_Proposition 5: Teachers are members of learning communities
![Picture](/uploads/6/7/6/3/6763469/3890042.jpg)
Participants in the 2008 Connecticut Writing Project (Storrs) Summer Institute
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- They are leaders and actively know how to seek and build partnerships with community groups and businesses.
- They work with other professionals on instructional policy, curriculum development and staff development.
- They can evaluate school progress and the allocation of resources in order to meet state and local education objectives.
- They know how to work collaboratively with parents to engage them productively in the work of the school
- NBCTs collaborate with others to improve student learning.
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woodstock_middle_school_research_guide_final.doc | |
File Size: | 115 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Rationale
_ Proposition 5 of the NBPTS’s Core
Propositions states that effective teachers “collaborate with others to improve student learning” and “work
with other professionals on instructional policy, curriculum development and
staff development”. In addition, “They can evaluate school progress and the
allocation of resources in order to meet state and local education objectives.”
I chose this artifact, which is a research guide designed to be given to each eighth grader at Woodstock Middle School and used across the disciplines, because its creation was the direct result of an effort to improve student writing. During the 2010-2011 school year, my first on the eighth grade team full time, I noticed how poorly prepared the students were for the district-mandated research paper, a major component of the Language Arts curriculum. Concerns about student writing were also expressed by other team, and we petitioned the professional development committee for time during the end of year professional development to meet with other grade level Language Arts teachers to discuss how some of these skills could be better developed. At that time, concern was expressed about the lack of common vocabulary and knowledge, so over Summer 2011, I worked with the language arts curriculum coordinator and library media specialist to develop the original draft of the research guide. Though we took inspiration from published research guides, we chose to develop our own to make it accessible for our middle school students, incorporate the unique way I teach the research paper, to emphasize MLA format, and to save money (printing and binding these guides is significant less expensive than purchasing professional handbooks for each student)
The eighth grade team met extensively throughout the 2011-2012 school year to revise this draft to be applicable across the disciplines, and finally to proofread the document to ensure perfection. The Handbook was introduced to eighth graders in April 2012, and will be used across the grades beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.
I chose this artifact, which is a research guide designed to be given to each eighth grader at Woodstock Middle School and used across the disciplines, because its creation was the direct result of an effort to improve student writing. During the 2010-2011 school year, my first on the eighth grade team full time, I noticed how poorly prepared the students were for the district-mandated research paper, a major component of the Language Arts curriculum. Concerns about student writing were also expressed by other team, and we petitioned the professional development committee for time during the end of year professional development to meet with other grade level Language Arts teachers to discuss how some of these skills could be better developed. At that time, concern was expressed about the lack of common vocabulary and knowledge, so over Summer 2011, I worked with the language arts curriculum coordinator and library media specialist to develop the original draft of the research guide. Though we took inspiration from published research guides, we chose to develop our own to make it accessible for our middle school students, incorporate the unique way I teach the research paper, to emphasize MLA format, and to save money (printing and binding these guides is significant less expensive than purchasing professional handbooks for each student)
The eighth grade team met extensively throughout the 2011-2012 school year to revise this draft to be applicable across the disciplines, and finally to proofread the document to ensure perfection. The Handbook was introduced to eighth graders in April 2012, and will be used across the grades beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.
Reflection
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Since my position was
eliminated in the Woodstock district at the end of the 2011-2012 school year
due to curriculum restructuring, I will not reap the benefits of having
students be exposed to common academic vocabulary and teaching practices
throughout their entire middle school experience. However, I became teacher
because the satisfaction of helping students learn means more to me than any
material reward, I am proud of the role I had in creating this guide since I have
seen firsthand how beneficial it was to helping my students achieve the
district goal of research papers.
The process of creating this guide was also invaluable to my development as a teacher of writing. As an alumnus of the Connecticut Writing Project Summer Institute, I truly subscribe to their mantra that every teacher is a teacher of writing. As an English teacher, I am used to being on my own when teaching writing. However, working with the team of eighth grade teachers, including the special education teacher, I learned in detail how each teacher addresses writing in their discipline and was able to guide students working on research papers in each content area towards the discipline standard. The collaborative process also strengthened our bond as a team in the same way that we encourage our students to work together through cooperative learning. Personally, while I have always respected each team member for her knowledge in her discipline, I have new respect for each and every one of them for the knowledge about best teaching practices that they shared during the process. I was blessed to have been part of such an amazing team of teachers, and will sorely miss that camaraderie as I move to a new position.
In addition, the time that I spent reflecting upon my current writing instruction and researching other, more efficient methods has definitely informed my practice. For example, I have decided to scaffold MLA throughout the year next year, beginning with the students’ first essay, so that students master the necessary skills one at a time, rather than en masse at research paper time. I will spiral the skills throughout the curriculum, beginning with the works citations and continuing through parenthetical citations and using evidence to support your points. I also have decided to work on each component of the research paper one at a time rather than looking at the paper at large. In other words, I will begin by having students write an introduction and outline of their paper and work with them on revising it so they have a clear thesis statement before I ask them to work on body paragraphs and the conclusion. Beginning the revision process with an entire raw paper is too daunting of a task for myself and the students. I feel that one step a time would be the most efficient way of accomplishing the district goal.
The process of creating this guide was also invaluable to my development as a teacher of writing. As an alumnus of the Connecticut Writing Project Summer Institute, I truly subscribe to their mantra that every teacher is a teacher of writing. As an English teacher, I am used to being on my own when teaching writing. However, working with the team of eighth grade teachers, including the special education teacher, I learned in detail how each teacher addresses writing in their discipline and was able to guide students working on research papers in each content area towards the discipline standard. The collaborative process also strengthened our bond as a team in the same way that we encourage our students to work together through cooperative learning. Personally, while I have always respected each team member for her knowledge in her discipline, I have new respect for each and every one of them for the knowledge about best teaching practices that they shared during the process. I was blessed to have been part of such an amazing team of teachers, and will sorely miss that camaraderie as I move to a new position.
In addition, the time that I spent reflecting upon my current writing instruction and researching other, more efficient methods has definitely informed my practice. For example, I have decided to scaffold MLA throughout the year next year, beginning with the students’ first essay, so that students master the necessary skills one at a time, rather than en masse at research paper time. I will spiral the skills throughout the curriculum, beginning with the works citations and continuing through parenthetical citations and using evidence to support your points. I also have decided to work on each component of the research paper one at a time rather than looking at the paper at large. In other words, I will begin by having students write an introduction and outline of their paper and work with them on revising it so they have a clear thesis statement before I ask them to work on body paragraphs and the conclusion. Beginning the revision process with an entire raw paper is too daunting of a task for myself and the students. I feel that one step a time would be the most efficient way of accomplishing the district goal.