A personal anecdote before I continue to stress the importance of the evaluation of teaching practices. My brother is currently a senior in high school, he has struggled with school since he was 6 years old, where his first grade teacher recommended that he be "tested" for ADHD. After years of fighting with and against a variety of stimulants, he made the decision with our parents to stop taking the prescriptions because of how it was affecting him in other facets of his life. The medicine never really helped, only made things worse. So here is a kid who never did well in school, didn't do his homework (or did it and just forgot to turn it in...yes, this happened on a number of occasions...but a zero is a zero, even if the assignment is completed, crumpled at the bottom of his backpack). Brandon ended up with a reputation. He was the kid who had teachers told him 'oh, Mr. So-and-so told me about you'.
He found himself in a class within the last month sitting with two other students. They were chatting while completing an in class assignment. The teacher told one of the students (we'll call him Todd) to move because she noticed he was talking. Todd asked why she was moving him (apparently she had a....fondness for moving him frequently). Her response to him was, and I quote, "Well you're distracting yourself and Mike(the other student in their triad), so he can't get his work done. And Brandon isn't even going to bother doing his work, so you have to move."
Stellar teaching practices.
And yes, admittedly, Brandon often doesn't do his work. On the rare occasion when he's feeling adventurous, he will do some. And that day was one of those days where he was working, and he was halfway done with his packet. But after her highly motivating and encouraging comment (please note the heavy sarcasm) Brandon flipped to the front of his packet, wrote his name on the front page, and wrote her a note
I was working, but since you don't think I do anything, I'm finishedHe handed in his half completed assignment and then proceeded to take a nap.
Now these are the instances, the teachers who have given up on kids, that have been motivating me lately.
My model would have teachers assessing their current practices in their front end analysis, looking at the students they have, and how their lessons are formatted, along with constraints from the curriculum they have to cover. And from that information, new practices can be implemented >> innovation. That much I understand, but integrating the aspect of these communication channels- I start to get lost.
There needs to be communication, that much I understand. I kind of understand who needs to be talking to who, but I don't really understand where or how that feeds into my model's design, or if it even does at all? It's something I'll have to go back and look over to sort out.
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Hi Amber!
Unfortunately, your story about your brother continues to reinforce that our brothers are similar in many ways. My [ADHD] brother, too, would shut down when disparaging comments were made, and several teachers gave up on him. Others saw that he did have promise if interested, and found ways to help him. His 9th grade bio teacher noticed how engaged he was in dissections, and ordered specimens for him to work with after school. A couple of years later, while failing other subjects, my brother was a lab aide in chemistry and taking AP chemistry, which he passed. That wouldn't have happened without the teacher that cared instead of giving up on him, like many before.
A big issue that you may have to deal with here is self-reporting. Many teachers, when asked to reflect on their own teaching practices, will reveal what they would like to share. They may not even be hiding their "bad" practices, but just may not be conscious of them. An outsider's perspective would likely be needed in your assessment. Either someone else could come in and observe the teacher and report the findings, or the teacher's class could be videotaped and then reviewed with the teacher, asking them why they did things a certain way.
With observations, however, can come the "Hawthorne Effect"- people will act differently if they know they're being observed. Teachers may also be very reluctant to allow others into their classrooms to evaluate their teaching, especially if the person is an outsider. It can be difficult enough sometimes for people to want to deal with mandatory observations. (Those vary from school to school and state to state, but usually non-tenured teachers are observed several times per year, and tenured ones only once.)
As for communication channels, think about who you would need to approach, say, in your brother's school in order to work with the teachers there. You would likely need school board/superintendent approval, and definitely the principal/other admins in the school. These are your gatekeepers to the school itself. You will also need interaction with the gatekeepers to the classroom, the teachers. If you are looking at specific departments (English/Language Arts or even "special education"), interaction with their department chairs could be needed. If your brother has an IEP, his case worker (likely a special ed teacher, even if he's not in special ed classes) would also need to be involved.
I've seen way too many kids with different abilities being pushed aside for whatever reason. It's definitely a big undertaking you've got planned. =)
-Leigh
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