Quality in Education

What are teachers saying about implementing quality and continuous improvement in their classrooms?  In a previous blog entry, I invited teachers to share their thoughts, insights and paradigm shifts that occurred from learning more about implementing a continuous improvement classroom. 

Nerissa writes about her continuous improvement experiences... "I can't tell you how good it feels to love going to work again and to feel like each day I am a little better than I was the day before."

Read more and respond to Nerissa's comments below!
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I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I spent my childhood in my mother's classroom just waiting for my own. For the past eight years I have put blood, sweat and tears into my students and classroom, only to have my heart broken by the NCLB requirements/punishments which seem to have taken all the joy out of learning. I spent all of last year contemplating how I could keep teaching when all my passion for the profession was gone and things seemed so hopeless. I was honestly considering leaving the profession. Continuous improvement has truly changed my life the course of my career.

In my first year here in Mountain View-Whisman School District, I have found my passion and love of teaching again with this Continuous Improvement training. Finally, an answer to the question of how do we set high expectations, and give kids the tools to reach them, without crushing their natural curiosity and love of learning. And how to we, as teachers in schools with high numbers of students living in poverty, get kids to reach the potential we see in them?

As embarrassing as it is to admit, it never occurred to me that even kindergarteners should really understand why we do what we do in school and be able to articulate it. On my first day back I asked my students why they thought we were in school. Their answers were as follows...to get stars...to pay attention...to listen to the teacher...to do lots of work...not one student really knew what was important for kindergarten. I ate my entire humble pie for lunch that day.

I sent home a letter to the families that day asking parents to discuss with students why they want their kids to go to school and why school is important. I shared with students the next day why I thought school was important. All of the sudden students started telling me in earnest how much they wanted to know how to read, to be teachers, scientists, firefighters, and bakers. We talked about how reading was important to all of those jobs. The connections were flying all around. Not those contrived connections which come neatly packed in prepared curriculum, but a real sense of connection, that the world seems to make a little more sense to these kids.

I have wanted my students to have a sense of control over their own destiny since I began my teaching career in 1998. But how could they ever have that sense, when they didn't even feel like they had control over their own school day?  At the end of week one we have a class mission statement put together by the students in my kindergarten class. "We are in school to learn our letters, numbers and writing words. We are here to make friends and study hard." As we reviewed our class mission statement a little boy said he really wanted to add..."we want to be really smart too!" As many students voiced their agreement with him, we decided to add that sentence. As I wrote, I thought to myself...you guys are already smart, your teacher just forgot to share that information with you in a way you could understand...

Now that we all know why we are here, let's get to work! Thank you so much for sharing your passion and love of what you do...  I can't tell you how good it feels to love going to work again and to feel like each day I am a little better than I was the day before. If only every teacher were this lucky!

Sincerely,
Nerissa
jbugsmama@sbcglobal.net