Out on a Limb: Holding Ourselves Accountable

This post originally appeared at Teacher Tech on November 30, 2014.

I had a conversation with a colleague on one of the last days of school that has stuck with me ever since. We were discussing classroom management (I had just posted my “Distracted by Tech” article). My colleague said, “I get so tired of listening to complaints from some of our staff. All I hear is what the students haven’t done or won’t do and what they (the teacher) isn’t going to do. I’d love to hear how teachers hold themselves accountable for student success.”

I write often about strategies for holding students accountable when using technology but rarely have I thought about my own accountability when teaching.

This post isn’t really about tech integration and may offend some people. It’s not my intent. My intention is to spur thinking for those who are stuck and frustrated and perhaps are thinking laptops and phones are the cause of the learning blockage.

Teacher accountability isn’t easy. It’s not about how detailed my lesson plans are or how clear my directions for projects are. It’s not about how much kids like me. It’s about how effective I am in my teaching practices. In a nutshell, teacher accountability means that I take a regular look at my teaching practices, my classroom management, and my personal pedagogy and see how well it is meshing with student achievement.

For me this falls into four segments:

Relationships

As a human teacher there are students I click with and students I don’t. Some can be downright nasty to be around when they are wearing their armor. I find that sometimes I don’t WANT to get to know these students – but if I am holding myself accountable, I have to find ways to develop some sort of relationship with all my students. We don’t have to be BFFs but I do need to give them the same amount of time and attention that I give the “easy” students. Sometimes I will keep track of who I have worked with during class – then make a concerted effort to connect with those that are off my radar during the next class. It may take all year but I can usually make headway with even the most hardened soul.

Relevancy

I teach digital citizenry and it’s abstract. There are lots of “if…then” situations and quite frankly it’s a topic that often seems remote to students because these situations won’t ever happen to them – until they do. I don’t have too much trouble showing them in class why it’s important that they learn about it. What is difficult is figuring out how to help them change their actions. I’ve had success having students show mastery in the classroom and thought I was teaching well until I saw these same students in real life trouble for doing the exact opposite of what they learned. I don’t hold myself accountable for their decisions, but I do hold myself accountable for the fact that I didn’t teach the information in a way that made it leave the classroom walls.

Relevancy makes learning move WITH the student. My challenge is to find ways to make what they learn pop up as a behavior choice when they are faced with decisions.

Workflow

Having a classroom workflow can make life so much easier. Many classrooms have this already – it is a physical workflow chart designed and agreed upon by students that indicates what to do when a student begins a project, is finished with a project, or is stuck. A large majority of behavioral issues and/or work stoppages result from students not knowing how to start their work or getting confused during an assignment. When all students are on the same page in the workflow, students can help each other move ahead.

(Spoiler alert. Some might be insulted here.)

Teachers need a workflow too, and part of our workflow has to be to move away from our desk. Relying on students to come to us when they need help isn’t effective or efficient. It gives us no way to start conversations, recognize good progress, or give the feedback that keeps students moving. Being on our feet and moving around the room keeps kids more accountable and helps us have a better idea of how they are doing.

Having a plan of how you will target those that are falling behind (and moving ahead!) helps with efficiency. Knowing where my students are in their learning helps me group them so they I can better give targeted instruction. I have often done daily seating charts so I can put students together based on their progress, saving me from answering the same questions at different times all over the room. Planning MY workflow helps the overall progress of the class.

Ongoing assessment

The days of the end of unit test as the only assessment are gone – thank goodness! We now rely on a number of kinds of assessments that allow students to show what they know. What we aren’t so good at (still) is the really informal formative assessment. Throw out the idea of the quiz – we don’t have to work that hard. Formative assessments that are quick and simple can give us a really good handle on how our students are grasping the material. Rather than expound upon the ways we can do this, take a look at Edutopia’s “Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding.” You should find something here that will work for you and your students.

A self-proclaimed “competent problem solver with a large dose of curiosity and stubbornness to find solutions,” Lydia held her first teaching job at Hall-Dale High School as a computer teacher. She is now the K-12 Technology Integrationist for all three Hall-Dale schools. In this venue she is tasked with finding ways to leverage technology to improve teaching, learning, and student achievement.

Lydia recently finished a second Master’s degree – this time in Instructional Design and Technology from Emporia State University. She enjoys collaborating with others and relishes the opportunity to expand her personal learning network. She can be contacted via email at [email protected], Twitter as @lleimbach, and Google+ as Lydia Leimbach.