BTSA: An Unexpected Surprise

This morning, the California ScienCenter had scheduled a Professional Development from 8:30 to 2:30 featuring the musings of a nationally-recognized outstanding science educator and free materials for staying all the way through to the end. I had scheduled a date at the PD featuring around 6 hours of planning my 8th grade curriculum. Plans, however, are subject to change. When I and my friend arrived outside a beautiful brick building facing an even more beautiful rose garden on the outskirts of South Central, a large, locked, wrought iron metal and glass door greeted us. Did I mention that it was 8:40 in the morning? "Well, it was a valiant effort," my friend commented in her native dry humor.

I wanted so badly to be at the ScienCenter this morning for two reasons. First, our science department is sorely lacking in materials, and I am the department chair responsible for culling resources seemingly from nowhere. Second, I wanted to get out of a 9-4 appointment with BTSA at View Park Elementary, one of our sister schools in the ICEF organization. By 9 this morning, I had failed in both objectives, and on top of that I was late for the BTSA meeting. Oh yes, and my shin throbbed because I had swung my car door into it in my haste to the meeting that didn't happen. A delightful start to a crisp Saturday morning, I must say.

I hopped in my car and hastily made the four-mile drive through Leimert Park and View Park to Harcourt and Slauson. When I arrived at the BTSA meeting, it had barely started and there was food. My evaluation: "This is a little more promising." It is important to note, for those not in the teaching profession in California, that BTSA is mandated by the state in order to keep your job and is essentially the same work you must do for your preliminary credential. More bureaucratic mess puts my patience to the test. Each of us "inductees," as we are called, have a BTSA mentor, though one BTSA mentor may preside over several inductees' "portfolios," or BTSA work. As my BTSA mentor hit the chimes to begin the meeting and my imagination took me back to the 2nd grade, I was a bit skeptical. She is nice and helpful, but very old and quirky. For instance, all the kids at our school call her "hat lady," because she was a mentor for two of our teachers last year. And, her name is "Pixie." And, her hair is an artifical wine red color.

And yet, she did not so much exceed my expectations as make me feel ignorant and prejudicial for having my expectations in the first place. The first materials which they presented us covered every inch of best practices for classroom management and procedures. It was the type of reading that makes one automatically evaluate one's own classroom as one takes in the information. And the most important piece saw us take a look at a long list of accomodations we could use for our students and match each to the name of one of our students. I am still in the process of finishing that list.

Because of this meeting, I now have created a schedule for self-improvement in the classroom.

Week 1 - Work out all procedures I will have for direct instruction, labs, and miscellaneous needs and drill my kids with them.
Week 2 - Work on giving kids consequences that minimize disruption to the lesson and get them back into the work groove. Tape lessons and note where I did give appropriate consequences and places where I did not or gave inappropriate consequences.
Week 3 - Include all accomodations in my lessons for specific children based on the list I created.
Week 4 - Tape one 8th grade lesson and one 7th grade lesson and look for ways in which I gave students praise. Work on making my praise specific and geared towards creating intrinsic motivation.

It is only 4 weeks into the future, but if I can build on these, it will pave the way for the next 31!