Priorities in the Classroom

When I taught at my old school, I was lucky enough to sit on a board in charge of hiring for our social studies department. Along with two of my colleagues, we interviewed many candidates to join our department. The process was really eye-opening for me. I had been interviewed, and answered many of the same questions that I was asking--but hearing other people's responses (and knowing my own views) really helped me reflect on the attitude needed to go into a classroom and succeed. One of the most important questions was a straight-forward question about what should be prioritized in the classroom. The question outlined 4 aspects to teaching and we wanted to know in what order they should be ranked. The four aspects are:

1. Planning
2. Assessment
3. Discipline 
4. Organization

There was no correct answer, as any applicant could justify why they're all really important--and obviously one's personality and strengths would dictate which they would prioritize first. However, when I think about this question, I think that one is easily more justified as the priority and that is assessment. 

In our data driven world, assessments have become paramount in education. A lot of people see this as a negative, and they have some good reasons. When students are measured by one or two tests, much of the holistic ideals of teaching are lost. However, data is needed to see growth and we do want to prove that students leave our classroom knowing that we taught them something. For my classes there are two exams that help me reflect on who I am as an educator: the AP Language and Composition Exam and the North Carolina State Finals. 

For this semester, I will be focusing on data collection for AP Language and Composition. I have made this decision because I PLC with my colleagues who also teach for the NC State Finals and we use Thinkgate to collect and track progress. I have no tracking system clearly established for AP. In the Fall semester I did a mix of tracking techniques, but none of them seemed meaningful. As a result, I have an idea of what I need to reinforce this spring, but it is only an idea--not a clear plan. This is something that I really want to delve deep into because I believe it will be essential to next year's organization and planning.