What are your thoughts? Can you relate? Does Sir Ken Robinson make sense? You Be the Judge?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Creativity
While doing some research on the effects of creativity development on student achievement, I thought to myself, where does creativity fit in? We make sure that we give our students the right allotment for reading class, math class, science and sometimes social studies. But, what about creativity time? I am not simply talking about drawing a picture or doing a project, but true creativity development. Teaching students to tap into those realms of the brain that stretch their thinking and force them to create new ways to process information.
How often do we tell students just be creative! What does that mean? If children are not exposed to creativity development early and frequently, how can we expect them to just go and be creative when they are older. To be able to think at the highest levels of Blooms Taxonomy students must be creative thinkers. So what if you know all the laws of motion, and can find the hypotenuse of a triangle, if you can't apply this knowledge to the real world or in a intricate way whats the use? I watched a video, Do Schools Destroy Creativity? - Ken Robinson, which triggered some questions. Should creative thinking development be an important part of the curriculum development? How important is it to our futures? You Be the Judge!
How often do we tell students just be creative! What does that mean? If children are not exposed to creativity development early and frequently, how can we expect them to just go and be creative when they are older. To be able to think at the highest levels of Blooms Taxonomy students must be creative thinkers. So what if you know all the laws of motion, and can find the hypotenuse of a triangle, if you can't apply this knowledge to the real world or in a intricate way whats the use? I watched a video, Do Schools Destroy Creativity? - Ken Robinson, which triggered some questions. Should creative thinking development be an important part of the curriculum development? How important is it to our futures? You Be the Judge!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Performance Pay
I recently read an article about performance based pay and it’s impact on teacher retention and productivity. The article discussed the findings of Denver's ProComp pay program, according to a report by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The analysis was based on student and teacher data from 2001-02 through 2008-09. According to the study teachers opting into the program appeared to be slightly more effective on the whole. But it isn’t clear if it is due to the program itself or just the teachers were highly effective already.
We can’t give extra pay to all teachers, because we all know that not all teachers are created equal, but what can we do to keep effective teachers who deserve the benefit of a bonus. I am all for a bonus for educators, but more importantly a fair and equitable system. In an Utopian society all teachers would be effective because that’s what they all came into the profession to be. So the easy decision would to just give the bonus to everyone. The alarm clock sounds and it’s time to wake up…! Realty sets in; most performance incentives are based on student achievement. Ok that’s a start, but what about the other intangibles that effective teachers bring to a school that indirectly effect student achievement, like leadership, collaboration, mentorship to both students and colleagues. Student performance is important, because that’s the goal, but performance based on what standard? Do we use the state assessments, teacher assessment, a set target or growth range? All of these options are relevant and viable options. Do we use all of them or do we choose one or two? Then, how do we measure them and how can we make sure evaluators are objective? When evaluating an effective teacher do we focus only on student achievement or all aspects of effective teachers? Please operationally define student achievement. You Be the Judge!
We can’t give extra pay to all teachers, because we all know that not all teachers are created equal, but what can we do to keep effective teachers who deserve the benefit of a bonus. I am all for a bonus for educators, but more importantly a fair and equitable system. In an Utopian society all teachers would be effective because that’s what they all came into the profession to be. So the easy decision would to just give the bonus to everyone. The alarm clock sounds and it’s time to wake up…! Realty sets in; most performance incentives are based on student achievement. Ok that’s a start, but what about the other intangibles that effective teachers bring to a school that indirectly effect student achievement, like leadership, collaboration, mentorship to both students and colleagues. Student performance is important, because that’s the goal, but performance based on what standard? Do we use the state assessments, teacher assessment, a set target or growth range? All of these options are relevant and viable options. Do we use all of them or do we choose one or two? Then, how do we measure them and how can we make sure evaluators are objective? When evaluating an effective teacher do we focus only on student achievement or all aspects of effective teachers? Please operationally define student achievement. You Be the Judge!
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