CHAPTER 16
Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program, and Beyond
Teacher Interview: Amber Velasquez
Amber Velasquez is a second-grade teacher at Chandler Oaks Elementary School, in Round Rock, Texas. Ms. Velasquez is in her second year of teaching. She grew up in Round Rock, did her student teaching in the school district, and is now a second-year teacher. From the time I was 5 years old I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I went to school in Round Rock, graduated from there, and now I teach there.
What is your school like?
The school has grades K–5 and is in its second year with 600-plus students. Our families are middle and upper class, depending on where they live. The two-story building is brand new, with lots of technology. Our district has a contract with Dell, a big company in Austin, so we have lots of technology.
We have windows on the outside of each classroom. They are fairly big. We also have windows looking into the hallway. The school expectation is that your blinds are always up for the windows looking outside and the ones facing inside. In many ways you are teaching in a fish bowl!
All six of the second-grade classroom doors face a big central area called the “Village.” This area is an extension of our classrooms. The Village houses technology including a big document camera and Smart Board that we can use for grade-level presentations and lessons. Each classroom has a bathroom, so there are no big bathroom breaks. Also, there is a back walkway joining each classroom.
What advice do you have for teacher education candidates?
Let me fast forward to something I wish I had known: I just want to share that this profession is a changing profession. There are going to be lots of trends that happen. There is going to be a lot of curriculum that you will learn is the “right way,” and the only way during your teacher preparation classes. Then you will learn that in the real world it will be taught in a different way.
Best practice is a growing practice. It is OK to feel passionate about the way a curriculum is taught, but you still need to be knowledgeable about other ways to deliver the same curriculum. Set high expectations for yourself as a personal learner. As you move closer to securing a teaching position and even after you have obtained one, seek out professional development opportunities, conferences, seminars, and books. The pressure of learning best practice increases once you earn your license. Hold yourself accountable for meeting your learning expectations.
To what extent are parents involved in your school?
Our parents are very involved. They are on campus all the time. If teachers have something they need done, such as a bulletin board, copies, or something cut out, a parent will volunteer to do that for you. There is a room called the Pro Center. Parents can work on projects there. What is wonderful about utilizing parent volunteers is that a teacher can spend her time working on things that are more academic, rather than spending time putting up bulletin boards. They really help out!
Our parents support the school beyond taking on bulletin boards and copying; they organize events and fundraisers that directly benefit the campus and the students as well. We had a “Cheetah Walk”—that was an amazing fundraiser held at the school in the fall. Lots of hard work was poured into the event to make it a successful fundraiser by the parents and the teachers. The parents routinely organize monthly Spirit Nights at surrounding local restaurants also. The local restaurants donate a percentage of their earnings back to the school between the set hours. Parents also lend their hand outside of the school; several volunteers join teachers on field trips to help chaperone small groups of children. The parents work hard to make sure all needs of the teachers and students are met daily!
What brings you joy in teaching?
Knowing I am giving back to my community. That’s a huge part of it. I get a chance to teach in my own community. Seeing the children grow. You can see a child grow in reading. You can see a child grow in writing. And you also can see them grow socially through their interactions every day.
Also, you become a person of many strengths. You start the day as a teacher and as the day progresses you adapt into several different side roles to accommodate the needs of your students: mother, nurse, confidant. The job is not one-dimensional. It’s fast paced; the next day will never be the same as the one before, and each day will try you. That’s pretty rewarding.
Questions to Consider
1. How would you feel about having so many windows in your classroom and teaching in a “fish bowl”?
2. In Ms. Velasquez’s school, parents are in the school all day, every day. In what ways will you expect to involve parents?
3. Ms. Velasquez talks a lot about how important it is to continue learning once you are a teacher. Is this a new expectation for you?
INTRODUCTION
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
1. Name and have plans for what you will want to accomplish during your teacher education program in order for you to become a high-quality beginning teacher.
2. Have notes about the key steps you will need to take to get your first teaching position.
3. Describe ways teacher education candidates and beginning teachers can be leaders.
4. Identify questions and topics related to what you can learn from talking with a highly successful teacher.
Teaching is one of the most important professions. Now, more than at any other time in history, students, parents, communities, and the nation need outstanding teachers. As has been described in Chapters 1 through 15, because the need is so great and teaching is so complex, the preparation to become a teacher is more rigorous than ever before. The expectations for beginning teachers are higher too. For all of these reasons it is very important for you to take advantage of every opportunity presented throughout your teacher preparation program. Now is the time to begin anticipating what you will need to know, be able to do, and have on record as you seek and obtain your first full-time teaching position. Failure to be thinking ahead could result in not obtaining your most preferred beginning teaching position.
This chapter begins with recommendations for succeeding in your teacher education program. The remainder of the chapter describes themes, offers recommendations, and identifies issues related to being a successful and influential beginning teacher. Again, it is not too early for you to begin thinking about, preparing for, and anticipating what you will need to have and be able to do to be a successful beginning teacher. How will you apply for a teaching position? What kinds of documentation will you need to have, and how can you prepare for the position interview? If you start anticipating and planning now you will see how much of what you do in the remainder of your preparation program will be useful to you in seeking, applying for, and obtaining the perfect teaching position.
Walking into the school as a teacher for the first time is exciting and a little scary.
WHAT ARE KEYS TO SUCCEEDING IN YOUR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM?
Something that is very important is reflection. I kept a journal my first year of student teaching and my first year as a teacher. I would write down things as they happened. Then I would look back at how I handled different situations. Sometimes I would tweak it and write what I would do the next time that happened. I still have that journal. I would recommend reflection, because you can learn so much.—Ms. Velasquez
There are three very important components to reflection. The first is to appreciate how important the process of reflecting can be to your learning and continually improving in your teaching. Second, keeping a journal provides a record of your efforts, what worked well, and what you will want to do differently next time. The third important aspect is that reflection is a personal experience. Your journaling and thinking about what you have done, what you are doing, and what you will do is all about your becoming an exceptional teacher. These same notes and insights also become important examples for you to draw from when you are applying for your first teaching position.
To help you in refining your reflection efforts, we offer two sets of conceptual tools. Each of these is a generic framework that you can use in reflecting upon your teaching and thinking about how well your students are learning. The first provides a research-based method to reflect about your developing perceptions and feelings about becoming a teacher. The second framework introduces two very useful ways to think about learning-centered instruction.
Video Link
Learn more about teacher reflection.
As you continue with your preparations to become a teacher, you will take a number of professional education courses and have a variety of clinical and field experiences. As you will have heard already from your fellow candidates, some courses and experiences are perceived as being “better” than others. What you will discover is that regardless of the perceived quality of the course or experience, the really good candidates use them to advantage. They use every assignment and activity as an opportunity to learn more about teaching, student learning, and what classrooms and schools are like. Regardless of the situation, the high-quality candidates learn and contribute to the learning of others. They are able to do this because they understand themselves, what teaching is about, and the importance of using every experience and opportunity to learn more. They also collect evidence to document their efforts and what they have learned, and artifacts that indicate the differences they make. They do all of this in spite of their feelings of not knowing it all and being very busy. The following frameworks can help you understand and use every situation as a learning experience.
Teachers need to share their concerns about individual students as well as how the whole school is doing.
Understanding Your Concerns
In order to understand their students, teachers must first understand themselves. This does not require a complex psychological analysis; however, each of us will have certain feelings and perceptions about every situation. In addition, each of us may perceive the same situation differently. Depending upon our own perceptions, we construct our personal interpretations of what each situation means. Teachers do this all the time when talking with students and colleagues, and when thinking about what they and others are doing.
What Are Your Concerns Right Now?
Teacher education candidates worry about getting good grades and wondering what it will feel like to be in front of a whole class of students. Understanding that all of us filter and ascribe personal meaning to events and actions is very important, especially for teachers. This is the personal side of teaching: understanding our concerns. At any time you will have a mixture of feelings, perceptions, worries, and preoccupations about teaching. To illustrate this idea, take a minute to respond to the following task.
Open-Ended Concerns Statement
As you think about your becoming a teacher, what are your concerns? Don’t say what others are concerned about; instead, what are your concerns at this time? (Write/type a description of your concerns using complete sentences.)
Don’t read any further until you have written your response.
The activity of writing your concerns is easy. Developing an understanding of what you have written is guided by more than 40 years of research. Researchers have documented that the concerns of teacher education candidates can be placed in categories and used by candidates and the program faculty to improve learning. In the end teachers who understand their own concerns are better able to understand the concerns of their students and colleagues.
It turns out that our concerns can be sorted into a set of easy-to-understand categories. The original research on teacher concerns was pioneered by Frances Fuller (1969), a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Since then the analysis of concerns has expanded beyond teachers and now includes understanding the concerns of people involved in change (Hall & Hord, 2011).
