Teaching All Students Well
Our system has a number of initiatives in place that are focused on not leaving any students behind. I honor this work and look forward to joining these efforts in ways that I can.
A Solid, Engaging Math Foundation
I want to work on my own and with others to create a more engaging, solid math foundation for all students. We're on our way with this work, but there's more to do. It begins with organizing all the work to date in one place, then building in the areas that need more work including the following:
- Performance assessments related to numerical expression and fraction area models
- Interdisciplinary units that include relevant standards-based math tasks and learning experiences
- Better efforts to teach all students math, particularly students who are greatly challenged with the subject at this time.
- Greater fidelity to online programs that support math learning/teaching by scheduling times for those programs in the schedule.
- Continued advocacy to better RTI efforts--at present, I believe our efforts can be improved with greater consistency and targeted instruction for students. I believe our current model is not as effective as it could be.
- Better communication and collaboration between department personnel when it comes to math teaching. I believe that we can modernize our process to make our collaboration more efficient, meaningful, and targeted which will result in better support for all students.
- Better record keeping with regard to our work and initiatives in order to get a good look at where we can work better.
Rich Science Teaching and Learning
We have great science materials, standards, and program supports via our connection with Massachusetts' Audubon Drumlin Farm. We did a good job growing this work this year, and we'll continue to deepen and grow our efforts next year with summer study.
Social Emotional Learning
I want to look at how we can deepen our efforts in this arena by choosing just right lessons, videos, and activities to embed in our content units to develop students' social emotional strength. We have already started this work, and will continue.
Advocacy for Greater Teacher Voice, Choice, and Leadership
A stumbling block that educators face is our weak voice, choice, and leadership in some areas of school life. This creates a wall to innovation and good work. I will continue to analyze why this happens and how we can work to elevate teachers' voice, choice, and leadership in ways that matter. My vision is the following:
- Regular memos will be sent that note what's happened, what is happening, and what will happen.
- Transparency about areas of need using reports that include the formal and informal metrics/information that illustrate and prove that need will increase.
- There will be greater openness to our ideas with regard to revising some existing structures that are apparently less successful than they could be.
- Big questions and initiatives will be readily shared in order to keep all educators in the loop of what's happening.
- There will be greater support for responsible risk, innovation, creativity, and individuality when it comes to good teaching and learning.
- There will be less of a teacher as robot perspective and more of a teacher as a skilled and invested professional perspective.
The more that we can elevate positive process, attitude, and effort to and with educators, the more time we will have for effective teaching and learning.
Professional Learning
I enjoy developing my expertise in the areas that I am expected to teach well. I aim to be an expert at teaching math, science, and SEL and use that expertise with the students and team I work with. I also hope to hone this expertise to use with students who can profit from this knowledge in the future too.
