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My final thoughts on strong unions, administration and how all this relates to ensuring that our top priority is successful student learning, goes something like this.

What I have gathered from all the above comments, discussions with colleagues and my personal feelings is that leaders, union reps and strong minded “union” type teachers all need to communicate and build those “authentic” relationships that are built on trust, compassion and the common goal of teaching students to become successful next generation leaders of our society.

As a leader, when you are hiring a teacher, I agree that you should be looking for someone who represents your student population or shows compassion about different cultures, as well as all the other various important characteristics. I remember a few years ago, our Principal hired a teacher who really excelled in knowing and understanding different cultures but unfortunately along the way forgot about the curriculum. There needs to be a balance. We need to ask questions and look for compassion in the responses.

For me, now as a teacher and later as a leader, I know and understand my student population. We have a huge asian, muslim and arab student population and I am familiar with certain words, holidays and such. I do my best to relate math examples (even using certain names on my questions) that relate to their world and their experiences. So, even though I am a white female teacher, my students still connect with me.

As a leader, it is important to recognize that all staff, both those new to the profession and those existing, have valuable knowledge and experiences to bring to their classrooms. As others have mentioned, keeping older staff motivated and feeling appreciated, will go a long way in keeping them engaged professionally.

We also have the “mentoring program” and it is very successful. This type of program where a new teacher and older teacher work together is a wonderful opporunity to gain invaluable knowledge that will greatly benefit the students.

In our school, we all have LCD projectors mounted on the ceilings. One staff member that I work closely with has never been comfortable with the LCD even though she went for the one hour training session. I am constantly sending her stuff and walking her through the steps. She is now becoming a pro at it. But, I have also learned many bits of “science stuff” from her that cannot be found in any textbook.

In the end, we both feel appreciated and valued.

All this talk of PLC’s, coaching and teacher collaboration is making me envious. One of the biggest complaints our staff has before, during and after PD is that it was a big waste of time and they did not learn anything. This upcoming PD we have a guest speaker coming in to talk about assessment and I think it should be well received (I helped organize the whole PD). But, listening to some of your comments, maybe we needed to go in another direction. Our biggest hurdle will be the Board because I know our direction comes from there. I will definitely speak with my Principal just to clarify PDSB’s position on PLC’s.

While yes, certain aspects of change involve confusion and conflict, I think part of our job is to help keep our staff motivated and positive about change. Modeling a good example of handling change and stress will show staff that they can manage things successfully.

There is always going to be change especially in our educational system simply because as our world continues to change and evolve, our curriculum also needs to adapt to meet these new changes. Sometimes, teachers can get very negative and frustrated with all these new changes but if we work hard together and keep thinking positively, then change can be meet with euthasium not resistance.

While yes, certain aspects of change involve confusion and conflict, I think part of our job is to help keep our staff motivated and positive about change. Modeling a good example of handling change and stress will show staff that they can manage things successfully.

There is always going to be change especially in our educational system simply because as our world continues to change and evolve, our curriculum also needs to adapt to meet these new changes. Sometimes, teachers can get very negative and frustrated with all these new changes but if we work hard together and keep thinking positively, then change can be meet with euthasium not resistance.

In my career, I have had leaders that were inspirational and some unfortunately who were not.

Being a constant optimist, I managed to always find the good or at least create “learning moments” for myself when things seemed very bleak.

Sometimes, one has to experience the “bad” in order to really appreciate the “good.” What an inspirational leader is not is some of the following: 1.) Someone who comes into your classroom and says negative comments about you or your teaching style in front of your students. 2.) Someone who lets their bad moods effect the whole school atmosphere negatively. 3.) Someone who does not build relationships with their staff. 4.) Someone who offers no constructive criticism or words of wisdom or encouragement.

I really liked Kovenden’s comment from Todd Whitaker “in a great teacher’s classroomroom, every student feels like the favourite”. That is how I feel today and I know this new positive environment has helped me become the teacher I am today.

Wow…your discussion is definitely a hot topic! I think you’ll get a response from all of us. For me, I have taught in two elementary schools and am currently in a middle school. I have also seen first hand how male teachers are treated differently. In the elementary schools, there was only one male teacher in one school and two male teachers in the other. They literally could do no wrong. Now, in the middle school, we have almost 50/50 ratio of men to women. Now, the males can do wrong and are called on it. But, I think it also has a alot to do with Administration. A strong leader who shows fairness towards both sexes, helps the atmosphere in the school to stay positive.

As far as Administration is concerned, I’ll be interested in our discussion, to hear if indeed female and male Administers are treated differently. I have only worked with female Principals, so my experience in this area is limited. Can’t wait for the discussion.

Marilyn

I agree with the others. We will all eventually have to make some decisions that we may not want to make and ones that others may not agree with us. But, as long as you follow your moral purpose, then it is naturally right. Having said that, I always like to look at things, after the fact, and give myself “constructive criticism” to help improve my practice. We will all probably make mistakes (we are not perfect) but if we learn from those mistakes then our moral practice is still intact.

Marilyn

Hello Imac,

Our school has two buildings and all our doors are locked for security reasons. Teachers and staff have the passwords so that we can get to classes between periods. I honestly never thought about it as “stopping” the community from coming in. I looked at it as a safety issue. I don’t think we want just anyone walking around in the school? Our front door says to come through the front and go to the reception area. Parents can get a visitor pass and continue on.

If the parent is spoken to professionally, I don’t see why they would be offended by someone making sure all is secure. After all, the safety measures are there to protect the children.

Just my thoughts.