Posted on December 14, 2009 by admin

We have spent the past two months looking at examples of the positive and negative impact that elementary and high school teachers can have on lifelong learning. We need good teachers in our schools, and many of our children are lucky to have them. The following poem by Paula J. Fox is a wonderful testament to those many teachers who nurture and guide the children in their care.

The Heart of a Teacher  
by Paula Fox

The child arrives like a mystery box with puzzle pieces inside;
some of the pieces are broken or missing and others just seem to hide.

But the HEART of a teacher can sort them out and help the child to see 
the potential for greatness he has within- a picture of what he can be.

Her goal isn’t just to teach knowledge by filling the box with more parts;
it’s putting the pieces together and creating a work of art.

The process is painfully slow at times; some need more help than others.
Each child is a work in progress with assorted shapes and colors.

First she creates a classroom where the child can feel safe in school,
where he never feels threatened or afraid to try, and kindness is always the rule.

She knows that a child can achieve much more when he feels secure inside,
when he’s valued and loved, and believes in himself, and he has a sense of pride.

She models and teaches good character and respect for one another;
how to focus on strengths not weaknesses, and how to encourage each other.

She gives the child the freedom he needs to make choices on his own,
so he learns to become more responsible and is able to stand alone.

He’s taught to be strong and think for himself as his soul and spirit heal;
and the puzzle that’s taking shape inside has a much more positive feel.

The child discovers the joy that comes from learning something new.
And his vision grows as he begins to see all the things that he can do.

A picture is formed as more pieces fit -an image of the child within,
with greater strength and confidence, and a belief that he can win!

All because a hero was there in the HEART of a teacher who cared;
enabling the child to become much more than he ever imagined or dared.

A teacher with a HEART for her children knows what teaching is all about.
She may not have all the answers, but on this she has no doubt:

When asked which subjects she loved to teach, she answered this way and smiled,
“It’s not the subjects that matter, it’s all about teaching the CHILD.”

It is my fondest wish that my tiny grandchildren, Helena and Isla, and all other children have the gift of a teacher like this!

Next week, we will begin to look at the range of lifelong learning opportunities available to the general community.

Tip #301: Lifelong Learning: Snuffed Out by Incompetence

Posted on December 7, 2009 by admin

This week’s Tip looks at what happens when a poor rural school has difficulty finding competent teachers. Individuals who are subject matter experts but lack teaching skills create a recipe for disaster in the classroom. The high school honors Chemistry teacher in this example clearly knows her subject matter. She simply does not know how to teach.

A Subject Savvy Teacher With No Teaching Skills

Does the teacher know how to write an effective lesson plan? No

A review of Ms. V’s lesson plan indicated that she wrote the lesson primarily from the standpoint of what the teacher would do. The lesson for Senior Honors Chemistry was exactly the same as the lesson for all of the other chemistry classes that Ms. V taught.

Does the lesson result in specific, observable and measurable learning? No

Ms. V had a lesson about matter and change, but was unable to execute it. The auditor observed the entire lesson, in which Ms. V did all of the work for the students and answered all but three obvious questions easily answered by reference to a wall chart.

There were two questions on the screen as the students entered the room: “Why do alpha particles have 2+ charges?” and “Why do gamma rays do not have mass or charge?”

She gave them time to answer the questions, with very few students focused on the assignment. She proceeded to tell them the answers to both questions, even though she said, “We have covered this before.” Ms. V then told them to finish their papers (which they could do by writing down what she had just told them!) Clearly, they understood that they would not be held accountable for learning this information because she would tell them the answers. Ms. V moved around the room checking their answers.

She then showed an 8- minute video covering the discovery of radioactivity. However, she gave the students no directions regarding what to listen for or to note down during the video. Ms. V also did little with the information in the video once it was completed. She only asked: “Who discovered radioactivity?” and answered the question herself!

Ms. V proceeded to lecture on how elements transform themselves. The three questions she asked of the students were easily answered by their reference to the Atomic Elements chart posted on the wall. She instructed the students to “Listen. Later you can write down.”

The key focus of her lecture related to how an atom becomes part of another element.

At no time did she give the students guided/monitored practice or independent practice. The level of learning was so low that it was absolutely inappropriate for a seniors honors class. No appreciable learning occurred during this entire lesson.

Does the teacher create and maintain an effective learning environment? No

Ms. V had no control over the class and the students treated her with disrespect, disregarding anything she said. Since she did not expect them to know or do much of anything, they fulfilled her expectations.

The students were entirely in control of the classroom. A few minutes after the students came into the room, one student complained that she couldn’t see the screen with the two questions and needed Ms. V to turn off the lights. The class remained in the dark for the next ten minutes!!!

When Ms. V spoke, almost no one listened. During the video (while the classroom remained in the dark), few students watched the video while most of the students talked or worked on other things.

