Revised Stance on Quality Teaching

Throughout the summer and my experiences with the course readings, discussions, and
assignments, my stance on Quality Teaching has evolved. Quality teaching involves many different
tenets. Building caring and respectful relationships, deep content knowledge, implementing norms
and routines for classroom discourse and work and finally a motivation to reflect and continue
learning are all tenets included in my evolved stance on quality teaching.

Quality teaching begins with building caring and respectful relationships with students. All students
should feel welcomed, successful, respected, and able to learn. I care about my students, and want
them to feel that kindness and consideration when they are in my classroom.

Classroom and college teachers recognize the powerful influence that they can have on their
students and their progress when they take the time to find out about learners beyond what is
being taught, to get to know what is important to them, to truly listen to them and their
personal stories and viewpoints, to give them voice, and to take instructional and personal
action that incorporates that knowledge. (McBee, R., 2007, P.41).

During the first few minutes of each class, my students complete what we call the do now. The do now is
a 4 6 minute routine implemented at the beginning of class in order to encourage students to get
started on a productive task right away. The do now is a task purposefully created at an appropriate
rigor level so that all students can get started right away without needing any help or support. I would
like to use that time this year to check in with students and have conversations with them about their
lives and their interests outside of school.

Again, the theme of teachers' truly knowing their learners and engaging them in the
meaningful dialogue and give-and-take that characterize respectful reciprocal relationships
emerges within the scholarly discussions and research reports on multicultural education
(McBee, R., 2007, P.35).

Students are people, just like teachers. They crave positive attention, respect, loving relationships, and
good conversations with people that are willing to listen and understand. The difference though,
between students and teachers is that students may not be getting these voids filled at home. Many of
our students look to solely teachers for respectful, caring, conversations and relationships, and as
teachers, we need to be ready to fill that void.

Second, quality teaching involves a deep content knowledge of the subject area and the
tenacity to present it to students in a way that they can understand it. Teachers need to work with the
subject matter to understand it, plan lessons around it, represent it, demonstrate it, and explain it
(Lampert, M., 2010, P.22). Teachers cannot possibly plan meaningful and important lessons for students
if they do not have a strong enough knowledge of the content. For example, I teach math and in order
to really break down a specific math concept into its basic, conceptual, foundational, building blocks,
and meet students at their current level of understanding, I need to have a very strong understanding of
the material. Sometimes, I even need to do some research or collaborate with colleagues before I can
lesson plan in order to fill in some gaps in my own understanding.

The idea here is that competent practice reflects the state of the art; that is, highly skilled
teachers have deep knowledge of their content areas... Teachers learn this knowledge through
various pre-service and professional development experiences that provide access to the
knowledge base. To improve teaching, then, teachers need to implement, translate, or
otherwise put into practice the knowledge they acquire from experts outside the classroom
(Cochran-Smith, M. Lytle, S., 1999, P. 254).

Quality teaching not only involves learning the content knowledge and developing a deep
understanding, but also utilizing it and presenting it in a way that supports students learning. Theres a
middle school math teacher at my school that majored in computer science and took various high level
math courses. He worked at a computer programming company for a few years, and then through Teach
For America, became a licensed teacher. He now teaches middle school math. The kids love his goofy
and sarcastic demeanor in the classroom, but he often struggles to explain mathematics in a simplified
way that 13 year-olds can understand. Again, gaining the content knowledge is not enough, teachers
also have to be able to apply it to their classroom in a way that promotes student learning.

Finally, quality teaching requires a motivation to reflect and continue learning. Teaching is an
ongoing learning profession and quality teachers must be open to that process.

If we are sanguinely optimistic about our work, if we do not maintain a skeptical and critical
attitude about what we do, then we have little chance of discovering the ways our best
intentions may be falling short of the mark. But if we are open to the possibility of vigilant
critique, then at least we have a fighting chance of avoiding similar oversights the next time
around (Fendler, L., 2003, P. 23).

Education is an ever-evolving profession. New research data surfaces constantly, which in turn leads to
changes in best practices; like whether or not its respectable to have students complete read to learns?,
new and improved curriculum and standards, most school recently shifted to the Common Core;
opinions on homework and assessments, should we give homework?, Are there too many state and
national assessments or not enough? Quality teachers have to be ready to bend when it comes to these
issues, because in my experience thus far in my teaching career, expert opinions on these larger issues
of education are never finished being discussed.

On a smaller scale, this motivation to reflect and continue learning can occur through a schools
coaching program. At my school, each teacher has an instructional coach that observes him/her often
and offers insight and ideas in order to improve the teachers craft. This past year, my coach began
video recording a portion of my lesson once per week. I would then watch the video on my own, answer
reflection questions sent from my coach, and then set up a meeting in order to debrief together. During
the meeting, my coach would lead a discussion in order to brainstorm possible adjustments to my lesson
plans, materials, and execution to improve my teaching practice. Towards the end of this year, my coach
began asking me to prepare for my video recordings by emailing her in advance regarding what I am
currently working on and striving to improve. Then, she would focus in on that portion of the lesson, and
we would do the same coaching process, but with a clear focus.

The observed teacher's selection of a focus for the observationarticulated through a

questionserves several purposes. First, it positions the teacher as the primary learner,
ensuring that the process focuses on an area he or she is interested in learning more about and
one that is relevant to his or her challenges, content, and students. Second, the focus question
narrows the observers' attention so the data they collect will address the teacher's targeted
area. Without a focus, the data collected are likely to reflect the interests of the observers more
than those of the observed teacher (Doty, Grimm, & Kaufman, 2014).

I didnt realize how much more meaningful this would be for me. My coaching sessions the last
couple months of the school year were more efficient, less time consuming, and more valuable. I
learned so much about myself and my practice as a teacher.

Quality teaching is an ambiguous phase that will never be defined succinctly. Many people have
attempted to define this idea in the past, and many more people will in the future. The idea of quality
teaching will continue to evolve along with its tenets. However, at this time, at the conclusion of this
course, to me, quality teaching involves building caring and respectful relationships, deep content
knowledge, implementing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work and finally a motivation
to reflect and continue learning.
References

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in
communities. Review of Research in Education, 24, 249-305. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1167272

Fendler, L. (2003). Teacher reflection in a hall of mirrors: Historical influences and political
reverberations. Educational Researcher, 32(3), 16-25. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3699830

Doty, D., Grimm, E. G., & Kaufman, T. (2014). Rethinking classroom observation. Educational Leadership,
71(8), 24 29. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may14/vol71/num08/Rethinking-Classroom-
Observation.aspx

Jewett, P. & MacPhee, D. (2012). A dialogic conception of learning: collaborative peer coaching.
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. 1(1), 12-23. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1031185565/fulltext/555F8AECF3594CB5PQ/1
?accountid=12598

Lampert, M. (2010). Learning teaching in, from, and for practice: What do we mean?. Journal of Teacher
Education, 61(1-2), 21-34. Retrieved from

http://jte.sagepub.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/content/61/1-2/21.abstract