Table 16.1 Stages of Concern
Stages of Concern About the Innovation
Source: For more information, see Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2011). Implementing change: Patterns, principles and potholes (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Describing Teacher Concerns
Teacher education candidates, teachers, and others will typically have concerns in one of four areas: Unconcerned, Self, Task, and Impact. Researchers have divided these major areas of concern into a set of Stages of Concern that people may move through as they experience any type of change. Since becoming a teacher represents a major change process, the Concerns Model certainly applies. A typical question that a teacher would ask when she or he has concerns in each of these areas and stages is presented in Table 16.1. The following are general descriptions of each of these areas of concern:
Unconcerned There is little or no concern about teaching. Instead the concerns are about other topics such as work, a family problem, getting along with a roommate, or an upcoming event such as getting tickets for a concert.
Self Concerns Having enough information and wanting to know more are of concern, as well as concerns about one’s adequacy and ability to be a successful teacher. Doubt might be about knowing enough content, controlling the class, knowing how to teach a particular lesson, or being uncomfortable when standing in front of the class. These concerns can pop up each time you enter a new classroom or are getting ready to teach a lesson for the first time.
Task Concerns Finding the time to fit everything in, getting all the materials organized, preparing lesson plans, and grading papers are likely topics of concern. Learning the how-to-do-its of teaching and coordinating schedules are other indicators of Task concerns. Teachers have a lot to do, so being concerned about getting it all done should make sense to you.
Impact Concerns Having ideas about what could be done to further improve your effectiveness as a teacher and especially concerns about student learning are indicators of Impact concern. Thinking about ways to increase all students’ learning, improving one’s effectiveness as a teacher, and getting the last two students to understand are clear indicators of Impact concern. Another concern could be about working with one or more fellow teachers so that together you can have a greater effect on student learning.
There Is a Developmental Pattern to Teacher Concerns
It is very important to keep in mind that there are no “bad” areas of concern. All areas of concern are possible. In fact, there are some general patterns to how teacher concerns evolve. Teacher education candidates will have more Self and Task concerns, while experienced teachers have more Impact concerns. If you think about it, this difference in the distribution of concerns makes sense. Beginners are more likely to have doubts about their ability to do something (Self concerns) and to be more preoccupied with logistics and getting everything done (Task concerns). These areas of concern are also characteristic of first-year teachers.
Impact concerns are more likely to be present with those who are comfortable and confident with what they are doing. This is the time when teacher concerns can truly focus on improving student learning. Most teachers won’t have a majority of their concerns being about Impact until after they have taught for several years.
Assessing Your Concerns
Assessing one’s concerns is easy to do. Once there is an understanding of the four areas of concern and the more specific Stages of Concern, as outlined in Table 16.1, a person’s concerns can be analyzed. Whether written or spoken, most concerns can be sorted into one of the four areas and then the specific stage can be identified using the descriptions in Table 16.1.
As a first example of how to assess an open-ended concerns statement, read what you wrote in response to the open-ended concerns statement that was presented above. Do the following:
1. Which area of concern (Unconcerned, Self, Task, or Impact) is most present? Were your concerns mainly related to teaching, or more about other things? Were your concerns centered mainly on your ability to succeed in your college courses? Did they relate to how you will manage teaching? Did any part of your statement relate to student learning? As you read what you wrote, what is the overall view—Unconcerned, Self, Task, or Impact?
2. Which Stage(s) of Concern was most present? Use the definitions presented in Table 16.1 as the guide for determining which Stages of Concern are most often reflected in your statement. Sometimes what you have written will not be as easy to figure out, but with a little practice sorting concern statements becomes easier.
3. Keep this analysis of your concerns in mind as you read below.
Implications of the Concerns Model for Teacher Education Candidates
Once a teacher’s concerns have been analyzed, the very important follow-up question should be this: What needs to be done to address the concerns and to facilitate the teacher continuing to improve? This question is what makes the Concerns Model so important for teacher education candidates and inservice teachers. When you understand your concerns, you can do something about them. Effective teacher education programs are designed with candidate concerns in mind. For example, most candidates have concerns about managing the classroom (Task concerns), so many preparation programs include a course on classroom management. Another important component of effective teacher education programs is how to assess student learning (Task and Impact concerns).
Candidates that understand their concerns can do many things on their own to address them. For example, candidates with Self concerns will be more hesitant to ask questions of others. “What if they think my question is stupid?” Understanding this tendency can help you to assert yourself more. This insight should also help you to be more understanding when your students have Self concerns.
Video Link
Watch a video about professional teaching concerns.
Monitoring Your Concerns About Teaching
As you continue in your teacher education program and as you become a first-year teacher it will be important for you to document the evolution of your concerns. At regular intervals, respond again to the open-ended concerns statement. You will likely see a progression in your concerns. Ideally, by the end of student teaching you will have fewer Self and Task concerns and more Impact concerns. However, as you become a first-year teacher, what do think will happen to your concerns?
Most first-year teachers will return to having more Self and Task concerns. They have a lot to learn, many lessons to prepare, and meetings to attend, and they also have to get to know their colleagues and the principal. It makes sense that first-year teachers will have more Self and Task concerns. This is OK. It is what happens to any of us when we are experiencing something new (Hall & Hord, 2011).
Implications for You
We have introduced the idea of concerns with the hope that understanding your concerns will help you in being reflective. This understanding will help you to take steps to resolve many of them. As we stated above, the more you understand about yourself, the more quickly you can become an exceptional teacher.
The Concerns Model can help you in another way too. What about your classmates? What do you hear about their concerns? Do you hear more Unconcerned, Self, Task, or Impact concerns? The concerns idea also applies to your students. What concerns are they reflecting when they say, “I don’t know if I can do this”; “Ah, homework tonight; I already have two hours of it for two of my other classes!”; or “I have compared my writing to the rubric on the wall. I need to work on topic sentences.”
What About Ms. Velasquez’s Concerns?
Reread the opening interview with Ms. Velasquez. Which areas of concern and which specific Stages of Concern did she talk about? Clearly her overall perspective is based in Impact concerns. She not only expressed concerns about her students learning (Stage 4, Consequence); she also offered suggestions for your learning as a teacher education candidate (Stage 4, Consequence). Ms. Velasquez also expressed Impact concerns about the importance of working with colleagues (Stage 5, Collaboration). Given that at the time of the interview she was nearing the end of her second year of teaching, in terms of the Concerns Model she clearly already is a high-quality teacher.
Strive for Quality in Your Teaching
In everything that you do in your teacher preparation program, strive for quality. If an instructor makes an assignment that is confusing, ask for clarification. If you are not fully satisfied with a field placement, think through what you can do to still learn from the experience. Use every assignment and experience as an opportunity to learn more about teaching. In every situation there is the potential to find an idea that can help you become a better teacher. Finding these ideas is your responsibility. Here are three particularly useful strategies:
1. Have in mind a generic teaching model that can be used to examine any teaching situation.
2. Take advantage of every field experience to learn something.
3. Whenever possible, collect samples of teacher and student work.
Teachers need to spend time thinking/reflecting and considering what to do next based on what their students are doing now.
Elliott’s General Model of Effective Instruction
Throughout this text the authors have emphasized the importance of teachers focusing on student learning (back to Impact concerns). We have described a broad array of contextual factors (e.g., student diversity, special needs, and ELL) and introduced several instructional strategies (e.g., different ways of grouping students). The importance of assessing student learning and methods for doing so (e.g., rubrics) has been emphasized. Given the large number of methods, strategies, and factors that have been introduced, it now should be helpful to offer a general model that can serve as an overall organizer, reminder, and guide. Such a model can help you keep in mind all that teachers need to do to have high-quality teaching that results in all students learning.
One such model has been proposed by Emerson Elliott (2005) (see Table 16.2), who is a national expert on accreditation of teacher education and assessing high-quality teaching. His model “defines expectations for evidence that PreK–12 student learning has occurred, constructed around a core of activities in which the candidate takes responsibility for a significant unit of instruction” (p. 1). This model is generic; it can be applied to all levels of schooling, different kinds of students, and all subject areas. Each of the core activities is basic to effective and high-quality teaching. The elements outlined in Table 16.2 have been introduced and emphasized throughout this textbook.
One of your major responsibilities as you complete your preparation program is to become knowledgeable and skilled at doing each of the elements outlined in this model. They may be given different names. Whatever they are called, these are the essential components of high-quality instruction. By the end of your program you will need to have artifacts in your portfolio that document your capabilities to do each of the components of this model. Be sure to collect specific examples and artifacts related to each component of the model.