A few students paid attention to her lecture sufficiently to be able to answer the simple questions she asked. At the end of the class, a few students listened, a few took notes, and some students actually slept when Ms. V told them what would be covered in the next class.

Ms. V had no classroom management skills. She avoided any confrontation with the students about their behavior, never redirecting or refocusing their attention or reminding them of acceptable behavior in the classroom. She never actively engaged the students in the lesson, made it relevant or interesting to them, or recognized that some students do not learn aurally through lecture. This environment guaranteed that no learning would occur.

Specific Recommendations

Content Recommendations:

1. Create a lesson plan that achieves a level of learning appropriate for a senior honors class.

2. Focus all content on the main objective. In this case, the video about the discovery of radioactivity had no bearing on the objective, which was to explain how an atom becomes part of another element.

3. If a video is used, make sure it is age appropriate. This specific video was very elementary in concept and delivery.

4. Provide three different examples to model the process.

Student Activity Recommendations:

1. Hold the students accountable for answering the questions and doing their work. Do not spoon-feed them the answers.

2. If a video is used, give the students an assignment. For example, ask them to listen for certain key points or answer specific questions. Then make sure the students report out their observations or findings.

3. Give the students a worksheet on which to practice what they are learning.

4. Have the students come up to the board to work out the problem and explain their process.

5. Use learning activities that check for student comprehension, rather than constant lecture that only achieves knowledge.

6. Once it is clear that the concepts are understood, then have the students work independently on several examples on their worksheets.

7. Check individual student’s worksheets to ensure that they are working on the problems and understand how to do them.

8. Use a variety of learning activities to meet the needs of different learning styles.

Learning Facilitation Recommendations:

1. Teach and adhere to signals to modify behavior.
2. Create and adhere to rules of engagement.
3. Stop the lesson and constructively address behavioral issues where necessary.
4. Ensure that all students are quiet and paying attention during the lesson.
5. Separate students who goad each other into disruptive behavior.

Ms. V should seriously consider whether she wants to continue teaching at this school at this level. It does not appear to be a good fit at all. Consider the detrimental impact her incompetence is having on the students’ potential interest in lifelong learning.

Next week, we will conclude our discussion of the positive and negative impact that elementary and high school teachers can have on lifelong learning.

Tip #300: Lifelong Learning: Shut Down by an Abusive Teacher

Posted on November 30, 2009 by admin

This week’s Tip looks at the second example of teachers who do not understand or care about how students learn or what they need to be successful. The first example was a lazy long-term teacher at the high school level. The second example highlighted in this week’s Tip is a brand new teacher at the fifth grade level.

An Emotionally Abusive Teacher

Does the teacher know how to write an effective lesson plan? No

A review of Mr. R’s lesson plan indicated that he had a very limited understanding of how to write an effective lesson. The lesson plan was very sketchy and lacked substance, other than the learning objectives, which repeated verbatim the entire learning standards.

Does the lesson result in specific, observable and measurable learning? No

Mr. R was reviewing a test when the auditor arrived. It appeared to be a math
test, but the entire lesson was focused on the students finding and circling numbers on their pages. Mr. R had written the following answers for #1-4 on a flipchart:

1. 1 &13,
2. 1,2,3, & 26
3. 1,2,4,5,8,10, 20, 40
4. 1 & 23

There was absolutely no explanation of the answers posted on a flip chart and no discussion of how to achieve these answers.

Mr. R then erased these answers and posted the answers for #5-9:

5. 24
6. 60
7. 35
8. 28
9. 6

After posting these answers, he told the students: “If you don’t’ have the same thing as on the board, it’s wrong. It’s self explanatory!” Ironically, immediately after he said this, one student indicated that she still didn’t understand. Mr. R did not respond or coach her.

Instead, this moved him into a tirade about having the students look for #’s 9, 10, 13 and 14. The auditor had no idea why or what these referred to on their pages.

Mr. R angrily grabbed all of the students’ papers and then handed them back to them again, saying: “If we can’t get through this, you going to be stuck on the MAP test. Look through, make sure I can see page 1 in a neat handwriting!”

“If you’re confused, Lord knows…!” “Circle the page number. No, ma’am, neatly please!” Let me know when you’re done.”

Then he snapped his fingers loudly and angrily in the students’ faces: “Show me page 1!” If it was good, Mr. R did not acknowledge it other than to grunt “1-12. Okay.”

This ten- minute rant appeared to be about simply numbering what work they would be looking at on each page.

The auditor chose to stay longer in this class, so then watched a science lesson. Mr. R called on students by last name and asked them: “ What have you learned?” Although some students could answer the questions, at no time did Mr. R either validate their answers or write them on the board as reinforcement for the visual learners. He just repeated the answers given by the students.

