ChalkBloggers

Always a learner: From teaching to coaching

Growing up I never really found my niche at school. I don’t remember a lot of dynamic teaching and never felt truly inspired or encouraged. After majoring in psychology at Virginia Tech, I moved to Portland, studied acting, played drums in rock bands, and waited tables.

I didn’t realize until later how passionate I am about learning. That’s why I went to graduate school at Lewis & Clark to become a teacher—to have the impact on kids that I missed.

Teachers, once isolated, are now empowered

 Fostering a school district-wide culture of professional learning and collaboration can pose a challenge when schools and teachers range across a district that covers 6,062 square miles.

The Klamath County School District is 40 times the geographic size of Portland Public Schools. Yet the district has 6,500 students in 23 schools, compared to Portland’s 48,000 students in 79 schools.

But thanks to a dynamic district leadership team and a grant through the School District Collaboration Fund, distance is less of a barrier to teacher collaboration in Klamath County. 

How do we create high-functioning professional learning communities?

Reviewing a new national survey of teachers on professional learning,  I came away feeling extremely validated. I saw so much of Chalkboard’s work reflected in the report’s recommendations.

On the effectiveness of professional learning

Throughout the 12 years I spent as a classroom teacher, I attended numerous professional development classes. There were some that renewed my passion for teaching and made me incredibly hopeful of the impact I could have on my students’ learning. Others didn’t make too much of an impression. They were almost always one-time sessions. And so, over the years, my professional learning turned into a hodgepodge of experiences: required classes, opportunities that just came up, and my own professional interests.

Aspiring leader wants to give back to her Native American community

Ardis Smith grew up watching her grandfather and mother make a difference in children’s lives as educators on the Warm Springs Reservation. After high school, she worked as a special education assistant before attending Southern Oregon University on an Oregon Indian Educator Grant.

“I wanted to carry on the work my mom and grandfather started,” Smith says. “I knew those were big shoes to fill. I also knew the equity challenges this community faces and what needs to be done here.”