Earlier this month, a research paper coming out of the Heritage Center for Data Analysis by Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine claimed that teachers are overpaid compared to similarly educated counterparts in other professions.  The researchers added benefits to teacher pay--benefits most teachers never see because they are deferred until retirement age--and counted only teacher's on-the-clock hours, and NO summer hours.  

The conclusions are exteremely flawed.  Responses to the argument are now being posted at The Debate Club, including those of Linda Darling Hammond and Barnett Berry. (If you click over, make sure to hit the "up" arrow for the arguments you agree with.) Shaun Johnson posts an interesting response at the Huffington Post called, Who's Overpaid, Teachers or the Wonks Who Write About Them? Nancy Flanagan posted her response, Because I'm Worth It?, in which she compares the working conditions she experienced as a teacher with those of a position she took briefly at an education policy organization (a worthwhile read).  She also suggests that this research serves to distract the public from the real inequities of our education system.

My own take: The research is flawed and ridiculous to anyone who has experience teaching or knows much about the job, it's requirements and demands.  There's a longstanding misunderstanding and undervaluing of the work of teachers, rooted in sexism. When historical oppression is at work, there is often is a fine line between a viewpoint and a prejudice.

What is passing as a "debate" in the education world looks more to me like some researchers manipulating data to support their prejudicial standpoints.  There are many other discriminatory notions that can be supported by misleading data.  I'm surprised and disappointed that this biased work is accepted as research in 2011. I guess the silver lining could be the opportunity to expose an area of prejudice that remains hidden in fog in our country.

[image credit: psychologyinspiration.com]

I've been thinking about the issue of teacher retention--from a different angle than the one I usually do. I want to keep on teaching.  I'm usually focused on what I need to stay in the classroom just one more year. I'm thinking ahead of now, down the line for myself. What conditions do I need to feel like I could stay in classroom teaching pretty continuously through my career?  I'm also looking at the accomplished teachers at my school and wondering what it would take to keep them working directly with students?

I'm someone who will probably always be involved in other professional activities, such as writing. I also like to think about ideas and policies, at the school level or larger-scale.  I often find myself working on projects around these ideas.  But it gets exhausting.  Classroom teaching done well takes almost 100% of a teacher's time and effort.  How will I balance these things as the years push on?  Will I ultimately have to choose one?  

I suppose this brings me back to the idea of a hybrid role for teachers... (which was my birthday wish in 2009.)  I see a fair number of hybrid roles in schools these days where accomplished teachers teach part time and mentor or supervise other teachers part time.  Many of these school-based roles are created by principals to address problems in their schools and retain teachers.  Some are created through Federal TIF grants (Teacher Incentive Fund).  In these case, hybrid roles are granted only to teachers who have high student test score rates using value added measures with the idea that they will teach other teachers to get the same results.  

In NYC there is a pilot program in "Turnaround schools" where teachers with good value added records of student test scores can become a demonstration lab classroom and earn 15% above their salary.  "Master teachers" with the same qualifations can teach part time and coach part time (schedule at the discretion of the principal) and earn 30% above their salary. All of this is contingent upon their maintaining their own students' progress as measured by the standardizesd test scores (and value added measures have some serious limitations and shortcomings in their ability to validly and reliably identify effective teaching.). I haven't had the opportunity to speak to any teachers at these schools and find out how it's going.  I'm curious.  Would those conditions keep an accomplished teacher in teaching? 

What about hybrid roles that have a teacher teaching half-time and engaged in other professional activities the other half of the time?  Who would pay the "other" half of the salary?  What would interest a school leader in hiring or retaining a good teacher half time?  

CTQ's New Millenium Initiative now has at least two teacher leaders serving in hybrid roles that include half-time teaching at their schools and half-time policy leadership with their unions in collaboration with Center For Teaching Quality.  Using a concept we developed in Teaching 2030, these educators consider themselves teacherpreneurs. Noah Zeichner explains this in this Edweek post, A New Kind of Hybrid Role: Teacherpreneur. (I also developed some framework around this idea in a slightly different, but related, direction for my Rapid fire presentation at the Big Ideas Fest 2010.) 

Might we see a movement toward more diversity in the types of hybrid roles available to teachers? Perhaps, if we want to see more high quality teaching accorss the board, we have to make it both enriching and sustainable.  Maybe there is a perfect hybrid role, or series of hybrid roles, out there for the majority, not the minority, of teachers.  

[image credit: fosterthomas.com]

After writing my previous post, Teacher Leadership's Gaining Momentum--Where Are We Going?, I began to look at what my colleagues had written about teacher leadership. I came across this great post from fellow blogger Bill Ferriter called, What Do Teacher Leaders Need From Administrators?  In it, he shares some interesting data, quotes from teacher leaders, and this slide:

Would you say teacher leaders might feel like odd ducks in your teaching context?  In both my current and former school, I would say not so likely.  I often feel like an odd duck in terms of my teaching style, which tends to be more constructivist than that of my colleagues.  But I see teacher leaders in school-based roles becoming more and more commonplace.  

