High Quality Instruction in Every Classroom
By: Beth Kellogg
“The collective efficacy of teachers has the single largest impact on student achievement. At MRPS every learner will be taught by a highly confident, highly reflective, and continually growing educator.” – 4th Pillar under the MRPS Theory of Growth in our work of “Building Limitless Futures for Every Learner”
Take a moment and reflect on a film that is set in a school – “Stand and Deliver”, “Freedom Writers”, “Dangerous Minds”, “Mr. Holland’s Opus”, even “School of Rock”. If you’ve seen any or all of these movies, you can guess that they all share a common theme of amazing educators doing amazing things. Granted, there are some plot complications along the way, but invariably by the end of the movie everything works out – teachers taught and students learned. If only it were that easy!
For those who have never stood in front of a class of students tasked with imparting knowledge, ensuring understanding, providing meaningful engagement, and maintaining a functional learning environment, I'm here to tell you teaching and learning are incredibly complex. There is an art and science to both. For learning to happen, there are several factors that need to be in place – engaging work, willing participants, optimal conditions, and a classroom environment conducive to learning are just a few examples of these factors. Perhaps the most important factor, however, is a skilled teacher. Skilled teachers are not only well versed in the subject matter and curriculum they teach, they also have an understanding of the developmental age and stage of the students they are working with, have the ability to create a space where learning can take place, and have a level of expertise to make it all work. Above all, they must love children, see the potential in each student, and have a passion for helping them learn. Good teachers change lives.
How does one become a good teacher? As I mentioned before, there is an art and science to teaching. Just like any practice, it takes time. It also takes a willingness to hone one’s craft and a commitment to ongoing professional learning. This is not something that can be done alone. Rarely do solo practitioners develop the same skills, abilities, mindsets, and technical know how as those that are committed to collaborative practices. As such, at Roxbury Village School (and throughout the MRPS district), our teachers are committed to working in collaborative teams as part of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). A big part of the PLC is the LEARNING. Not student learning, though (although it does connect). It’s really about adult learning. Looking at data, discussing best practices, sharing with one another strategies to support students are all part of our professional learning. When we think about “High Quality Instruction in Every Classroom”, we recognize that we (the adults) are also learners.
The data we collect and how we use it to analyze student performance is part of our work to ensure high quality instruction in every classroom. Beyond that, we work within the MRPS curriculum framework and teach the priority standards that have been developed for each grade level. The framework provides our Roxbury Village School community, and the greater MRPS district, with a clear and unified way to continue working together to ensure high quality teaching focused on lifting the achievement of every student. It also provides the impetus for teacher professional development and professional dialogue. This year, our district leadership team has been conducting instructional rounds at Roxbury Village School, and at all the MRPS schools, to monitor our high quality instruction and promote best practices.
At RVS, our staff are not only committed to our collaborative team time, they are committed to the ongoing learning that takes place during this time and putting what is learned into practice in the classroom. They are eager to listen to and learn from one another. Beyond that, our staff is open to learning from others as they hone their craft. This year, RVS teachers will continue our work with Christian Courtemanche to learn more about effective math instruction and pedagogy. In a recent visit, Christian shared that he saw a culture and curiosity of learning, engaging and purposeful activities, structures that focus participation, teacher moves, and differentiation to support all learners. We will continue to build upon this work in math. In literacy, we recognize that we have some work to do to improve our practices for impactful instruction. Because we are committed to doing what is needed for students to achieve, we are going to dig into the work a little deeper and partner with a literacy coach. As a small school with multiage classrooms and a range of learners in each class, our work with the literacy coach will be tailored to our unique needs and help us learn more about and promote best practices in literacy instruction.
One thing is for certain, our staff at RVS are committed to doing what is needed in order for our students to learn at high levels. Most of our teachers either have a Master degree or are working on obtaining one. All of our full time teachers take advantage of the graduate level coursework credits offered through their employee benefits package. Everyone has been flexible in arranging schedules so that staff can engage in professional learning opportunities. It is evident that RVS staff have a strong commitment to our continuous improvement as educators and we understand that we are also learners. We are proud of our work to teach, and learn, and grow together to provide the best education possible for our students.
