Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: Teaching

  • Sick as Christmas Approaches

    It’s an unpleasant lung and sinus infection. It goes well with asthma to cut down what I can do – yet this time, the disease vector was my grandson. Somehow, the sickness is kind of mitigated by that – it didn’t come from some anonymous student passing through the hallway in an unseen cloud of microbes.

    This time, I got Remi while I was working on the old service station – and despite the illness, I had the joy of giving him the rolling magnet to pick up nails. I may feel a bit crummy – hell, I do feel crummy – but I have the memory of the toddler rolling the magnet, and smiling with every click as a nail was pulled up and magnetism overpowered gravity. He doesn’t have the words yet – but in another ten or twelve years, there’s going to be a discussion about physics with his mother. I may or may not be there to see the interest in physics develop – but I was there when he discovered that magnetism can overpower gravity. It is enough to make the illness an insignificant cost.

    As my daughter took an interest in physics, and moved into quantum, I checked out books on the topic – studying to stay along with her for the next conversation, often in the car as we would drive home. It brought home thoughts to me – the realization that the power of probability combined with chemistry to make elegant experiments, while some atoms manage to stay out of the reaction. 99.9% purity is close enough for what we need – and things happen consistently.

    So I look forward to the next lessons, as the little guy discovers that pieces of copper, aluminum and lead are immune to the power of his magnet. I look forward to his learning of the special aspects of ferrous metals – and possibly moving on to the relationship of a compass to the planet he inhabits. A stuffy nose, sore throat, and congested lungs are a small price to pay for being the grandfather that sets the lessons in motion.

  • What Happens to Credentialism?

    Colleges – and even high schools – exist to provide credentials. Probably the highest example of credentialism is the MD or DO – but most of our programs boil down to taking the correct group of classes, achieving a certain minimum score, and acquiring a credential. You pretty much have to get the credential to get the interview that gets you the job. In this simplification, there isn’t a lot of difference between the bachelors, masters and doctorates in the academy and the classifications of apprentice, journeyman and master in the skilled trades (take plumbing or electricity for examples).

    There are a whole lot of jobs where I lack the credentials to even apply. We’ve developed a credentialed society, and sometimes the benefits of the credential seem hard to find. Sometimes the requirements in terms of work experience seem like gatekeepers. And more frequently, people are asking what is the value of the credential.

    My credential is a Ph.D. in sociology. If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of people who recommend against getting a degree in sociology. I suppose I’m lucky – I got a job in the subject, and retired working at the same topic that interested me as an undergrad. Other folks have other credentials. I’m reading Neil Howe’s book about the fourth turning – and his jacket blurb identifies him as a demographer holding graduate degrees in history and economics from Yale. There are a lot of ways to get the title of demographer – his was, obviously, different than mine.

    After retiring, I’ve spent a few years on the local school board – and teaching jobs are open only to the certified. I started with the belief that certification in special education brought with it some incredible teaching skills – yet as I left the board, I left with a strong suspicion that we had hired people with the credential to evaluate our students, but once the evaluation was complete we wound up with teacher’s aides who did most of the actual teaching. I knew Dave Peterson – and saw more than one of his students go on to graduate and become teachers. But those years of closer observation showed me that Dave was a special teacher – but that wasn’t directly related to a special education certificate. At the Libby Campus of FVCC, I worked in the Academic Reinforcement Center with Connie Malyevac. Connie was a better teacher than I – I watched her reach out and find ways to get students on track, students who were beyond my reach. I was good – Connie was great. It wasn’t a question of credentials – she simply had more ability to reach out and bring students back onto the path.

    Remembering those days when I Worked with Connie makes me understand why we need to be moving into some different forms of credentials that reflect ability. I’m looking at the SAT – the Scholastic Aptitude Test is now reducing the length and complexity of statements to which students respond and from which they determine the correct information. These are the questions my students referred to as “story questions.” The real world has too much information – much of the problem of thinking is just deciding the data that is relevant to the problem.

    I’m glad to have had the University system as a place to work – but I could see how it was breaking down and no longer providing valid credentials. I think on Howe’s work – where his credentials are more the Ivy League degrees than the topic – and I recall the Whorfian Hypothesis. Benjamin Whorf was a Chemical Engineer (MIT BS and MS) who studied the Hopi language and came up with the idea that people experience the world based on the structure of their language. This link shows that MIT still remembers (web.mit.edu.allanmc.www.whorf.scienceandlinguistics.pdf )

    Benjamin Whorf’s name moved into social science fields because of his competence in linguistics, while his credentials were degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT. Perhaps it’s time for us to start looking at developing competence over credentialing?