One useful approach that addresses each of the activities of this generic model is the Teacher Work Sample (TWS) methodology that was described in Chapter 13.
The Importance of Each and Every Field Experience
Striving for quality in field experiences is very important for aspiring teachers. Candidates consistently report that the most important part of their preparation program was student teaching. This is the capstone experience where everything that has been introduced, studied, and dissected throughout your professional education courses is brought together in the “real” world. This is the time when you get to teach. Naturally your first concerns will be about preparing each lesson (Task concerns). However, do not lose sight of why you are there and presenting the lesson: It is to help each and every student learn. Be sure to incorporate formative assessment questions and tasks, and obtain evidence of the extent to which your students are learning.
Table 16.2 Core Activities for a Significant Unit of Instruction That Leads to PreK–12 Student Learning
Setting appropriate expectations for evidence that PreK–12 student learning has occurred, constructed around a core of activities in which the candidate takes responsibility for a significant unit of instruction, and
JUDGES PRIOR LEARNING
Undertakes a systematic assessment (based in standards and benchmarks) to understand the prior PreK–12 student learning in the area he or she will teach;
PLANS INSTRUCTION
Plans an appropriate sequence of instruction to advance PreK– 12 student learning, based on the prior assessment;
TEACHES
Teaches PreK–12 students to acquire and use content knowledge in meaningful ways, engaging those who bring differing background knowledge and learning needs, and providing students opportunities to demonstrate the use of critical and creative thinking skills;
ASSESSES
Conducts a concluding objective test or alternative assessment(s);
ANALYSES
Analyzes the results of the concluding assessment(s), documenting the student learning that occurred at individual and group levels, including explanations of results from students who learned more or less than expected, and results from each subgroup of students; and
REFLECTS
Reflects on change in teaching that could improve results.
Source: Elliott, E. (2005). Student learning in NCATE accreditation. Washington, DC: National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
As important and significant as student teaching is, do not underestimate the important learning opportunities that come with every other clinical activity and field experience. Whether it is observing a lesson, or monitoring student behavior on the playground or in the cafeteria, there are opportunities to learn. Your learning will not always be about teaching; it might be about characteristics of students, or classroom or school procedures. The Impact-concerned candidate always takes advantage of every activity as an opportunity to learn something new. One way to do this is to set a personal objective: In every experience I will seek to learn at least one new thing. When you engage each experience with the expressed intention of learning something new, you will!
Be sure to express your appreciation to the teacher(s) who permitted you to be there. They did not have to open the door. Teachers are under tremendous pressure to make every minute count. Many are self-conscious (Self concerns?) about letting anyone observe them. Without their openness you would have to learn the basics of teaching OJT (on the job). So be sure to say “thank you.”
Understanding and Using Evidence
Analyzing Teachers’ Concerns About Teaching
In most of the chapters in this text, the Understanding and Using Evidence box has required you to work with quantitative data. The task required working with numbers or graphic representations and developing an interpretation. In addition, each of these activities was based in data about students or schools. The task for this chapter is different in two ways. First of all, the subject is teachers and aspiring teachers like you. Second, the data are qualitative instead of quantitative.
Open-Ended Concerns Statements From Three Student Teachers
The following paragraphs were written by student teachers.
JoAnne
Yesterday, right in the middle of my lesson, one of my students raised his hand and asked me who I went out with Saturday night! I said that we were in the midst of the lesson now. I just went on with the lesson. It really shook me. I don’t really mind saying whatever I was doing, because they really did see me Saturday night. Should I have had him stay after school for asking? I felt like ignoring it—it was the only thing I could do. But I’m not sure if I was losing control. Will they disrespect me for it? I don’t know how to react to it.
Greg
Now, I am less concerned about their learning the facts and more interested in their seeing the general patterns and understanding the concepts. If there is a word or concept they don’t understand, we stop and go over it. I realize more clearly now how little they know and how lacking their background is. When I can help them make the connections, they really get it.
Sue
My father wants me to get a teaching certificate. Right now I am most concerned about getting married. We have booked the hotel and have the photographer too. But there is so much to do in the next two months!
Your Task
Analyzing concerns statements: Use the descriptions of the four areas of concern presented in Table 16.1 to assess each of the concerns statements. What areas and Stages of Concern are represented in each statement? First reread each concerns statement and determine its overall flavor. Does it sound most like Unconcerned, Self, Task, or Impact? Then read each sentence and assign a specific Stage of Concern to it. How could you summarize your analysis?
Analyzing and Summarizing Teacher Concerns Statements
The three open-ended concerns statements reflect very different Stages of Concern. One way to summarize each teacher’s concerns would be to construct a table.
Student Teacher
Overall Area of Concern
Stage(s) of Concern
JoAnne
Self
Stage 2 Personal
Greg
Impact
Stage 4 Consequence
Sue
Unconcerned (about teaching)
Stage 0 Unconcerned
Addressing Their Concerns
Given how different each student teacher’s concerns are, probably each person should be supported individually.
JoAnne’s concerns could be addressed through a talk with her cooperating teacher or student teacher supervisor. There will definitely be times when students ask inappropriate questions or ask them at the wrong time. JoAnne’s not letting the question disrupt the flow of the lesson certainly made sense. In this particular case, JoAnne might also consider not going to the certain places on the weekend where her students will see her.
Greg clearly has Impact concerns at Stage 4, Consequence. He is focused on how well his students are learning. He also is discovering how important it is to be knowledgeable about the learning background and experiences each student brings to his classes. Now his challenge is in helping students build a bridge/scaffold from where they are to understanding the concepts that Greg is teaching. He might want to read more about informal ways to assess student understanding, and learn more about his students’ background of out-of-school experiences that could be used to help them understand in-class content.
Sue doesn’t seem to have teaching-related concerns. Although each of us will have personal things going on in our lives, when it comes to being a successful teacher the nonteaching concerns need to be set aside. Someone needs to help Sue focus on her responsibilities as a teacher. She also should seriously consider this question: Do you really want to be a teacher?
Challenging Assumptions
Should student teaching be done in the most difficult and hard-to-staff settings?
Many suggest that student teaching assignments should be in the most challenging schools—schools with more low-performing students and more teacher turnover—the rationale being that these schools are the most likely settings for the first assignments of beginning teachers and that more can be learned from having intensive experiences in these settings. The counterrational is that student teachers can learn more in schools that are easier to staff and offer desirable teaching conditions.
Most studies of learning outcomes focus on what the school students learn. In the study reported by Matthew Ronfeldt (2012), the focus was on examining the outcomes of the school placements of student teachers. Two of the study questions were (1) Were teachers who had student taught in a difficult-to-staff school more or less likely to leave teaching in the first 5 years? and (2) Did teachers who had student taught in a difficult-to-staff school have higher or lower student gains when compared with teachers who had student taught in easier-to-staff schools?
Study Design and Method
Administrative and survey data from nearly 3,000 New York City teachers, their students, and their schools were analyzed. The teachers in the study sample were, on average, 30 years old, 65% white, and three-fourths female. Forty-seven percent of the sample came through an early entry teacher education program, either Teach for America or Teaching Fellows.
Study Findings
The study found that: (1) teachers who student taught in easier-to-staff schools had higher retention rates, (2) teachers who student taught in easier-to-staff schools were more effective at raising test scores, and (3) teachers who did their student teaching in easier-to-staff schools had better retention and achievement gains even if they had their full-time teaching assignments in the hardest-to-staff schools with the most underserved student populations.
Implications
The findings from this study suggest that future teachers learn more about teaching when their student placement is in schools that are functioning more effectively. In these settings they can experience more effective instruction, be mentored by more effective functioning teachers, and experience what it is like to be in a school that overall is doing well. The findings from the Ronfeldt study suggest that what is learned in these settings is carried into their succeeding years as full-time teachers.
As your time for student teaching nears, you will want to think about the alternative beliefs about where to be placed for student teaching and to consider carefully the findings from this study.
Source: Ronfeldt, M. (2012, March). Where should student teachers learn to teach? Effects of field placement school characteristics on teacher retention and effectiveness. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 34(1), 3–26.
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO BEING HIRED AS A BEGINNING TEACHER?
I am Round Rock bred and have made the full circle. I went to school here, graduated from here, I did my student teaching here, and now I teach here. Also, I always have been a mentor to children, even in highschool. It is something I enjoy doing. I feel so strongly about doing something in my own community. I wantto help the upcoming generation. This is my way of staying in tune with what I like to do.—Ms. Velasquez
Video Link
Learn more about teacher training.
