Love to Teach: Denali Lander

Bill Haber / Associated Press

Teachers seem to get into and stay in the classroom for one of three reasons. The first is a competitiveness with results that drives each hour of planning and execution to ensure ones’ students are performing beyond what society expects of them, approaching and becoming the best. A second is a love of content. From the most sincere passion for young adult literature to an ongoing fascination with earth history. The final is an intrinsic and inexplicable magnetism toward young people. A feeling of rightness when interacting with children and teenagers and helping them discover their purpose and develop their path for life.  Thinking back about my own teachers and the teachers I now call peers, everyone certainly has a combination of the three. But it does seem as though teachers’ natural tendencies lean in one particular direction of this triangle. An intrinsic care for and desire to work with young people has been my motivator for entering the classroom through TFA and staying there beyond my two years. The underpaid long hours are certainly on my mind, but alleviated by individual moments with kids.

What unsettles me most is knowing that, even with students I’ve spent hundreds of hours with during and out of school, I continue to question the transformational impact other teachers and I have had. How long will that unknown impact even last? This questionable effect can be, at times, maddening but is forever motivating. Success for each and every young person is possible. There can always be more, and schools can always be better. And they need people to be around for years to make them that way. I will be here. 

Author:  Denali Lander

5th Year Teacher

8th Grade ELA 

Kipp Central City Academy, New Orleans, LA

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Spotlight On New Orleans

Arranged behind the green, yellow and purple curtain of Mardi Gras, jazz and jambalaya, are hundreds of schools and thousands of students that are making leaps and bounds in their academic progress every day since Hurricane Katrina swept through the Big Easy.

washingtonindependent.com

Recent History of New Orleans Shifted Education Outcomes

The recent history of the New Orleans education system has greatly influenced its overall improvement. In 2003, two years before Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans, the Recovery School District (RSD) was created to take over failing schools within the New Orleans public school district.  For decades before, New Orleans had been known as the lowest performing school district in Louisiana and one of the worst school districts in the country.  Eighty percent of public school students were attending a failing school and the corruption within the education system was so high that the FBI set up a field office in the Orleans Parish building.  It was the storm that destroyed New Orleans that also turned around the failing education system.

While New Orleans was rebuilding itself from foundation to roof, change was brewing in schools with mission-driven leaders, and new ideas about academic achievement.  School leaders and non-profits from around the country flooded in to partake in the opportunity of a lifetime. Educators bound by public school rules and unions could work freely in the mainly charter system.  This turnaround from traditional public schools to charter schools had positive and negative effects, but the idea was that schools could make their own rules as long as they met testing standards laid out by the state.  According to the Cowen Institute, by the 2011-2012 school year 78 percent of public school students were enrolled in charter schools, and this number has continued to increase. 

edweek.org

Benefits of Teaching in New Orleans Schools

Although there are charter schools that have failed, and others that are struggling, there are several positives to working in the successful and blossoming charter schools of New Orleans.  First, teachers have the opportunity to make a large social impact and be part of an academically improving district.  Over 80% of public school students qualify for free or reduced lunch and in just three years, between 2009 and 2012, these students’ test scores increased from 37% to 51% basic or above (Louisiana Department of Education)

Additionally, a charter system with fewer rules allows for a wide-variety of schools to choose from.  For example, teachers at KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) schools are often required to visit the houses of their students, so that they can build a stronger relationship with families.  Enrollment at Sci Academy, a high school, is kept at an enrollment of around 400 so that the staff is familiar with most all of the students. 

Finally, an educator can live well off New Orleans’ teacher’s salary, which has increased in recent years.  Between 2005 and 2010, the average teacher salary rose from $39,000 to $47,000.  With New Orleans’ cheap standard of living, one can comfortably reside walking distance from live music, fresh seafood, street festivals and Mardi Gras parades. 

If you’re interested in being part of an education environment that is like no other, in a city that is like none other in the nation, New Orleans may be the place for you.  To learn more about schools and education reform in Greater New Orleans, check out the links below.