  • What Education Could Be

    What Education Could Be

    Imagine that you are a student. Fifth grade. You arrive at school and eat your breakfast with your classmates and your teacher. You know all of them, because it is a small school and you know everyone. Your teacher asks about your pets, your family, your hobbies because it’s a small class and your teacher knows you too.

    You and your classmates get into the bus- except, it isn’t actually a bus. It’s technically a class-3 school bus, which means it’s a van. It’s cozy, has seat belts, and it’s easy to talk to the people around you.

    Your teacher asks you if you know why pine trees shape their leaves like needles. And you listen, and you ask questions. Learning is a conversation, things pointed out as you drive by or when you stop to look at something more closely. Your teacher welcomes your questions and encourages your curiosity. Sometimes the answer to your question is known and sometimes it goes on the list of things to research later. The geological history of the area is written in the stones and in the shape of the mountains and now that you know what to look for, you can see it.

    You see ecosystems, in a pond, in a forest, in a meadow, and even on the moss covered rocks. You take samples of water and look at them under microscopes (the kind that use mirrors for light and require no electricity). You can see the stages of ecological succession; You can see the pioneer species that move in on bare stone, a pond that will one day become meadow, and a meadow that will one day become a forest. The future of the landscape is there and you can see it now.

    You see human history, too. Old fire lookouts, and the places that the roads once were, when they were traveled by wagons. You see dynamite scarring that came when roads were built, and you pass stump cultures from Christmas tree farming.

    You eat lunch back at school and your afternoon teacher joins you. Your afternoon is a vocational class. This trimester it’s Building Trades, and you are learning the basics of carpentry, plumbing, wiring and masonry. Last trimester was Culinary Arts and next will be Engineering.

    This could be Trego School. This is a glimpse of the future we want for the children of our community. We want them to have opportunity to learn how to do things, to ask questions, and to reach their potential as confident, capable adults.

    Help us build the future. Do you have a skill or a profession that would benefit the children of our community? Consider putting in an application at Trego School and applying for a Class-4 (vocational) teaching license.

  • Part-Time Social Studies Position Available at Trego School

    Trego School is looking for a part-time social studies teacher.

    Who Qualifies? Anyone licensed in the state of Montana to teach social studies for grades 5-8. That is, anyone with an elementary k-8 endorsement, or an appropriate secondary 5-12 license.

    Part-time? Yes. Trego School is looking for someone (or several someones) to teach four hours of social studies one day a week for at least one thirteen week trimester. Fifty-two hours. With three trimesters, this position could be filled with as many as three teachers or as few as one.

    Why Work Part-Time? There are plenty of reasons people choose to work part-time. Part-time employment is a good answer for anyone with a reason to stay home most of the time. It has the benefit of allowing time in the rest of the week for errands and appointments. And, for those that are unable to work full-time for health reasons, part-time employment can be an answer.

    Additionally, working for a partial school year leaves more time for travel, or to not travel. Don’t want to drive in the worst of winter? Don’t work that trimester!

    Would this still count for TRS? If you’ve already paid into Montana TRS, definitely! This would be an easy way to add some extra years (if not highly paid years, part-time being rather less income than full-time) to a retirement.

    Four hour blocks? Core classes, such as social studies, will be taught in four hour blocks, meaning the teacher will only be expected on campus once a week.

    Why teach on a block schedule? Having taught on both, I’ve personally found the block schedule to be superior. Transition times between classes present a major loss of instructional time. Additionally, short classes prevent students spending much time being deeply involved and engaged in activities. Longer classes allow for instruction and work-time both, which gives students the benefit of practice supported by their teacher.

    One of the major perks of a block schedule is the potential for lengthy activities. In a science classroom, this is typically labs. In a history class, it might well be field trips. Ultimately, the classroom we must prepare children for is the world. Four hours is plenty of time to visit old buildings, to learn the local parts of Montana History through experience instead of through pictures.

    What classes? A teacher could apply to teach each social studies class for the school year (three trimesters), or for only a single trimester (13 weeks). Montana divides its social studies standards into four categories: Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, and History. Classes could easily be fit into those categories (with care to include the relevant standards from other categories), but a Montana History Class could easily include elements of geography, civics and government as well as economics. The categories of social studies are highly interconnected, so there is considerable freedom for class design. In other words, teach the class you always wanted to teach. Share the topic you love.

    Interested? Contact Shari Puryer (clerk@tregoschool.org) for more details and to pick up a copy of the District Application.

  • Part-Time Science Position Available at Trego School

    Part-Time Science Position Available at Trego School

    Trego School is accepting applicants to teach a four hour science class, once a week, to the upper grades. While most teaching contracts run the entirety of the school year, that isn’t necessarily the case for this one. Trego School is operating on a trimester system, which means that an applicant could choose to teach for a single trimester. At four hours a week, and thirteen weeks in a trimester, that means a commitment of 52 hours.

