Teachers writing with Students

Remember this post about teachers taking an active part in their student's learning? After some research and emails - and patience - I got a response!

Greetings,
Your email made its way to me. I was the lead researcher on this project and I'm glad you found it useful. The full citation and report information is listed below. I also wrote another small case study from these data.
Please let me know if I can help further.
Singer, N.R. & Scollay, D. (2006). Increasing student achievement in writing through teacher inquiry: An evaluation of professional development impact. University of California, Berkeley, National Writing Project, Berkeley, CA.
Nancy Robb Singer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor English Education UM-St. Louis

OK, I feel special! Here is my take on the report:

First, I want to say that, IMO, teachers need to do more than just be proctors in a school setting. Interacting with students does not just mean asking questions and relaying information. If a teacher expects students to perform an activity, teachers should perform the activity as well. Of course, writing full-blown research papers may not be feasible; but, teachers should have something in their "bag of tricks" to prove, yes, they have done this type of work and even notes on their experience while doing the work.

There is a lot of good base information in this study. That is, what the experiment entailed, how it was done, who was in charge, what standards they were using, a rubric and other assessment information, as well as detailed findings. This would be a good piece of resource for teachers - whether English/LA or Math/Statistics. Oh, not to forget the training for the teachers and school administrators agreeing to participate in the study!

This one line should be a wake-up call to School Boards, Parents, Governors, Educators - both K-12 and College - on a positive way to help students become achievers: "for every one of the
measured attributes of writing and in every site, the improvement of students taught by NWP
participating teachers exceeded that of students in classes whose teachers were not participants."

My last point: support for the reflective practitioner. My father told me that he would not send me to college to become a teacher because "anyone" can do that and it wasn't a "real profession". Yet, we have to live up to standards and codes and behaviour guidelines just as those in the legal or medical profession. And, we must continually hone and modify our lessons and approaches, as each student is different and the same student can be different from day to day! We must think about and consider the outcome of each and every class and lesson - plan and unit - we teach. If we do not at the very least, take responsibility for what we are trusted to do - i.e. educate children - we are no longer professionals nor do we deserve the respect. I have known my share of "professionals" and very few of them have taken the time to think about (reflect on) how they could have made better or what they can use from a successful "meeting".

Teaching, Educating, Teachers, Educators...we are continually under-respected, under-valued and under-paid. Perhaps if more people knew about this study - and it was presented in layman's terms - our value could rise.

Sorry for the editorial. Back to the article.

I think that for anyone currently in the profession or enrolled in classes to become an educator, this is a great study to read and take to heart!

Hoarding Materials

According to my text book, I should start collecting "stuff" - anything that I think may be useful when I finally start teaching. My mind has been reeling for the last 5 days on this!

I can find a lot of things/stuff that I think may be helpful for me when I finally teach English. The newspaper is full of ideas - as are Internet sites - and instruction booklets - and free handouts from almost anywhere - and cheap things at Goodwill...

Is it possible to collect too much stuff? Could I lose track of my teaching intent while searching through my "database" of papers, pictures, and parsnips? (OK, not really parsnips, but, I couldn't come up with another p for my alliteration!)

Knowing what is useful and what is not I won't know until I get into a school and start using the stuff. So, that isn't an issue.

Comments?

p.s. Peabody, I emailed the school district mentioned in my last post...no word yet!