School Culture

The culture of a school can affect the learning process of its students.  If a school has an established, nurturing climate where the community is thriving and happy and productive, then that school will most likely have the best possible outcome for its students, teachers, and parents.  "Effective schools have a culture, based on their human capital.  An effective culture has two characteristics:  Beliefs and Practices."  (Wong, pg. 328).  For a school to have student success, Wong cites, it must have that vision or belief.  The people that work together within the school have a routine that nurtures that vision and conducts education with consistency and a strong sense of value.

The role that the teacher plays in creating a culture for teaching and learning is by recognizing and celebrating that culture on a daily basis with his/her students.  At the school where I am student teaching, every Friday is "husky day" or spirit day, where students are encouraged to wear the school colors, participate in lunchtime events, and show their allegiance to their school family during classtime discussions.  Every day, a student gets on the intercom and makes announcements about clubs and focus groups, student meetings, current events, service reminders, leadership opportunities, and upcoming events that are happening around the school.  The teacher is responsible for facilitating and encouraging a positive response to connecting and getting involved with the activities that make the school unique and special.  When children feel connected to the school family, they are more likely to want to try their best and work hard to be an organic part of that family, and share in its successes.

What Makes An Effective Teacher?

Teaching requires a lot of specific skills that when well aligned, can be one of the most powerful careers a person can have.  I love to say that I'm in the business of shaping young minds, but it's so much more than that.  Being organized is key.  You've got to have a plan, so lesson plans are the foundation to being an effective teacher.  Those plans have to include several factors:  

1.  They must be able to hold interest.  Boring lessons result in little retention.

2.  They must be well understood.  Lack of clarity causes teachers to have to spend valuable time repeating the directions and checking for understanding of objectives. 

3.  They must provide modifications.  Lessons should be tailored to appropriately suit the grade level, but also be flexible to offer the gifted student more challenge, the special needs student more support, and the ESL student more shelter.  

4.  They must consider the availability of resources. If there isn't enough of what is necessary to carry out a lesson, then that lesson isn't going to work.

5.  They must consider a backup plan.  If something goes wrong, there must be a "Plan B" in mind to recover the lesson without sacrificing time. 

6.  Teachers need to know what they can and cannot do.  Lessons require forethought and background knowledge when applying new concepts or using new technologies for the first time.  

In addition to solid and well thought out lesson plans, teachers need to have strong time management skills and effective classroom management skills.  A class that has no boundaries in terms of time and attitude is at risk of being ineffective, and even the best plan can unravel if the teacher cannot control him or herself or the class.  

For my own personal growth, I have the following goals:

1.  Learning how to integrate technology into my lessons.

2.  Learning how to be more organized.

3.  Developing a discipline plan that works without having to "shush" or raise my voice to command attention.  

4.  Learning and applying Google Tools as part of my teaching strategy to educate young people in the ways of the future.  

I hope to achieve these goals during this course, and learn new things from others.  

In my classroom, I have observed students with terrible behavior.  It's been an exhausting and frustrating two weeks, especially since I had to substitute for my Master Teacher in the second week while I was being observed by my Supervisor, with weak plans and no discipline policy in place.   I've decided to spend more time in the classrooms of other teachers this next week, learning different skills and strategies.  So far, I've met a lot of interesting people who have been very willing to help and be supportive, and for that I am grateful!  

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

This is such a great video on Piaget's Stages, I just had to share it. 
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Allyson's Introduction

I'm Allyson Klipa, and I'm "guest teaching" in Health Science at Washington High School in Fremont.  My other two subjects are physical education and biology/life science.  I am a fitness instructor at ClubSport Fremont where I teach weight lifting and endurance training in a group fitness environment.  My passion is helping people get motivated to become healthier, and learn about how to stay healthy by eating right and exercising regularly.  I am on the M.Ed track with an emphasis on Educational Technology, a subject that is totally out of my comfort zone, but satisfying and gratifying.  My favorite saying is "There's Always Room For Improvement".  I run three Facebook pages:  The 10 Pound Challenge!, ClubSport Fremont Group Power with Allyson! and Aqua Zumba with Allyson!  I want to be a teacher so I can educate young people about the importance of total wellness, and have a schedule that matches my kids'.