I had the uncommon good fortune to teach in the same school district in which I was a student. In my first year of teaching, I taught kindergarten across the hall from my former kindergarten teacher. Talk about full circle.
The Petal School District, the district that made me who I am, is ranked as one of the top districts in Mississippi. Here are five things I learned from my years as a student and teacher.
1. Culture Matters
I realized that my relationships with my administrators and colleagues were a greater factor in my overall happiness than the grade level, content, or even group of students I taught from year to year. Have the birthday celebrations. Give the jean passes. Love the teachers the way you want them to love the kids. Teachers give their heart, soul, and weekends to their students, they deserve to be treated like rock stars, because they are.
School culture can be community culture. In Petal, local churches adopt each school to provide appreciation for the teachers in the form of lunches and prayer walks, and support for the students including donating school supplies and a weekend food program. Further, local businesses often sponsor events, donate goods and services, and featured the focus value of the month for the district in their windows and on their counters. The business owners are the parents and grandparents of our students and are also stakeholders in our school system. The whole town bleeds black, white, and red and our schools do better because of it.
2. Teachers as Experts
I believe in a very empowered teacher. It’s an interesting trend we are seeing now in education, that of top-down mandates that unintentionally stifle the best and most creative teachers. I’ve learned that a good program is going to be better than a poor teacher, but no program will beat out a good teacher. I am so thankful that in Petal we worked within our PLCs to create our own curriculum and could differentiate and scaffold it to meet the individual needs and interests of our students. We were given space for teacher inquiry, a soul-filling practice where we got to try out our ideas and learn for ourselves whether they were effective or not.
It’s so ironic that we are trying to teach students to be critical thinkers while administrators often hand over scripts to teachers that require no thought at all. I charge us to reclaim teaching as a deeply intellectual endeavor that requires the most intelligent among us to make informed decisions and adapt our lessons instantaneously based on the reactions and needs of the students.
3. Transparency Cultivates a Common Goal
Over seven years I taught in two schools and had six different principals. Despite who was in charge, it was evident that as a district we had a common goal: do what is best for students. That meant putting our pride aside. We, as teachers, were all on the same team and that required a level of openness that could be uncomfortable. We had regular PLC meetings in which we designed curriculum, analyzed data, gave feedback, shared ideas, and undertook professional learning. All of our data was hanging on the wall of our data room, with everyone’s name attached. We truly took ownership of our personal data and our data as a team.
One of my favorite practices was instructional rounds. Throughout the first semester, we had to observe each of our team members teach a lesson to their students in their classrooms. Even though we created a common lesson plan, it was fascinating to see how other teachers would adapt it for their students and to fit their personal style. During the second semester, we got to either observe another grade level or another subject, always based on something we wanted to observe about that teacher, whether that be classroom management, engagement strategies, or how to work with a certain level of student. I learned more from watching a teacher work with their students in real-time than I did in any other way. No matter whose classroom I was in, I learned something I could take back to my classroom.
4. Say Yes to Every Opportunity
My second year teaching I was asked to be the ELA PLC leader over a group of fourteen amazing kindergarten teachers. I was terrified and very underqualified. But I said yes and that trial by fire set me on a path that led to future leadership roles that shaped my entire career. I was asked to become part of the South Mississippi Writing Project and a teacher consultant very early in my career. I was terrified and very underqualified. But I said yes and it was a gateway for the most profound professional learning I’ve ever experienced. I said yes to every conference, professional development, and committee that came my way.
The best principals know how to play human chess, taking time to match students to teachers and teachers to opportunities. Like the best teachers, the best administrators can see you as you are, know what to tell you to help you grow, and how to bolster your strengths. There were several wise women that took me under wing, walked with me through points in my journey, and gave me opportunities to grow that made me who I am today.
5. Quality Teaching Can Overcome Statistical Probability
We know that most schools’ scores can be predicted by socioeconomic factors. In districts that have more parents with college degrees and higher average incomes, we expect test scores to be higher than schools set in poverty-stricken areas. However, there are schools all over the country that are getting scores far above the statistical probability based on demographics and socioeconomic factors alone.
Some people may look at Petal’s scores and assume that this is a privileged area. However, over 70% of Petal’s students qualify for free or reduced lunch, creating an expectation that their scores should be just slightly better than the state average. The fact that Petal consistently scores within the top ten school districts in Mississippi, often number one, shows that there is something wonderful happening there. Intelligent, dedicated, empowered teachers can make a difference and are doing it every day in the Petal School District. I’m honored to have been part of it, and I miss it every day.
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