    Who’s qualified? Anyone licensed to teach the subject to the relevant grades. As it happens, this means anyone with an elementary license for grades k-8, as well as anyone with a secondary (high school license) for grades 5-12. In the case of the high school license, the area of endorsement must correspond to the classes taught.

    Out of state license? Shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Montana’s Office of Public Instruction should be making it easier to obtain a Montana Teaching License for those licensed to teach in other states.

    Retired Montana Teacher? Anyone receiving a retirement from Montana’s Teacher Retirement System can be paid up to $21,400 a year by a public school without interfering with their retirement.

    What could you teach? The state of Montana provides teaching standards for Life Science, Earth and Space Science and Physical Science. It would be quite reasonable to expect a trimester devoted to each. Large districts typically divide those into a year of earth science, a year of life science and a year of physical science. Why? Those classes are taught by the same teacher each year, someone who specializes in the topic. Trego school is using the same approach- each class taught by someone who specializes. And, unlike the model of the large districts, this approach is effective in a multi-grade classroom.

    Experience tells me that the same standards can be met in more than one type of class. Earth Science standards might be met in an astronomy class, which begins with the big bang and ends with the formation of planets and the processes that shape them. A class detailing earth’s geological history might meet the same standards. Life Science standards can be met with an introductory biology course, but a class on evolution will naturally include cell biology and ecology as well. The interconnected nature of life science means a variety of classes can teach those standards. Short answer? Teach the class you love to teach.

    Why have a part-time teacher? We ask a lot out of elementary teachers. We license them to teach students from kindergarten up to the eighth grade- and those two age groups have considerable differences. Then, if that’s not enough, we license them to teach every subject; Art, PE, Science, Math, English, Social Studies- for every grade! Allowing teachers to focus and dive deep into a single area keeps teachers from being spread too thin and lets them teach the subjects they love.

    Interested in Applying? Contact Shari Puryer (clerk@tregoschool.org) for more details and to pick up a copy of the District Application.

  • Trego School Adopted New Salary Schedule

    Trego School Adopted New Salary Schedule

    The Trego School board adopted a new salary schedule during the meeting on Wednesday, January twelfth. The new salary schedule will be applicable starting in the fall of the upcoming school year.

    The schedule is split into three sections, by number of teaching endorsements.

    Single Endorsement
    BABA+10BA+20MAMA+10
    Experience yrs$33,920$34,598$35,290$35,996$36,716
    1$34,598$35,290$35,996$36,716$37,450
    2$35,290$35,996$36,716$37,450$38,199
    3$35,996$36,716$37,450$38,199$38,963
    4$36,716$37,450$38,199$38,963$39,743
    5$37,450$38,199$38,963$39,743$40,538
    Dual Endorsement
    BABA+10BA+20MAMA+10
    Experience yrs$37,450$38,387$39,346$40,330$41,338
    1$38,387$39,346$40,330$41,338$42,372
    2$39,346$40,330$41,338$42,372$43,431
    3$40,330$41,338$42,372$43,431$44,517
    4$41,338$42,372$43,431$44,517$45,630
    5$42,372$43,431$44,517$45,630$46,770
    Third Endorsement
    BABA+10BA+20MAMA+10
    Experience yrs$42,372$43,643$44,734$45,852$46,999
    4$43,643$44,952$46,076$47,228$48,409
    5$44,952$46,301$47,458$48,645$49,861
    6$46,301$47,690$48,882$50,104$51,357
    7$47,690$49,120$50,348$51,607$52,897
    8$49,120$50,594$51,859$53,155$54,484

    Trego’s Salary Schedule is unusual in a few ways. While most salary schedules increase with the number of years of teaching experience, few consider the number of teaching endorsements. Though some offer fixed bonuses for coaching.

    A teaching endorsement is granted by Montana’s Office of Public Instruction. These can include K-8 endorsements, which allow the teacher to teach any subject to students from kindergarten to 8th grade, as well as music and art. High school teachers are typically licensed for their specific subject areas -in my case, a Broadfield Science license allows me to teach science for grades 5-12. Special Education, Counseling, and Administrative Endorsements can also be found in public schools.

    For comparison, Eureka’s Salary Schedule can be found on their website.

    In comparison, this salary schedule has far more years of teaching experience included, and considers twenty further credits beyond a master’s degree.

    The base salary for a teacher fresh out of school, without any credits past a bachelors degree would be slightly lower in Eureka, except that the district starts new teachers at step three on the schedule. Trego’s schedule is similar, but adding endorsements (this varies in difficulty, but typically involves some coursework and passing a praxis test) provides teachers with the more significant pay increase than additional coursework does alone.