Althea Telford
Rhode Island Teacher of the Year
Barrington Middle School, Barrington, RI
Grade 8, Reading, English Language Arts

My teaching philosophy
Everyone can learn. That's the science of teaching. Everyone learns differently. That's the art of teaching. A teacher must continually weave the art and the science into a tapestry of content knowledge and skills that support strategic reading, writing, speaking, and listening for all students.

My philosophy in action
Action is the key component for facilitating my educational philosophy. A teacher needs to be an active facilitator who keeps all students actively engaged. There are many factors that contribute to active engagement. First, the classroom culture needs to nurture, acknowledge, and support significant individual contributions. Second, students need to be given many opportunities to make noteworthy contributions by interacting with text and with one another. Third, teachers need to model their own meta-cognitive strategies. They need to verbalize the mental actions that help them construct profound meaning, generate relevant analyses, and propose logical syntheses. They should also routinely encourage students to do the same. Finally, all of these factors should be framed with an understanding of students’ learning differences.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
My husband and I are extremely proud of our Scottish ancestry. In fact, we are so proud that my husband owns eight different kilts, and he wears them regularly. Often, he’ll ask me to identify my favorite kilt. Invariably, I’ll answer, “My favorite is the one you’re wearing right now.” I’ve come to think of this response as optimism-by-proximity. I like all of his kilts, so the one I like the best is the one I’m closest to at that point in time. The same is true about identifying a memorable, renewing teaching experience. Because teaching language arts is a kaleidoscope of human dynamics, every day provides a renewing experience. These daily experiences keep teaching fulfilling because the kaleidoscope continually turns, all the pieces fall into place once more, and beautiful new patterns are created. Optimism-by-proximity precludes that my most renewing experience is the most recent turn of the kaleidoscope……

The New Standards Middle Grades English Language Arts Reference Examination….. The raw power of words never ceases to amaze me. It’s mind-boggling that such an antiseptic string of text can spawn such physical and psychological upheaval. Physically, my blood pressure rose, my pulse rate quickened, and my breathing was quick and shallow. Psychologically, my frustration trapped me in a web of self-righteous indignation. Daily, I stared at the teacher’s manual for the practice test and wasted an inordinate amount of time hyperventilating and complaining to anyone who would listen. Finally, I realized that I might as well stop grumbling. I was a powerless victim. I could not change policy. It was time to stop breathing in and out of paper bags and to start preparations for the upcoming state assessment.

I mobilized all my professional energies and designed a detailed unit based on the practice test. It focused on strategies, criteria lists, self-assessment, reflection, collaboration, visible thinking, rubrics, peer editing, anchor sets, active engagement, critical thinking, etc. Every minute would be filled with activities that would groom students for the impending examination. My introductory lesson was a rousing success. It was an inspiring combination of a pep rally and a corporate motivational retreat. Everyone was ready to work. I established a tight schedule. We practiced writing prompts. We modeled response notes. The testing dates were getting close. We demonstrated think-alouds. We inferred. We evaluated. We synthesized. We supported our points with well-chosen text. The testing dates were even closer. We hypothesized criteria lists for open-ended questions. We conducted ponderous text-based discussions. The testing dates were dangerously close. We compared writing to anchor sets. We peer edited, we conferenced. The testing dates were looming. We still needed to analyze models of student work and respond to more practice prompts. We were behind schedule, the testing dates were almost upon us, and I got sick.

In my feverish state, I wrote lesson plans for the substitute. My physical suffering was overshadowed by my mental anguish. It was the day before the test, and I was not going to be there! The next day, I dragged myself to school. I was still sick, but I also felt compelled to be there to personally administer THE TESTS. I arrived earlier than usual so I could get my testing materials. Stored in a highly secure area, they could only be released to authorized personnel who had signed their names in several thousands places. Hours later, I was waddling up the stairs and down the hallway with three hundred pounds of test booklets, pencils, scratch paper, instruction manuals, security regulations, and detailed modification lists. As I struggled towards my room, one of my students ran up behind me and crooned, “Oh, good! You’re here. We were so worried yesterday. Now we can take the tests.”

“Oh thank you,” I sniffled. This was partly due to my congestion and partly because I was so touched by his concern for my health. Then, I considered what he said and asked, “Why did you think you wouldn’t be able to take the tests?”

He looked at me as though I was the village idiot, rolled his eyes, and moaned, “Well, how could we take those tests if you weren’t here? Wouldn’t they have to postpone them until you were back?”

I looked at him and smiled. For months, I had grumbled and complained because I felt like a powerless victim. I was frustrated because I thought I could not change policy. However, in his eyes, I alone had the power to modify the state-testing schedule. Perception is reality, especially when the perception was as gratifying as this one. This was the most renewing experience of my career – at least until tomorrow.

