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Teachers Collaborating
37 comments:
I just wanted to say that as a participant of Project RAISSE that I have adjusted my teaching methods and I believe have grown as a teacher to do more student lead instruction. As a science teacher this is not always easy, but it can be extremely rewarding.
Being a part of RAISSE has been exciting and challenging. I love having hte opportunity to share literacy strategies with my students and with my colleagues. It has been exciting to see how the students at our school have embraced these strategies and made them a part of their own study skills.
One of the most exciting things about being a part of RAISSE has been to see the growth of the teachers in my study group. The questions they ask and the concerns they have demonstrate their learning and their new-found concern for the students they teach. They are incorporating strategies and reporting regularly that those strategies are making their students more successful in understanding and retaining their content.
Recently, Kelly and I ran a study in her environmental science class that demonstrated clearly how much reading aloud to them and promoting collaboration improved their attitudes and performance in science. The study only ran 3 months and did not show an improved attitude toward reading, but because the students were doing better in science, there is some implication that they were being more successful at it than they gave themselves credit for.
That's one of the best things about RAISSE: I am becoming a much more informed teacher researcher. I feel sure my students can only benefit. It's exciting.
RAISSE has changed my life. Or at least my teaching life. As a social studies teacher and coach I had never been exposed to these types of strategies. They seem to be old hat to English teachers, but they are certainly changing my teaching.
I agree with Dee, Libby, and Mark. Project RAISSE has changed my teaching. I now have a classroom library, a reading wall, and read to my students from fiction as well as non-fiction resources. I have learned excellent strategies to help my students read and write better in my science classes. I am also really excited to have the opportunity to share these strategies with the other teachers at my school!
What are the biggest challenges you face as part of the Project RAISSE?
One of the biggest challenges in being a part of RAISSE has been to find the time to research and implement strategies in my own classroom while also helping my study group members find the materials and develop lessons using these strategies. It has been easy to mplement these things for some of the content areas, but harder in classes like Algebra and business/computer courses.
Of course, the beauty of RAISSE is that none of us is in this alone. As coaches, we are facilitators, but the support and the thinking is multiplied by the number of people in the project. RAISSE is collaboration, the bringing together of minds from all across the curriculum.
I am looking forward to seeing what this means in the long run: when the strategies are second nature to teachers across the school and when this collaboration becomes an inherent part of what we do at our school.
I agree with Libby in that the greatest challenge to date is reaching all of the contents. I can come up with something I think they might teach, but knowing each subjects standards is a completely different issue.
I must also say that one of the greatest joys of the Study Group is solving this problem and through conversation learning what all of the other teachers are doing in my school.
Besides Dee's problems...I am also meeting with some resistance from the verteran teachers. The two youngest teachers in my study group are putting forth some serious effort to change their ways. But the older teachers acknowledge there is a problem and they need to do something, but instead they just keep doing the same ole same ole.
I agree - It has been hard to meet the needs of so many subject areas. I have found that the internet has some really great resources, lessons, and book lists for almost any subject area. It has also really helped to be able to discuss these problems with our study groups and for us to collectively come up with solutions. I have to brag on the people in my study group and say that they are willing to trying new ideas and strategies. I am really excited to see these changes happening at my school.
I wanted to share something from my last study group meeting that I thought was pretty amazing. Each group meeting, one or two of our study group members presents a read aloud to our group. During our December meeting, one of my science teachers read a Dr. Seuss book to our group in spanish. When he finished reading, he asked the group to think about how ESOL students feel in our classes everyday. People in our group responded really well to this read aloud and it prompted a great discussion about our ESOL students and the difficulties they face while trying to speak, understand, and read the English language.
Being a part of RAISSE has changed the way that I try to teach in my classroom. Being an English teacher, one would automatically assume that literacy would be at the forefront of my teaching. However, I was not always aware of whether or not my lessons were really helping my students to make meaning in their reading. I feel somewhat stupid this, but all of the literacy practices and theories were really foreign to me before I began Project RAISSE because I was a PACE teacher, and had never had this type of instruction as other ELA teachers have had. So, RAISSE has helped me to try to understand my students more as learners and readers, and it has helped me to try to design my lessons for my students with THEM in mind. NOW, as far as my study group goes, this year has been odd for me, in that I am not used to being a leader in profession. Since I am a fairly new teacher, I am not used to being a leader myself. I really hope that I can help my group members see the value in their own literacy practices.
