Where is the Advisor in Advisory?

by D. Guglielmini

Advisory. My passion.

I love everything about advisory- mixed grade levels, the ability to "know" a small group of students, small group size, flexibility of what to teach....

Recently, at an MFM(Montessori Faculty Meeting) as well as in the Sophomore team meetings, we have been discussing the role of the advisor.

Advisory is quite diverse in the Montessori community, with mixed grade level classes and a variety of lessons and ideas shared during our one period a week meeting. I like that all advisors teach different things based on what they feel is best for their advisees.

At the MFM, we've identified the many different views and perspectives on "What is Advisory" and have been looking towards a more academic focus.

In addition to this, the Sophomore team has discussed how the role of the advisor seems to be a bit lost when it comes to communication, and we've identified the issue, and will be taking action to informing advisors so that they can be in more of an academic role.

"We schedule what we value." I agree. With such diverse needs of each advisee, how do we make it work? What was the original vision of advisory?

I believe I understand what advisory is about and agree with it, but struggle to make it "ideal." With responsibilities becoming more demanding, how do you get it all done without feeling like you are missing something?

"But They Work for ME"

by M Tesler

I wanted to discuss something that has been taking place at my school, and get some feedback from outside, objective people. It came to a head yesterday during PD.

As a new, small HS, last year was our first. The students who comprised the first high school class were largely students for whom this school was not their first choice; for some, it was the choice between retention and promotion. A great deal of time was spent last year (and this year) changing culture and attitudes about schools, as well as making up for deficiencies which many of our learners have in many subjects.

Teaching the lower grades in a high school are tough anywhere, I'd guess, simply from a maturity perspective. Factor in some of the academic, social, economic issues that these kids brought to the table, and that job becomes tougher.

One teacher in particular has struggled with this group. This teacher has tried numerous methods, groupings, differentiation, etc. to work with the students, and is doing fairly well, given the circumstances. However, when this teacher has vented (as we all do) about classes, or has stated that certain methods, classes (like DEAR) or other interventions have not proven successful, others in our building have replied with "well, I have them, and they do...in my class." Or "they work for me." Moreover, when this teacher has expressed an opinion on a topic, this person is seen as being "too negative."

I've always had a hard time with this comment, and yesterday I spoke up for this teacher. I don't believe it's fair to judge one teacher, in a completely different subject by the same standard as another. For example, if the students value what's given in one class, or enjoy that class more than another, or are not lacking in requisite skills (Math, for example), surely their performance may be better.

I was really upset by this "they work for me" commentary. As a collaborative community, isn't it, or shouldn't it be more about how we can help ALL of our learners, teachers and students, to become successful?

I am interested to hear from people on this side of the expressway. I value this forum greatly for its help.

SHIFT HAPPENS!

At Charter School, Higher Teacher Pay

I guess my question is what would you do differently in the classroom if you salary doubled? I'm doing everything I personally can now. Doubling my salary would be great, but my in class performance wouldn't change.
By ELISSA GOOTMAN

Would six-figure salaries attract better teachers?

A New York City charter school set to open in 2009 in Washington Heights will test one of the most fundamental questions in education: Whether significantly higher pay for teachers is the key to improving schools.

The school, which will run from fifth to eighth grades, is promising to pay teachers $125,000, plus a potential bonus based on schoolwide performance. That is nearly twice as much as the average New York City public school teacher earns, roughly two and a half times the national average teacher salary and higher than the base salary of all but the most senior teachers in the most generous districts nationwide.

The school’s creator and first principal, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, contends that high salaries will lure the best teachers. He says he wants to put into practice the conclusion reached by a growing body of research: that teacher quality — not star principals, laptop computers or abundant electives — is the crucial ingredient for success.

“I would much rather put a phenomenal, great teacher in a field with 30 kids and nothing else than take the mediocre teacher and give them half the number of students and give them all the technology in the world,” said Mr. Vanderhoek, 31, a Yale graduate and former middle school teacher who built a test preparation company that pays its tutors far more than the competition.

In exchange for their high salaries, teachers at the new school, the Equity Project, will work a longer day and year and assume responsibilities that usually fall to other staff members, like attendance coordinators and discipline deans. To make ends meet, the school, which will use only public money and charter school grants for all but its building, will scrimp elsewhere.

Entire Article

New Comment on an Old Post

Below is a comment I received yesterday on a post that was written in May of 2007. We seem to be having a new discussion around our model of inclusion. Venting frustrations can be healthy, but more importantly offering solutions is really the only true way to overcome adversity.

The comment reads:

"As a CTT teacher, I absolutely feel this model is not working. It could work, in theory, but not the way things are set up now. Being forced to stand up in front of a class and embarrass yourself teaching content you don't know just to put on a show that you're standing in front of the room is stupid, frankly, and benefiting no one- not the students, not the CTT teacher, and not the general ed teacher who will have to reteach the lesson the next day, anyway. Steamrolling your CTT teacher into doing what the general ed teacher wants, whether it be either extreme- ignoring them and not planing with them, or handing them a lesson that you wrote and wondering why they can't posibly teach it is not exaclty what 'relationship' building is all about. If you have never taught special ed, please do not read theory and a manuel and then feel you are an expert and able to give advice and instruction to CTT teachers. Go teach a CTT class. Then you might have even a fraction of an insight as to what you're talking about. "

How might we help our distressed colleague through this situation? What are teachers supposed to be doing in a CTT model classroom?

