A small group of nontraditional students — they’ve already earned their teaching degrees — obediently picked up yellow highlighters and read from their binders of handouts and worksheets.
Despite their education, the group was back at Dorothea Lange Elementary School this month learning, essentially, how to be better educators.
Kathy Mihlhauser, a master teacher at Dorothea Lange in charge of teaching teachers in the Lucia Mar Unified School District, was teaching a lesson plan designed to show teachers how to hone their instruction as part of the district’s new System for Teacher and Student Advancement Program (TAP).
The program, funded by a $7.2 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant, aims to improve teachers and student test scores through more frequent, structured teacher observations and by offering annual bonuses that average $3,000.
One of the ways teachers at the seven TAP schools learn how to improve is through weekly “cluster” meetings, which pull teachers from each grade level out of class for one hour a week to walk through lessons with a master teacher.
Six designated TAP substitute teachers fill in with their own lessons during the meetings.
At Dorothea Lange, fifth- and sixth-grade teachers worked at identifying different types of thinking and pondered how to introduce some of the same teaching strategies in their classrooms.
Those strategies were taught the same week by master teachers at Nipomo Elementary, Grover Heights, Oceano and Fairgrove elementary schools and Mesa and Judkins middle schools.
Each cluster includes steps to identify an objective, obtain new learning and then allow time for teachers to develop what they’ve seen in small groups with fellow educators.
Fifth-grade teacher Karen Carlisle, who has taught at Lucia Mar for 10 years, worked at Dorothea Lange with a partner to determine whether a prompt required students to use analytical, practical, creative or research-based thinking.
“I’m going to put creative,” Carlisle said, conscious of the fact that her partner didn’t fully agree.
“I’m going to stand by it,” she added, with a nervous laugh.
“That’s what we ask our students to do,” said an approving Mihlhauser.
For the first 11 weeks of the school year, Mihlhauser and other master teachers squeezed in lessons on how to score well on the 19-point observation rubric, which accounts for half of the points that determine a teacher’s bonus. The rest is decided based on class and school growth.
The process allows teachers to reflect on their teaching and refine their craft.
“We’re all wonderful teachers,” Carlisle said. But “in any profession, there’s always room for growth.”
Master and mentor teachers and principals began the first of four rounds of observations last week, and cluster meetings will begin focusing on each site’s area for improvement.
At Nipomo Elementary, the focus is English Language Arts, which was largely dependent on recent student test scores.
Master teachers Julie Bowles and Shanna Rowland led a cluster for kindergarten and first-grade teachers at Nipomo Elementary last week, opting to show a 30-minute video to demonstrate effective teaching strategies while teachers took notes.
Principal Brett Gimlin participated, too.
“We’re all in this together,” Gimlin said. “Some of our teachers are nervous. They want to be the best. To do that, you have to have good feedback.”
After the session, Bowles and Rowland noted the changes since implementing TAP.
Students have more structure. They know their objectives. They hear what their teachers are learning in cluster.
“It just seems to be a really positive vibe,” said Rowland, who has taught for six years and transferred to Nipomo from Grover Beach Elementary for TAP. “That kind of trickles down to the kids.”
Linda Brichetto, a mentor teacher at Nipomo who has taught for more than 30 years, is one teacher who’s already had her first surprisingly nerve-wracking observation.
“The cluster did prepare me,” Brichetto said. “I knew what to expect. Intellectually, I trust them, but that didn’t stop me from getting nervous.”
The TAP system at Lucia Mar was highlighted as a model for teacher evaluation improvement in California in a report released last week by EdTrust-West/Teach Plus LA.
But, as the first public school district in the state to implement TAP, the report notes only time will tell how well Lucia Mar teachers and students respond.
Source:
santamariatimes.com
Despite their education, the group was back at Dorothea Lange Elementary School this month learning, essentially, how to be better educators.
Kathy Mihlhauser, a master teacher at Dorothea Lange in charge of teaching teachers in the Lucia Mar Unified School District, was teaching a lesson plan designed to show teachers how to hone their instruction as part of the district’s new System for Teacher and Student Advancement Program (TAP).
The program, funded by a $7.2 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant, aims to improve teachers and student test scores through more frequent, structured teacher observations and by offering annual bonuses that average $3,000.
One of the ways teachers at the seven TAP schools learn how to improve is through weekly “cluster” meetings, which pull teachers from each grade level out of class for one hour a week to walk through lessons with a master teacher.
Six designated TAP substitute teachers fill in with their own lessons during the meetings.
At Dorothea Lange, fifth- and sixth-grade teachers worked at identifying different types of thinking and pondered how to introduce some of the same teaching strategies in their classrooms.
Those strategies were taught the same week by master teachers at Nipomo Elementary, Grover Heights, Oceano and Fairgrove elementary schools and Mesa and Judkins middle schools.
Each cluster includes steps to identify an objective, obtain new learning and then allow time for teachers to develop what they’ve seen in small groups with fellow educators.
Fifth-grade teacher Karen Carlisle, who has taught at Lucia Mar for 10 years, worked at Dorothea Lange with a partner to determine whether a prompt required students to use analytical, practical, creative or research-based thinking.
“I’m going to put creative,” Carlisle said, conscious of the fact that her partner didn’t fully agree.
“I’m going to stand by it,” she added, with a nervous laugh.
“That’s what we ask our students to do,” said an approving Mihlhauser.
For the first 11 weeks of the school year, Mihlhauser and other master teachers squeezed in lessons on how to score well on the 19-point observation rubric, which accounts for half of the points that determine a teacher’s bonus. The rest is decided based on class and school growth.
The process allows teachers to reflect on their teaching and refine their craft.
“We’re all wonderful teachers,” Carlisle said. But “in any profession, there’s always room for growth.”
Master and mentor teachers and principals began the first of four rounds of observations last week, and cluster meetings will begin focusing on each site’s area for improvement.
At Nipomo Elementary, the focus is English Language Arts, which was largely dependent on recent student test scores.
Master teachers Julie Bowles and Shanna Rowland led a cluster for kindergarten and first-grade teachers at Nipomo Elementary last week, opting to show a 30-minute video to demonstrate effective teaching strategies while teachers took notes.
Principal Brett Gimlin participated, too.
“We’re all in this together,” Gimlin said. “Some of our teachers are nervous. They want to be the best. To do that, you have to have good feedback.”
After the session, Bowles and Rowland noted the changes since implementing TAP.
Students have more structure. They know their objectives. They hear what their teachers are learning in cluster.
“It just seems to be a really positive vibe,” said Rowland, who has taught for six years and transferred to Nipomo from Grover Beach Elementary for TAP. “That kind of trickles down to the kids.”
Linda Brichetto, a mentor teacher at Nipomo who has taught for more than 30 years, is one teacher who’s already had her first surprisingly nerve-wracking observation.
“The cluster did prepare me,” Brichetto said. “I knew what to expect. Intellectually, I trust them, but that didn’t stop me from getting nervous.”
The TAP system at Lucia Mar was highlighted as a model for teacher evaluation improvement in California in a report released last week by EdTrust-West/Teach Plus LA.
But, as the first public school district in the state to implement TAP, the report notes only time will tell how well Lucia Mar teachers and students respond.
Source:
santamariatimes.com
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