The biggest challenge I face as part of Project RAISSE is reaching all the needs of my study group participants. Each person signed on board for this group with different objectives in mind ( of course we all do that with everything we do in life, right?). Well, all of the folks in my group, except for one, are literacy in their teaching, and by that I mean have an ELA background. So, all of the participants, except the one, are familiar with the background of reading and the focus of literacy. Since I started studying literacy only within the last year, I feel like the blind leading those with good eyesight (not the blind) in this endeavor. I do NOT TOTALLY feel this way, but enough to feel butterflies at each study meeting so far. Some of my group members simply want more strategies ( or I guess at the least the opportunity to try some and share), while one wants to connect more with the students and motivate them more. Another member wants to help meet more of the standards in her subject area, which call for collaboration. Then I have one group member who has already done every strategy there is, and is awesome at everything. So, my biggest challenge is taking these educators who are already practicing literacy so well, and moving them beyond themselves and beyond their current views of their teaching.
I have enjoyed being in the class and being able tochat with others about different teaching strategies that help keep the students on task and learning. It is easy to contact people in my group for help.
I signed up for this class hoping to discover new books to read to chemistry and marine science that would keep students interested in the topics or make the science that we were learning realistic and answered the question "why do I need to know this?"
I just wanted to say that I have leaarned alot of different strategies by being part of Raisse.I look forward to continuing to try to use these. strategies in my class
Are there any Math or Science teachers that have successfully tried Jigsawing with the students?
Project Raisse has shown me how reading in the classroom helps to stimulate the class.
I agree with Mcabee, sometimes as a veteran teacher, we might be reluctant to try things we have not done in a while. I tried a strategy on Political Cartoons with my American Government class and they really got into the lesson and we ended up having a good discussion on the objective of the day. Anything we can do to facilitate the learning process is worth a try!
I agree with Libby in that the biggest challenge I have with Project RAISSE is finding the time to implement some of the strategies in the context of my curriculum. I teach a block American Government class that only lasts for 45 days. We have a very limited time-frame to cover the material and I feel at times that I am very rushed. When I have uses the strategies, they have been useful!
One of my biggest challenges in RAISSE has been that for the majority of the time last year I was the only math teacher. I found that I needed someone to bounce my ideas off and just to help me think through ways to restructure my classes and apply what we were learning. Now I find myself trying to coach teachers in areas and teach them to use strategies that I myself have not used because I haven't found a way to make them fit in my math classes. I know I have grown a lot as a teacher, and, there is no doubt that I have a lot more room to grow. However, it has been difficult and, even though there are other math teachers in the study groups, on many levels I still feel very alone on this journey.
In class on Saturday I was disappointed that we did not have to time to share what we are doing in our rooms. I am trying a lot of new things, and I would love some feedback on these. I have completely restructured how I do my warmups at the beginning of class. One day a week we do atleast 10 minutes of SSR. Another day we listen to a song and do a free write. Another day we start with a cartoon, and another day we do a journal. I have started doing a word of the week in which the students can earn extra credit for doing certain things with the word. I also have a "thought to ponder" for each week. I am trying to come up with activities to go with my read alouds in geometry, whereas before I was just using them for review purposes. I am planning a webquest, a scavenger hunt in magazines, and a short story writing exercise. I think that is most of it. It is certainly making me feel overwhelmed most of the time because I can't seem to keep up.
Time has become much more of a challenge that I ever thought. I have a strict district prepared timeline. I honestly don't feel as though this time line works for my lower readers, but I have little choice. However, when I stop and use literacy strategies I find that they are so helpful.
I agree with McAbee that time is a huge issue. I find myself in quite a quandary. I know that the literacy strategies and student based learning methods I am using are helping my students, but I am also having to cut out some of the other practice activities I was doing previously. Personally I think it is better this way, but I have noticed that my students grades just don't seem to be as high as they usually are. However, it could just be that I got a bad crop of peaches this year.
