Teachers meet weekly to discuss curriculum

Each week, during their conference periods, teachers in the Ector County Independent School District are meeting.

The teachers meet with their department as part of the Professional Learning Community meetings, as required by district administrators. The meetings, suggested by the Texas Education Agency, were one of changes ECISD made in order to improve.

During the meetings, teachers throughout the district gather in their campus departments to talk about any issues they are having with lessons and discuss ideas for improvements.

Charlie Quintela, interim principal at OHS, said at Odessa High they also have additional weekly meetings for department heads to meet with the principal to discuss critical talking points to be taken back to each department’s PLC meetings.

 “The sharing aspect of it is really powerful,” Quintela said.

Mark Crissinger, assistant principal at OHS, said the meetings with the department heads last week looked at passing rates in each class and campus attendance.

“The whole focus is students,” Crissinger said. “This pinpoints where they need help.”

Crissinger, who was a teacher prior to his administration position, said sometimes teaching can be isolating. He said the meetings allow for a good point of interaction among teachers.

“It makes the teaching experience so much nicer,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to grow together.”

On Wednesday morning, the science department at OHS gathered for their department meeting.

Karen Wilson, science department head and advanced placement biology teacher at OHS, said she thinks the meetings are good for the teachers.

“I think they’re very valuable; it makes a huge difference,” Wilson said.

Wilson led the meeting on Wednesday and talked to the teachers about scores on a benchmark assessment they did in October. She showed the other science teachers their student’s scores and complimented the teachers on the work they are doing.

“We are doing a fantastic job,” Wilson said.

Brittany Easley, a chemistry teacher at OHS, said she also thinks the meetings are beneficial. She said they generally talk about lesson plans in the meetings.

“It keeps us on the same page,” Easley said. “We share ideas on improvements.”

In a mathematics PLC meeting at OHS, teachers talked about using incentives such as using stickers or offering small amounts of bonus points. The group went through their lesson plans as a group and discussed when they would teach each lesson. Teachers also talked about having points in their lessons where they are checking with their students to ensure students understand the material.

Tara Wein, a geometry and algebra teacher at OHS, said she thought the meetings were good.

“There’s so many different people that we can pull each other’s strengths,” she said. “There’s never enough of that.”

She said at their meetings, the math teachers divide the units amongst each other and take turns creating the tests and Power Points. She said they have been doing this since last year.

She said she is glad the group meets because it helps her given the changes in curriculum, lesson planning and the upcoming new state assessments.

“I think it was too many changes at once,” she said. “It has been an overwhelming year.”

One of the complaints surrounding the changes has been time, or lack of planning time.

“I do know we are pressed for time,” Easley said. “There are a lot of teachers who stay well past 5 p.m.”

Wilson said she agreed that time is also an issue among teachers.

“The problem is that time is taken away from the teachers,” Wilson said, noting that teachers are often juggling things. “I think that’s the nature of the beast.”

Chuck Isner, regional president with the Texas State Teachers Association, said lack of time is more than an issue.

“The problem is not that they don’t want to meet, it’s forcing the time on us on a time when we would be planning lessons,” he said. “Every teacher takes work home because there’s no time during the day.”

Isner said teachers are required by state law to be given planning time and he doesn’t think teachers are getting their needed time.

Quintela said in the beginning time was more of a concern than it is now. He said as teachers have gotten used to the meetings and are seeing the benefit, the time is not as much of a concern.

“At first that was an issue,” Quintela said of time constraints. “They’ve found it does enhance their planning.”

H.T. Sanchez, chief of staff in ECISD, said there are procedures in place in ensure the teachers are getting their planning time.

“My message is always if you have a better way of doing something, let’s talk about it,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said teachers who feel they are not getting their required planning time should request to sit down and talk to their principals. He said if nothing is done following a discussion with the principal, then they can talk to him. However, he said he does not believe that will be necessary.

“We are where we need to be,” Sanchez said of the current status of the meetings. “The purpose of the meeting is to plan is to plan their lessons together.”

@OAschools