Back in Chapter 1 we introduced you to the big picture of what is entailed in becoming a teacher. In each of the succeeding chapters another major aspect of teaching was introduced. It is not too early for you to now begin thinking about what will be needed and what it will be like to seek and get your first teaching position. There will be a number of applicants competing for most positions. This is especially true for low-need areas such as elementary, social studies, and physical education. As was introduced in Chapter 1, there are a number of steps and requirements that must be completed to become a fully qualified teacher. Now is the time to begin anticipating and preparing what you will need to have accomplished and be able to demonstrate so that you are the one that will be hired for the teaching position you would most like to have.
Requirements for Obtaining a Teacher License
The licensing requirements for public school teachers are set by each state. In addition, federal legislation, such as what happened under NCLB, can mandate that each state has to establish certain requirements for teachers that are “highly qualified.” For example, over the last several years each state has had to develop a teacher evaluation model that is at least in part based in student test scores.
Deeper Look
Read about teacher certification requirements.
The following are typical basic requirements for obtaining a teaching license:
Successful completion of a state-approved preparation program. Programs may be offered by a higher education institution, a school district, or another agency.
Criminal background check, including fingerprinting. No one with a criminal record may teach.
Passing state-required tests, typically of content and pedagogical knowledge. In some states examples of teaching performance, such as a portfolio or teacher work sample, may be required.
Having a major and perhaps advanced study in the subject(s) you plan to teach.
In a job interview it is likely that teacher applicants will be asked to provide evidence of how they have affected student learning.
In addition to state requirements, each school district may have additional requirements. If you have not done so, check both your state and your preferred school district websites for the specific requirements you must meet in order to be eligible to apply for a teaching position.
Getting Your First Teaching Position
All of the effort that you are putting into becoming a teacher will be for naught if you are not successful in obtaining a teaching position. Until recently there was a demand for teachers in all areas, especially the Southwest. Now with budget cuts there is heavy competition for each and every opening. The following are a few suggestions for being successful in the search.
Where to Look for Teaching Positions
All public school openings will be published and open to all qualified applicants. The place to begin, if there is a particular school district where you would like to teach, is by checking its website. The district home page will include a link to the human resources department or may directly link to positions that are currently open. Even if you will not be teaching for several years, now would be a good time to check a district’s website and study the position requirements. Take careful notes about what is entailed in making an application.
Another useful resource for finding out about openings is Education Week. This is the national newspaper for the K–12 education profession. It is published weekly during the school year and reports on national, state, and local education topics. At the back will be many pages of classified advertisements, where school districts publish their position openings.
Don’t forget to check out state education department websites, many of which list job openings. If you are interested in teaching overseas, it is possible:
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)
To serve the families of U.S. military personnel stationed overseas, the Department of Defense (http://www.dodea.edu) operates schools and districts in many locations in Europe, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East. DoDEA also operates schools on some military bases in the United States.
Overseas Schools
The U.S. Department of State (http://www.state.gov) and many other government agencies have personnel working in other countries. Many of these families support the operation of independent local schools. These schools are not funded directly by the U.S. government, but they are supported by them through teacher professional development and website links. Although each school does its own hiring, school administrators and teacher recruiters regularly visit association meetings in the United States.
Private Schools
There are many private schools in other countries that employ American teachers. For example, children of oil company employees based in the Middle East can attend company-supported schools, which use American curriculum and teachers (e.g., Aramco in Saudi Arabia, http://jobs.saudiaramco.com). Various church groups support schools in other countries too. Probably the best approach to finding out about openings for teachers is to make direct contact with a particular school’s office.
Teaching English Abroad
Another strategy for gaining a teaching position overseas is to teach English to students of the host country. A number of countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China are very active in recruiting teachers of English. A potential downside to this strategy is that many of the positions provide little if any salary. Many of the opportunities are in very rural areas, which means one needs to be more adventuresome and ready to live, and teach, with fewer of the accustomed amenities.
Ideas for Your Professional Resume
An important document, that you can begin preparing now, is a professional resume (see Figure 16.1). This is a one- (or no more than two-) page summary of your qualifications and related experiences. Although most of the categories seem obvious, preparing a strong resume will take some time and thought. Your portfolio tasks and artifacts will be a useful resource. Keep in mind that employers are looking not only for teachers who have good grades, but also for ones who can document that they can make a major difference in student learning. They also will be looking for teachers who will be a resource to the school and contribute to the community. (What did Ms. Velasquez have to say about this?) They will be interested in your past work experiences, even if they were not in education. Your resume provides the opportunity to document not only that you meet the basic requirements for the position but also that you bring additional related expertise and valuable experience.
Figure 16.1 Professional Resume: Suggestions for Topics and Elements
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE NUMBER
E-MAIL (DON’T USE A SILLY E-MAIL ADDRESS.)
Philosophy/Bio Paragraph: In one paragraph, describe who you are and why you want to be a teacher. What do you believe about teaching and students? Why are schools important?
QUALIFICATIONS
Education: List college degrees and any specialized certificates. Don’t forget to name the institution(s), and probably the dates for each. You might want to include GPA or other indicators of strength and quality.
Licensure: Name the license and areas of certification.
Special Certifications: Name any endorsements, such as special education or ELL.
Recognitions: List honors, awards, and other forms of recognition.
Special Skills: Do you have areas of expertise or special skills, such as speaking a second language? Have you lived in different places, or abroad? Have you had leadership experiences in work, your community, or your church?
Examples of Your Teaching: Have available artifacts of the work and evidence of the learning that has taken place when you have been teaching. Be able to provide photos of students and their work (don’t forget to have parent permissions) and/or videos of your teaching.
Work Experience: List past work experiences. These may include nonschool work. List those that demonstrate that you are reliable, that you can hold a job over time, and that you will bring a range of experiences to the classroom.
Community Service: Describe ways that you have been, or are, involved in giving back through volunteer activities, or in other ways providing service to one or more parts of your community.
Outside Interests: Perhaps you will want to list hobbies or other activities that are an important part of your life. These can be especially useful for high school teachers who are expected to work with co-curricular activities.
Teacher Dispositions Are Very Important
As necessary as meeting the official licensure requirements and completing program requirements are, an unstated, but very important criterion for becoming a teacher is dispositions. The attitudes, beliefs, and values that teachers hold about students, the subjects they teach, their colleagues, parents, and the school are critical. Teachers who are not excited about the subjects they teach cannot develop enthusiasm for the subject in their students. Teachers who do not believe that certain students (boys/girls, poor, brown, special needs, or ELL) can learn cannot help those students learn. Teachers who do not see value in their colleagues, parents, and the school cannot help the school be successful. Reflect back on the interview quotes from Ms. Velasquez. There is nothing negative or undercutting about anything that she says. She is enthusiastic, and she reflects a belief that all students can learn and that she can be a positive influence on students, colleagues, and her community. Everything that she said had to do with opportunities and possibilities, not barriers. High-quality teachers always think, teach, and lead with a view that the glass is half full, not half empty.
Deeper Look
Read about the importance of teacher dispositions.
IN WHAT WAYS CAN CANDIDATES AND TEACHERS BE LEADERS?
I have colleagues, specialists, the principal, and many parents coming into my classroom. Also, I am on the District Advisory Council. A teacher from every school is on this council. We meet with the superintendent once a month to discuss issues going on within the district. He bounces ideas off the teachers to see which way he wants to go. I will continue to work on my teaching craft during the summer months, teaching enrichment courses to students for the district and by attending professional development trainings focused on my personal learning goals.
As a leader, I go back to the idea that it is business, not personal. If anything needs to be addressed it is because it is going to affect the overall wellness of my kids. So, I just lay out expectations. If I have a problem with a parent, I address it with them.
As a leader you are responsible for maintaining professionalism at all times. Problems that threaten your goal of the academic achievement of your students need to be addressed immediately. Laying out expectations and norms with the colleagues you work with not only promotes collaboration, but guarantees respect for all professionals. Concerns with parents need to be handled confidentially and immediately. Establish a positive rapport with parents at the start of the year. Concerns can easily be resolved if you are both aware that each is working toward the academic achievement of their child!—Ms. Velasquez
Contrary to what you may have thought, leadership is not reserved to the principal or the superintendent. All members of an organization have leadership responsibilities. This is true for schools, businesses, church groups, and families. Unfortunately, too many teacher education candidates and teachers assume that they have no leadership responsibilities. In fact, the opposite is true—every member of the school staff, including those who refuse to participate, affects potential progress and success. Leadership skills and functions can be learned, and participating in different ways can be informative, influential, interesting, and even fun. There are many unofficial and informal ways to contribute to leadership, and there are formal leader positions and career paths for those who are motivated to make a difference in what the whole school or district accomplishes.
Video Link
Watch a video about teacher leadership.
