AHS Teachers Honored for Excellence

Teachers Are Like Bass Players

Many teachers love to see their students succeed, but what does it mean to be successful? A millionaire? Politician? Professional athlete? For James Webb, a mentor teacher at Ames High School, success is simply “progressing toward autonomy. As teachers, often times our greatest success stories are not the ones making headlines but the ones who have overcome tremendous personal challenges to become independent, free-thinking adults.” 

On Friday, October 9, Webb encouraged teachers at the Iowa Council of Teachers of English conference to share their own student success stories with others when he was presented with  the organization’s Distinguished Service Award. This award honors a teacher who has made significant contributions to students, the teaching profession, and ICTE.

Webb described most teachers’ role as supporting students much like a bass player supports the band. Webb explains, “In music, no one knows who the bass player is in the band. I’ve never minded, though, because a bass player’s role isn’t to be the center of attention; rather, it is to make everyone else in the band sound better. Teaching is the same way: it’s not about us. We measure our success not by the recognition we garner but by the lives we change. We exist to make our students ‘sound’ better.”  Not only does Webb help his students to “sound better” but he has also supported ICTE as a member of the executive board, conference committee co-chair, and frequent presenter at the annual conference. His willingness to share his experiences and expertise with other teachers around Iowa is a demonstration of his willingness to support other teachers around the state.

In Ames, James has supported the high school English department as the department chair, focusing on creating a strong curriculum and studying quality instructional practices.  In addition, he has provided building leadership for MTSS and QILT. His service to the English teaching profession also shines through in his willingness to mentor practicum students, student teachers, and teachers new to the building and the profession.

Although part of his message to teachers last Friday involved shying away from the spotlight to promote student achievement, James’ service to this district, ICTE, and the English profession deserves recognition. Congratulations, James - enjoy a moment in the spotlight!

A Passion for Supporting Students
As a young girl, DeAnna Tibben enjoyed playing school with her two younger sisters. It wasn’t always apparent, however, that she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Her mom was a teacher, but as Tibben recalls, “Of course no one wants to be what their mom is when they are younger.”

Despite those early feelings, DeAnna did indeed follow in her mother’s footsteps. For the past 22 years, DeAnna has been a science educator, including the last 16 at Ames High School. In that time, DeAnna has come to understand what it means to be a teacher. “A great teacher is someone who is willing to be a risk taker,” she explains. “Someone who is passionate and willing to give their extra time to their students.”

On Monday, September 21, her passion, risk-taking, and concern for her students was recognized at the ICTM-ISTS and Science conference in Des Moines. Tibben was awarded the 2015 Outstanding Service Award which honors teachers who have made extraordinary contributions to ISTS and/or to science education at the state or national level. Of this honor, DeAnna says she was “really surprised.” For her, the greatest reward of being a teacher isn’t honors like these. Rather, she values her students. When former students visit or send her a message about where they are now and how they have used the knowledge they gained in her classroom to pursue their dreams, she knows she’s had an impact.

Congratulations, DeAnna, it’s apparent to us you were meant to be a teacher, and the Ames School District is fortunate to have you on our teaching staff.

Technology Coaches in Ames CSD

How technology is used in the classroom has changed drastically in the past few years. Technology is not used because it is new or shiny.  We use technology in learning environments because it allows us to be more effective or to do things that were not possible before.  We can use technology to create more engaging learning experiences that allow students to have more ownership of their learning or to give them new opportunities geared towards their own needs and desires.  Technology allows us to bring in experts without paying for an airline ticket or to allow for collaboration between students who may not be in the same school.

We do not use technology for technology's sake but must pair it with effective pedagogy.  As shown in the TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) framework, it is the combination of effective pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and technical knowledge that can create a truly effective learning environment.  Technology by itself will not create an effective lesson; only when paired with good pedagogy will the technology improve the learning experience.

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

With all students at Ames High School and Ames Middle School now equipped with their own district-purchased device, everyday support for teachers working to incorporate technology in the classroom is available through Technology Coaches Patrick Donovan (@donovanscience) and Jeremie Knutson (@JeremieKnutson). Both Tech Coaches have extensive teaching experience in the classroom and have used technology in effective ways with students before coming into their current roles to work with teachers.

A few weeks ago we had our all-district technology professional development and brought together all teachers, pre-K to 12th grade, to have a great learning experience centered around the use of technology in our classroom.  We had our own teachers sharing, as well as some outside consultants, in order to help teachers grow with their use of technology. Craig Badura, http://www.thedigitaldogpound.com/, was the keynote speaker who kicked off the day by focusing on digital citizenship. Over 90 sessions were available for teachers to choose from throughout the day in which there were many opportunities for teachers to practice what they were learning.

This day of learning helped get the momentum going for our teachers to try out new things in the classroom with the built in daily support of the Technology Coaches as they pair the technology with effective pedagogy to better improve student learning.  Patrick and Jeremie are there to support teachers through modeling instruction, co-teaching when technology is being used, or just to coach teachers through their planning and reflecting on lessons involving technology.  They would love to talk to you about how you are using technology in your class and help you explore new ideas to maximize tech’s impact on student learning.

Make sure to follow the District hashtag, #AmesCSD, to keep up with all of the amazing things happening in the Ames Community School District.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

Collaborative Relationships

Guest Blogger:   Hannah Moore is a first year social studies teacher at Ames Middle School.  Here she writes about support she received from her mentor, as part of the new teacher mentoring and induction program.  Her mentor, Sara Knutson is an art teacher.  Though they do not teach the same content, Hannah still benefits from structured, professional interactions with her mentor. Sara guides Hannah to reflect on her teaching practice and student work, identify goals, and commit to new learning. She does this by listening, paraphrasing, asking clarifying questions, and summarizing - all skills she learned in Cognitive Coaching training over the summer.

Ideal Mentoring Support

The first few days and weeks of my first year have been a blur. For any teacher, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to do, but for me, it’s also been challenging to teach two different grade levels and subjects. I’d plan lessons that were too easy, and then I’d plan lessons that were too hard. I also found out quickly that the grade levels were completely different, and that I needed to treat them as such. Shifting gears back and forth between them multiple times per day has been an adventure, and establishing classroom management procedures has been a learning process. However, I love working with the kids. I am really grateful to be part of this staff, and I know in time I’ll get there.

Something that has helped me tremendously has been having a mentor teacher. One of my seventh-grade assignments did not yield the results I had hoped. I came to my mentor for help, thinking it was one issue. However, after talking through it with her, I realized it was a completely separate one. The conversation was super helpful, as she posed questions and strategies I hadn’t thought of on my own. To me, that is what ideal mentoring looks like. We discussed the situation, explained the original goal versus what transpired, analyzed it and came up with tangible ideas to try.  So much in teaching is situational, and the only way to learn is to go through the experience. I appreciate having someone to help me navigate some of those experiences and learn from them. I also appreciate that our conversation was focused on the students and helping me better teach and help them. That’s why we’re here, after all, and that’s why I wanted to be a teacher.