There were two times when Mr. R used models to assist the students. When a student was confused about a question regarding the cell membrane, Mr. R showed the student a model of a cell to coach the correct response. Later, Mr. R asked two students to stand in front of the class with their terrariums to answer questions.

He called on a student (by last name only) to read question 1. “Read it again, please. What is the key word in the sentence?” (This was the first use of “please” in the entire class session). Mr. R drew the answer from the student and discussed why it was correct.

When one student had difficulty reading the problem, Mr. R had her sound out the words. He asked her to identify the key word and explain what she knew about it. When she gave the wrong answer, instead of coaching her to the correct answer, Mr. R turned to another student and asked him “Why do you disagree?”

Mr. R appears to lack any understanding of how to structure a lesson and set students up for success. It is highly questionable whether effective learning occurred. If it did, only a few students benefited.

Does the teacher create and maintain an effective learning environment? No

Mr. R maintained a highly controlled and abusive environment. The entire focus of the math lesson was on control and discipline.

The first thing that the auditor observed upon entering the class was Mr. R raising his hand, looking at a paper and yelling at a student: “All of those are wrong!”

He told the students: “On page 7, see #1-12. Raise your hand if you don’t see it.” When a student spoke, Mr. R barked at him: “I didn’t ask you to respond!” and then shouted angrily at another student, “Don’t respond unless I give you permission to!”

When some students were confused about what he wanted them to do, he told them in a scolding and condescending voice: “That’s why you’re supposed to be following me,” a statement he repeated twice.

He then yelled at the students: “If you don’t see your number, you write the number and put an x on the number!”

At no time did Mr. R crack a smile during the class. A frown was firmly fixed on his face. He called the students by only their last names in a military fashion. The auditor’s immediate and continuing observation was that Mr. R did not like children.

During the science lesson (which was a review), Mr. R sat on a desk opposite most of the students and wildly swung his legs back and forth. When the auditor questioned whether it had occurred to him that this behavior might be distracting, Mr. R simply responded that he had a lot of energy.

At one point during the class, a new student was admitted into the room. The auditor had been in the guidance office and knew that this was the child of a seasonal worker who, as a single parent, had moved the child from community to community as she followed work. Mr. R did not welcome the child, introduce him to the group, and explain to him where they were in the lesson, or give him any resources or materials. The poor child simply sat by himself at an empty desk for the rest of the lesson.

The room was set up so that all but three students sat on the long side of a U, one student with an aide sat on the bottom of the U, and two students sat on the other long side facing the rest of the class. Mr. R later explained to the auditor that those two students were there because they tend to chat. These two students continually had difficulty understanding what he wanted them to do. He admitted to them in front of the entire class that he confused their names. These students happened to be among the few students who had made terrariums.

There were only two times when Mr. R was somewhat positive and validating. First, he told a student who had her science notebook open, ”Good job, I’m proud of you.” (Since he had earlier yelled at the class to clear their desks of all books and notes, this made absolutely no sense). Second, he asked the class to clap to thank the two students who had held up their terrariums. (However, he didn’t clap, so few of the class did. The fact that he still didn’t know the names of the two students further diminished this gesture).

Mr. R was continually abusive to the children in word, manner, tone, and action. When the principal was surprised by this audit observation, the auditor pointed out that none of the students or the aide in the room appeared surprised by Mr. R’s behavior. It was, therefore, typical and customary behavior on his part. Even so, the auditor would like to stress that 50 minutes of this abusive behavior should be more than enough to warrant Mr. R’s immediate removal from the classroom.

The auditor also mentioned to the principal that the new student, who already displayed low self- confidence and self- esteem because of constant disruption in his life, should be immediately removed from Mr. R’s class.

During the after school feedback session,Mr. R resisted all of the auditor’s observations, insisting that his students “were on point.” He was completely comfortable with the behaviors that the auditor identified as abhorrent. It was clear to the auditor that Mr. R did not understand how children learn, did not see the need for a warm and supportive learning environment, and was doing very real emotional and psychological damage to a number of the students in the class. Mr. R’s teaching style may work in an adult military setting, but it was completely inappropriate and counterproductive in an elementary school environment.

The scary thing about this teacher is that the principal, who had been in the teacher’s classroom several times to audit, had never observed this behavior. As a matter of fact, the principal had earlier identified this teacher as one of the best new teachers in the school! The principal should seriously consider whether she wants to have a teacher who emotionally abuses children continue to teach at her school. Imagine the terrible impact that this teacher is having on the students’ potential interest in lifelong learning!

Next week’s Tip will look at what happens when a poor rural school has difficulty finding competent teachers.

Category Archives: teachers

Tip #302: The Heart of a Teacher

Tip #301: Lifelong Learning: Snuffed Out by Incompetence

Tip #300: Lifelong Learning: Shut Down by an Abusive Teacher