Why are you interested in teaching?
If you look at my resume and the rest of my website (RalphAmbuehl.weebly.com), you will see that I am not your traditional high school teacher. As a former engineer and college professor, I have traveled the world and know first-hand what our students are up against in this worldwide market. I do not teach because I do not have anything better to do with my time. I teach because it is my passion!
I set high standards for my students and use all my prior experience to help prepare them for college and the real world. I have written many recommendation letters for students that have resulted in them being accepted to schools such as MIT, Yale, Cornell, Purdue, Stanford, A&M, UT Austin to name a few.
Considering my many years as a Quality Assurance Manager, my five years teaching at Devry University and my three years teaching at a Title One high school, I think I have a somewhat unique perspective that allows me to see both the challenges faced by educators today and the best practices that can make us more successful. To put it bluntly, as a country we are failing in our mission to make a better world for our children. We are failing because we are not paying attention to the results of our efforts or all the research that points to better ways to do what we do. We are failing because we are so focused on keeping the Federal and Local bureaucrats happy testing students and filling out endless forms, that we don't take the time to ask the teachers what they would do to make things better. I did not take up teaching to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution!
I set high standards for my students and use all my prior experience to help prepare them for college and the real world. I have written many recommendation letters for students that have resulted in them being accepted to schools such as MIT, Yale, Cornell, Purdue, Stanford, A&M, UT Austin to name a few.
Considering my many years as a Quality Assurance Manager, my five years teaching at Devry University and my three years teaching at a Title One high school, I think I have a somewhat unique perspective that allows me to see both the challenges faced by educators today and the best practices that can make us more successful. To put it bluntly, as a country we are failing in our mission to make a better world for our children. We are failing because we are not paying attention to the results of our efforts or all the research that points to better ways to do what we do. We are failing because we are so focused on keeping the Federal and Local bureaucrats happy testing students and filling out endless forms, that we don't take the time to ask the teachers what they would do to make things better. I did not take up teaching to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution!
What do you consider the key to successful classroom management?
I believe that it is as important for me to teach behavior as it is to teach content. I use teamwork, school rules and routines as tools to teach students to become the moral and ethical citizens we expect them to be. I teach them how their behavior affects themselves, others and their whole environment. I begin with the basics, striving to make every student feel noticed, welcomed, and valued.
In the first few weeks of class, I provide opportunities for the students to introduce themselves to, and to learn about, their classmates and their teacher. I describe my vision, procedures, resources available and how to get assistance. I train them on teamwork, the different roles they can play and how these roles fit into the larger picture of getting their work done right. Whenever it appears that the students have forgotten what we are about, I revisit this training.
As the year goes on I make sure that all students have the information necessary to fulfill their roles, and that they see the connection of their roles to the larger goals of the team. I take the time to visit with each student, to find out what they are doing, to answer questions and allow them to ask questions of their own. I make a personal connection with each student and refer to something that student told me in a previous discussion. I review the effectiveness of their team roles and help them create a plan to improve their performance.
I work with the teams themselves to identify and remove any obstacles that interfere with getting the best education possible. I display data on the performance of each team in the classroom so that students, teachers, non-instructional staff, families, and visitors can see it. I create a "Spotlight on Data" standing agenda item for all team and class-wide meetings and engage the students in discussions about our policies and procedures. I ask the group to spend several minutes silently consulting the data on display in the room before continuing. We collectively own our mistakes and fix them, we look each other in the eye every day, and we celebrate our successes.
I believe that the key to successful classroom management is to establish personal relationships and responsibilities. It is easy for a group of students to misbehave when they see the teacher as an authority figure. It is much harder to do so when they see that person as someone who cares about them and is interested in spending time with them.
In the first few weeks of class, I provide opportunities for the students to introduce themselves to, and to learn about, their classmates and their teacher. I describe my vision, procedures, resources available and how to get assistance. I train them on teamwork, the different roles they can play and how these roles fit into the larger picture of getting their work done right. Whenever it appears that the students have forgotten what we are about, I revisit this training.
