The Achaean Times
Herron's instructional progressMonday, May 07, 2012 By Anna Jamison
The small room echoes with the sound of many voices discussing. Each person speaks to another, a few listen, and a few remain quiet. Suddenly, Mr. Lineweaver, Dean of Faculty, raises his voice and quiets the crowd of teachers. A hush falls over the crowd like a fog, soon the room is silent, and the teachers are waiting expectantly. Lineweaver opens the meeting with general announcements, asking the teachers for their celebrations. Several eager hands shoot up, and the voices of their owners rise. Only one voice at a time sounds through the small seminar room, and when the announcement is over, the room explodes with applause. This is Professional Development, the meeting at which Lineweaver and Mrs. Stephens, the Instructional Coach, instruct the teachers and facilitate discussion. They strive to instruct the teachers in ways to improve their teaching. These, in turn, aid teachers in their work to improve the quality of the classroom and effectively help their students learn. Here in Professional Development, the teachers learn and practice new teaching strategies themselves so that they can then take those strategies with them into their classrooms. Moreover, these strategies are tools to help the teachers improve their teaching processes and do their work with increasing effectiveness. However, these strategic approaches are not the only factors that contribute to effective teaching; outside of Professional Development, Lineweaver and Stephens discuss others. According to Lineweaver, “(Factors that contribute to effectiveness include) very clear vision of what you want the students to be able to do and how you plan to measure that.” In addition, “Using current research and (having) a collaborative environment (contribute to success).” In addition, the data that the teachers use to instruct their students is driven around the school’s standards, and they use mastery learning, according to Stephens. They have data that shows these are the most effective ways for students to learn, and yet they still innovate. The innovation must be validated by data, however. The teachers here at Herron are effective in several ways. Lineweaver says, “(They are) very collaborate, very reflective, (and) student centered. (They are) competitive: driven to want to be good and create the best opportunities for students to learn.” According to Stephens, “(Their) reflection includes analysis. (They) acknowledge (the) power of relationships, (and they are) tenacious and persevering.” These things make teachers effective because, “Looking at what makes other schools effective, (we) know that if we put these pieces together it will make them effective,” says Lineweaver. “(They) come together to create a culture of continuous improvement,” according to Stephens. Several systems are in place to help this process of improvement to continue. For example, Stephens is the Instructional Coach—it is her responsibility to support the teachers in non-evaluative ways (she is not grading them), according to Lineweaver. Though her work may send the teachers a message, it does not create anxiety. In addition, the school has Professional Development meetings every Friday. The “evaluation and observation program is completely aligned to our classroom expectations,” says Lineweaver. Our teachers can improve in these areas through “active participation in Professional Development and active reflection, personal, departmental, (and in accordance with the) larger missions of the school,” according to Lineweaver. In addition, they have protocol, and they invite participation. “We develop community—we discuss hard issues.” “(We have) equality and everyone can bring in new ideas or challenge them (other ideas).Teachers feel empowered to think or and pursue good ideas with evidence,” says Stephens. In the classroom, the school is continuing on this current path “toward mastery learning, greater use of data to impact presentation of content and assessment of student performance and knowledge, (and) more intentional use of Classical methodology, especially Socratic seminars and dialogue, increased emphasis on effective (differentiation) of learning,” according to Lineweaver. “Outside of (the) classroom (we) expect the teachers to be effectively communicating with parents about all things. We expect to refine our process of remediation, which will impact office hours and seminars.” In addition, the school recently received a technology grant that will influence the education of the school. Lineweaver predicts that it will “prepare students for responsibility interacting with technology in personal and academic environments, increase student engagement with (the) content (of the courses), (and) increase students’ accountability and more seamlessly show teachers what students know.” Additionally, “it will permit students and teachers to use the most current sources of information, (and it) will reduce (the amount of) paper and textbook costs.” Finally, no matter how advanced the technology or ingenious the strategies within the classroom, none of it would be possible without the teachers. Lineweaver says, “Effective teaching practice doesn’t happen without reflective, driven (motivated), caring, and dedicated teachers. We are very fortunate to have teachers who care deeply about seeing our students succeed.” |