A Constructive Buzz in Louisiana Classrooms

How to engage the students who hide.

We all know the students who are good at hiding.  They’re the ones who cast downward glances when the teacher is looking for someone to call on. They utter as few words as necessary during classroom conversations, and slump in their seats to become part of the desk.  We all know these students–they’re the ones who usually need our support the most. Louisiana leaders and teachers are finding ways to engage these students in purposeful classroom buzz.

For the past three years educators in nine parishes (districts) have been working in collaboration with CEL to increase student engagement—specifically, increasing the number of students who take ownership of their learning through classroom “talk.”  The goal is more than just talk, however.  They want to be sure that student conversation reflects substantive intellectual work. 

Job-embedded training in classroom learning labs

In support of this goal, CEL staff and consultants have provided job-embedded training, modeling instructional strategies and coaching teachers within the context of their schools and their classrooms   It’s happening, for example, in Vernon Parish at West Leesville Elementary, which houses grades two through four, with 70% of students qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch.  Third grade teacher Mary Ann Hagan made her classroom available as a learning lab this past year and was thrilled with what she observed.   “’ria (CEL consultant) came into my room to teach.  She didn’t know it was a group of struggling readers.  When she taught, it was amazing to watch my kids talk about their learning.  A few of these students were even autistic.  They communicated with one another.  They turned and talked during paired reading.  It was exciting to watch!”
Zandra Grady, an eighth grade teacher at Leesville Junior High School, echoed Hagan’s excitement after completing a June literacy training with CEL. “I want to practice these skills now.  I want school to start tomorrow!” Asked about the elements of professional development that have been most powerful, Grady said, “It’s a new outlook on professional development.  It’s not a two-day course that we go to.  This way we’re immersed in it.”

Hagan’s and Grady’s classrooms are studio classrooms--places where teachers can gather to learn together in collaboration with a CEL consultant.  CEL describes this professional development process as to/with/by— a consultant teaches instructional strategies to a group of teachers and leaders, coaches the teachers in the moment with them as they practice these new techniques, and then provides guidance and assistance as the teachers implement techniques by themselves.  Teaching is an extraordinarily complex process.  With this model, that complexity is acknowledged as teachers build upon and hone their instructional skills with targeted and personal support.  

Leading the work:  “It’s important to model what I believe”

To get traction as a system for increased student learning, school and district leaders must know what quality classroom instruction looks like so that they can lead and support this work.  Hagan’s principal, Joan Simmons, embraced this concept.  Simmons not only learned alongside her teachers by attending CEL’s professional development trainings, she even taught a lesson in Hagan’s classroom to practice implementing some of the instructional strategies the group learned.  “I wouldn’t ask them [the teachers] to do anything I wouldn’t do myself,” she said.  “It’s important to model what I believe.  Stick my neck out, too.”  

She too was astounded by the changes she saw in Hagan’s classroom throughout the year.  “At the beginning we had a lot of non-verbal students.  By March, these same students were raising their hands, sharing their thoughts.  They were excited about learning,” she said.

The intentional, collaborative work has been rewarded.  This past year, the Louisiana State Department of Education selected West Leesville as a “High Performing School” based on its academic achievements, and the school was one of two in the state to receive a National Title One award.

Administrative decisions support instructional improvement efforts

Simmons supports her school’s focused literacy work by ordering a variety of classroom fiction and non-fiction books so that teachers can access multiple resources at students’ readability levels to support their instruction.  She also plans on continuing to participate in CEL’s professional development through the Parish’s “Advanced Leadership Academy,” sponsored by the Rapides Foundation.  

The focus on increasing students’ engagement in their learning has influenced other administrative decisions as well.  Cassandra Wilson, principal at Vernon Middle School, rearranged the school schedule to ensure that Language Arts teachers engaged in this work could share a common planning period.  The new schedule also promoted collaboration within Professional Learning Communities.  

“How well you teach is based on how much students learn”

In Allen Parish, the mission and values are becoming more aligned with a direct focus on student learning.  “The focus has become:  how well you teach is based on how much students learn,” said Diane Marcantel, Allen Parish’s Personnel Director and School Improvement Supervisor.  “We’re all learning what quality instruction looks like.  We’re also realizing that it can be messy looking.  Instead of quiet, there might be a buzz in the classroom.  A constructive buzz.”

Marcantel is describing a key element of this professional development—the importance of central office administrators and principals increasing their instructional leadership skills.  Leaders participated in these literacy-focused trainings so they could learn about the specific skills and strategies that support student learning within this content area.  A CEL consultant also facilitated classroom walkthroughs to help leaders practice recognize what this learning looks like in the classroom.   Ann Smith, Vernon’s Elementary Curriculum Director, concurred. “We’re beginning to see the Language Arts teacher share strategies with the Science teacher.  We can see…students supporting their thinking by identifying elements within the text.  This has given teachers and principals enthusiasm around improving instruction.” 

While these educators are clearly enthusiastic about the professional development they’re receiving, what’s most rewarding is the impact on student learning. Deborah Johnson from Vernon Middle School summed it up.  “Students who had not [previously] opened their mouths were talking, engaging.  Discussions were more meaningful.  They began to value each other’s opinions.  This [professional development] took me to a different place in my teaching.”