Background
My
mathematics department is very focused on student learning and improving
student learning which has created a climate of innovation and change. This focus comes in part from our former
superintendent Dr. Wendy Shannon (2000 to 2012) and our principal Mike Duffy
(2000-2014). Dr. Shannon developed a
culture of innovation within our school through a focus on continuous
improvement, and Mike Duffy holds a philosophy of removing roadblocks to allow
teachers to do what is best for kids.
These two forces have shaped our philosophy as a department. We do not care about teaching, which is focused on what the teacher is doing or
saying. We care about student learning and improving student learning because it is
all about our students.
Department Characters
Our
department is made up of five very unique individuals. We all have a
passion for improving student learning. It is these unique perspectives and our great
mutual respect that have been instrumental in our students’ successes and our
department’s transformations.
1.
Rob Warneke (20 years of teaching experience) He is our
big idea guy who is very much a processor and synthesizer of ideas; in addition
to Rob having those big ideas, he will sit back and listen to the rest of us
during our PLC discussions about improving student learning then he will start
to talk and sum up all our random discussions in a nice succinct talk with the
rationale to support it. He is also one
of the data coaches for our school.
2.
Andy Pethan (2 years
of teaching experience) He was our year-long student teacher during the
2011-2012 school year who we then hired on full time to teach with us. He is our in-house technology guru and nerd
with great ideas and drive. His
non-traditional engineering degree and software background bring an interest in
the real world applications of mathematics. He also developed his own
textbook free open source statistics curriculum (mrpethan.com).
He is also one of the digital learning coaches for our school.
3.
Darren Nelson (19 years of teaching experience) He is the
master of the scope and sequence of our curriculum. If you ask him where
topic X is taught, he responds, “Oh that is taught in Algebra 2 lesson 5.3 and
Geometry lesson 8.9.” When it comes to a lot of the wild ideas we have,
typically he just responds, “That sounds good, I will try it.”
4.
Jen Green (18 years of teaching experience) She is the
Energizer Bunny of our department (part of her energy is from her addiction to
coffee). She often thinks of a good idea or hears a good idea then jumps
in and tries it that same day in her classes. She also offers us a
different perspective since she is the only female in our department, and in
addition to being a mathematics teacher, she is also an English teacher. She
is also one of the digital learning coaches for our school.
5.
Troy Faulkner (21 years of teaching experience) I am often
an observer of the great PLC discussions, partly because I am the only upper
level mathematics teacher in our department. I am very much a task
master when it comes to getting our department to get things done. Sometime
I push my department characters, but they are often pushing me. I have the attitude of let's just get it done
but get it done and right the first time. I am also a data geek and the
other data coach for our school.
We know
each other’s strengths and our own weaknesses. If I struggle with Y but
Jen excels at Y, I have no problems asking Jen for help and she is more than
willing to help, and the next week, the roles might be reversed. That is
the way we all are with each other.
Everyone willing checks his or her ego at the door because we have such
a strong collective goal of improving student learning and our own teaching in
order to get the kids where we want them.
As a
department and individuals, we have the attitude of no matter what kind of
students you have coming in, you need to modify and adjust so that you can help
them learn and you can improve you class proficiency. We cannot do that
alone, but by working together and playing off each other’s strengths, we can
do our best at maximizing learning for all our students. We all have very supportive spouses.
I do not
know why we are all here together or why we have such great chemistry, but I am
grateful for them and the dynamic we have.
They make me a much better teacher, and I hope I have influenced them in
the same way. My department played a
role in our high school winning the National Blue Ribbon Award for high student
achievement in 2010, and my department won Intel’s Schools of Distinction Award
for high school mathematics in 2011.
Most of
my blogs are to encourage others to try something new and different, but this
one is to just pay tribute to my great department members and the amazing work
we are doing together.
