In our 25 or so years of working with school turnaround, Educational Directions has come to the conclusion that there is no strategy that is a universal guarantee to move students – especially nontraditional learners. We continue to work with research that deals with theories related to student learning and student performance but we also conduct what we call “action research” into classrooms where students have been successful, to determine what factors contributed to that success. Most cases this involves an interview to establish some initial perceptions of the class, the teacher, and the teacher/learner work. We try to follow this up by encouraging the teacher to reflect on her work and on her students’ work and determine the three or four experiences that had the greatest impact on student success.
When Mrs. Molly Revlett’s class made significant, and perhaps unexpected, gains in reading I interviewed her to get a picture of the school, her classroom, her students, and her methodology for planning. I found out that the school she’s at has a principal who is an academic leader as well as a systems manager, the culture and climate of her classroom enables students to accept challenges as the rigor of the student work increases, there is a collegial working relationship with other teachers, and teachers are encouraged to take risks and try new methods to engage students in work that built their confidence and their competence.
Revlett had some very insightful and forward-thinking strategies that she talked about when I asked her what she thought made the biggest difference for the students in her class. Here is her response:
Being back in the classroom after 13 years, was a scary leap for me. I hadn’t planned to go back to teaching, but life circumstances demanded that I did. I knew one thing, if I was going to do this I did not want to fail. I did not want to fail as a teacher and set my students back and I did not want to fail being myself, as in trying to be like everyone else. I had life experiences and skills that others didn’t, and I wanted to find a way to incorporate those into teaching.
My degree in college was not in education. That was something I fought against because I wanted to be different from my family. So, I majored in psychology. Life took me on different paths along the way, but I first started teaching in 2008 in an inner-city school. It was difficult, but I loved it. Then life took me elsewhere and then 13 years later – back in the classroom. I say all this to let you know that I am not your “typical” teacher, I tend to do things differently. I think out of the box in most areas of life and teaching is not any different in that respect.
I am blessed to have a dedicated support system and strong educators in my life that encourage and guide me. They give me things to think about and then we work out a plan. They let me bounce ideas off them. Because of their help and guidance, I not only did not fail my first year back, but I soared. Frank Desensi asked me to share some of what I did in this blog. I hope you find it helpful.
Where I teach, testing and data are a never-ending topic. I knew I didn’t want my students defined by their data, but I also knew I had to use it. I was able to break their data down and see what students needed in order to grow. However, many of my students thought they weren’t smart or couldn’t do well in reading. So, after testing, the first thing I did was make sure every 4th grader in my classes knew that he or she was AMAZING! If they did not have confidence, then I knew they would not grow. In my class we celebrated the so-called “little” things daily. A student volunteering to read to the class, answering a question correctly, even writing a coherent sentence, these were all reasons to celebrate in my classroom. As we did, the little things grew into bigger and bigger things, which led to students having confidence and thus moving upward with their data.
So, after testing, the first thing I did was make sure every 4th grader in my classes knew that he or she was AMAZING! If they did not have confidence, then I knew they would not grow.
As the year went on, I found creative ways of teaching the material. We had text feature scavenger hunts. I had noticed they often confused text features and text structures. So, the students were divided into teams and given a list of features to find and a book to use to find their examples. They competed to be the first team finished. We also sorted text structures. It was a hands-on activity with scenarios that they had to figure out which text structure it was and why. They had their charts explaining what to look for and they worked together to figure out the answer and then taught the class. Both activities kept them engaged as well as allowed them to explain what different features and structures mean and how they help them understand the text.
One of my favorite activities involved reading and writing. The students were once again put into groups and they wrote a narrative. They had the freedom to write together, but it had to be appropriate for school. Once their story was completed, they were given question stems based on the standard they were learning and instructed to create 3 test questions for the class and an answer key explaining why the correct answer was right. Upon completion of the entire activity and once I had looked them over, they presented their stories to the class followed by their test questions. The students loved this activity so much that they invited my principal to their presentations so he could take their quizzes. It was a definite success!
At times, I would find myself comparing myself to other teachers in my hall and that would make me stressed. I didn’t and don’t do things like everyone else. I am realizing that is ok. My students are more than their test scores. I want to cultivate a love for reading so that they can move from reading for entertainment to reading critically. In my room we call it being a reading detective. They are learning to investigate the passages and pull out the important information. They are learning what the important information is and why it’s needed. They are learning to use the 4 column model for test taking. I call it their investigative report. If they can learn to do this and start thinking this way it will help them with their critical thinking in all areas of their lives.
At times, I would find myself comparing myself to other teachers in my hall and that would make me stressed. I didn’t and don’t do things like everyone else. I am realizing that is ok. My students are more than their test scores.
These are just a few of the things I did and do in my classroom. More than anything else, my students know I genuinely care for them and believe in them. They want to learn and do well because they know I believe in them. That is huge! I don’t take it lightly. They are developing a love for reading that will grow with them and give them opportunities in life. We look at the big picture in my room and then figure out the steps needed to accomplish it.
I love collaborating with other teachers. I learn so much from others. If, while reading this, you have ideas to share I’d love to read them. I’m always open to sharing and learning with others.
My impression was that Molly established a teacher/learner team with her students to collectively pursue student proficiency as defined by the state standards. She recognized and addressed student learner and student performer needs, and then provided a variety of experiences designed to help students become confident and competent learners and performers.
The list of strategies collected from the interviews was too numerous to list here but represented a number of “best practices” in reading (recreational reading, critical reading, executive processing, etc.) that she adapted to the identified collective and individual needs of the students in her class. She emphasized purposeful reading (e.g. reading to learn, reading to link learning to assessment, etc.) and encourage written and oral response to reading.
In her analysis of what worked, she noted that much of the successful work was designed to help students overcome identified content or procedural needs. She developed learner and performer teams that collectively attacked increasingly more rigorous learner and performer experiences. As a result of her needs assessment and targeted planning she created a culture that encouraged and celebrated student success. Students were proud of what they accomplished and wanted to share their accomplishments with, for example, the principal.
From our analysis of her work we decided that she was able to utilize strengths within the school, the school staff and her own approach to education to create a positive and results oriented classroom culture and classroom climate. Students learned to engage, stay engaged, revise work to proficiency, use learning in meaningful activities, and take pride in their accomplishments.
We at Educational Directions congratulate the school and school leadership, the staff, Molly, and most of all her students for their successes!
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