Based on my recent experiences talking with friends, family, and strangers about education, I realized I need to prioritize my own learning in order to become a better teacher and education advocate. As a teacher I often hear and talk about various factors that seriously affect the learning of children (class size, poverty, teacher effectiveness) but I want to know. For that reason I have decided to spend more time searching for peer-reviewed journal articles, reading educational research, and seeking out new books on the subject I teach as well as the environment in which I work. Only with that knowledge at the tip of my tongue can I adequately respond to those who would use my ignorance to prove their point. 

I promise to share what I learn here. One of the purposes of this blog is to encourage learning and conversation so if you have any thoughts to share, please do. If you have any articles to share, definitely do so. 

With that in mind, here is my first foray into the world of research. 

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I started this exploration by reading two articles on Teach For America, both available for free online.

The first study discussed the difference in skill between first-year Teach For America (TFA) teachers and first-year regularly-certified teachers. The conclusion (as one would expect) states that first year regularly-certified teachers overall are better at what they do. This is unsurprising as certification programs (like the one I went through) provide more time to plan and reflect on what you are going to do in the classroom. The six-week summer institute that TFA corps members attend is not nearly a good enough analogue to a traditional certification program to expect them to be at the same level as a regular certification program.

That being said, the second study did explain that those TFA teachers who taught for more than the required 2-year commitment usually performed "on a par with other certified teachers, after controlling for degrees and experience, as well as a variety of student and school factors" (p.21). After the two years of experience they gain in the classroom, partnered with attending a certification program, they basically have the same skill as a regularly-certified teacher.

Another blogger named Gary Rubenstein recently posted an entry on how he thinks the TFA program could be fixed. He suggests, "TFA becomes a three year program with the first year composed of training, student teaching, substitute teaching, and being paired up as an assistant to a corps member who is in her second year of the program, which is her first (of two) years of teaching." Based on the results from the studies above, it would seem this process would make sense. Instead of throwing unqualified college grads into the fire of low-income classrooms (which is disproportionately where they go), give them some time to see what it is like first so they have some skill when they are in front of the kids.

I know this would obviously change the entire dynamic of TFA but I think it makes a certain amount of sense. If we really care about the children, we should think of ways to help them more than ways to help ourselves as young adults. 

I had the honor and privilege of making a guest blog post in The Notebook today. If you are unfamiliar with their work, I suggest you read some of their back issues. They are great reporters and people who care about public education in Philadelphia. Thanks!

Last Thursday night my school hosted a screening of the film American Teacher and it was incredible! Over 125 people sat in our beautiful auditorium for an insight into some of the major issues concerning teachers and policymakers across the country. One of the major emphases of the film was teacher salary and it ends with a focus on The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School in Washington Heights, NY (a school that takes the concept seriously). I think this school well exemplifies what a charter school is supposed to be: an experiment in public education that could be copied/modeled by public school districts. After the film we were lucky to get one of the teachers it focused on to answer questions via Skype and it was illuminating to many people in the audience, including me.

I am generally skeptical of the corporate-created/funded charter schools out there but this one is not like other models I've seen. One of the major aspects that excite me is their creative use of budget to simultaneously increase teacher salaries (starting at $125,000 each) while increasing teacher responsibilities and leadership roles in their school. They are fairly transparent about this as well, using only money provided from the state to pay for operating costs. They give a lot to their teachers but they also get a lot from them, and that balance means the world to me.

A few years ago I read a book called The Secrets of TSL, a book describing the use of Weighted-Student Funding as a way of reorganizing how money is spent in schools. Instead of the central hub of a school district mandating where money goes to, each school's leadership makes decisions based on what is coming in (and that number is determined how many students and what type of student; special ed students provided more money, for example). This kind of trust in leadership is very lacking across the School District of Philadelphia. Empowerment Schools are mandated to use programs like Corrective Reading/Math that do not have much research to support that they help in learning (we all know they help in testing, but is testing really what we want to focus on?). 

I recognize that trust is a hard thing to earn - just look at the School Reform Commissioners who just left. But I think we need to have faith in our leadership that we know is of high quality, and seek out those who could be. Recognize where some teachers might be able to take larger roles in their schools/districts and maybe we would be able to take some pressure off overworked principals. Hopefully through that the vox populi of the United States will also regain their trust in what we do on a daily basis. 

You trust us with your kids every day - don't tie our hands behind our backs while you do it.

Over the past few weeks I have posted many pieces on the difference between neighborhood and magnet schools as seen through my eyes. A lot of those posts have pointed out features of magnet schools that might make a teacher's life easier and all for good reason. Unfortunately, there are some things that the teenagers of today are still going to do that can be very aggravating across the board.

I am, of course, talking about inappropriate cell phone use. Unfortunately it is a problem every teacher has to deal with in one case or another. Some schools are probably worse than others (I've heard stories of students answering the phone in the middle of class) but I can safely say that magnet schools are still affected by this infraction. 

Please keep in mind that I fully support many initiatives and ideas that incorporate cell phone use into the curriculum. The concept of BYOD (bring your own device) has a lot of merit to it so I try to use cell phones in positive ways: calculation tools, cameras, texting in answers to questions even. Yet, when I am trying to focus my students on an interactive activity or practicing a skill in the classroom, I should not have to redirect a student who is trying to text his/her friends.

I recognize that if students are engaged and focused they are less likely to take out the cell phone in the middle of class and start texting away or reading their twitter feed. That being said, sometimes I wish it weren't illegal in the US to use a cell phone jamming device for educational purposes.

I had the recent pleasure to write a blog post for the Microsoft Sharepoint team on my use of Sharepoint to track student progress and discipline issues with other teachers. It is essentially a rehash of a post I made months ago with a step-by-step video on how you can do it at your school. You can read it here. 

As I grow older I get more involved in the political system: reading, volunteering and, of course, voting. I find this to be a direct connection between my beliefs and actions; what better way to ensure the leadership of our city will make the right choices?

More recently, however, I have been realizing the power of the network. My laptop project has drawn in thousands of dollars in donations and countless people providing their moral and emotional support. The most important part of this experience has been learning that there are people out there who want to support what I am doing and help. After all, if it takes a village to raise a child, I want to make sure my village knows I have 160 children to raise in my classroom.

About a month ago the City of Philadelphia created a platform for the purpose of connecting people with ideas to people who can support them. Change By Us Philly is still in its nascent stages (it's also officially in Beta testing phase) but has already lead to a fruitful connection for me that may help actually provide netbooks to my students at significantly less cost than I had expected. It runs on the platform of connecting people who can provide resources, volunteer hours, or help of other kinds to those who need it. As a social-emotional mammal, I love the heck out of this website!

While the concept of a village may have eroded quite a bit (especially in large cities like Philadelphia), the digital village is one that is easily connected. Websites like Change By Us Philly and Donorschoose.org are only two of a new wave of connected tools to help people get what they need to support their dreams. If more people use these tools collaboratively I truly believe we can actually make a change here for the better.

I am excited to announce that my school is hosting a FREE screening of the upcoming film The American Teacher, a documentary that "weaves interviews of policy experts and startling facts with the lives and careers of four teachers... as it tells the collective story by and about those closest to the issues in our educational system -- the 3.2 million teachers who spend every day in classrooms across our country." 

Here are the details:

WHAT: Screening of The American Teacher
WHERE: Academy at Palumbo, 1100 Catherine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
WHEN: Thursday, November 17th, 6-8pm

Register to attend for FREE at http://americanteacherinphiladelphia.eventbrite.com/

For more information on the movie, visit their website.