I agree with Erin and Mark completely, it seems that although these activities are excellent they not only take time out of a very strict district outline. It can also be very frustrating to have this great activity planned, and then your students just not be into it. I agree with Erin that we just might have a 'bad crop of peaches' or at least a crop that needs to be 'coached up' a little more than others have in the past.
While trying to help a math teacher in my study group, I found a couple of books that might really help math teachers incorporate more reading and writing in their math classes. The titles are "Algebra Out Loud: learning mathematics through reading and writing" by Pat Mower Ph.D. and "Geometry Out Loud by the same author."
I have a to do something really annoying and toot my school's own horn! Pretty much every school has a summer reading assignment by now. Of course, kids hate it! We get the common comment of, "I shouldn't have to take up my summer with school work," or "Why should I have to read--it's my summer break!" Well, we as educators know that it's good to keep their brains active and thinking, or at the very least reading all year long. I'm digressing, though. Here is my point: for the last two months, the English teachers, AND our assistant principal have been reading books to screen them for the summer reading list. Our librarian gets up the books from a list of the top teen books for the year, and then she reads them ALL. Then the English department allocates the books to each member. We meet back up a month later and discuss which books to add to our list. I can honestly say that I am so impressed by how much importance my colleagues place on this task. I think the English teachers (and our API and librarian) show such great dedication to picking great books for our students to read during the summer. I am SO in awe of my colleagues for their passion for reading, and what I think is an even GREATER passion for imparting that love of reading to our students.
I am really proud to be a part of a school that cares about our students and cares about each other. I am proud that we have such a wide variety of teachers and an administrator in our study groups. I know that "time" is an even less available commodity for our principal, but she has given her support--both in time and in finances--to make our program successful. I am glad that our administration is not so far-removed from the teaching experience. And just like us, as many of you have pointed out, their hands are tied to a certain extent also. There is only so much they can do to promote and to pay for literacy. That part is the shame. When our principal states in our study group meetings that she can really see the difference RAISSE is making when she is out visiting classrooms, I feel like every dollar and every minute given to this effort has changed things. That's the best part of all of this!
I have a different perspective from any of the other coaches because a family emergency took me away from the state (and therefore my school and my study groups) for two months. That meant that my "people" were orphaned, but soon taken into "foster care" by the other RAISSE leaders at GHS. The excitement for literacy that I sensed when I returned to GHS was phenomenal. My students in English IV had a sub for two full months, but when I entered the class that first day, each and every one in each and every class had an independent reading book and was reading. I asked the sub how she had gotten them so "well-trained"; she looked at me and said, "Isn't this what kids do when they are given independent reading time?"
Well, the answer to that would usually be "no." BUT at GHS, the answer is "yes" and the proof is the hidden-behind-a-book faces of twenty-something students in each class.
Also, when our group reassembled, I was touched by the outpouring of support and concern that was given to me. A testament of the bond achieved by the study group model. I was also thrilled beyond words at all of the wonderful strategies that had become an everyday, matter-of-fact part of teaching in all the different content areas. Our principal, one of my study group members, said she sees the impact of RAISSE every day when she visits classrooms. How cool is that???
Now the test will be to see if she still says that next April--and the next April--and the next. I sure hope so!
One more comment:
How awesome are the portfolios that you guys are reading??
Every study group member I had did a wonderful job of collecting and reflecting on a year's worth of thinking, growing, and experimenting with literacy strategies.
I feel inspired! I think I can do great things in this last month of school; don't you?
I got the best email from one of my study group members. I was always worried about this particular member’s opinion of the project, and I wondered how he would respond in the end. He is a very intelligent teacher, has a few years experience over me (like much of my group), and he is very open with his opinion. So, I was worried about whether or not he would feel that RAISSE was all it was cracked up to. I was so relieved to hear that he really enjoyed the study group and especially our conversations about literacy and our classroom practices. I was naturally nervous because my study group was comprised of mostly ELA people, who are phenomenal teachers. They were so excited abotu new strategies and trying them out. It was really neat seeing my colleagues feel like students again, focusing on poetry and readings, and having deep discussions about them. They all said that those experiences were their favorite parts.
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