Different Ways Teachers Can Lead
Teachers tend to first think about leadership as something that administrators do. In this way of thinking the only people who are leaders are those who have official titles and responsibilities such as the principal, department chair, vice principal, and superintendent. However, scholars make a careful distinction between leaders and leadership. Leaders are those with formal, and informal, roles and responsibilities related to a group or the whole school accomplishing its objectives. Leadership encompasses the actions of leading. All members of the school staff have a leadership responsibility. You cannot escape this responsibility; you either help or hinder the attainment of the desired ends. Teacher leadership is accomplished through a number of ways.
Formal Teacher Leadership
There are many opportunities for teacher education candidates and beginning teachers to have formal leader responsibilities. For example, Ms. Velasquez is providing leadership within her second-grade team of six teachers. “Our campus is very big on collaborative planning. We write our lessons together. Then there is the expectation that we will tweak them to meet our students.” Other ways that a beginning teacher can lead include chairing school committees, serving as grade-level team leader, and being the coordinator of a co-curriculum such as pep squad or yearbook, or by being an assistant coach.
During the remainder of your teacher education program there will be a number of opportunities to be a formal leader. These include serving as the representative to organize candidates for an accreditation visit, chairing the student education association or honor society, and serving on the student advisory board. During student teaching there may be opportunities to assume some responsibility within the school. The basic message here is that rather than avoiding leader assignments, take them on. This is the best way to learn more about being a leader—by doing it!
There will be opportunities throughout the school year for beginning teachers to share and learn from colleagues.
Working With Parents
There is a big difference between engaging parents and involving parents. It is relatively simple to engage parents by having occasional notes for students to take home. A much higher level of investment is needed to fully involve parents in the school and teachers’ classrooms (see Figure 16.2). Involving parents means making them a necessary part of what goes on. Involving parents in the school is very important for many reasons. The more parents understand about what is going on the more supportive they can be. The students of involved parents are likely to have better attendance and better grades. They also are more likely to complete homework assignments. An additional outcome in most schools is additional funding for the school. In some schools parents will be a direct support to teachers. For example, in Ms. Velasquez’s school there is a designated room for parents. There are three to six parents there every day!
Figure 16.2 Suggestions for Increasing Parent Involvement
1. Give your students “talking points” to tell parents about what they are learning.
2. Help parents develop a home environment that supports their children learning (e.g., “No TV nights”).
3. Provide parents with a way to guide and check on their child’s homework (e.g., a rubric, or a description of the learning objective, or an assignment that parents can do with their child).
4. Establish a way to have two-way communication: Teacher to parents and parents to teacher, in their language.
5. Encourage parents to volunteer in your classroom (e.g., putting up bulletin boards and/or guiding small-group work).
6. Attend events and activities in the community.
7. Survey parents about what their children like about your classroom and about any concerns they might have.
8. Place your lesson plans and assignments online. (This is a state mandate in Alabama.)
9. Keep in mind that parents are likely to have Self concerns about meeting you, so be calm, supportive, and informed.
10. Keep your school administrators informed about the ways you are planning to involve parents in your classroom.
Our parents are very involved. They will be on campus every day. If teachers have something they need done, such as a bulletin board, copies, something cut out, a parent will volunteer to do that. There is a room called the Pro Center. That is where the parents are and they take on jobs that a teacher might not have time for. They are there all the time. Also, they organize events and fundraisers.
At a minimum, teachers must communicate with the parents of the students in their classroom. This is another form of leadership. In some schools parents will be available to help in the classroom. In those situations, teachers must develop skill organizing and guiding what parents do. In Ms. Velasquez’s school there is more:
In my case lots of the parents have college degrees. Two of my parents are former second-grade teachers. So they conduct small reading groups. We also have a program called “Watch D.O.G.S.” (Dads of Great Students; http://fathers.com). It is pretty much a dads’ organization. The dads take off from work and come to our school for the whole day. They come to their child’s classroom and go to other classrooms, or they help the teacher with whatever she needs.
Informal Teacher Leadership
As important as formal leader roles can be, the informal roles are important also. One of the least understood is that of followership. As good as the formal leader may be, he or she will accomplish little unless the members of the group/team/committee/staff do their parts. Being a constructive member of the group, offering to help, contributing positively to the discussions, and being sure to complete assigned tasks, with quality and on time, are important skills for all followers. Each of us has experienced the colleague who sits in meetings with folded arms, and the one who grades papers rather than contributing to the discussion. We also have experienced the team member who promises to do a task and then doesn’t deliver. Effective followership entails participating and volunteering help. Ms. Velasquez offers these thoughts:
Outside of school I volunteer for the Neighborhood Conference Committee (NCC), which addresses truancy within the Round Rock School District. It deals with first-time truancy offenders. Once they have been visited by a truancy officer, their last step before they are referred to the courts is to come before NCC. They make a positive action plan to help this kiddo see the light, so to speak.
A related concept is that of distributed leadership. The primary assumption in this model of leadership is that rather than leadership being the sole responsibility of the formal leader at the top of the organization, aka the principal, leadership should be distributed to many people and be seen as a shared responsibility. Distributed leadership is particularly useful in schools where teachers are seen as professionals whose work is not to be closely supervised. As professionals, teachers are expected to assume and share responsibilities for leadership.
Leading Adults Is a Big Challenge for Beginning Teachers
As good as being a teacher leader may sound, there will be challenges—especially for first-year teachers. Based on her experience, Ms. Velasquez offered the following insights:
I do find it challenging. Last year I found it more challenging, because not only did I have the first-year teacher stigma, I had my age. What parent wants to be talked to about any problem with their child from a 22-year-old? It was difficult. I found that I not only had to have inner confidence, but that I also had to have outer confidence. The more confidence that I showed the better I was received.
As much of a cliché as it sounds, dressing professional helped a lot. Through my actions, showing them that I know what I am talking about. Their coming into my classroom, seeing how I run my classroom, how my classroom management skills are, and how I interact with their child really calmed down my parents who knew I was a first-year teacher. At the beginning of the year, I had a really lot of parent involvement. Then around December it all went away. So it was kind of like they were testing me out, then once I built a relationship with them, and they knew what I was about, all my parents kind of eased up.
Career Path Options for Teachers
Although at this point you are thinking mostly about completing your initial teacher education program, becoming licensed to teach, and obtaining your first full-time teaching position, it is not too early to learn about the various career options that are open to teachers. In the past most teachers stayed in the classroom as teachers for 20 or 30 years. (One of your authors once interviewed a teacher who had taught kindergarten in the same school and in the same classroom for 26 years!) Today, the career options for teachers are many including changing grade levels and schools within the same district.
Becoming a School Administrator
The most obvious career step is to “move up” the administration ladder. Becoming a department chair, an assistant principal, and then principal is the career path chosen by some teachers. Nearly all school and district administrators will have been teachers earlier in their careers; this includes the superintendent. There also are many staff assignments open to teachers. Within schools there are a number of specialist positions such as for literacy or technology, as well as community liaisons and special education resource teachers. Many other staff positions are available in the district office, including curriculum coordinators, staff developers, technology directors, and the professionals that work with federal funds such as Title I, bilingual, compensatory education, and special education. In brief, there are many career options within schools and the district office for teachers who wish to expand their horizons and move into leadership positions.
Graduate Studies
Pursuing one or more graduate degrees is another way to keep learning and to advance your career. In most school districts obtaining a certain number of hours of advance study or a graduate degree will be reflected in increases in salary. There are many possibilities in terms of degree options and areas of concentration. The first step for most teachers is to take graduate course work and obtain a master’s degree. This degree could be in curriculum and instruction, educational technology, or a subject area such as literacy, history, mathematics, or science education. Other teachers will want to receive advance preparation in special education, learning, or assessment. Master’s degrees in special education or educational psychology will address these areas.
Another direction for graduate study is educational leadership. Most of these programs will include meeting the state qualifications for an administrator license. Some focus less on license preparation and more on leadership development per se. Most master’s degrees will entail around 35 semester hours of course work.
Once a master’s degree has been completed, there is the possibility of pursuing the doctoral degree. Depending on the institution of higher education, one of two doctoral degrees will be available. The EdD is a doctoral degree specifically designed for educators. In most institutions this will be a practitioner-oriented course of study. The PhD may be practitioner oriented but more often is more research focused. In either case, the program will include further course work and the penultimate component will be the dissertation study. This will be an original research study addressing some aspect of teaching, learning, curriculum, or leadership, or some other aspect of schooling. Most doctoral programs will include 30 to 40 hours of course work “beyond the master’s,” and approximately 12 hours of credit for the dissertation.
Teachers who wish to become faculty members in colleges or universities will need a doctoral degree. Although this possibility for you is a number of years away, beginning to understand now what the steps and qualifications are for career advancement introduces some of the many possibilities and provides background information for use in future planning.
