachers occurred in their first years of teaching and after many years of teaching when they were near retirement, thus producing a U-shaped pattern of attrition with respect to age or experience." This turnover is an egregious phenomenon that needs to be stopped. As a third year teacher I have had a chance to reflect on the opportunities afforded to me that ensured my continuation in this profession. 

One of the most important of these was having a mentor teacher to consult with whenever I had questions. My "math coach," as she was called, visited my classroom on a weekly (sometimes more) basis and provided me with constructive feedback, supplies, lesson plan ideas, and general support. She had many years of experience and it was a pleasure to talk with her about pedagogy specific to my subject area. Without her I would most definitely not have improved much my first year. 

Two months ago one of my colleagues went on sabbatical and was replaced by a new teacher with little experience in the classroom. He is earnest and willing to learn but unfortunately doesn't have enough time to gain true understanding. One specific recommendation I have been reading a lot about recently is transforming the first years of teaching into more of an apprenticeship where a "Master teacher" guides a newbie so that they can gain the experience necessary to become professionals. The RESPECT Project run by the Department of Education has a document making suggestions like this.

Imagine if in your first year of teaching - instead of teaching a whirlwind of five classes a day - instead you taught 3 or 4 and observed experienced teachers for the rest of the day. So much of what I do I learned by observation - if I was given designated time at the start of my career, I might be 10 times better today because of it. Somehow we must get more people talking and pushing for something like this.

In Diane Ravitch's recent Huffington Post article, she points out that she thinks, "that the lesson of Finland and other high-performing nations is that we must improve the teaching profession, so that career educators receive the respect and working conditions they need to succeed." 

I'm sure many read this article and focused on that fact that teachers are currently being demonized as being uncaring, greedy individuals who are only in the profession to make some money while getting summers off. When I read this line, however, I began thinking about a conversation I had in my recent Teacher Leadership PLC meeting regarding how to reframe the career path of educators. Known as the RESPECT Project, the US Department of Education is trying to reframe what it would look like to be a teacher longterm. 

At the moment the only improvement a teacher has in terms of autonomy of decision-making and increase in salary is to go into administration. In our conversation we discussed the possibility of having different tracks of teacher development. Some would focus on becoming administrators and get important, valid training. Others would remain in the classroom but be given "release time" in order to work on special projects. 

An example of this could be a Teacher-Researcher. Instead of teaching the traditional five classes per day, s/he could teach two and use the extra time to plan, implement, and write a research paper on the affects of poverty in education at his or her school. Another example could be a Teacher-Outreach Coordinator, an individual responsible for fostering community buy-in from the neighborhood around the school. 

While these roles might be contracted currently, oftentimes it would be more useful to have people connected directly with the most important part of the school - the students - in order to affect change and support the mission of education. 

I do not think these roles are coming around the corner now, but I hope that they are being thought of deeply and critically in order to promote what, at the moment, is a career that has been de-professionalized. 

Over the past four days I have had the tremendous opportunity to do something sorely lacking all over the School District of Philadelphia: commiserate and contemplate with my colleagues. I spent time in three different contexts with educators from all different backgrounds and loved every second of it. As a proponent of the idea that teachers need to be more collegial instead of congenial, I hope to describe these experiences in a way that will entice other educators to join up.

The Teacher Leadership PLC - a program co-sponsored by the US Department of Education and led by innovative teacher Gamal Sharif, this group brings together teachers and educators from all over the city to debate what teacher-based leadership looks like (or should look like) in this country. By harnessing the power of dialog, interactive activities, and meaningful texts, I think these meetings will form the basis for a new support group for teachers ready for real change. Interested yet? Share your thoughts and come on April 19th. 

Greater Philadelphia Innovation in Education - a program co-sponsored by Teacher For America (TFA) and Technically Philly and coordinated by the leadership in the northeast region of TFA, this group formed two months ago in order to craft projects that will change education in our city. By bringing together educators and non-educators from all over the city, they hope we will pitch new ideas to entrepreneurs and policy-changers who will support us in our endeavors. Current ideas include changing professional development to become more teacher-driven across the School District, leveraging parents in more meaningful ways, and creating web projects devoted to help make teacher's jobs easier.

