The Many Hats a Teacher Wears

The Many Hats a Teacher Wears MACT Synthesis Paper In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Curriculum and Teaching Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University Catherine A. Pinkelman PID A207 93 818 July 15, 2011

Pinkelman -2- Introduction "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap! (Slobodkina, 1987, p. 5). A few years ago, the Kindergarten teacher at my school dressed up as the peddler from the story Caps for Sale. At lunch that same day, teachers were chatting about an upcoming meeting regarding contract negotiations. Someone in the lounge joked that we should all come to the meeting with numerous hats on our heads, signifying the multiple hats teachers wear each day. That image stuck with me. Even more so after working my way through the MATC program. Unfortunately, not many people truly understand the complexities of being an educator. I think back to when I started teaching and I m not sure I was even aware of the many different roles teachers need to play. Today is a different story; I m well aware of the ever-changing responsibilities of a teacher as a learner, a collaborator, an educator, a leader and more. In this synthesis paper, I explore some of the hats I ve donned as a teacher and how my work experience and graduate school experience has helped me define and augment these roles. Teacher as Learner During my student teaching experience, my cooperating teacher warned me about The Queen Bee Syndrome. We ve all come in contact with Queen Bee teachers those individuals who think they have all the answers, who think they have nothing to learn. These educators tend to be easy to spot. They are the ones who make all the classroom decisions, learn nothing from their students and tend to teach the same curriculum in the same way, year after year. Why should they have to change anything? They already know it all. Never did I consider myself a Queen Bee. In fact, in many ways, I think I m quite the opposite. I ve always recognized I have much to learn from other teachers, students, classmates, colleagues, professors. However, there is a difference between more to learn and

Pinkelman -3- not knowing much. Prior to my graduate studies, I would have considered myself in the latter category. Today, I feel different. I know I have valuable ideas and important notions to share. For example, the Shared Leadership Model (Artifact 1) created by myself and a few other classmates was based on my initial, visual representation of shared leadership. Small moments like these have occurred throughout my studies and have continued to build my confidence. In the past, during staff meetings, I rarely said a word. I was the listener, the observer. I ve always sat on the sidelines, amazed at other educators who consistently refer to best practice and recent research. How do they have all this knowledge? I would wonder to myself. In the past year, I ve come to understand how they do it. They are true lifelong learners, constantly challenging themselves to examine educational research and explore new teaching strategies. I ve always considered myself a lifelong learner but I think that term is too vague and general to define true teacher learners. In order to really act as a teacher learner, I must continually challenge myself and seek out new knowledge, particularly that which I am passionate about. That passion is what led me to examine the Leader in Me program (Artifact 4), a concept which has made a significant impact on what and how I will teach character and leadership skills to my students. Teachers learn in a variety of ways, not just from professional articles or texts. Another way in which to become a teacher learner is to employ action research into the classroom. Action research opens communication among teachers and school faculty; it increases awareness and reflection of issues that affect [teacher] learning and professionalism (Gilles, Wilson & Elias, 2010, p. 93). When teachers employ action research they learn what works and what doesn t. Teachers often acquire knowledge of new strategies and techniques, which is what happened when I incorporated an action research project into my classroom (Artifact 3). I

Pinkelman -4- gained valuable information and experience when working with struggling readers which will have a lasting impact on how I plan teach Reader s Workshop in the future. Another way in which I ve learned the role of teacher as learner is through the process of reflection. Each year, my students work on portfolios or presentations for our student-led conferences. Part of these projects requires students to think about where they ve been and where they are headed. Students learn a lot about themselves through this process and they also learn how to be better students. Clearly, if I expect my students to go through this reflection process, I should as well. Looking back at the day, week, month, semester and critically examining my choices as an educator allows me the opportunity to make alterations to how and what I teach. Thus, I am in a constant state of learning and improvement. Teacher as Collaborator I strongly believe collaboration is an integral component of a teacher s life. I have found some of my most rewarding experiences as a teacher have come from working with colleagues or classmates. One of these valuable experiences was developing Active Learning Centers (Artifact 2) with two grade-level colleagues. This program stemmed from a realization that students in our classes needed more hands-on learning opportunities. Educators must consider student needs when developing curriculum and lessons; the students in this particular group needed to be active. We were cognizant of the research that illustrated a correlation between movement, learning and retention. Together, we developed a plan for Active Learning Centers. It was truly a synergistic collaboration, a real meeting of the minds. Prior to this successful partnership, I had previously taken a MATC course in Stratford, Ontario Using Drama Techniques in the Classroom and was feeling more and more

Pinkelman -5- comfortable thinking out of the box. I ve noticed many teachers who only stick to their comfort zone, which is where I stayed my first two years of teaching, driven mostly by fear. I was the rookie at my school; I felt like I needed to prove myself. Furthermore, while my grade-level colleagues collaborated in one sense of the term, there was no give and take. They were in charge and I had to fall in line or face isolation. As a result, I followed a pre-determined path established by my grade-level colleagues. I am saddened by the time lost those two years - time which could have been spent doing so much more for myself and, more importantly, for my students. Fortunately, I switched grade levels at the beginning of my third year, which is when I began to flourish as an educator. My confidence and accomplishments came in part because of the balanced and cooperative relationship I had with my new grade-level colleagues. I felt as if I were teaching in a different world, a place where teachers shared ideas, discussed problems and worked together to develop innovative solutions. This is how Active Learning Centers, a valuable and inventive program, came to be. One can t think of collaboration without thinking of cooperative learning. Prior to taking the course, Learning Communities and Equity, I was a novice when it came to cooperative learning and democratic teaching. Students in my classroom worked in groups and with partners, however, I ve learned there is so much more to cooperative learning (Artifact 5) than simply partnering students with others. Dr. Greenwalt and my classmates opened my eyes to a new way of looking at life in the classroom, as well as the possibilities for curriculum and instruction as tools for democratic living. Although I ve been laid off and am unsure of where, or if, I will be teaching next year, there is one cooperative learning strategy I am most eager to incorporate in my classroom. This