What are we doing to prepare kids for all the other days of their lives?

"Chris," he said, "We have to teach the kids to take tests... the SATs, the LSATs, the MCATs, these are serious tests and serious days that can forever alter the path of a person's life.'



It's a good point, and certainly, it can be the tip of the sword in the argument for schools like SLA. But something popped into my head...



"Yes, they are, and we cannot ignore those tests, and we should prepare kids for them but those are three days in a person's life. What are we doing in our schools to prepare kids for the other 20,000 days of their lives?"And I realized that's the question we should really be asking. That's the answer to all those who say the tests are paramount.

What are we doing to prepare kids for all the other days of their lives?


THE ABOVE WAS CLIPPED FROM :

http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/937-What-About-the-Other-Days.html

School is Hard

This is the time of the year when I always feel a little overwhelmed. QHST being annualized my relationships with my students are either on autopilot or reaching levels of unspeakable stress. Talk around school starts to focus on next year.

Who will be teaching what?
What schedule will we be using next year?
Who will not be returning?
How many new-hires will be joining us?
Are we meeting the needs of all learners?
Has the CTT model been working for teachers and students?
What are we doing wrong?
What can we fix before June? What will have to wait til next year?
What will summer school look like?

And then there are the seniors, they are stressing about college, or other post high school expectations. I must admit with the room changes this year, I teach in four different rooms, and the pressure from the DOE to make data driven decisions, I forget why I love teaching. Outside of school with the economy in disarray and a hotly debated presidential race and I seriously need to refocus.

What has saved me this year from sheer depression have been a couple of "ah ha emails". Former students feeling compelled to share their college experiences with me, or even asking me for help. Through these emails I've been invited to “sit in” on an undergrad class by a students who compares her current sociology class to her experience in my government class. Another student thanked me for going paperless senior year it helped her greatly making her transition to her current economics class.

QHST will never be the same year to year. Our family of students and parents changes and grows. Not becoming so overwhelmed with the here and now and focusing on the long term accomplishments helps me gather the energy to dive back into Mondays. Tuesday I start to look at data again, start to look at multiple failure lists, start to look at suspensions, start to look at attendance rates, exam scores, start to look at ID cards, hall passes, teacher time, credit accumulation, teacherease, IEPs, and will start to look once again at the day to day.

Let Us Shine

Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work on my facilitation skills with Emily White. Upon entering the room where the workshop was to be held I quickly found myself joined by a unique grouping of individuals. Three of the four assistant principals from my school, seven of the nine grade level facilitators, three aspiring principals, my current principal (Nigel Pugh) and Emily. I felt a little like how freshmen who are placed in a senior study hall by mistake must feel.

The first task we were asked to complete is to interpret a postcard randomly drawn from a pile. The question was then posed, “What does this card say about your current role as a school leader?”

I was given the attached picture. At first I thought “Argh the beach….I hate the beach…I like the beach….but I don’t like being half naked at the beach.” But I digress…

Looking at the picture I think I had one of those AH HA moments. I was able to make some real connections. I work on an amazing grade level team at QHST. The energy level of each member seems unending and is only overshadowed by their passion.

At any given time each member shines. Generally we are all in tune with common goals but can also embrace a slight bit of ambiguity when life deals us some. A good leader is an individual who can step out of the team’s infectious radiance, put on a pair of shades, and articulate possible difficult questions we are not asking.

The best teams have members who feel entitled to put on the shades at a given point and let the others shine. Every member has done just this at some point. Having the opportunity to sit on the side and reflect is important as a leader.

I guess what I’m trying to say is [ I already know Mayo and Barkan will disagree] during Small Learning Community Meetings, surrounded by respected colleagues whom I’ve come to hold in high regard, is in some way like going to the beach.

“argh…”

Standardized Paradigm Shifting

"When our grandparents went to school, there was a finite amount of information," she said. Now, she said, the focus is "not so much that I have to learn everything there is to learn, but now I need to learn how to find what I need to know." (article linked below)

Is tech-literacy testable? According to ETS, the new skills are testable and standardized tests with these skills are being rolled out in many states. This is very exciting; imagine a Regents Exam with access to the internet.

Students might actually see some relevance, might scare some teachers though.

[Read the Entire Article]

Are "we" Ready

Recently on another teacher blog (Weblogg-ed) teachers are ranting about the new skill sets our students will be asked to tackle. I wonder what we are doing currently in our classrooms to enhance these skills? Are we as successful products "traditional" skill set value system ready to make a paradigm shift?

This following is excerpted: [entire post]


Our kids’ futures will require them to be:

• Networked–They’ll need an “outboard brain.”


• More collaborative–They are going to need to work closely with people to co-create information.


• More globally aware–Those collaborators may be anywhere in the world.


• Less dependent on paper–Right now, we are still paper training our kids.


• More active–In just about every sense of the word. Physically. Socially. Politically.


• Fluent in creating and consuming hypertext–Basic reading and writing skills will not suffice.


• More connected–To their communities, to their environments, to the world.


• Editors of information–Something we should have been teaching them all along but is even more important now.