Resources to Learn More About New Orleans Schools

The State of Public Education in New Orleans 2012 Report 

Educate Now 

The Times Picayune Education 

Louisiana Recovery School District (RSD)

Louisiana Department of Education

Determining what you want in a teaching job

Whether you are a new teacher or considering making a move to a different school, the process of finding the right fit can be daunting.   There are a lot of possibilities out there and it can be difficult to determine the best place to start.  This inspiration for a move can be from anything such as wanting to increase your impact to having a philosophical difference of opinion with your administrator.  Alternatively, you may be in the hunt for your first job and you are just exploring the waters for the first time.  Regardless, this is a very important decision that will influence your ability to impact kids and your career trajectory.   In fact, finding the right school for you will actually likely dictate whether remain in the teaching profession.  

As I’ve mentioned in a past post, teaching is an incredibly high turnover profession and much of it has to do with teachers not finding the right fit.  Thus, before getting started, I recommend establishing a sense of what you want and care about.

While there are a number of things that you can think about when making this decision, the following are few examples of things that you can think about when determining what is important to you in a new teaching job.

Leadership of the school: making sure you have a philosophical match and can maintain a good relationship with a school leader will have a great impact on how effective you will be as well as your own satisfaction.   Do you want someone that runs a very tight culture with a lot prescribed procedures and rules or do you want a leader that allows each teacher to determine their own approach?

Values: you want to make sure you fit in well with what your school believes and their approach to operating around these values.  Think about what is important to you in culture and philosophy.

Professional development practices: how a school develops professionals will have a substantial impact on your career.  You may want to think about your 5 year goals and what experience or learning as a professional you will need to do to get to a place where you want to be.

Leadership Opportunities: you should think about whether you want to grow into leadership roles down the line.  Whether it is to become a department chair or a school leader, thinking about where you want to go will determine if a school organization will provide you with the pathways to achieve the kind of opportunity that you are seeking.

Past results:  thinking about how the school is performing will give you a good sense of what type of situation you will be walking into.   You may be inspired to help a school turn around a situation or perhaps you want a place that is already on an upward trajectory. 

Governance: The way a school is governed can have a major impact on the teaching experience.  You should ask yourself how much freedom you want your administration to give you around things like budget and hiring.

Compensation:  You should determine what your salary requirements are for a job.  Understanding this will give you a big perspective on where you should be looking

Location:  Thinking about your willingness to relocate or even how far you want to commute on a daily basis will have a substantial impact on how you think about your search.  Defining this on the front end will help you quickly narrow down your possibilities

By determining on the front end what you want will save you a substantial amount of time as you navigate the process.

Build Your Brand as a Teacher

Teachers build a reputation in school buildings.  Students, parents, administrators, and other teachers start to recognize and think of you for specific things that you bring to the table.    For great teachers, this is often the stuff that legends are made of.  As I’m sure many of you do, I have very vivid memories of this playing out in my progression through life as a student then as a teacher.  My middle school teacher was affectionately termed “Old Man Kramer” because he was full of wisdom and humor but someone you didn't want to cross.   In high school, I knew that I had to get Mrs. Roseborough for calculus because she was so good that she would pretty guarantee you a 4 or 5 on the AP test.  When I was teaching, I knew that Mr. Comeaux was the guy to go to for advice on how to establish a great discipline plan and Mr. Grady could help me get my content approach right.

These were all examples of brands that developed, both intentionally and unintentionally.  In our increasingly digital world, we now have more of an opportunity to be very intentional about how others view us both inside our current school building and the education world at large.  By creating a brand that represents the talent that you bring, you will have a better chance to both find and be found for opportunities.  Whether you are looking for a full time teaching job, moving into a leadership role In your building or applying for a teaching award, influencing your brand is important.

Here are few easy steps to do this:

Ask you colleagues how you are perceived:  This is a great place to start to get a sense of what kind of brand imagine you are currently conveying in your school.  A trusted colleague should be able to give you a great perspective on how people view you in the building. 

