Saturday, April 18, 2015

Saturday Sayings: Teacher Leader



This last week I remembered I have a math series, because I had to haul it down from its dusty position above my cabinets. The safety inspector was coming to town, and the two feet between the top of my cabinets and the ceiling is supposed to be clear.  (Only twenty-five perfect of my walls should be covered too.  Yeah, crazy.  I left that one alone.)  Needless to say, the safety inspector is gone and I was given permission to return my neglected published materials back where they belong - out of my way.

That math series was purchased before Common Core Math Standards came along.  New standards obviously brought a need for updated materials.  My district chose not to buy us a new math series.  I'm unsure if that decision was purely financial or whether there was a pedagogical influence as well.  Either way, three years ago we were thrown into a phase of making highly informed interpretations of standards. Writing units and developing lessons became a priority for grade level teams.  Digging into the standards and understanding every concept became a necessity.  Searching for sound tasks, reading professional books, and collaborating became essential.  Even though the ground work was laid three years ago, we've continued to revise units based on our continually evolving understanding of the standards and our mathematicians.  Our district opened the door for teachers to lead the way.

There's been a bit of murmuring at times about this whole process.  It takes time and commitment to do what we've done.  Some have wished the district would have supplied us with a complete math curriculum magically aligned to the Common Core.  I've chosen to keep my mouth shut during these conversations, because that's the last thing I would wish for.  I didn't want someone else leading me - telling me what my math units should look like.  I rarely have faith and trust in the faceless publisher.  I wanted to find out for myself what works and doesn't work; what I'm supposed to teach and how to teach it.  This way takes more work, effort, and time and it can be a little messy, but it's so worth it.  I know I'm a better math teacher, and I'd like to think my students are better mathematicians too, which is why being a teacher leader is thoroughly worth the hassle.


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8 comments:

  1. I understand your fellow teachers' comments that it does take extra time and effort to dig in and figure out what needs to be taught and how to teach it. But we know our students best and what they need. You already know that I do not have even one teacher's manual in my room. :) You are a wonderful teacher leader!!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Lori, so many in your position would want a program. Your students are fortunate that you don't believe in that kind of thing.

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  2. One of the reason I love our admins is that they let us choose what parts of these canned programs to use. They are supplemental to our own creativity and design--I am very grateful for that! My kiddos this year in reading range from still reading on a Kinder level to one reading over a 5th grade level equivalency! (I know!!!) Tell me there is one program out there that can cater to my whole spectrum!

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    1. Miss Trayers, you too are blessed with freedom to lead your learners. You've given a great example of why that's essential.

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  3. This is encouraging, Tammy. Especially since I just got permission to abandon my math curriculum. I know I can do it, but I do have some organizing and planning to do this summer! I'm excited to be free to use my knowledge and experience to make decisions about the direction my math instruction goes.

    Crystal
    Teaching Little Miracles

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    1. Crystal, that's exciting news. It will take some work, but I believe you'll find it rewarding. Good luck!

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  4. We're very lucky that way, too! In fact our math curriculum is currently being rewritten and highly encourages professional autonomy.

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    1. Barb, I like being highly encouraged to use professional autonomy! Woohoo Canada. :)

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