The Portfolio Group

I was reflecting last night after my teacher as researcher meeting, how has my practice changed?

I realized that the biggest change is not in how I do things, but in knowing why I do things. In the beginning I was a very instinctual teacher and luckily my instincts were right. I was a good teacher and I made very good choices on what to do in my classroom. Now, I don't just make good choices; I make informed decisions. The decisions that I make in my classroom are based on theory, action research and reflection.

These personal skill sets have also helped in my collaboration with my colleagues. I have been able to "teach" some of the skills I have learned in my pursuit of becoming a better teacher. The power of Critical Friends Group practices is in the knowing.

For the third year I am looking forward to participating in this summer's FRSSI at the University of Houston. This year I hope to see more of my colleagues attending the workshop. In the past years it seems only the same three or four teachers out of a faculty of 160 attend this type of workshop or seminar. There has only been one department chair out of eight and no administrators out of 17 ever participating. I am wondering why the school's attendance is so low and why the formal "leaders" of the school are not participating. It is a great opportunity to collaborate with other peers and professionals facing the same dilemmas, look at best practices, and explore new avenues to meet the ever changing needs of students at risk ofr failure in the high stakes accountabily climate in the state.

I have been keeping a journal with one of my students from last year and she just gave it back to me yesterday. Her last entry had her goals in it for the next year, her senior year, she then asked me to put my goals down for nest year and the summer. I was thinking this morning as I drove to work...what are my goals for this summer? I thought about committing to commenting on the blog once a week and making a new entry once a week. As I contemplated this goal...I wondered what if I don't have anything to write about. Do I just write for the sake of meeting the goal? Is that being truly reflective and will that have any meaning? I was then thinking about the movie "Finding Forrester," Sean Connery tells the young writer to just start typing -- he even gives him one of his essays to copy initially to get him started. Maybe that is how I need to think about it -- just start typing and the introspection will come or to quote a famous tag line -- "Just Do It!"

I am traveling to Korea and China for the first time in three days on an educational study trip. Most people would be excited and packing and unpacking. I find myself worried -- worried if we are going to have airline tickets, because as it turns out three people do not (just found out last night the departure time and had to call the airline directly to find out all the information -- instead of the travel agent who is supposed to be handling all of this) -- worried if we have hotels, worried if we have a VISA, worried if we have museum and temples booked, worried if tour buses are lined up, just worried.

The background knowledge and experiences I have had traveling to foreign countries with Fulbright and the College of Mount St. Joseph gave me wonderful experiences. I thought this was the norm and assumed all travel was conducted in this manner. I was wrong. There are different ways to do things and some are better than others, yet some are just different and not necessarily better.

I think the school system is the same way. There are definitely some things that are better than others, but sometimes it is just a different way. Therefore, school culture and climate are so important in developing and learning about in a school. Finding a school that melds with your style of good teaching and a climate that supports you is essential to creating a great school. Administrators need to investigate this and make conscience decisions based on the climate they want to continue and or develop.

Just as I have found in traveling there are definitely ways that I feel more comfortable with and would like to see in my experiences, but sometimes taking that risk and trying new things and new ways will strengthen you as a person and as a teacher.

I was relieved to hear Barone say in his lecture that his research asked questions, not solved or gave answers. With my own teacher reseach, I have found that I continue to find more questions to ask and struggle with finding solutions.

To everyone invloved, thanks for giving me another opportunity to learn from outside of my classroom. I enjoyed the Tom Barone lecture at the Children's Museum.

I was thrilled today with the Advanced Placement Studio class lesson. Over the past years, I have had my students participate in the Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoon contest, but this year I have bumped it up. Usually I focus on the design aspect of the cartoon in class, but as I have been working on incorporating literacy and specifically visual literacy into the heart of the curriculum it has changed this year.

I worked closely with the English department chair and some of the senior teachers to take a good art production lesson and make into a great lesson. The integration of the higher order thinking questions developed by the senior teachers and the addition of a multimedia presentation provided to me by the chair added a fresh perspective to an old lesson. The students found the additional rigor in questioning pushed their thinking as well as their editorial cartoons. (I will attach pictures later.) I also found that the collaboration with the English department pushed my thinking; again, I find collaboration a key to teaching old dog new tricks.

The focus of my work the past two years is looking for new and exciting ways to incorporate the analysis of visuals (as this is a component in all four parts of the TAKS test). This editorial cartoon lesson illustrates collaborating with others (English Department), pulling in additional resources and theory, and reflecting on my practice to make me a better teacher for my students.

Tuesday was the first meeting of my Portfolio Group. It was great seeing everyone again since the long summer break. I have to be honest; it was so hard getting back into the routine of scheduling time and being prepared for the meeting. Even though it was hard getting back into the swing of things, I realized that when you find something positive and worth while, you find the time. I guess that is why it is easy for me to find the time for those other things that I enjoy so much like going to the movies, out to eat at our special restaurant or going to the beach. The Portfolio Group keeps me focused on what is important to my practice and school climate. The group gives me such an opportunity to learn from so many of my peers in and across school districts and grade levels. These professionals have such vast experience and knowledge that I feel this old dog is learning something new every time.