Brenda Zabel
Nebraska Teacher of the Year
Westside High School, Omaha, NE
Grades 9-12, Biological Sciences

My teaching philosophy
To me, the key to teaching rigorous content and revealing the rich mysteries of science is student active participation. From the moment they enter my classroom, students know they are not passive sponges along for the ride. I deliberately engage them mentally and physically in the content and/or process I’m teaching.

My philosophy in action
Peer observation and coaching also helped me measure the success of my teaching. I currently team-teach with two other instructors. Our unique modular schedule and the proximity of our classrooms allow us to informally observe each other’s teaching regularly and sometimes even daily. In addition, each week all three of us are assigned to teach “large group”—a time when all of our students meet as a group of approximately 200—in the same space at the same time for the same lesson. The planning that our team does prior to instruction is powerful because it forces professional conversations about what we will teach and how we might teach it. Theory, research, building and district goals, and learner needs are all pertinent in these conversations. We actually co-teach the large group, and I grow every time I watch one of my colleagues teach. When they use alternative instructional strategies or assessment methods, I can observe how students respond to them and to the teacher’s presentation of them. However, I grow the most from the conversations we have after instruction when we “debrief” our lessons. This debriefing leads to improvements in content, presentation, and student active participation that will increase student learning in the future.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to have a student write, “This is the best science class I’ve ever taken,” or “This is the first time I’ve taken a science class and actually understand what I’m learning.” Likewise, I relish parents who tell me at parent-teacher conferences how much their student has been talking at home about what we have been studying in science class. These parent comments let me know that my students are continuing to learn and process information beyond the doors of my classroom and the confines of a school schedule.

The most critical issues facing educators today
School administrators and classroom teachers need to have high expectations for themselves and students. Classroom teachers have the opportunity every day to make significant decisions that impact the potential for student learning. In each situation where there is a choice, there is only one way to maximize that potential—choose rigor. If school districts adopt rigorous standards and leaders insure that classroom teachers adhere to those rigorous standards, then student learning will improve.

Ways to resolve this issue
It is the classroom teacher’s responsibility to design a curriculum that addresses the collective needs of his/her students without ignoring the unique individual needs that each student brings to the educational table. With learning activities structured to address rigorous standards in the most appropriate way for each student, learning will increase. Furthermore, it is also the classroom teacher’s charge to develop appropriate methods of assessing to what degree students have mastered their learning. If every teacher could communicate on the first day of class what he/she expects students to know on the last day of class and spend every day in class making sure students are engaged in challenging activities that address rigorous standards, assessments should show significant learning is occurring. In order to fully address the needs of all students, teachers must also include parents. A high school teacher may only spend a fraction of a day directly interacting with each student. Actively soliciting parental support improves the probability that the teacher’s classroom efforts will be appropriately reinforced, and that his/her students will make the kind of practical connections between science content and their own lives that will stand the test of time.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
"Teaching is the choicest of professions because everybody who is anybody was taught how to be somebody by a teacher." –Unknown

One lesson every student should learn
Education is a two-way street. Students and teachers must be partners to make progress.

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