Identify you strengths: step back and think through the things that you really like doing in your classroom and where you are particularly effective.

Figure out how to showcase this to others: Once you have recognized your talent, you need to figure out how to convey your imagine.  If you are a great organizer and want to be considered for an open department head position, think about a project you can do for the leadership of the school that demonstrates this.  If you are looking for a new full time job and you are particularly good classroom manager, think about creating a sample teaching video or quick documented way to demonstrate your classroom management plan.

Utilize web tools: utilizing things like facebook, twitter, a blog, or creating a profile on Haystack EDU can be powerful tools to help demonstrate your talents to others.

Whether you are being intentional about or not, you have a brand as a teacher.  Take advantage of the opportunity to manage this whether you are looking to change schools and get a new job or you want to more influence in your school site.

Teachers, Show Your Stuff!

As someone who is responsible for building our citizenry and preparing our future work force, a teacher should be proud of what they do and have the ability to show the world the value that they are bringing to the table.  When talking to teachers about why they joined the profession, I often hear responses like “I want to help kids grow”, “I want to give back”, or “I want to solve a social justice problem”.  While I think these are great reasons for joining the profession, (I myself originally joined the teaching force because I wanted to help kids, who did not have certain socioeconomic advantages, to get to a position where they had choices around their future) I rarely hear a teacher say that they started teaching to increase the America gross domestic product or grow the global economy.  Yet, that is exactly what great teachers do.

Teachers are one of the primary levers we have in our economy to drive growth.  While the impact that teachers have may take some time to show in our economic outputs, our ability to prepare workers for highly skilled jobs will be key for America to remain relevant in the new information based economy.  Studies continually show that highly effective teachers have a significant impact on students’ future prospects.    Thus, for a highly effective teacher, the way to maximize impact whether you are motivated by helping individual students to grow or having a major impact on the US economy, is to be in a position where you can extend your reach as much as possible.  It is not just about getting results but it is about how many students you are able to get results with.  An organization called Public Impact has done some interesting work on this topic through something they call Opportunity Culture.  However, in order to identify which teachers are best prepared to take on this responsibility, there needs to be a mechanism to help represent teachers to the education community and the world more broadly to help differentiate the various skills that they bring.  In other words, Teachers need a way to represent themselves as the professionals that they are.

While there should be an easier way to find opportunities to grow your impact when you are looking, there should also be chances to be found.  To do so you need to establish a personal brand and distinguish yourself.  As I’ve said in previous posts, the nature of what it means to be a teacher is changing and there will be many more opportunities for teachers to grow their impact while being more fairly compensated for the value that they bring.  However, these opportunities won’t just go to the best teachers.  They will go to the best teachers that also have the ability to communicate the unique value that they bring to the table.

In my next post, I will discuss some practical strategies for how to do this.  Until then Teachers show your stuff!  You do great work and it deserves to be noticed.

The Changing Profession

In a lecture I heard from the John Danner, CEO of Rocketship Schools, in one of my graduate school classes, he related the current state of the teaching profession to what the medical profession previously looked like.  As it turns out that like the current teaching profession, doctors were primarily generalists.  They would go door to door for little pay trying to provide their services.  Given that they faced so many different situations and lacked the technology, medical outcomes were unsurprisingly not very good.  However, given advances in science, pharmaceuticals, technology, and city infrastructure, the profession shifted towards greater specialization and medical outcomes improved.

Education is faced with a similar opportunity.  With technology tools developing that will help individualize education for students, there is an opportunity to rethink our approach to the roles we utilize in staffing a school.  Given that this development will likely change how much of a curriculum is delivered and how students are assessed, there will be an opportunity to have educators move from being generalists to focus their energy on going deep across a limited set of skills.

While there are a growing number of schools that are implementing new models that are starting to personalize education for students, these new approaches are still quite new.  Yet, there are already new focused roles that are starting to develop in schools.   I’ve presented a few examples below and cite the skills (full list in my last blog post) that they emphasize.