Teachers’ Lounge
Use What You’ve Got!
Terror! That was the only way I can describe my reaction when my mentor for student-teaching told me he was being moved from the middle school back to the high school, where he had taught thirteen years ago. “So,” he said, “instead of teaching Introductory French to seventh and eighth-grade students, you will be teaching ninth-grade French Honors, and tenth- and eleventh-grade French Regents.” Honors! How was I going to be smart enough to do that? Eleventh grade? I was nineteen years old, 5′ 2″ tall and 105 pounds soaking wet! Why would they listen to me? He sensed my concern. “Look, as teachers we use whatever we’ve got to reach the students. I’m 6′ 4″ with a booming voice. You have a warm, exuberant smile and tremendous energy. That’s what you’ll use.”
Believe me, I practiced my French (and my smile) nonstop during the summer leading up to student-teaching. To my amazement, my mentor teacher was right. I was able to build rapport quickly and easily and make my behavior expectations clear. I never needed a big voice, not then nor in any phase of my teaching.
As a new teacher, I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could. I embraced every professional development opportunity I could find. I was such a regular participant in workshops that, after ten years of teaching children, I was hired to teach workshops to teachers.
Terror again! I was thirty years old and going to tell veteran teachers how to do their jobs better? What was I thinking? I discussed this with my boss. His reply?
“We have a phrase around here that might help you—Fake it until you make it!” I thought that sounded like good advice until I looked at the list of teachers who would attend my workshop the next week. My fifth-grade teacher (who I had adored) was attending! I knew I couldn’t fake it. It was then that I remembered my student teaching mentor’s advice. “Use what you’ve got” became my mantra and, still teaching workshops twenty-four years later, the smile and energy seem to be working!
Lauri Pepe Bousquet
Le Moyne College
HOW DOES A MASTER TEACHER THINK ABOUT THE JOY OF TEACHING?
One of the major themes embedded within each chapter of this text is the joy of teaching. The authors see this theme being critical, since having joy in what you do as a teacher is so important to you and to the students and adults you work with. Joy is about emotions. It is seeing success in each student, taking delight in their learning and how the class is growing. Joy includes the great pleasure that comes from making a difference in each and every student. It comes in the satisfaction of having a lesson go well. It also comes in grappling with the major challenges in teaching and schooling, and knowing that being a teacher is important.
When asked about joy Ms. Velasquez observed,
Knowing I am giving back to my community. That’s a huge part of it. I get a chance to teach in my own community. Seeing the children grow. There is very quantitative data. You can see a child grow in reading. You can see a child grow in writing. And you also can see them grow socially through their interactions every day.
Video Case
Keys to Succeeding
1. What are these teachers saying are the most important reasons for becoming a teacher?
2. How well do your expectations align with the views of these teachers?
People in business gain a great deal of their satisfaction from the amount of money they make and through their efforts to grow a business. Teachers most certainly are not joyful when they see the size of their paychecks. For teachers the joy comes from the difference they make in the lives of their students. There is joy in seeing the lightbulb come on for a student who has been struggling to understand a concept. There is joy in seeing the whole class work together to share strategies for solving a puzzling problem. Teachers have enormous responsibilities. Almost completely by themselves, elementary teachers are responsible for the care and learning of 30 students for an entire school year. Secondary teachers will be responsible for 150 students each day! There is satisfaction and purpose in this level of responsibility and in making a positive difference.
Joy and Satisfaction in Teaching Can Be Career Long
Teaching is a very significant and special profession that most people do not get the opportunity to do. Most adults never have the opportunity to teach. Yet, nearly every adult can readily name one, two, or even three teachers that made all the difference to them and what they have become. This is another of the many ways that teachers experience joy in teaching. When one of their former students returns and describes the difference the teacher made in their lives and how successful they are now, their teacher will be delighted.
Your authors can readily point out elements of this theme within each chapter. However, some of the elements of this theme are more subtle. The inclusion of less obvious elements of joy has been intentional. Seeing the joy in teaching is in large part the responsibility of the observer. Some teachers can list everything that is wrong with teaching and have to think hard to remember the good parts. Other teachers only see the joy in their students, themselves, and their school. This difference in teachers is not simply a matter of how old they are, or how long they have been teaching. It is a part of one’s spirit. There are really old teachers who are still enthusiastic and looking for opportunities to learn new things. Some teacher education candidates already are grumps, while others are laughing at themselves and overflowing with excitement about learning to teach. In many ways, experiencing the joy in teaching is your responsibility.
To illustrate the joy of teaching and how master teachers never lose this perspective, we end this text with an interview with Mrs. Joyce Schneider. She retired after 42—yes, 42—years of teaching! Parents would press the principal to have their children assigned to Mrs. Schneider’s classroom. She was known across the entire school district as being a phenomenal teacher. As a result of her status as a master teacher she was asked to serve on district and state committees, to lead teacher workshops, and to teach teacher education courses. She worked with the local university’s student teaching supervisors to develop their student teaching handbook. She is known by all as a master teacher who always sees the joy in teaching.
We asked her about where she found joy in teaching. As you will see in the interview excerpts, she continues to have high enthusiasm about teaching and continues to be involved. As a result, our interview wandered over many topics and experiences, and concluded with one of those unplanned happenings that so clearly illustrates the joy of teaching.
“First of All, I Love Kids”
I love kids. That’s the key. When I walked into the classroom, I wanted everyone to feel valued. They have to feel that they are a very important part of the family that I was working with as my classroom. I never looked at my class as a class. I looked at them as individuals that came together.
Every year I got to know them as completely as I could and then say, how can I help that person be the best he or she can be? It was fun! I would do a lot of activities to get them to empower themselves.
For example, at the start of every year I would watch them. I would greet them at the door, welcome them to my room, and say, “I am so happy you are here.” We would exchange smiles and positive things. If they were working on something I would make sure that I asked, “How did you do on your writing last night?” “Did you finish that chapter in the book that you were enjoying?” There was that positive connection, and it was individual. I was never a phony; kids pick up on that real quick.
I did the same thing when they left: “OK now, I know that you are going to work on your 5s in multiplication tonight. Which ones are you still struggling with, and which ones are you good at?” I would be specific and always focus on the positives. “I see you improving in your sentence structure and here’s why.” Those kids would skip out of the room. Do you think they wanted to come back on Monday? Absolutely!
I am a positive person. I taught the whole class to focus on the positives. As they saw me do it, they would begin to see the same things I saw. They would see that this kid improved on his writing, or reading, or became a much better thinker.
Retired teacher Mrs. Joyce Schneider continues giving and learning.
“I Saw That I Was Making a Difference”
I stayed in teaching because I saw that I was making a difference. I love talking with kids. I love building and empowering people. I was not always a strong person. I was very quiet. I had to build positiveness in me first, and then I could build it in others. Not only did it work in the classroom; parents would come to me and say, “Whatever you are doing is making a huge difference in our family.” It’s the same in business and elsewhere; if you value that human being, the results are magnificent and the joy is there.
How adults think and how kids think is so different. They are so literal. One time we were selling something for PTA. It was chocolate or something. There also was a coupon that the buyer could exchange for something. I pointed out to the kids that it didn’t cost them that much for the chocolate because they would get the price back through the free coupon. The kids went out to sell and one came back and said, “This didn’t work. We didn’t get it for free.” He had thought that it was really free, instead of having to buy the chocolate. They think in very literal ways and have to develop high-level thinking.
I know that people keep saying that “kids are different today,” but I didn’t see that difference. I always taught the child. When you teach the child and address their needs, it isn’t a whole lot different. You look at the person and say, “He needs organizational skills.” This other person needs … I think a lot of people use those statements as cop-outs. I never felt that way. I always taught individual kids. I taught kids to love to learn.
There is much joy to be found in teaching and learning—for students and their teachers.
My [students’] parents would say to me, “I can’t put my finger on it, but what you do with kids is phenomenal. You bring in current events. You bring in human interest stories and you talk about them. You get them to look at the whole world in a different way. Then they come home and teach us the same things.”
“I Loved Sharing With Others”
If something worked for me, I loved sharing it with others. I loved starting something that worked, sharing it, and making it even better. Or, if somebody would say, “Boy, am I having a struggle with this,” I loved sharing ideas with them. They would go back, and then I would say to them, “How did that work?” And, if it didn’t work we would spend some more time figuring out what to try next.
I got a lot of joy out of student teachers too. I had at least 25 student teachers. We would evaluate lessons, how they thought it went, what they liked about it, and what they didn’t. For the things they didn’t like, I would say, “OK, what can we do differently?”
However, some teachers didn’t want to share. You just learn not to share if they didn’t want to. You just stay being a positive teacher.
