Good Teaching Conference gives teachers a chance to share knowledge

More than 2,200 teachers attended the 53rd annual CTA Good Teaching Conferences, held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Hollywood and March 5-7 in Burlingame.

The conferences, among CTA's most popular, provided an opportunity for new teachers to learn from veterans and for experienced teachers to further hone their skills. Participants picked up tips on a wide range of topics, such as building student writing ability, developing test preparation skills, reducing teacher stress and getting students to teach fitness and nutrition lessons.

"The great thing about this conference is that it's teachers teaching teachers," said conference chair Benee Hopson. "Instead of listening to a would-be expert who may not have been in a classroom for years, attendees get to hear presenters from the classroom who are excited about the skills and ideas they have to share."

The conference included special pre-sessions. "I Can Do It" and "I Have Done It" dealt with classroom management techniques for new and veteran teachers. "Strengthening the Bond" was designed to improve interaction between special education and mainstream teachers.

"ESEA, Part 2" was a well-attended follow-up to last year's equally packed sessions dealing with the impact of the so-called No Child Left Behind Act. Last year's session provided information and examined rumors about the relatively new requirements. In the interim, many state implementation guidelines have been finalized.

"There's still some confusion about what is and isn't required of our members," said CTA Board member and ESEA Workgroup chair Pixie Hayward Schickele. "CTA has put out the most current information and in many cases our chapter leaders are much better informed than most district administrators." She also stressed the important role CTA played in the process of defining what makes a California teacher "highly qualified." "Fortunately, through the work of CTA leaders and staff, we had significant input with the State Board on making it easier for teachers to become NCLB compliant."

Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association President Carol Camparsi agreed that CTA had done much to relieve concerns teachers have around this issue. "ESEA is a badly written law, underfunded and poorly designed to really serve student needs. But, because of CTA, our members are feeling a lot less anxious than last year."

Regular conference sessions covered a wide range of topics.

"Math, Morals and Music" addressed ways to integrate into the curriculum content standards designed to help build character and values. Using song, storytelling, writing, math activities and other methods, presenter Carole Cliffe guided participants through strategies that stress the importance of strong character while building equally strong academic skills.

"We're not here to preach," said Cliffe, "but there are certain character values we all share and certain behavior we expect from our students."

Cliffe said the classroom is the ideal place to offer children concepts they may or may not be getting at home. "Every home situation is different. If it's not taught in the home, it needs to be taught in the classroom."

The activities she presented emphasized traits like trustworthiness, responsibility, caring, respect, fairness and good citizenship.

Sanya Namboun, a member of the Garvey Education Association, agreed that teaching basic character skills is a plus. "Kids are kids. They sometimes have difficulty with things like tattling, not respecting others or their property, or not telling the truth."

A kindergarten teacher, Namboun said her students are are very musical. "Learning these lessons through song is a great way to teach vocabulary and character at the same time."

A session on "Constructive Communications with Parents" offered strategies for building better relationships with parents, even when the parent (not to mention the child) is "difficult." Co-presenters Jane McGill and Teresa Martin, both teachers from Sweetwater, stressed the importance of communicating with parents and administrators about potential problems.

"A parent can be a great ally or someone you dread seeing," said Martin. "When you're dealing with a problem parent, forewarning administrators can keep you off the defensive and keep a lot of problems off your back."

McGill and Martin emphasized the importance of returning parent contacts in a timely matter and not letting communication delays cause their frustration to escalate. "E-mail is great for that," said McGill. "If you have valid e-mail addresses for your parents, you can contact them at your convenience and, if you're swamped, you can at least acknowledge their phone call and let them know when you'll be free to talk."

Kim Emery, a member of the San Bernardino Teachers Association, offered a tip for not getting trapped into overlong conversations with concerned parents. "It's important to make the time to make or return parent calls," she said. "But if time is an issue, I often start the call with 'I only have a minute or two, but I wanted to let you know I'm concerned about....' That way what should be a brief call doesn't turn into an hour and the parent doesn't feel like you're cutting him or her off because you don't want to talk."

At an opening reception at the Hollywood conference, child advocate and director/producer Rob Reiner generated enthusiasm for a new initiative he and CTA have teamed up to sponsor in an effort to get a more stable funding stream for public education and establish voluntary universal preschool. Teachers, he said, will be the "ground troops" in the effort to gather enough signatures to qualify the Improving Classroom Education Act for the November ballot and then to secure the necessary votes. He promised to be the air force that would zoom in to attract media attention, but added, "The battle will be won on the ground."

Thanking participants for taking the weekend to improve their skills, CTA President Barbara E. Kerr discussed the state budget and upcoming political battles. Turning to classroom matters, she stressed her desire to bring back the joy of teaching. "The joy of teaching is those moments when you know you're connecting with a student, when you witness learning taking place, when you know you've made a difference. That's what teaching is all about."

Frank Wells