Pinkelman -6- is the concept of cooperative base groups. At the very minimum, base groups provide [students] support, encouragement, and assistance in completing assignments and [the members] hold each other accountable for striving to learn (Johnson & Johnson, 1999, p. 59). I feel, though, that the possibilities for base groups are profound and, with the right touch, can make a lasting impression on a group of students. Collaboration is at the heart of education. This pertains not only to teachers working together but to students, as well. Teacher as Educator Of the many responsibilities teachers have, the education of our children comes first and foremost. This portfolio and synthesis paper is the culminating project for a Master of Arts in Teaching and Curriculum. It comes as no surprise, then, the way I instruct (teaching) and the what I teach (curriculum) have been significantly enriched by my courses in the MATC program. One regret I have when I contemplate the first part of my teaching career is the lack of time I ve had to think deeply about my teaching and the curriculum. Part of this has to do with the unfortunate circumstance of being laid-off three times but it also is a result of how I work. I need to be working smarter, not harder a goal I plan to tackle this coming year. Since this area has been a challenge for me, I have come to realize I rarely have the opportunity to see the big picture when it comes to different subjects. That s why I was so grateful to have the opportunity to develop a Literature Position Paper (Artifact 8). This task provided me the occasion to look at literature in my classroom, together with what I learned through my Methods and Materials for Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature course. I was able to examine areas of strengths and weaknesses in my Writer s and Reader s Workshops and, in doing so, recognized how I can better meet my students needs. For example, I learned I

Pinkelman -7- need to allow my students more time to explore and discuss literature. In the past, I ve been so concerned about everything we need to cover that I forget how essential it is to enrich my students lives with literature. Moreover, this class unearthed my desire to teach Language Arts at the secondary level. In fact, I just finished my courses and passed the English MTTC and am now highly qualified to teach Language Arts in middle school. Research and educator Jeffrey Wilhelm (2007) asks us to consider the idea of: Information versus Knowledge and Understanding. I can t imagine a teacher out there who would prefer his or her students memorize a bunch of historical American Revolution facts rather than understand why and how America fought for its freedom. Wilhelm s ideas of inquiry based learning and guiding questions have provided me with an altered outlook of teaching and curriculum, as well as a new and improved approach that will enhance my abilities as an educator. One of the ways in which I ve wanted to be a better teacher but have struggled to do so is in the planning and implementing of cross-content area projects. Unfortunately, I ve always felt too busy or overwhelmed to take on a complicated and time-consuming task like that. Having planned, what I consider to be, an ideal unit (Artifact 6), I know now this undertaking is feasible. Clearly, this is a better way to teach; students will be more motivated and find the curriculum more meaningful and relevant. This is yet another example of how my teaching will be forever changed due to my MATC journey. Teacher as Leader Although I ve described many ways in which I plan to further enhance my teaching abilities, there is one particular area I d like to focus on in the immediate future. I m really looking forward to developing my talents as a teacher leader. I ve always considered myself to

Pinkelman -8- exhibit many of the qualities of a leader and multiple staff members at my school have mentioned they think I would make a great principal. While that may happen at some point, I am more concerned with stepping up as a teacher leader at a school. I envision this task to be a challenge, as my lack of confidence and self-critical nature may come into play. Thankfully, though, I ve been introduced to the particulars of shared leadership and will work diligently to step up, make my voice heard and share in the responsibilities of our school. Moreover, I will use the knowledge I ve gained in my research of mentoring and induction programs (Artifact 7) to become a leader of beginning and/or student teachers. I feel excited at the opportunity to give back to new and student teachers, as I have learned so much from my mentors and cooperating teachers. Conclusion About this time, one year ago, I was ready to give up on teaching. I was almost one of those statistics about teachers who leave the profession within five years because of burnout and fatigue. I was unhappy, exhausted and had just been laid-off for the third time in five years. What a difference a year makes. Taking advantage of my circumstances, I decided to go back to school full-time. Using this past year to pursue my MATC and an additional certificate has provided me with a sense of renewal and excitement I haven t felt in quite a while. The courses I ve taken and the knowledge I ve gained has reminded me of my passion for teaching and about the kind of innovative teacher I strive to be. The kind of teacher who revels in the numerous hats she wears.

Pinkelman -9- References Gilles, C., Wilson, J., & Elias, M. (2010). Sustaining teachers growth and renewal through action research, induction programs and collaboration. Teacher Education Quarterly, 37, 91-108. Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Learning together and alone. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Slobodkina, E. (1987). Caps for sale. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Wilhelm, J. (2007). Engaging readers & writers with inquiry. New York, NY: Scholastic.