What does not seem commonplace, and what often makes me feel like an odd duck, is the idea of a teacher taking on leadership within the field of education, but outside the school context.  Teachers involved in education policy and politics is still odd, from where I stand.  Having been the rare teacher at a few policy events, I know that we are sometimes the odd ducks in both worlds.  Still, I'm convinced that teacher leadership at all levels is becoming more accepted and understood.  What do you think?

I wrote recently that this is the year E-readers are actually becoming a part of my classroom.  I don't have a class set of Ipads or anything but more than a few students ahve their own Kindles, Nooks, HTC' tablets, or Kindle apps on their phones.  I've begun letting students read in class on these devices, and it feels surprisingly natural and normal.

The wonderful thing about the E-readers is that students can write their post-it note responses using the note function on the e-reader program.  There is then a way for me to view all the notes at once.  Normally I have students pass in their actual book and I read through the notes flipping actual pages.  The e-readers makes this a bit simpler.  I can also turn back to the page of text to which the response refers easily to better understand the student's thinking.  

Two students have books on their phones. I was worried about letting them pull out their phones for this, but I had a serious conversation with them about the importance that they use the phone for exactly what they said they would--and it hasn't been a problem.  They understand I'm giving them a freedom, a privelege and haven't abused it.

The only thing missing is a way for students to simply email me their notes through the e-reader. Soon I think we'll probably be reading as a class on electronic devices.  Software developers?  Want to talk to a teacher about functions that would be helpful for classroom use of e-readers?  I'm right here!

[image credit: betwixttween.wordpress.com]

I'm sure every one of us has sat through a class, as a student or an observer, and thought, "Gee this teacher must love the sound of his or her own voice."  We watch the students tuning out the teacher's words, waiting until it's time for them to participate or "work."  Some students take the opportunity to entertain themselves or each other, while simultaneously checking to see if they can get the teacher off track.  I'm certain we have also all been that teacher.

The teacher's voice is an important piece of the teaching puzzle, but it's not the key to student learning. When the balance tips too much in the direction of the teacher's voice, it can actually hinder student learning, by diminishing space for students to think, comprehend, solve problems, collaborate with one another, and find words to express their thoughts. 

Just before I entered my second year of teaching, one of my mentors from Bank Street, the wonderful Anna LoBianco (who passed away so sadly) reminded me and my cohort of new teachers to monitor our talking time.  "In the first weeks of the year," she said, "Ask yourself how much of the class period am I speaking?  What percentage of the class period are my students speaking?"  The ideal balance of teacher vs. student voice in a classroom where students are actively engaged probably includes far less teacher talk than our natural inclinations might suggest.

It's helpful to monitor our talking time before, during, and after teaching.  

Plan your talking.  First, when planning lessons, think about where in the period you will talk to the whole class.  Also identify those places where your presence should be used in other ways--observing the class working (try taking notes on what you see), moderating a discussion where students have the floor most of the time, or helping individual or small groups of students.  Unless your plan is for an actual lecture (which I believe very occasionally can be a beneficial format for student learning), the balance should be heavily tipped toward the students. 

Plan out your talking points in advance. In the first few weeks of school, I often write out my talking points word for word in my lesson plan. In the classroom, I almost never actually refer to the plan, but I find the act of writing through what I will say helps me be more polished and economical with my airtime, and less nervous.

Monitor in the moment. Beyond the plan, it's important to monitor our talking time during the teaching period.  In general, choose your words carefully and learn to be short-winded.  Less is often more. When students ask questions during whole-class teaching time, ask yourself, "Is this a question I need to answer or can I ask a student to answer it?  Is this a question that the whole class needs the answer to right now, or can I follow up with this student individually?"  When a student makes an interesting comment during discussions, instead of jumping to respond to or evaluate it yourself, try asking, "What do the rest of you think?" If you pose a question and get silence in response, apply "wait time."  Do not jump give in to the temptation to discuss your own thoughts.  Give students time to think and let them act on that same temptation you feel. Do not look mad or impatient. They are probably shy and worried about being wrong. Look approachable and unhurried.     

Avoid overexplaining things.  If directions are written down, give a brief overview of what students will be doing and then let them work through it, offering help to those who need it. If a student ruffles you feathers, avoid lecturing them in front of the class.  Ask them to talk to you privately on the side.  

Notice how loudly you tend to talk.  If you find yourself shouting, try lowering your voice and watch the class perk up to attend to what you are saying.

Reflect afterwards.  When you get a chance, reflect on how your voice feels in the classroom. Try to recognize when you've talked too much, or rambled.  Learn to trust your gut on this matter and decide what you want to change. You may adjust your planning for that week to include opportunities for students to speak.  Or work on being more concise by planning tomorrow's talking points in advance. You might decide to talk less loudly while making sure you don't talk over students' voices.  

These tips are not meant to suggest that the teacher's voice is unimportant. On the contrary. Think of your voice as fuel. You need it to make the engine of your classroom run.  Just don't waste it on unnecessary trips to the corner store when you could have just walked or waited til your big grocery trip or asked someone else to pick up your item.  Don't engine idle. If it's not your turn to talk, turn your engine off for a few minutes to listen or watch.  Your students will get a message that in this classroom, all voices are essential.  

[image credits: (1) smcubedconsulting.com  (2) commwes.com]