As the year goes on I make sure that all students have the information necessary to fulfill their roles, and that they see the connection of their roles to the larger goals of the team. I take the time to visit with each student, to find out what they are doing, to answer questions and allow them to ask questions of their own. I make a personal connection with each student and refer to something that student told me in a previous discussion. I review the effectiveness of their team roles and help them create a plan to improve their performance.
I work with the teams themselves to identify and remove any obstacles that interfere with getting the best education possible. I display data on the performance of each team in the classroom so that students, teachers, non-instructional staff, families, and visitors can see it. I create a "Spotlight on Data" standing agenda item for all team and class-wide meetings and engage the students in discussions about our policies and procedures. I ask the group to spend several minutes silently consulting the data on display in the room before continuing. We collectively own our mistakes and fix them, we look each other in the eye every day, and we celebrate our successes.
I believe that the key to successful classroom management is to establish personal relationships and responsibilities. It is easy for a group of students to misbehave when they see the teacher as an authority figure. It is much harder to do so when they see that person as someone who cares about them and is interested in spending time with them.
Why do you think that students from underserved communities are falling academically behind their more affluent peers? Given what you cited as causes, what do you perceive the solutions to be?
It is difficult for any high school student to envision their future, but it is even more difficult for students of underserved communities. These students struggle more with the here and now versus some ambiguous future because the here and now is so tenuous. In my experience working at a title one school for the past three years and with struggling adults in the five years before that, the students and their parents really want some help with this, but rarely get the support they need when they need it.
To me, that is the first and most important job: to help students see what they like to do and how that can get them the life they want. That is why I begin and end each year with a focus on what they want to do in the future and how what they are planning to do now will help them to achieve those goals. I take note of what each student wants to do with their life and use that to help tie my lessons back to those goals. When the students are working on a project, I try to help them see how that project can help them achieve their goals.
The second job is to teach students how to think and model the values, character, responsibility, teamwork and readiness for independent learning expected in the real world. The attitudes and language we exhibit positively or negatively affect the learning of students. If we are to teach them to listen carefully, reason critically, communicate clearly, and write persuasively, we must first establish the framework for learning. To do that I have to make every student feel noticed, welcomed, and valued.
I believe that rules don't teach behavior. People do. I teach students to behave responsibly and use their words wisely. I train them on teamwork, the different roles they can play and how these roles fit into the larger picture of getting their work done right. I use a combination of small group and large group discussions to explore the materials and provide both the team leaders and me with feedback on what is going well and areas in which the students would like more information, support, or change. This helps them build valuable social skills, consolidate and extend their knowledge, and increase their readiness for independent learning.
At the end of the day, it is all about behavior, competence, and motivation. I know I have done my job if my students model the behavior and competence needed to achieve the goals they are intrinsically motivated to achieve.
To me, that is the first and most important job: to help students see what they like to do and how that can get them the life they want. That is why I begin and end each year with a focus on what they want to do in the future and how what they are planning to do now will help them to achieve those goals. I take note of what each student wants to do with their life and use that to help tie my lessons back to those goals. When the students are working on a project, I try to help them see how that project can help them achieve their goals.
The second job is to teach students how to think and model the values, character, responsibility, teamwork and readiness for independent learning expected in the real world. The attitudes and language we exhibit positively or negatively affect the learning of students. If we are to teach them to listen carefully, reason critically, communicate clearly, and write persuasively, we must first establish the framework for learning. To do that I have to make every student feel noticed, welcomed, and valued.
I believe that rules don't teach behavior. People do. I teach students to behave responsibly and use their words wisely. I train them on teamwork, the different roles they can play and how these roles fit into the larger picture of getting their work done right. I use a combination of small group and large group discussions to explore the materials and provide both the team leaders and me with feedback on what is going well and areas in which the students would like more information, support, or change. This helps them build valuable social skills, consolidate and extend their knowledge, and increase their readiness for independent learning.
