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A Teacher's Thoughts
Aired Thursday, June 24, 2004 on KPLU
By Anne Fitzpatrick
Anchor Lead:
School is out and summer is here. Anne Fitzpatrick is a teacher at
Seattle's Mercer Middle School and a mentor to new teachers. She says the
past school year was full of "high stakes" for both students and teachers.
As a part of our ongoing series The Learning Curve, Fitzpatrick reflects on
the challenges of the last several months and is already looking ahead to
September.
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Or read the full text below:
Full Story Text:
Ah... summer... the end of school... For most kids the
anticipation of a classroom-free existence stretches
out before them like the beginning of a new book or,
more realistically, like a hundred extra lives on that
new video game.
And what about those of us who've spent nine months
with them in our classrooms? Just like tall people have
to endure the "what's
the weather like up there" comments, teachers repeatedly hear “Aren’t
you lucky…You have the whole summer off!" Whoa! These are high stakes
times. I know there are teachers who actually have the
summer off – I
don’t know them, but I know they exist. Most of the teachers I know will
be taking some R & R after grueling 50 to 60 hour weeks. But they’ll
also be taking classes and planning for the upcoming
year. Did you know that a record number of Washington
state teachers became Nationally Board Certified this
year? National Board Certification means that a teacher has passed an
extensive series of performance-based assessments way beyond the already
heavy load of the classroom. Some of my fellow teachers will be working
on that this summer.
Right now, though, I’m more interested in looking back at this year when “high
stakes” became the catch phrase of education more than ever before. It’s
the year when I actually got stopped in the grocery
store on two different occasions by fellow parents who
wanted to chat about “that awful WASL.” I’ll
tell you upfront, as an educator, that I’m a believer in the WASL on this
its ten year anniversary. I know it’s not perfect and it needs to be worked
on, but I also believe that a test like the WASL that
asks children to explain their thinking not only takes
them to a higher intellectual level, but also pushes
teachers to create lessons that go beyond knowledge input into the realm
of promoting understanding.
Then there’s “No Child Left Behind.” Talk about high stakes! In the
wake of budget cutbacks, and other diminishing resources,
we are faced with increased expectations for raising
student achievement. One colleague of mine, a very good
teacher, by the way, told me he’s not
coming back to his low income, very diverse school next
year. He loved the kids, but he’s worn down. And he’s not alone. Teachers
want more than anything to raise student achievement,
but under No Child Left Behind, struggling schools have a much steeper
road to climb than schools who have fewer high-needs kids.
But, as I look back on this year, there are some high
stakes wins, too. Eighth grader Shineese hated math.
She and kids like her were the target of a group of
math teachers I work with. We wanted our students to
consider taking algebra in high school, so we worked with them on a special
project. I told Shineese my goal was to have her say “I
love algebra!” I got close. At the end of the project she wrote: “I
feel that algebra has changed my life. It has given
me the opportunity to like math!” Even more important, for me, is the
fact that Shineese now sees herself as a capable learner.
So, as the lazy days of summer kick in, so does the
realization that we have some work to do next year.
As teachers we need to make sure our classrooms are
engaging, rigorous places of learning…As
parents we need to encourage our kids to pursue knowledge
and understanding in and out of the classroom…And as citizens we need
to demand that public officials set realistic goals
for our schools and then back them up with adequate
funding. These are high stakes times!
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