Keepers of Our Own Pedagogy
The new teacher evaluation and development system together with the implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards has made this a challenging year for everyone in education. After relentlessly reviewing the 2013 Danielson Framework for Teaching rubric and subsequently attending workshops, reading articles and engaging in professional conversations, we teachers have wondered what the new system means for us.
One important thing to keep in mind is that the new evaluation system helps give us control of our own professional destiny. We are now the keepers of our own pedagogy. What does that mean and, more importantly, what does that look like?
As keepers of our own pedagogy (a great termed coined by the UFT’s Bronx borough office), we are active participants in the evaluation process. We are proactive. We take charge of our ratings by being organized and reflective. We make it easy for our administrators to see all that we do through the artifacts that we collect for Danielson domains 1 and 4 and through the evidence that we choose to collect for domains 2 and 3.
I want to share with you some tips to help guide you toward becoming a more effective keeper of your own pedagogy. As a peer intervenor, I first make sure that my participants have familiarized themselves with the UFT’s quick-start guides. The new guide for ending the 2013-14 school year has a list on page 1 of important records to keep.
Next, I help participants determine how they will organize their professional records and their collection of artifacts and evidence for all the domains. Some choose to have one giant binder with sections for professional records and sections for each domain. Others choose to have separate binders for each of the above to make it less unwieldy. This is a personal choice.
Now, let’s start with domains 1 and 4. We put a great deal of time, effort and resources into the areas of planning and professional responsibilities. Planning involves such areas as creating unit plans, daily lesson plans and developing curriculum. Professional responsibilities include attending common planning meetings, professional development and reflecting on our work. Both areas have worth. Therefore, we should take care to substantiate our work in both.
It’s important to collect artifacts for each of the components in domains 1 and 4. That way, if there is an area in which your administrator has not rated you — or worse yet, has rated you as developing or ineffective — you will be able to submit your artifacts to support that you are effective. Consequently, you need to keep track of it all so that you will be able to convey to your administrators the extent and scope of your accomplishments for any component in question.
In order to determine what artifacts you’re going to need to augment your rating, it’s very important that you reflect honestly about your own practice. To that end, I ask my participants to rate themselves using the 2013 rubric. We also look at documents such as observations from administrators, letters in file, action plans, intervisitation feedback and information distributed at grade meetings. All these will help determine the areas where improvement is needed.
Once we do that, we target those areas. Why? Because, one, you will need an artifact from your “needs improvement areas,” to show that you have indeed improved; and two, you will need to be able to choose an effective artifact which substantiates your improvement. It’s always good to have several artifacts from which to choose!
Rather than make more work, we first look at what my participants are already doing to see which of those things produce viable artifacts. The idea is to take what you already do and just tweak it a little, so that these artifacts will ideally cover multiple components of domains 1 or 4. For example, if you have already created a unit plan to serve as an artifact that includes essential questions, skills or knowledge and related lessons, you may want to add assessments to that plan so it will address all components of domain 1. If you add a pertinent reflection piece to the bottom of your lesson plan, you will address components 1a and 4a, in domains 1 and 4, respectively.
In addition, I familiarize my participants with various resources that can help them understand which artifacts meet the criteria for each component. By accessing the DOE’s Advance system online, you can look at the measures of teacher practice section. There you will see samples of a completed “Evaluator Form 1” with accompanying artifacts. In that same section, you can also access ARIS Learn to view Danielson’s component study guides, which are designed to help teachers identify possible artifacts that demonstrate effective and highly effective practices.
Another valuable resource is the UFT website, where you can access a list of sample artifacts from New York State Education Commissioner John King’s 2013 ruling on the new teacher evaluation system. Here are just two examples from the list that you might choose to submit:
- Domain 1: Planning and Preparation, Component 1f Designing Student Assessments. Potential artifact: “analysis of student work.”
- Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities, Component 4a Reflecting on Teaching. Potential artifact: “reflection journal.”
Let’s move to domains 2 and 3. Even though you are not required to submit evidence for these domains, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t collect and display evidence for them! After all, you want to be rated as highly as you can. So what can you do?
In general, you are going to target the areas where you may need improvement. Those will be the areas where you will most likely need to have evidence to show that you are not only working on those areas, but have become effective in them.
Let’s look at what you might choose to include for each component in both domains 2 and 3. This is only a partial list; I’m sure you can think of many more examples.
Domain 2: Classroom Environment. Collect and display evidence for each component or at least for any areas that need improvement.
2a: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport. Have conflict resolution and teamwork charts.
2b: Establishing a Culture for Learning. Display sentence starters for academic conversations, class norms and “respect” chart.
2c: Managing Classroom Procedures. Compile job charts; “what to do when you’re finished” chart; lesson plans on classroom routines; and learning center contracts or charts.
2d: Managing Student Behavior. Include your behavior management plan, class rules and anecdotes on your students.
2e: Organizing Physical Space. Photograph your classroom setup and your charts that show flexible grouping.
For Domain 3: Instruction. Collect evidence for each component or at least for any areas that need improvement.
3a: Communicating With Students. Include conferencing notes, written feedback and rubrics.
3b: Using Questions and Discussion Techniques. Write out higher-order thinking questions on your lesson plan, labeling your questions according to Bloom’s Taxonomy or Depth of Knowledge. Then post question stems on your students’ desks.
3c: Engaging Students in Learning. Use mnemonic devices, poems, songs, cooperative groups, KWL charts and concept or question boards.
3d: Using Assessment in Instruction. Provide student work analysis with related student work and exit slips.
3e: Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness. Display and photograph student work from differentiated assignments and choice boards. Post flexible grouping.
Prominently label the evidence that is displayed around your room so your administrator won’t be able to miss it during an observation. Clearly prove to your administration that you are doing the work and fulfilling school expectations. Furthermore, keep a chronological record of evidence by periodically taking pictures of your room. Label these pictures and put them in your binder.
If need be, you can use the above evidence to support and substantiate the quality of your pedagogical practice and work in a post-observation conference. You may also include copies — not the originals — of this evidence when and if you write a rebuttal to an observation.
Collecting and maintaining artifacts from domains 1 and 4, as well as evidence from domains 2 and 3, will enable and prepare you to be an effective self-advocate — a powerful champion for your own professional destiny. Now, you are truly the keeper of your own pedagogy!