At the end of the day, it is all about behavior, competence, and motivation. I know I have done my job if my students model the behavior and competence needed to achieve the goals they are intrinsically motivated to achieve.
At one time or another, we have all failed. With that in mind, what is your biggest academic or professional failure? What was your role in this failure and how did you respond?
When I taught at Devry University I had a limited number of students and assignments each week. That allowed me to be very thorough in my review of student work, be very forthcoming with feedback and allow lots of rework. When I switched to teaching high school I quickly found myself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of assignments to grade. I was faced with two choices: lower my standards or reduce the thoroughness of my review of student work. The problem was that neither of these options is consistent with my reasons for wanting to teach in the first place.
The second problem I faced was student behavior. At the university, we are dealing with adults that understand the consequences of their actions and are relatively secure in their relationships with other students. In high school, I found that behavior is even more important that content. High school students need to be taught how to work with other students.
Over the course of the next three years, I evolved a method of teaching that leans heavily on teamwork, peer reviews and letting the students “own” their learning. The goal is for the students to understand when the work is not up to my standards and fix it before I formally grade it. The big challenge for me was to be willing to eliminate some of the “extra” content and spend the time recovered by doing so on teaching the team members how to interact and do their jobs. I now have teamwork rubrics that move from being totally focused on the efforts of the individual in the beginning to being 50/50 focused on both the individual and the team by the end of the year. Is it perfect yet? No, but it is getting better all the time.
The second problem I faced was student behavior. At the university, we are dealing with adults that understand the consequences of their actions and are relatively secure in their relationships with other students. In high school, I found that behavior is even more important that content. High school students need to be taught how to work with other students.
Over the course of the next three years, I evolved a method of teaching that leans heavily on teamwork, peer reviews and letting the students “own” their learning. The goal is for the students to understand when the work is not up to my standards and fix it before I formally grade it. The big challenge for me was to be willing to eliminate some of the “extra” content and spend the time recovered by doing so on teaching the team members how to interact and do their jobs. I now have teamwork rubrics that move from being totally focused on the efforts of the individual in the beginning to being 50/50 focused on both the individual and the team by the end of the year. Is it perfect yet? No, but it is getting better all the time.
You receive your unit test results back and 60% of your class did not meet standards. You are struggling to manage your responsibilities of planning for lessons and grading assignments. What would you do?
If 60% of the students did not meet the standards, it is obvious that I need to reteach. If the students do not have the foundation in the current material, they will be even more lost if we go ahead. The question is what needs to be retaught?
I would look at the areas of the unit test that most students got wrong and the areas that they got right. I would look for patterns in the results. Are there some key concepts that the students are missing? How do those concepts relate to the concepts that they all seem to understand? Do they consistently get the low-level thinking problems right and miss the high-level thinking problems?
I would look for patterns in the answers based on the grouping of the students. Does it appear that some members of a group are “coasting” and letting other students do the “heavy lifting”? Is there evidence that some members consistently get some concepts right and miss others while their partners get the ones they miss and don’t get the ones they do? That would be clear evidence that the teams are failing in their responsibility to ensure that every member of the team understands all the material.
If the learning teams are not functioning as they are supposed to, I would adjust the teams to make sure that nobody is able to “hide out” or “dump” their work on their classmates. I would retrain all struggling teams starting with their team leaders. If necessary, I would replace any team leaders with ones that can be more effective at challenging every student to learn and contribute. If needed, I would adjust the seating chart to minimize the distractions for struggling students.
I would re-plan the remaining work and if necessary schedule mandatory tutorials for all struggling students. That could involve eliminating or reducing the effort required for some of the later less relevant course objectives.
Finally, and most importantly, I would let my department chair, the parents and if necessary administration know what I am doing and why I am doing it. There should be no surprises when I re-plan. Even if the students are not complaining about the changes, it is important that all affected stakeholders know what is going on and why.
