 | Key Quotes "I believe in learning to teach through experiences. I was mentored by an amazing colleague, and still use his material today." "There's a common mentality in education – with too much focus on process and systems. Not enough on the human side of teaching." "I would love to be coached by 'legends' – retired teachers who have a rich set of experience to draw from – and learn from them." "Content is important, but sometimes overvalued – teaching is 80% relationship and 20% content - that doesn't come out in the research because it's hard to measure." "Make it so creating mentor/peer connections are valuable to teachers – allow it to count towards teacher training." |
|---|---|
| Raw Notes | Key Themes |
10 years teaching Chemistry Didn't follow Education track, got degree in Geology Worked in environmental consulting. One fall decided to start substitute teaching. Had nontraditional path – didn't go to public school Got hired after long-term subbing. Doesn't believe in teaching training as much. Got mentored by 30-year senior teacher. Learned course from him – and her current course is adapted from him He was passionate and she learned from him. Jim - mentor and dept head – taught same class. Sat in on his classes. Talked daily. Bridgette was 2 classes behind him, he coached her the whole way. Never felt discouraged always encouraging. | A non-traditional path. Didn't follow Education track. Learned from a mentor. |
Lots of focus in teaching on systems and processes. A bit uptight. Jim was different – disorganized but tons of resources and lots of fun. She has continued to use this course that she learned from Jim. Labs and such. The body of chemistry really doesn't change – it's just content and process. Now she's teaching with a colleague Emily (15 yrs) – creating a new course for the school together. Merging their material. Creating a new course. Moving towards a standards based – those are locked in, the big ideas – we set up the progression of the course, using either the book or our own material. What topics in what order. What practice (independent or guided) should there be. We're on the same page in terms of progression – focus on what within each segment. The nuancing. The interface we use is google classrooms. Lots of updates. Wish that grading system could be merged. | Partnering to create a course with a colleague. The standards are set – we define the progression, the practice, the focus, the nuance. I communicate a lot with my colleague. |
Communicate with other teachers – talk a lot with Emily – course progression and exams and consistency between courses. Other teachers – first year here – just listening – sometimes ask about general approach – ask for advice – still learning the characters – just listen. Beyond the class – don't really think of myself as part of a larger community – maybe if I was AP – Cohorts and conferences K-12 conferences that I've attended – hard to make cohesion with such a big split. A community I'd like to know – retired teachers – because of the resources they have – something about older teachers -- learn the most from them. What is it – they took the content and translated it – my material is not as advanced and rich – as predecessor. Legends – have coffee with them. What's the magic? Teaching style – delivery of material? (Goes to get book) (Seven Simple Secrets - What the Best Teachers Know and Do, Routledge Press) | My first year in this system – do a lot of listening. My material is good, but not as rich as my predecessor. I would love to connect with retired legends – just have coffee with them.
|
Work hard not to be too plugged in. Value community. Book – most of it is outside the content – Classroom management, planning, instruction, attitude, discipline, motivation, inspiration – only one of the secrets is content delivery. The rest has to do with mindset – your persona and how you're relating and interacting with students. Teaching is 80% relationship / 20% content Asks about assessments and grading – (our goal is to connect participants) – Effectiveness of learning from or with a person – the way that gets imprinted on our brains – is hard to value and hard to quantify Doesn't come out in research – relationships. Delivery – activities – all good – but without relationship – said with a laugh and a smile – brings the material to life. Got Masters online with St. Joe's – post online but I just did it for the assignments. When I felt most invested – when instructors gave me detailed assessments – and I couldn't pass it in until I addressed it. How to do that Learner-to-Learner? – Hard without the physical space. | I work hard not to be too plugged in – I value community and the human side. Content delivery is over-valued – teaching is 80% relationship and 20% content. Effectivenessof teaching – imprinting in the brain – is hard to quantify. The relationships don't come out in the research. The human side brings the material to life. I got most invested when I knew my teachers were invested. |
Retired teacher access would be really valuable If I could do that – to make it innately valuable – it counts towards teacher development hours – offer it during the day – so someone could have a prep session If its not as initimate as a Skype session – maybe FAQ's – top bits of advice – not just blurbs – blurbs and examples. That would make it palpable – by topic / common pitfalls. How did I get through that. Most students – the MO is to not care – rarely is it the best and brightest. If there was a narrower domain – what would it be? Sub problems | Connecting with retired legends would be really valuable. Could count towards teacher development hours, offer it during the day, give someone a prep session. If not a Skype session – maybe just FAQs or bits of advice with examples. How to get through that. Most student M.O. is not to care. |
RISE – greater portand area – do seminars – pay the teachers who come – you're spending your time That motivates people – get $50 / dinner – throughout the state. Broken up into groupings at high school level. In general, boys are under served in public schools – pigeon holed – and if not set aside (disruption) | |
Overview
Content Tools
Activity