Principals can make or break you in the classroom. I loved it when principals would say specific things they saw. Not that you were a good teacher. But when they would say, “When I walked into your classroom, I could not tell which of the students were struggling.” That was one of the highest compliments I would get, because I would always involve my kids in discussions and teach them how to think. When the principal would come and she would say, “I cannot tell. All of them are involved. They have their hands up and all of them are coming up with great ideas.” That was one of the highest compliments I could get.
I was very fortunate to seek out those kinds of principals. It always was the same thing. They saw my love for teaching, they saw the success I had, and the results I got. When they were assigned to a new school they would always take me with them.
I only had one principal that was not that way. He was insecure. I always tell my student teachers, “It doesn’t make any difference whether you work for a man or woman, you look for that secure person and then you will have a wonderful time.”
“I Was Always Bringing Human Interest Stories to Share With the Kids”
Mrs. Schneider continually kept informed about the world at large, not just what was required to teach. “I listened to the Today Show. I listened to all news.” She also read books and would read them to her classes. For example, at the time of our interview she had just completed reading Thomas Freidman’s book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
In front of my classroom is “Yes I can.” You see, the only thing that ever stops us from doing something is ourselves. I think we can do anything in life if we believe we can. I would constantly reinforce this through human interest stories that were appropriate to their level. For example, I read them Michael Jordan’s book, I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence. When he was in high school he tried out for basketball and did not make it. He said he never wanted to feel that way again. So he practiced and practiced. So we talked about that and how important it is to practice. I would always bring books like that and read them to kids. My classrooms were always literature rich.
You Need to Have a Notion of What You Want Your Classroom to Be Like Before You Get There
Our last interview question for Mrs. Schneider was, “What advice do you have for teacher education candidates?”
First of all, they need to have a notion of what they want their classroom to be like before they ever step in it. I would always say, what is it that I would want my child to experience in my classroom? You have to have a working knowledge in your head of what you want your classroom to be like. Here is mine: They had to get ready for life. It made a huge difference when I decided that, because all of the things I taught were then related to this goal.
Once you decide, you need to have consistent routines. I was consistent in my expectations. I greeted them at the door every morning. My one rule was respect for yourself, respect for the earth, and respect for each other. Why would you not put your hands on the wall? Because you would just make more work for the custodian. I always focused on their actions and made sure that they didn’t think that I was not supporting them as a person.
Today, I think we are overtesting. When I was in the classroom, I never let it bother me. But I know that it is huge on teachers’ minds. I would just test, get it over with, and get back to teaching. I never worried about testing because my kids always did well. I just taught the curriculum, and they always did well.
The most important thing on entering the classroom is that you have a positive outlook on life. I never allowed things to not be a joy.
Serendipity Occurs as We Are Concluding the Interview With Mrs. Schneider
Our interview with Mrs. Schneider took place in a neighborhood coffee shop. Just as we were concluding the interview, a middle-aged woman came up. Mrs. Schneider stood up; they greeted each other with smiles and a hug. It turns out that the woman’s son had been in Mrs. Schneider’s classroom. He now was a senior in college. The mother proudly reported on how he was doing and acknowledged the important contributions Mrs. Schneider had made. Mrs. Schneider smiled and showed great interest in her former student’s successes. What a wonderful anecdote to illustrate the joy of teaching.
An Epilogue
We can report that Mrs. Schneider can’t stay away from teaching. One year she called up a principal and volunteered to serve as the mentor for all the new teachers in that school. For the last seven years she has been the vice chairperson of the Discovery Children’s Museum, which opened its doors in 2012. “Having worked with the whole child in my classroom for many years has helped me to communicate with the fabricators and designers for our exhibits and to emphasize how important it is to build exhibits that inspire the love for lifelong learning.” She also has served on and been chair of the Development Committee for the UNLV College of Education. What more can be said about Mrs. Schneider’s lifelong engagement with teaching and learning? Perhaps her final quote during our interview says it best:
My grandchildren inspire me to stay involved and feed that growing mind with the best practices we know.
Becoming a teacher is an exciting, intense, and time-consuming process. Teachers are dedicated professionals who have to learn a lot in order to help all of their students learn a lot. There are going to be many new experiences, challenges, and, yes, concerns along the way. As busy as you will be, be sure to still take time to reflect and to enjoy the many opportunities as each unfolds.
Halfway through her second year, second-grade teacher Ms. Velasquez summed up her first year of teaching this way:
I am very family oriented. In my first year of teaching I also worked on my master’s degree. It was very, very hard, but I am so glad I did it. I would find myself crying lots of time when I couldn’t go see my family because I had to complete an assignment, or I had to finish lesson plans. So my life was balanced out between graduate school and being at this school. Then in December, as my life transitioned from college to being a young professional, I began to have more balance. I started to force myself to leave at 4:30 and only to come in 30 minutes ahead of time. But it was a very hard thing to do, because if you are so committed to something it bothers you if it is not perfect.
CONNECTING TO THE CLASSROOM
Key themes in this chapter have been related to your being successful in your teacher education program and being successful in your first year of teaching. Two important additional themes addressed the importance of teacher leadership and looking for the joy in teaching. The following suggestions will help you apply these themes as you advance through your teacher education program and anticipate your first year as a teacher.
1. Understanding your concerns is as important as understanding the concerns of your students. No one has Impact concerns all of the time. For example, teacher education candidates have many Self and Task concerns, which is understandable given all that they have to learn and be able to do.
2. Eisner’s Generic Teaching Model outlines the basic tasks and steps that should be a part of planning, presenting, and evaluating each lesson. Keep these components in mind when observing other teachers, and in reflecting on your teaching. The model also can be a guide for reflecting on a whole day or week of instruction.
3. As you move through your teacher preparation program check carefully and make sure that each course you take will count in two ways: (1) toward program completion, and (2) toward obtaining a teaching license from the state. All too often candidates get to what they think is the end of their program and then discover that a course did not count or they have not taken one that is required.
4. Approach every field and clinical experience as an opportunity to learn. Make it a personal challenge to identify one learning about teaching from every assignment.
5. Make a personal commitment not just to participate but to lead some type of activity or effort each term.
6. Schedule a 15-minute period each week where you stop doing and reflect on this question: What was joyful about the things I did this week?
SUMMARY
This chapter addressed achieving success in your teacher education program and in your first year of teaching. These key topics were discussed:
Take advantage of every experience to be successful in your teacher education program.
Understanding your concerns and the concerns of others is a useful guide for your own professional learning.
A general teaching model can be a guide for all grade levels and subject areas.
Obtaining your first real teaching position requires advance preparation.
Continue developing your leadership experiences and skills.
Much can be learned from master teachers.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How do you think the different areas of concern (Unrelated, Self, Task, and Impact) relate to whether a teacher experiences joy in teaching? Do you have to have Impact concerns to see the joy?
2. A major theme in this chapter is teacher leadership. How realistic do you think this theme is? What opportunities do you have now to practice leadership? Followership?
3. What did you learn from the interview with Mrs. Schneider? Do you think you will be teaching for 42 years? If you did, how many students would you have taught?
4. What tips have you picked up about steps you should take in the remainder of your teacher education program that will help you obtain your desired teaching job?
KEY TERMS
Concerns
Engaging parents
Leadership
Criminal background check
Followership
Stages of Concern
Dispositions
Involving parents
Distributed leadership
Leaders
SELF-ASSESSMENT
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING AND THINKING ABOUT SUCCEEDING IN YOUR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM, AND BEYOND?
One of the indicators of understanding is to examine how complex your thinking is when asked questions that require you to use the concepts and facts introduced in this chapter. After you answer the following questions as fully as you can, rate your knowledge on the Complexity of Thinking rubric to self-assess the degree to which you understand and can apply the law to you as a teacher and future school employee.
1. Where do you see yourself at this time in terms of the different areas of teacher concerns? What do you plan to do next to address these concerns?
2. What are the different elements of Elliott’s teaching model? Which of these elements can you now do well? What will you do to learn more about those elements where you feel less proficient?
3. What items are important to include in a resume? For the items you have already, what does each represent about your potential to be a high-quality teacher?
4. What aspects of leadership/followership do you need to work on? When and where will you be engaging these?
5. What areas of knowledge and skill do you need to target in order to be well qualified for your first teaching position? Explain why you see these as being so important.
One of the indicators of understanding is to examine how complex your thinking is when asked questions that require you to use the concepts and facts introduced in this chapter.
Answer the following questions as fully as you can. Then use the Complexity of Thinking rubric to self-assess the degree to which you understand and can use the organization ideas presented in this chapter.
What is your current level of understanding? Rate yourself using this rubric.