PhilaSoup - a micro-grant program created by educators from the Philadelphia area endeavoring to provide needed funds for small projects that help kids across the city. The night consists of networking with teachers and teacher leaders, breaking bread over tasty, home-made soup, and listening to pitches from a few teachers trying to get money to develop projects for their students.

The only way for teachers to increase their voice is to provide contexts in which to do so - I am happy to have been able to participate in these events and look forward to continuing my involvement. See you there!

As a high school teacher in Pennsylvania I have been involved somehow in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test for three years - and every year as been different.

My first year teaching I was at West Philadelphia High School and a lot of effort was put into keeping the testing environment quiet and organized. Two teachers were in each room for proctoring; snacks were distributed; lots of breaks were provided; and calculators were plentiful.

My second year teaching I was at the School of the Future and we had similar preparations. Unfortunately, I was alone for proctoring but had significantly fewer students to watch over (half a regular-sized classroom at the time). We still provided calculators and some snacks.

This year I am at the Academy at Palumbo and - while I am not directly proctoring - I have been a half-hour of relief for one of two teachers in a testing room. Unfortunately we don't have enough calculators to provide one for each student, but enough of them have for it not to be a huge issue. And we only have some snacks due the courtesy of one of our teachers.

All in all, very different experiences. Since this is the case, I really wonder how we can call all of this "standardized?" All the research into how resources affecting outcomes of students confirms observations I make on a daily basis. Students who don't have the money for calculators might suffer. Students who did not have time to come to PSSA workshops due to other family responsibilities suffer. Students who did not eat a full meal in the morning suffer.

Then I start thinking about the other students in the school - the ones who are arriving late and sometimes missing instructional time across the School District due to testing taking priority. The PSSA is actually HARMING others in its administration - something I'm sure is not widely advertised. 

I hope something big changes soon about all this. Otherwise I might have to grab a guitar and start strumming the PSSA blues.

Every generation is different from - and rebels against - the generation that came before it. So why does this generation seem more different to me?

I have had this conversation with numerous people over the past few weeks: I know that my generation acted differently in school than our parents; our parent's parents also acted differently; on and on ad nauseum. But when I talk to and interact with the teenager of today I really wonder if the technological advances over the past 15 years have changed the dynamic of the world so much that this generation of teenager is more different to my peers and me than we were to our parents. 

I am obviously focusing on a narrow view of the world: my experience and the experiences I have heard. 

When I went to high school my parents were confused as to how I could dress the way I did - much more informally than they had. Moreover, they questioned how the use of technology would benefit me without becoming a distraction. That being said, I still think we focused  well enough to figure out what we need to and got out well.

Now I am looking at this situation from the other side. I see students distracted during class not by passing notes (something fairly easy to catch) but by texting and playing computer games (something less easy to catch). I also see students getting into fights more readily and more easily than before because of the common use of social media on computers and smart phones. Everything is just easier and more distracting than ever before. 

So, again, I wonder: is this simply a case of differences occurring in the same way they had before? Or, has technology advanced quicker than we can adapt to it? I find myself alternating viewpoints constantly - I am not sure. I think I lean towards believing these kids are setting themselves up for disaster with the constant misuse of digital devices (and the lack of awareness of how to use them well). But, then, I think back to how I viewed my parents and their interactions with me in relation to the same things and I turn back. 

This may not be the most informative post but it is something important to consider. 

One of the largest criticisms I have about that current state of education is that a lot of it can cause a lot of stagnation on the part of students to actually think. English classes often become repetition of "read, comprehend, write an essay." History classes can be "current event, past event, write an essay on how they relate." Math classes, too, are definitely culprits. I find myself sometimes getting caught in the "Here's an example of something new, let's do one together, no you do one." Instead of devolving into endless rotation of those, we should try to include higher-order thinking where the students get to use their own knowledge and apply it to what we are doing in class.

To that end, I asked my students to think of contemporary and personal limitations in their own lives in order to craft systems of linear inequalities, graph the inequalities on the calculator, and then provide potential solutions based on their graphs. 

I was really excited when I rean across the example to the left.

The students around us know exactly what is going on in the School District of Philadelphia. They recognize the costs, limitations, and issues, and - when prompted - that knowledge can come out in their work. 

Granted, this particular student neglected to draw in the graph or provide a solution to this scenario, but hey, the thought was there!