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posted by:
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Laura Harnish
on May 15, 2003
at 9:20PM
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subject:
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levels of learning
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The teachers at my school have weekly meetings with a teacher leader
for 9 weeks at a time. For example, I will visit the classroom for
about thirty minutes and then the teacher and I will have a reflective
dialogue about the lesson. The teachers select a goal at the beginning
of the nine week period on which to focus. Goals include things like
questioning skills, assessment techniques, or presenting instruction
content. We've been operating on this model for several years. I'm
wondering, though, is it possible for a teacher to not need this kind
of support after awhile? Is there a point when they have cycled
through all of the possible goals? I know that we are life long
learners, but how do know when a teacher is at the maintaining level
rather than a new learning kind of level? Is it simply a matter of
looking at student achievement results? Classes with good test scores
must have good teachers. Or is it the consistency? Teachers who
employ good questioning skills (or other valued skills) on every lesson
need different support than teachers who only employ the skills when
conciously focusing on them. If there are teachers at different levels
of growth such as new to the reform model, growing and developing
skills, or maintaining skills; then how can professional development be
differentiated for them? So what are your comments about the continuum
of development I have just proposed here? Do you see teachers at those
levels at your schools? Are there other levels? How do I determine
which level a teacher is on?
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