Complexity of Thinking Rubric
Parts & Pieces
Unidimensional
Organized
Integrated
Extensions
Indicators
Elements/concepts are talked about as isolated and independent entities.
One or a few concepts are addressed, while others are underdeveloped.
Deliberate and structured consideration of all key concepts/ elements.
All key concepts/ elements are included in a view that addresses interconnections.
Integration of all elements and dimensions, with extrapolation to new situations.
Succeeding in your teacher education program & beyond
Offers only general or vague items to be learned about; does not name different areas of concern, or elements of a generic model of instruction.
Identifies only one area for growth, such as classroom management; provides no elaboration of why this is important.
Names major categories such as parts of a resume, areas within the Concerns Model, and/or aspects of leadership and describes why these are priority areas for growth.
Goes beyond naming major areas and identifies specific knowledge and skill areas, and explains how each will help increase teaching expertise.
Describes major areas for growth, identifies knowledge/ skills that need to be developed, and charts actions to be taken short term and longer term to learn more.
STUDENT STUDY SITE
Visit the Student Study Site at www.sagepub.com/hall to access links to the videos, audio clips, and Deeper Look reference materials noted in this chapter, as well as additional study tools including eFlashcards, web quizzes, and more.
Field Guide
for Learning More About Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program, and Beyond
In Chapter 1 you were introduced to the concept of a field guide for learning more about your surroundings. The artifacts and information you have collected for each of the earlier chapters provides a rich array for you to consider as you move with your teacher preparation program. For this chapter the field guide tasks and activities need to be viewed as a combination that is a summary of the whole and a foundation for charting your professional growth from here. Remember to keep taking field notes as you complete the activities suggested here. These notes should include facts and descriptions of your observations. Your field notes should also include date, time of day, the grade or group you are observing, and your reflections and ah-ha moments. As Ms. Velasquez pointed out in her interview, noting your reflection is important too. You will be able to look back at these notes at various times in the future to see how your concerns have changed, and to review how particular teaching situations were handled. All of this is a form of journaling that will help you understand the steps you are taking to becoming a teacher. Remember, also, to collect pictures and samples. A picture can be worth a thousand words.
Ask a Teacher or Principal
Ask a first- or second-year teacher what knowledge or skill he or she wished he or she had learned more about during his or her preparation program.
Ask a principal what she or he looks for in hiring a beginning teacher. Compare what the principal says with what you now have on your resume.
Make Your Own Observations
There are many indicators of joy in teaching. Walk around your college classrooms and building, or a school’s classrooms and building. Take field notes on the activities and indicators of joy. Which students and which teachers seem to be enjoying what they are doing? Which seem not to be joyful? What explains the differences?
Use the topics presented in the interview with Mrs. Schneider to interview one or two very experienced teachers. Develop a chart to compare their views with those of Mrs. Schneider. Use Table 16.1 to assess their concerns about teaching. Which seem to be their biggest areas of concern? In which areas do they seem to have little or no concern?
Reflect Through Journaling
The Concerns Model provides a useful framework for you to chart your continuing development as a teacher. Review your journal notes for each of the preceding chapters.
How have your concerns changed? What new areas have popped up? Do you see any type
of pattern in terms of how the amount of concerns at each level (Unconcerned, Self, Task, Impact) has evolved? How do you think your concerns will change over the next year?
In this chapter there have been excerpts from interviews with a second-year teacher and a retired teacher. As you read these quotes and now as you think about yourself as a future teacher, what are your thoughts, feelings, and concerns? What are your priority topics and areas where you know you must learn more? In what areas have you already experienced joy? Jot down your current thoughts and reflections about how you are developing as a teacher and what your learning priorities are for the next parts of your teacher education program.
Build Your Portfolio
Start a folder for storing each of the open-ended concerns statements that you write. By the end of your program you should have six to ten of these. Develop a table or graph to illustrate how your concerns have changed over time in your teacher education program.
As part of your reflections, write a short analysis of how your concerns have evolved.
Review the list of suggested items for a professional resume outlined in Table 16.1. Start now collecting documents, artifacts, and the records that you will need to have to prepare your resume. When the time comes to apply for your first full-time teaching position, you will find it very helpful to have collected materials and examples along the way. Also, be sure to note those item areas where you currently have very little or nothing.
At various times as you have been reading this text you have probably thought about one or more of your teachers who made a significant difference in your life, and perhaps in your decision to become a teacher. Now is the time to write a letter to that teacher. Tell him or her what you are doing now and describe the way(s) that teacher impacted you. The following is what one aspiring teacher wrote to one of her teachers. In your teaching career hopefully some of your students will take the time to write similar letters to you.
Read a Book
As the title of Alan M. Blankstein’s book Failure Is Not an Option: 6 Principles for Making Student Success the Only Option (2010; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage) makes clear, the mission of every teacher and school needs to be having all students learning. This award-winning book provides a positive and proactive stance about what to do and what not to do. Leadership by teachers is essential to a school having trust, a shared vision, a focus on student success, and engaged parents.
Building and sustaining partnerships between schools, parents, and communities requires ongoing involvement of teachers. Educational Partnerships: Connecting Schools, Families, and the Community, by Amy Cox-Peterson (2011; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage) goes beyond presenting the need and provides steps for developing and sustaining connections with families and the broader community.
Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller, the authors of Teacher Leadership (2004; San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass), are nationally recognized professional development experts and have championed teachers being leaders for many years. In this book they describe why teacher leadership is important, summarize the research, and present case studies of teacher leaders who have made a difference.
Search the Web
Surf the web using the term “teacher leadership.” You may be surprised at the number of resources and efforts to support teacher leaders, their professional development, and ways to network. For example, the Center for Teacher Quality (http://www.teacherleaders.org) has organized the Teacher Leaders Network. They offer a free newsletter, provide information about teacher leaders, and facilitate conversations through listserv discussions. Virginia Commonwealth University has a Center for Teacher Leadership (http://www.ctl.vcu.edu) that has been established “to promote and support teacher leadership in order to improve teaching and learning.”
Explore several of these websites and contact one or two to learn more about the ways that teacher education candidates and beginning teachers can learn about and serve in leadership roles.
As another activity, carefully think about the characteristics of teacher leaders that are being identified. Develop a checklist of different knowledge and skills that teachers should possess. Add a column to assess your current level of leadership expertise. Add another column where you can name activities you have done and plan to do to further develop your leadership skills.
Check out the website for the school district where you want to teach. Go to the Human Resources section and review the teacher position description. Make notes about what you will need to have in order to qualify for a position. Also, what can you do between now and then to make you extra well qualified to be hired to teach in that district?
E-mail From a First-Year Teacher
(to One of Her Teacher Education Faculty)
In my previous life as an Air Force airman, we were taught three core values: (1) Integrity First, (2) Service Before Self, and (3) Excellence in All We Do. It usually takes a few years of working as part of a team to truly internalize how those values translate into consistent mission accomplishment. But since the moment I got it, I’ve found that those three guidelines can apply to almost any endeavor in life.
As a first-year teacher, I’ve felt all the normal pressures. Pressure every week to produce an organized lesson plan. Pressure every hour to keep the students’ attention. Pressure every minute to avoid making mistakes that the kids can use against me later. Pressure to stay consistent with the rest of the department. And, of course, pressure to prepare my students for the proficiency exams. After a while, I realized that I wanted to spend more time actually teaching and less time analyzing all the various pressures of the job.
I learned that, in the crucible of the classroom, the only thing I really cared about were the kids. The other worries only came later. They were like irritating, but meaningful, afterthoughts. It eventually got on my nerves that I was even spending time thinking about it. And slowly, as I became a better teacher, I started to understand why I was becoming more irritated and less worried: I realized my heart was in the right place, and I was doing my best.
I believe we should all stop worrying about the “tensions” of teaching and simply use the Air Force core values to guide us.
Integrity: Have a philosophy about what you want your students to learn in your class. Make sure it includes overarching themes and specific learning goals. Stick to your philosophy—always.
Service Before Self: When you sign up to teach America’s youth, you are in the service of our collective future. Yeah, that’s a little soap-boxy, but it’s true. Understand that educating is reason No. 1 why you go to work, above your paycheck, your benefits, or your summer vacation.
Excellence in All We Do: The word is excellence, not perfection. Do your best, and don’t let mistakes get in the way of your performance. Keep your eyes open. Don’t just learn from your own mistakes and successes; learn from others’, too. Be involved enough with other teachers that you can accrue second- and third-degree experience, which will make you as excellent as possible.
I believe teachers who can adopt those three concepts will be happier and more effective. And they’ll realize that the other “tension” is just noise that can get in the way of the mission.
—Elissa Richmond