I have spent the last three weeks teaching Macro Economics and the Global Economy to a group of 16 gifted adolescents ages 13 and 14, rising 8th and 9th graders, through the Center for Talented Youth run by Johns Hopkins University at their site at Dickinson College in Carlisle Pa. As a result I missed several opportunities to interview for jobs now filled. As of this moment, while I still hold out hope that I will obtain a teaching job for the Fall, I have no guarantees that I will.
Still, it was a wonderful experience. Talking with parents when they came to pick up their children and in one case by phone because they had to get back for a medical appointment, I know the children greatly enjoyed themselves.
And then there is the feedback from the leadership of the site. I was formally observed by my Dean, himself a highly regarded middle school math teacher near Rochester NY who has worked with CTY for a number of years, and his reaction was that he could not understand why I did not have a job yet, and tried to urge me to come up to his school district.
Later that same day, the site director stopped by, and later gave me a highly complimentary note.
This past week I got the formal write-up of the observation. I am now including it with my application materials, as you will see why when I offer its text below the fold.
Please keep reading.
Classroom Observations
As I arrived in the classroom, you were moving among your students and redirecting questions. The level of student excitement in the room was palpable and best-measured by the smiles on student faces. A well-constructed powerpoint was clearly visible at the front of the room; its bullets outlining the main points of the current conversations.
You posed a new question to the group and employed appropriate wait time before engaging a particular student in the back of the room. When he gave what appeared to be a partial response to your question, your responded by asking "Why?" The student fleshed out his answer a bit and you redirected "In what sense?" This time the student offered even more, yet you still said, "Use your economic terms." With this the student gave what appeared to be a textbook response to your original question, one that satisfied your level of expectation. This strategy in classroom questioning holds students fully accountable for their learning and cultivates an atmosphere of effective, accurate, erudite discourse. It is one sign of a seasoned, expert classroom teacher.
Classroom Interactions
From the time I entered the room until the time I left, every student in the class was actively engaged, no exceptions. You have created an atmosphere of trust and respect as was evidenced by student willingness to take risks, offer suggestions and ideas, answer peer questions, and correct their instructor! Your rapport with your students is enviable. They laughed, smiled, and even offered high-fives while maintaining focus on the learning objectives of the lesson.
Strengths
Aside from the apparent expertise, it is the rapport you've established with your students and subsequent atmosphere of high energy in the classroom that are among your greatest strengths as an educator. Student engagement in your lesson and in the discourse that followed was extremely high. Further, you hold students accountable for their learning through expert questioning techniques as alluded to above. You glide through the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy effortlessly when probing student knowledge and expect their responses to mirror the same. Classroom management was excellent; you ensured through questioning that every student's voice was hear, that healthy debate was had, and that learning moved forward.
Suggestions
You have demonstrated all the hallmarks of an expert educator. My only suggestions, I suspect, would be the same as you would give a colleague: keep learning, keep reflecting on your current classroom practice, keep improving each lesson, and keep the children's needs in the forefront of your planning. It was my distinct pleasure watching you teach. You employ every aspect of both the science and the art of teaching - excelsior!
In 2010 when I informed this community of my having won my teaching award from the
Washington Post in
this diary, I wrote these words:
And Damn! It does feel good to be recognized for the work one does.
When I read this write-up of the observation, I had exactly the same reaction, especially as it came from someone who is himself an expert on great teaching, on motivating students.
So why is it a mixed blessing? Because it confirms to me, had I any doubts (and I had some) that I am still an effective teacher, still able to be of value to students in classroom.
And yet, I have been looking for a job for the Fall for more than 5 months. I have had some interviews, yet I have not received any job offers (except a tentative offer that disappeared when the principal of the school was removed and the executive director had to leave for health reasons).
Thus this may be the last evaluation of my teaching I ever receive.
That would sadden me, because I know I can still teach.
If that be the case, at least I know that I ended my teaching on a high note, making a difference in the learning of 16 students who are very bright, and thus at times a real challenge to teach.
Today I am doing things having nothing to do with teaching - yard work, spending time with my cats, helping a friend with transportation, and, later today, finally getting to spend some time with my wife when she returns from NC before she heads off to be with family during a medical procedure.
Tomorrow I will again return to seeking a teaching position. Some of the schools with whom I have had contact have teachers returning as early as Monday August 17. Others will bring in teachers the following week. None would do so less than the week before Labor Day.
I have a narrow window.
Right now there are not many jobs open.
Perhaps my age will be less of a concern as the start of school approaches.
Perhaps a copy of this letter and a reference from its author will help me obtain a teaching job.
If not, if Labor Day comes and I still do not have a teaching job, I will then look for work in other fields.
If so, at least I will know that the last time I taught in a classroom I honored my vocation.
Peace.