I would look at the areas of the unit test that most students got wrong and the areas that they got right. I would look for patterns in the results. Are there some key concepts that the students are missing? How do those concepts relate to the concepts that they all seem to understand? Do they consistently get the low-level thinking problems right and miss the high-level thinking problems?
I would look for patterns in the answers based on the grouping of the students. Does it appear that some members of a group are “coasting” and letting other students do the “heavy lifting”? Is there evidence that some members consistently get some concepts right and miss others while their partners get the ones they miss and don’t get the ones they do? That would be clear evidence that the teams are failing in their responsibility to ensure that every member of the team understands all the material.
If the learning teams are not functioning as they are supposed to, I would adjust the teams to make sure that nobody is able to “hide out” or “dump” their work on their classmates. I would retrain all struggling teams starting with their team leaders. If necessary, I would replace any team leaders with ones that can be more effective at challenging every student to learn and contribute. If needed, I would adjust the seating chart to minimize the distractions for struggling students.
I would re-plan the remaining work and if necessary schedule mandatory tutorials for all struggling students. That could involve eliminating or reducing the effort required for some of the later less relevant course objectives.
Finally, and most importantly, I would let my department chair, the parents and if necessary administration know what I am doing and why I am doing it. There should be no surprises when I re-plan. Even if the students are not complaining about the changes, it is important that all affected stakeholders know what is going on and why.
Fast-forward two weeks. You see that student performance has not improved. What would you do?
If student performance has not improved, it is time to revisit behavior, competence, and motivation. It is easy for students to lose focus on the future if they are struggling with the here and now. I need to remind them that the future is not certain. Their fears, however justified they may be, are just false events appearing real. The only thing that is certain is that if they think they cannot do something, they are probably right. On the other hand, if they think they can do something, they are probably right about that too. Our attitudes define our reality.
My first job is to help students see how what they like to do can get them the life they want. I need to remind them what they said wanted and tie my lessons back to those goals.
My second job is to teach my students how to think like winners. Winners don’t just happen. They are formed by their values and their character. I need to teach my students to be responsible members of a team. I need to show them how to be successful by working hard and being ready to react appropriately when things don’t go as they expect. I need to teach them how to build up the members of their team and help them succeed. I need to teach them how to behave responsibly and use their words wisely. I need to re-train them on the different team roles and how these roles help them to get their work done right. If the learning teams are working, all students will learn. If the teams are dysfunctional, only the top students will learn and the rest will either struggle or check out altogether.
Behavior is and always will be the most important thing I teach. Some students already know how to behave and they usually do well in school. I would spend far more time at this point teaching them how to be successful and far less time reinforcing the concepts they are struggling with. If I can convince them of how important all of this is, they will invest the time to understand the concepts. If I cannot, they will most likely never spend enough time wrestling with the content to adequately understand it.
My first job is to help students see how what they like to do can get them the life they want. I need to remind them what they said wanted and tie my lessons back to those goals.
My second job is to teach my students how to think like winners. Winners don’t just happen. They are formed by their values and their character. I need to teach my students to be responsible members of a team. I need to show them how to be successful by working hard and being ready to react appropriately when things don’t go as they expect. I need to teach them how to build up the members of their team and help them succeed. I need to teach them how to behave responsibly and use their words wisely. I need to re-train them on the different team roles and how these roles help them to get their work done right. If the learning teams are working, all students will learn. If the teams are dysfunctional, only the top students will learn and the rest will either struggle or check out altogether.
Behavior is and always will be the most important thing I teach. Some students already know how to behave and they usually do well in school. I would spend far more time at this point teaching them how to be successful and far less time reinforcing the concepts they are struggling with. If I can convince them of how important all of this is, they will invest the time to understand the concepts. If I cannot, they will most likely never spend enough time wrestling with the content to adequately understand it.
Imagine you just had your first classroom observation, and your direct supervisor shared 2-3 areas you need to improve upon. How do you respond?
