ASCD Inservice

Facing First-Year Challenges

Little support and even less classroom experience combined to make Deirdra Grode's first year teaching chaotic and almost her last. It didn't have to be that way. Grode says training on how to organize the classroom and learning, better understanding of differentiating instruction, and a coach to guide her practice would have made her first year much smoother.

In this month's "In the Classroom with Deirdra Grode" column, Grode shares her first-year frustrations and why schools need to meaningfully consider some basic new teacher supports, like DI, classroom management, and mentoring, if they want to build stability and continuity among staff—and ultimately—student learning.

What essential support did you have, or wish you had, in your first year?

Deirdra Grode was the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner. In August, she assumed the position of codirector/principal K-8 at the Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J. She previously taught 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher at the school. Her monthly column appears in the Education Update newsletter.

Teaching Social Justice

Last spring, EL stirred up social justice in its May issue. This fall, Deirdra Grode talks about teaching through a social justice lens as a way to raise student engagement and consciousness.

Read Grode's latest column, "Teaching Social Justice"

In one example, Grode weaves social justice content into reading comprehension and writing practice tests. She finds students eager to show they can handle more complex topics, and the high interest content transforms a fairly dry assignment--practicing for state assessments--into an opportunity for students to do some of their "most thoughtful work."

Grode teaches social justice as both stand alone units, and as themes integrated into lessons across content areas.

How do you approach social justice topics in your classroom?

Deirdra Grode was the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner. In August, she assumed the position, co-director/principal K-8 at the Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J. in August. She previously taught 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher at the school. Her monthly column appears in Education Update newsletter.

Formative Assessments Transformed My Teaching

Formative assessments—what Popham defines as "a planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they're currently doing"—changed the way Deirdre Grode teaches.

Instead of one grade at the end of a project, student are evaluated, and self-evaluate, throughout an assignment so that both teacher and student can see where adjustments need to be made. As a result, Grode's instruction is more targeted, and students progress to the next lesson with the skills they need to be successful.

These planned, periodic check-ins can take many forms, and help students and teachers tune into their metacognitive processes, as Grode demonstrates with a lesson on gender stereotyping in this month's  In the Classroom with Deirdra Grode: Transforming Teaching.

How have you used formative assessments in your classroom? What worked and what didn't?

Deirdra Grode is a 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher at Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J. She is also the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner. Her monthly column appears in Education Update newsletter.

If It's Broke, Empower Teacher Leaders to Fix It

Midyear, teachers at Hoboken Charter Middle School came to the conclusion that the school day schedule was just not working. Kids were losing focus and falling behind, and certain subjects needed more instructional time.

These teachers knew students' needs firsthand, and school administrators banked on this expertise. As a team, teachers at Hoboken Middle rewrote the schedule to include breaks and various targeted academic support periods.

But you don't have to wait for a problem to call on teacher leaders. As part of a monthly series, ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner Deirdre Grode shares some of the benefits of teacher leadership from inside the classroom. To get an idea of the array of roles teacher leaders can fulfill, check out "Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders," part of the September 2007 EL on "Teachers as Leaders."

How has your leadership found its voice in your school? (Or alternately, what's dialing it down?)

Deirdra Grode is a 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher at Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J. She is also the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner. Her monthly column appears in Education Update newsletter.

Taking a Creative Approach to Test Prep

Deirdra Grode, the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner, shares insight, tips, and classroom strategies in the new, monthly "In the Classroom" column in Education Update. Over the course of the year, Grode, a 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher, will address a wide range of topics including teacher leadership, formative assessment, and classroom management. This month, Grode looks at ways to take a creative approach to test prep.

"Test prep can provide an opening for teaching a wide range of topics and integrating new activities into classroom lessons," says Grode. "The possibilities for merging test preparation with the current curriculum are endless when you start thinking creatively." Bored with traditional prep methods, Grode began embedding test preparation into the curriculum by modeling questions from state tests using chapters from the textbook, novels, song lyrics, Nobel laureate bios, and other texts.

What type of creative test-prep activities do you do with your classes?

Deirdra Grode is a 7th and 8th grade social studies and language arts teacher at Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J. She is also the 2008 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award winner. Her monthly column appears in Education Update newsletter.