The Work Continues
As we close the chapter on the 2019-20 school-year, it is difficult to describe our work and experiences over the last four months as anything other than - unprecedented. Like so many of our colleagues in the education community, we have been working hard to ensure that our teachers are well-supported and that the students they serve continue to grow and feel connected to their learning communities.
While our circumstances have changed, our work has continued, and our commitment to our mission to recruit and develop excellent educators for the students in St. Louis is unwavering. We are proud to share the unprecedented work of our staff, teachers and residents with you here.
Priority #1: Helping our students grow. Keeping our students safe and well.
Despite school closures, our residents remained committed to their students’ progress, providing remote learning throughout the spring semester and connecting consistently with students and their families. Whether it was by hand-delivering work packets to students’ homes or ensuring that students had resources for outdoor play, our residents worked diligently and creatively to meet the needs of their students.
Ms. Gund: 8th Grade Science - Gateway MST Middle School
When Ellie Gund, a second-year resident and science teacher at Gateway Middle School, connected with families during the first week of school closures, she realized that only a small percentage of her students were equipped for virtual classes. In the first week, she connected with the parents of 70 of her 85 students’ families and made a plan to ensure that all of her students could continue learning.
Ms. Gund’s classroom prior to school closures this spring
Over the next several weeks, she hand-delivered packets of work to 32 families, followed up with parents weekly to provide technical support for those accessing online learning, and shared updated contact information to her school for 86% of her students.
“It ended up being really helpful,” Ms. Gund said of the impact of the experience. Personally delivering the packets to students meant that students were able to continue with their schoolwork rather than missing out on lessons due to the absence of the necessary technology in their homes. “When students eventually began gaining online access with the help of the district, they were able to join in on the online instruction seamlessly.”
Ms. Gillespie: 1st Grade - Herzog Elementary School
As Gennean Gillespie, who teaches 1st grade at Herzog Elementary, wrapped up the school-year, she reached out to parents and families to learn more about their plans for summer. After hearing that many of her students were missing the opportunity for outdoor play, Ms. Gillespie decided to get to work, launching a Donors Choose project focused on providing equipment and supplies outdoor learning and play.
Ms. Gillespie reads aloud to a group of students during class last year
Ms. Gillespie wrote, “We have all been affected by changes due to Covid-19. Students have been confined to their homes and have had very few opportunities to get outside and enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Bouncing balls, jumping rope, or simply sitting in their yard drawing pictures can bring a bit of "normal" back to my students. These and other outdoor activities are essential in providing healthy outlets for mind and body.”
Ms. Gillespie’s Donor’s Choose Project is linked here!
Ms. Traub: 8th Grade Reading - AESM Middle School
At the beginning of the second semester, Marlene Traub, a reading teacher at AESM, launched a Donor’s Choose project to ensure that all of her students would have their own copy of Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
“The story includes subject matter that is personally relevant to my students,” Ms. Traub explained. “I knew it would be a relatable, yet challenging text for 8th graders. It felt important that my students have their own copy because I wanted them to be free to annotate it and really engage with it and interpret it thoroughly.”
After beginning their novel study just before Spring Break, Ms. Traub was initially disappointed to learn that many students left their books at school during Spring Break, and that school closures would make it impossible for them to retrieve the texts for continued study. Undeterred, Ms. Traub located versions of the text in PDF, and worked to connect parents to resources and technology. She adjusted the PDF to include page numbers consistent with the book, making it easier for students to follow along and stay engaged.
By the end of the semester, over 80% of Ms. Traub’s students had gained access to the book electronically and completed their 8th grade year digging into this rich and meaningful text.
Priority #2: Providing continuity in the education and development of our teachers
In addition to supporting our residents with their transitions to remote learning, STLTR has also worked hard to ensure continuity in our residents’ education and their development as new teachers.
Practice & Performance-Based Assessment
As a practice-focused and performance-based program, STLTR staff have spent the last three months thoughtfully transitioning coursework to virtual platforms and redesigning resident assessments. In lieu of end-of-year classroom observations, STLTR conducted virtual teaching demonstrations; residents prepared and facilitated a lesson on a virtual platform, with STLTR staff taking on the role of students. (The elements that measure instructional planning and data analysis of student work remained part of the assessment.)
To prepare residents for success as they approached the end of year assessment, coaches catered their plans to their residents’ needs, facilitating small-group break-out sessions and co-planning meetings. Residents also took the lead, running their own practice sessions via Zoom.
First-year resident Denisha Patrick gives a virtual lesson as part of her Performance-Based Gateway Assessment
Caity Simon, Director of Resident Coaching shared, “One big takeaway was, best practice is best practice. A lot of the core teacher skills that we have coached and supported residents around this year do, in fact, translate quite well to a virtual teaching context. The experience served as a reminder and reinforcement that good teaching is good teaching. This ended up being a valuable learning experience for residents and for our team.”
Creating a Virtual Community
During a time when social distancing prevented us from convening in person, our cohort community has remained an essential part of St. Louis Teacher Residency. In addition to staying connected via platforms such as Zoom and Slack, STLTR launched virtual book clubs, allowing our residents to study in-depth topics ranging from high-quality writing instruction to culturally responsive pedagogy.
Residents held virtual book clubs in which they engaged in discussions of these four texts.
Jerel Taylor, a first-year resident and Math teacher at KIPP: High School, led the book club for the text, Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, by Danel T. Willingham. Mr. Taylor shared, “Eight of us were able to get together and take advantage of this time to do some research. [The book] went into depth about why students learn the way they do. As a group, we considered ways we could adjust our classroom environment when we go back--how we can make sure our lessons are rooted in conceptual understanding rather than memorization...I was the only math teacher in the group. It was interesting to do this with teachers of different grade levels and content areas and note that we all face many of the same challenges.”
Looking Ahead
Over the last four months, our staff and residents have worked together in a truly unprecedented way to ensure that their students receive consistent academic and socio-emotional support, whether that has been within the four walls of a classroom or through a virtual read-aloud or book club. As we look ahead to the summer and the upcoming school year, we do so with a renewed commitment to the work of developing excellent new teachers where they are needed most. We are proud of the work of our residents and team throughout the spring semester, and we are determined to start the fall semester as stronger, better educators and leaders.