While nobody wants to hear what they are doing wrong, it should be obvious that we all have areas we could improve. I would ask my direct supervisor to meet with me and help me to understand better what I need to improve. I would also ask if there are other teachers I can observe that my supervisor feels are exceptional in the areas I need to improve. I would then contact those teachers and let them know the areas I need to improve and ask when I can come observe their instruction to see what exceptional performance looks like.
I would also hit the books on the areas of concern. There is a lot of literature out there by researchers who have looked at different academic strategies. There is bound to be something relevant to the areas I need to improve. I would want to talk to my supervisor and the exceptional teachers about what I found to see what resonates with them. Just as our students do not know what they don’t know, we are similarly blind to our own defects and shortcomings. By talking to people that understand what exceptional performance looks like I should be able to get a good understanding of how I can improve.
Finally, once I think I have figured out how I can improve and have had some time to try to adjust my performance, I would invite my supervisor and the teachers that excel to visit my classroom to let me know what more I need to do. At that point, I would also ask if there were any other teachers that are struggling to master the same skills I am struggling with and I would contact them to see if we can meet up to discuss what is working and what is not.
Basically, I would be following the same model I use in my classroom. First, we start with a focus lesson to make sure we understand what skills we are trying to master. Second, we get some guided instruction by a master that knows how to perform the skills and can walk us through the thought processes involved. Third, we read textbooks that help us to understand the issues involved. Fourth, we talk with other learners to share both our understanding as well as our struggles so we can learn from each other. Finally, we ask the master teachers to give us feedback about how well we are performing the skills involved.
I would also hit the books on the areas of concern. There is a lot of literature out there by researchers who have looked at different academic strategies. There is bound to be something relevant to the areas I need to improve. I would want to talk to my supervisor and the exceptional teachers about what I found to see what resonates with them. Just as our students do not know what they don’t know, we are similarly blind to our own defects and shortcomings. By talking to people that understand what exceptional performance looks like I should be able to get a good understanding of how I can improve.
Finally, once I think I have figured out how I can improve and have had some time to try to adjust my performance, I would invite my supervisor and the teachers that excel to visit my classroom to let me know what more I need to do. At that point, I would also ask if there were any other teachers that are struggling to master the same skills I am struggling with and I would contact them to see if we can meet up to discuss what is working and what is not.
Basically, I would be following the same model I use in my classroom. First, we start with a focus lesson to make sure we understand what skills we are trying to master. Second, we get some guided instruction by a master that knows how to perform the skills and can walk us through the thought processes involved. Third, we read textbooks that help us to understand the issues involved. Fourth, we talk with other learners to share both our understanding as well as our struggles so we can learn from each other. Finally, we ask the master teachers to give us feedback about how well we are performing the skills involved.
Can you teach students you don’t love? Please justify your answer.
My big concern in switching from teaching college to teaching high school was how I would deal with the behavior and immaturity of children. I can say that I respected my college students even when they did not do what I needed them to do. I understood that they all had families and jobs and those came first. In moving to high school, I was not sure how I would be able to connect with the students and win their trust.
I can say that there are students in high school that I love being around. They are so full of energy, enthusiasm and love of learning that working with them fills me with joy. There are other students that come to class trying to avoid doing any work, having a confrontational attitude or both. Whenever I am tempted to discount those students I remember what my lovely wife used to say. She taught a middle school special education “contained” classroom for 18 years. No matter how obnoxious her students were, she always found something positive to say about them. People would ask her why she always smiled at everyone and said hello even if she got a rebuff in the process. She said that you don’t know what that person went through just to get to school that day. For many of them, her smile and inviting words were the only positive interaction they had all day.
