UCLA SMP EdNews, July 2005

by Linda Smith, UCLA SMP Faculty

"I love the idea of renewal and how, as a teacher, artist, and mother, my job is to renew
my vision—to see again as if for the first time, whether it's the world, the students I teach, or my son. And this re-visioning helps to sustain me and gives me back energy."
—Georgia Heard, Writer, Artist

Georgia Heard wrote these words to describe her inspiration in designing the cover for Donald Graves' book, The Energy to Teach. The end of the school year often finds educators spent of energy and inspiration. We have cycled through another year of first days, Open House Nights, report cards, student performances, assessments and more assessments, state testing and, finally, the last day of school. The events of the past year may blur unless we take the time to reflect on the results of our work, particularly on what worked well. Where did we succeed in working with a student, family, or colleague? How did we achieve something far beyond what we thought possible? What were the attributes of the successes we experienced that can be replicated, shared and expanded as we begin a new school year in September?

Huntington Drive Elementary School in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles, California, took the opportunity to reflect on the year's successes during the final professional development day of the 2004-2005 school year. Principal Susan Saenz explained the process: "We really wanted to shift the focus of energy from reflecting on the challenges of the year to celebrating the successes. Two months ago, I asked teachers to begin reflecting on the year and identify a success they were particularly proud of. I invited teachers to choose a concrete object or realia that represented or symbolized a success they had that year. They were also asked to write a short reflection."

The teachers' reflection "projects" were displayed in the library for the final professional development day as the Huntington Drive Teachers' Museum of Success. Each display included a brief written reflection as to why they chose this artifact to symbolize their success. Teachers provided audiotaped poetry recitals, student writing, a letter from a parent, artwork, field trips with follow-up lessons and student work, and many other creative displays. After the faculty completed a gallery walk of the museum, they were invited to personally acknowledge the contributions made by their colleagues.

A third grade teacher, Vicky Leon, displayed a student's final writing assessment. In her reflection, she explained that the student struggled to get a sentence on paper at the beginning of the year. Although she was concerned, she recognized his bright mind and knew he could develop the ability to write well with the right support. By the last periodic writing assessment, he scored proficient. She broke the process down into smaller pieces and helped him to build his writing fluency. "I didn't give up on him," Leon said upon reflection. Another teacher displayed her Critical Friends Group reflective notebook that contained written reflections on the collaborative process used to look at student work. A group of teachers reflected on the success of their grade-level collaboration. They reflected on what each member of the group contributed to their learning together.    

Third grade teacher Beverly Levario presented a weaving (see photo, left) she created on a loom. Her reflection explained how the weaving represented how community had been created with her class. She described how her class began the year as individual strands working in different directions. However, as the year progressed, "each strand came together to strengthen and support those who needed extra care." She continued, "Yes, up close you can see imperfections, the setbacks, and even a knot. But from afar, you see unity."

"During the afternoon of our professional development day, we created star boxes to collect our successes along the way next year," stated Saenz. "This way, we can celebrate the successes along the way and re-energize our spirits during the year." By using this process to acknowledge their students, themselves, and their colleagues, the faculty at Huntington Drive Elementary School will continue to renew their vision as educators, reflecting upon successes and celebrating them!

Over the summer, as you reflect on your own successes, here are a few resources which you might find useful:

• As we look back on our successes, we are often inspired to build upon them. The Success Analysis Protocol aids individuals and teams in reflecting upon their successes and crystallizing those elements which most contributed to that success (and, in turn, may contribute to future successes). As you reflect over the summer, you may wish to download a PDF version of the Success Analysis Protocol from the UCLA SMP web site.
  
  [If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it from the Adobe web site.]
  
• How can you recognize achievement in the classroom and at the school site throughout the school year? Several strategies for identifying student accomplishments can be discovered at the Education World web site, an online resource for educators from all grade levels and beyond.  Go to http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin/admin343.shtml to begin celebrating your students' accomplishments.

• Donald Graves' book, The Energy to Teach, discusses ways in which educators can reinvigorate themselves through their work; further advice is available on his website.

For this month’s topic:

"How has a success from this past year—
with a student, among colleagues, or in your own personal and professional development—
given you renewed energy for the coming year?"

We invite you to share some of your own successes and reflections with us.  Please click here to add your responses to this month's Combined Brainpower.  We look forward to sharing your successes in future issues of EdNews over the course of the summer, to foster further reflection and inspire each other.

We are pleased to welcome some new and returning members of the UCLA SMP family:

Janet Howard returns to UCLA SMP after completing three years with LAUSD Local District 2, where she served as an administrator. As the Secondary Literacy Coordinator in 2004-2005, she worked with literacy coaches and interdisciplinary literacy cadres in 20 middle and senior high schools. Prior to that, she served as District 2's Elementary Science Specialist. Janet holds a B.A. from UCLA and a master's degree in educational administration from California State University, Los Angeles. Currently, she is a lecturer on curriculum and instruction with the UCLA Principal Leadership Institute (PLI). Janet co-directed the Reading by Nine Principal's Leadership Initiative for UCLA SMP. Janet was curriculum advisor for the Galaxy Classroom® Language Arts Program. Prior to that, she was a classroom teacher for over twenty years, a mentor teacher, and a member of the statewide Equity in Mathematics Education Project. She also worked for the Los Angeles Math Initiative and the Los Angeles Times in Education Program.

Hani Rafi is the newest member of the Events and Marketing Team, joining us as a Program Coordinator. Previously, Hani worked with UCLA SMP as a member of the Administrative Support Staff while completing a bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in education. She is "excited to have the opportunity to work at UCLA SMP, as their programs are promoting and implementing big changes in our current educational system," something Hani feels is greatly necessary. She plans on attaining her teaching credential, doing some teaching and perhaps administrative work in schools, before going on to becoming involved with educational policies.

Barry Tambara has served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office, where he was responsible for various academic programs, including Literacy, Multilingual, Dual Immersion, and the school improvement coaching process. He has worked with the 21st Century Educational Resources Center, and the NASA-sponsored Student and Teacher Excellence Project (STEP) Team. He is a member of the California Department of Education's IASA School Improvement Coaching Cadre ("The Distinguished Educator Program") and was part of the working team that developed the CDE's Professional Development Reform Initiative, "Designs for Learning." While at the Orange County Department of Education, he was a member of the core staff for the California Leadership Academy's School Leadership Center and the Regional lead for "Second to None" and SB 1274. He has extensive experience in teaching and school administration, as well as experience as a UCLA Center X Instructional Improvement Coach and as an Instructional Improvement Associate with a national private consulting firm.

"Celebrate what you want to see more of."
—Thomas J. Peters

• Supporting All Teachers, Part 1: Encouraging Veterans as Teacher Leaders

• The Faces of UCLA SMP: Meet more of our new faculty and staff members

• Ask SMP / Ask Your Colleagues: In future editions, we will share our responses to some of your questions (and, sometimes, use those questions as the basis for future Combined Brainpower topics).  If you have any questions regarding your teaching practice or other issues at the school site, please click here to Ask SMP. We will include your questions and our answers in future editions.

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A nonprofit school reform initiative of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and The Anderson School, the UCLA School Management Program (UCLA SMP) is devoted to the sustainable transformation of public schools into learner-centered organizations where all students can achieve at high levels.

UCLA SMP works with educators, administrators, and community members to create well-managed schools, to enhance teacher effectiveness, and to improve student achievement through professional development leading to personal transformation and community building.

Since the program was launched in 1992, UCLA SMP has worked with over 700 schools in districts throughout California.