• Small group facilitator: This role is responsible for taking small groups of kids and helping them tackle specific skills in small pull-out groups.  This person must have strong content knowledge and be able to think creatively on the fly to meet kids where they are and guide them to understanding.  This role emphasizes skills associated with being a performer and expert.
• Master teachers:  This role is responsible for the outcomes of a larger group of kids as well as managing junior teachers.  They create a plan of execution and manage teachers towards these goals.  This role emphasizes skills associated with being a manager and designer.
• Data analyst: This role is responsible for collecting, interpreting, and analyzing student data.  This person may group students and deciding who gets pulled when but they may actually not teach kids themselves.   This role emphasizes skills associated with being an analyzer.
• Lab coach: These folks are responsible for motivating and managing a large group of kids at one time as they work through personalized computerized curriculum but don’t actually need to have a strong content knowledge because the content is largely delivered electronically.  This role emphasizes skills associated with being a performer and manager.

Thus, these new roles allow for a more focused approach to jobs as an educator.  There are a number of potential positive impacts from rethinking human capital.  First and foremost, students have the potential to be served more effectively.  By catering what adults do to the personalization of curriculum delivery, there is a much better chance that students won’t be left behind.  Second, specialization has the potential to further professionalize teaching.  Teachers will be able to more effectively differentiate themselves based on their particular skills and abilities.   If the trend continues towards schools having more budgetary and hiring control, this should allow wages to become more differentiated based on the value teachers are adding towards gaining student outcomes.  Thus, stronger performers will be rewarded for their achievements.  Finally, it should help teachers remain in the profession longer.  If teachers are able to focus on developing a narrower set of skills early on, they are more likely to feel successful and there will be less likelihood of burnout.

While it is clear that it will take some time for these new models to develop and establish a definitive sense of what ultimately works, it is important to not think of human capital as an afterthought.  By rethinking and reconstructing how schools are staffed, there is a great opportunity to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in educating students with these

Juggling Skills: The Traditional Teacher Role

Teachers do a lot! And they need to be good a lot of different things to be effective.   In fact, when you breakdown the traditional teacher role, you see that teachers must perform a laundry list of skills in their daily routine.   In many other professions, an entire job might be primarily designed around performing just one of these skills.

The following is a list of just some of the things that the traditional teacher role encompasses on a given day:

Teachers are managers: they must motivate, influence, and control a large group of students.  Managers in large companies rarely have more than 7-10 direct reports.  Teachers typically manage between 20-30 people at any given time and secondary teachers have as many as 200 under their direct supervision in a given day.

Teachers are designers:  they must create interesting lessons to engage students.  Teachers frequently teach multiple classes so they must develop these concepts on a daily basis.  Yet, most of the day must be spent executing the lessons they designed the night before.  Designers at a company like Apple spend their entire day just creating great products

Teachers are performers: beyond just developing interesting lessons, teachers must captivate their students.  Teachers are essentially on ”stage” 5-7 hours a day.  However, unlike most professions associated with performing, they don’t get to practice before each performance.

Teachers are analyzers: like a good scientist, they must determine ways to collect evidence, interrupt the results, and change course as necessary.   Although, unlike a scientist, this process must be completed in between a teachers primary duties.

Teachers are experts: teachers must know their content area and must be nimble enough to answer questions on the subject as they come up in real time.

Given the breadth and depth of skills that we expect from teachers combined with other challenges like low pay and limited resources, is it any wonder that we see 50% of teachers exiting the profession by year 5?  The teachers that are able to develop their craft over years by mastering all these skills are truly extraordinary professionals. 

While it is amazing to see what remarkable teachers can accomplish, what if things were structured differently so that we didn't need every teacher to perform every skill at a very high level to produce student results.  What if the teacher role was broken down into sub-roles?  What if teachers were specialists?  

In our next post, Haystack EDU will explore a developing opportunity to change the teacher role to make teachers more effective, to make the teaching role more sustainable, and to make teaching into more of a profession.