Then I think about my grandchildren and how ugly they can be to each other at times. Sure, it annoys me when they do that, but that does not stop me from loving them. Why would a student’s negative attitude cause me to be any less loving to them? My wife taught me that love is not a feeling, it is a choice. I choose to love the children I deal with at the school, even the most obnoxious. I believe that you get what you give. If I return love to students that are obnoxious or that show they don’t care, I am modeling the type of adult they can be if they choose to. For some of them the concept of unconditional love is a foreign concept. How can I expect them to learn to become the type of people that are successful in life unless I model it myself?
I can say that there are students in high school that I love being around. They are so full of energy, enthusiasm and love of learning that working with them fills me with joy. There are other students that come to class trying to avoid doing any work, having a confrontational attitude or both. Whenever I am tempted to discount those students I remember what my lovely wife used to say. She taught a middle school special education “contained” classroom for 18 years. No matter how obnoxious her students were, she always found something positive to say about them. People would ask her why she always smiled at everyone and said hello even if she got a rebuff in the process. She said that you don’t know what that person went through just to get to school that day. For many of them, her smile and inviting words were the only positive interaction they had all day.
Then I think about my grandchildren and how ugly they can be to each other at times. Sure, it annoys me when they do that, but that does not stop me from loving them. Why would a student’s negative attitude cause me to be any less loving to them? My wife taught me that love is not a feeling, it is a choice. I choose to love the children I deal with at the school, even the most obnoxious. I believe that you get what you give. If I return love to students that are obnoxious or that show they don’t care, I am modeling the type of adult they can be if they choose to. For some of them the concept of unconditional love is a foreign concept. How can I expect them to learn to become the type of people that are successful in life unless I model it myself?
Thinking back over your academic or professional career, please provide a significant or ambitious goal you have set and achieved. Why was this significant and how did you go about accomplishing this?
Probably the most ambitious goal I ever set for myself was becoming a teacher. To understand why that is ambitious, you need to know where I started. When I graduated from engineering school all I wanted to do is be left alone to do my work. I valued making things work and considered working with people to be a necessary evil. The more I worked at making better things, the more concerned I got about the things that help people to work together more successfully. That caused me to move from engineering into quality assurance and operational excellence. I felt there had to be a winning formula and was determined to find it. I interviewed every employee in my company and literally wrote the book on how to do the work we did. Then I had to train the employees on the best way to do their jobs. That is when the fun began.
It seemed like everyone had their own ideas about the best way to do things. To fix that I had to get the employees talking to each other. Does that sound familiar? Today we would call that collaborative learning. I got so good at that my company started sending me to other companies to help them get their employees working together better. Then as things always go in engineering, the company decided to lay off half of the employees. Since they would not be doing any more research in Houston, that included getting rid of most of the researchers and operational excellence people.
After many years of helping people to work together more productively, I could not go back to just making things work. I tried that for a while and earned six figures in the process, but my heart was not in it. I had found a better way and needed to pursue it even if I did not have all the formal training needed to teach in the public arena. I took alternative certification. I taught at the university for five years. Then I taught at a title one high school for three years. Now I am throwing caution to the wind and putting myself out there in the hopes that I can find a school that meets my criteria of an “excellent” school. I am hopeful that I will find that school. Only time will tell if I am right.
It seemed like everyone had their own ideas about the best way to do things. To fix that I had to get the employees talking to each other. Does that sound familiar? Today we would call that collaborative learning. I got so good at that my company started sending me to other companies to help them get their employees working together better. Then as things always go in engineering, the company decided to lay off half of the employees. Since they would not be doing any more research in Houston, that included getting rid of most of the researchers and operational excellence people.
After many years of helping people to work together more productively, I could not go back to just making things work. I tried that for a while and earned six figures in the process, but my heart was not in it. I had found a better way and needed to pursue it even if I did not have all the formal training needed to teach in the public arena. I took alternative certification. I taught at the university for five years. Then I taught at a title one high school for three years. Now I am throwing caution to the wind and putting myself out there in the hopes that I can find a school that meets my criteria of an “excellent” school. I am hopeful that I will find that school. Only time will tell if I am right.