The most critical issues facing educators today
No Child Left Behind symbolizes the most significant conundrum facing modern educators. Its goals are admirable. Its regulations are daunting. Its facilitation seems to defy reality. That’s the enigma. How do we, as committed and competent educators, transform the philosophy and theory that drive the legislation into success for all students? The factors that influence student success sometimes seem to be beyond the scope of our control. They loom as isolated, inaccessible pieces in a complicated jigsaw puzzle. How do we make all the pieces of the puzzle fit together?

Ways to resolve this issue
When my children were small, they were “frequent fliers” at the pediatrician’s office. I have multiple memories of Dr. Lang’s ability to competently apply his medical expertise in situations ranging from the stereotypical ear infections to life-threatening allergic reactions. I also have another lasting memory of Dr. Lang’s office. Prominently placed at the receptionist’s desk was an index card on which Dr. Lang had handwritten the following quote: “Children have more need of models than critics.” I read this quote frequently as I stood at the receptionist’s desk to book appointments or pay bills. When he retired from practice, I went to Dr. Lang’s office to bid him farewell – and to get a copy of that quote.
Our interactions with Dr. Lang showed me that he did not only want parents to follow this advice. It was also the keystone of his medical practice. Clearly, Dr. Lang was a medical expert. However, that was not the only reason for his successful, influential career. It was also his ability to be a model rather than a critic. This might be the recipe for the success of No Child Left Behind: Teachers need to be expert models instead of critics.

No Child Left Behind is the embodiment of an inalienable educational objective: success for all. Instead of criticizing this objective, educators need to embrace it as an incontrovertible goal. While educators are not the only factor that determines student success, they are a major component. To produce success for all students, educators need to work smarter and harder. To work smarter, they need deep content expertise. They also need to apply insightful understanding of accommodations and interventions for different learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses. To work harder, teachers need to be creative, inspired life-long learners. They need to be involved, caring models who exemplify competent strategic thinking, speaking, listening, and writing. By taking Dr. Lang’s advice, they can transform the philosophy and theory of No Child Left Behind into success for all students.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
I love to knit, and recently I decided to knit a scarf with a fairly complicated pattern. At first, I was not particularly daunted by the directions. When I looked at a picture of the completed scarf in the book, it resembled patterns I had knit before. My background knowledge gave me the confidence to continue. However, as I started to knit, I discovered one intimidating factor: I have always knitted from patterns that are represented in text. This pattern was not. Instead, it was detailed on a chart with numerous symbols for the various stitches. Now, I was in uncharted territory. Even though I did not have prior experience with directions like these, I decided to continue.
Many of the symbols in the chart were very similar. Sometimes, the only difference between two symbols was that in one the lines went from left to right and in another they went from right to left. This quickly became a problem for me. I have a very hard time with the difference between left and right. I euphemistically blame this on being left-handed. Whatever the reason, it has always been a challenge for me. Trying to knit this scarf from a chart underscored this long-standing personal difficulty.

As I knit, I started to misread the symbols. By the time my scarf was four inches long, most of the cables were going in the wrong direction. The Celtic knot that was the centerpiece of the design looked more like a hangman’s noose. I ripped out my work and started again. The second time, it looked even worse. I was quite frustrated. I had two choices. I could abandon my work, or I could think of a way to accommodate my difficulty with the lefts and rights in the symbols. I resisted the urge to hurl the entire mess into the trash and tried to devise a strategy.

At first, I started to rewrite the directions from the chart in a textual format. Unfortunately, I realized that this might take me longer to accomplish than to knit the whole scarf. Clearly, that was not an efficient use of my time. Instead, I simply color-coded the chart and the corresponding symbols. For example, when I saw blue on the chart, I looked directly at the blue symbol rather than trying to figure out if the lines in the symbol were going left to right or right to left. After that, my knitting progressed quickly and efficiently. That was because of three factors. First, I was determined to complete the scarf. Second, I was able to identify my problem. Third, I discovered and used a very simple modification to overcome my problem.

I was able to excel at knitting the scarf. I am proud of that. However, I feel even better about what it illustrated for me as a teacher. It reminds me that there are ways to realize the potential in all students regardless of their strengths and weaknesses. In order for teachers to excel, they need be committed to helping all of their students excel. They need to acknowledge the potential in all of their students. They can never say that some students can complete the “scarf,” but others cannot. Instead, they need to identify the factors that might be hindering individual progress. Then, they need to formulate and activate modifications that circumvent the hindrances and lead to success. To inspire teachers to excel, I would challenge them to identify their own “scarf” and what they did to “knit it” successfully. Then, I would challenge them to do the same with all of their students.

One lesson every student should learn
It’s hard work to learn well. Work hard so that you can prepare yourself individually. Work hard so that you can participate as an informed, productive group member. Work hard so that you can apply your learning to new situations.

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