Math Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Lindsay Spanhake who was recently named Middle School Math Teacher of the Year by the Nassau County Math Teacher’s Association. She was nominated for the award by instructional leader Andrew Casale for the way she encourages students every day, and her overall involvement in the school. In addition to serving as a math teacher, Ms. Spanhake is co-leader of the school’s Environmental Club, adviser of the Math Pioneers and chaperones all school dances and trips. In her classroom, she uses inquiry-based learning, promotes teamwork and tries to always connect math to their everyday lives.  She is a fine example of how the teachers here in Mineola are always going above and beyond for our kids. 

We all have a role to play

I joined Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Commissioner King at his press conference yesterday to affirm Mineola’s work in implementing the Common Core Standards.  This excerpt from the commissioner’s speech ran particularly true with me-

“Now – the work of raising standards for teaching and learning is work we launched

together. Not just the state – but the districts, the unions, the teachers, the legislature, the

governor – all with the support of the federal government. Everyone has had a voice in this.

It’s been open, transparent – and we have all known about it for years.

But for this to actually work and to make a difference in the lives of students, local

education leaders must implement these changes – thoughtfully, consistently and fairly.

Local leaders set budgets and priorities. They dedicate time and money to professional

development. They choose curriculum. They track results and they manage school schedules

to allow for planning and collaboration and create a culture of continuous improvement.

Several talented local superintendents are here with us today representing the 700 district

leaders across this state charged with delivering on the promise of the Common Core.”

While I don’t always agree with why and how things are done; I do agree that superintendents have a large responsibility to implement the new standards as smoothly and stress free as possible.

I like the Common Core Standards.  I like the notion of teaching a concept before content.  I think children learn so much more when they understand the underlining concept of material before they learn all of the facts.  Our goal is for children to be invested in the material they learn- not regurgitate facts to do well on an exam and then forget everything they memorized a week later.

I like the curriculum that Mineola teachers have created.  I like some of the materials in the NYS modules and more importantly I like the fact they we have local control over all curriculum decisions.  No one is mandating we teach what the State has created.  We are working and will continue to work on creating the best curriculum we can for students to achieve the standards.  I commend our teachers on the work they are doing. Our teachers continue to implement and debrief on what materials are successful and which need to be changed.

In a time of change everything isn’t automatically perfect; change is messy.  I think the State exams are a good example of that.  I am not crazy about the State exams; but I understand they are a work in progress.  They do not define good teaching and learning, nor do they define success or failure of a student or school.  They are one measure of a child’s progress in meeting the standards. We have a lot of work to do in making formative assessments that inform a child’s progress in specific standards.  Mineola is currently working on a digital solution that captures actual student work and tracks progress in the standards.  We understand that if a child “doesn’t know what they don’t know” they are unlikely to improve in that area.

We all have a role in making the Standards successful.  We can (and will) be stressed at times. But if we are patient, listen to one another and collaborate – I believe we can get it right.  Only then will we be successful in preparing our children for the future.

ipads over the summer?

Last year 76% percent of the middle school participated in a volunteer program to get their ipads early.  We were inundated the first few days and were happily surprised by the enthusiasm.  What should we do this summer?  Ideally if we allow the students to retain the ipads I would like to load the device with reading content and some work (eSpark or similar).  More importantly I would like to pay our teachers to monitor the work a few hours a week via electronic dashboards.  This way if a student is having an issue or not doing work at all – a teacher will be able to contact them via email.  Over the years I have heard very opposite parental opinions of this topic.  Many parents welcome the idea of summer work while others believe that summer is down time.  I think my idea addresses the biggest complaint – no one checks the work that my child spent his/her time completing.   I believe we can work around the logistical issues of issuing ipads (broken, lost, stolen, family moves).  The question is- will we have parental support for student work over the summer?  What do you say?

NYS Public Education 2014- A Sad State of Affairs

Opt-out, APPR, common core standards, high stake testing-how did we get here?  Indulge me as I over generalize – but I think the cycle goes like this; home values are based on successful schools.  School success is defined by performance on standardized tests.   Districts teach to the test to insure good results.  When the test changes and no one knows the content being assessed scores drop and a panic ensues.  Districts start to over react to the drop in scores and over emphasize test prep abandoning good teaching methodology and start chasing better results.  Add to this mix that part of certain teachers evaluations are based on student performance and it is a recipe for disaster.  Welcome to NYS public education 2014.  School leaders need to recognize this paradigm and take steps to mitigate this.  Some suggestions:

· Don’t fear the APPR

- The likelihood that a teacher will be dismissed using the current APPR construct is remote.  To perpetuate that notion is foolish.  Student achievement results are a small part of a system that educates the whole child.

· Control the curriculum

- Just because the NYSED created modules doesn’t mean Districts have to use them.  Create time for teachers to collaborate and write curriculum.  Some teachers prefer the modules because everything is laid out for them while others feel they stifle creativity.  You must find the happy medium and create curriculum that capitalizes on teachers experience with the content.

· Support teachers

- Creating the curriculum is one thing; helping teachers navigate new content and methodologies is paramount.   Invest in professional developers that are not administrators to help model lessons and unpack the standards

· Don’t test prep

- Why spend countless hours preparing students for an exam when the content is unknown? We need to focus our class time on engaging students in authentic learning activities that require students to think

· Learning is supposed to be fun

- Promote fun- instill a love of learning in children while challenging them in rigorous content.  This is why a great teacher is worth his/her weight in gold

· Figure out how to measure growth in the standards

- The standards are designed to examine student work in very specific areas to determine student growth.  Electronic portfolios that accurately capture work in the standards should be the goal of effective assessments.

I think we can all agree that the State assessments are “not ready for prime time” yet we continue to use them as the benchmark to determine successful schools.  As long as society continues to promote this myopic view of successful schools we will continue to organize curriculum and practice to deliver results.  I find it ironic that Newsday’s cover story is about the number of student opt-outs on the State exam and then they direct readers to last year’s test scores.  Maybe the silver lining of the “opt-out” movement will be that it will lead to a better definition of a successful school.  Ultimately don’t we want kids to be challenged in appropriate content at their level while simultaneously enjoying school?  How do you measure that?