Submitted by April Hampton
May 2015
Sean McComb spoke about the importance of sparking hope into education as students continue to pursue their goals and ambitions. McComb, the 2014 Teacher of the Year, discussed how hope in education is not a wish, like some define the word, but rather it is a belief in the future of within oneself. Providing students the hope and optimism a student needs, students can strive, and be more successful socially and academically.
Sean McComb uses interventitive tutoring so increase skill building, such as time management and organization inside his classroom. Using functional skills in the classroom is important to teach students because not all students receive the same opportunities to learn these skills from home. McComb also likes to provide students with college knowledge, because most students at the school district he teaches at are first time college bound students. Hyperseeing is also a concept that McComb likes to focus on because this idea stems from Michael Angelo, and McComb believes like art, education will set a student free and draw out information as students begin to shape themselves into the characters they want to become. As a teacher, it is also essential that a teacher has high expectations. When a teacher has high expectations, as teachers, one can position themselves to change the expectations that students have for themselves. McComb expressed that in order to succeed in school, whether you are taking any assessments or high-stakes tests, students need to have high expectations, and teachers need to employ a culture of learning, which essentially demonstrates differentiated learning.
In order for students to achieve, there are many components to success, which McComb described as having a growth mindset, employing various learning strategies, teaching social skills, perseverance, and positive behaviors. The best indicator of success, as McComb believes and has read about is social capital because people learn best with positive relationships, and an optimistic mind.
Lastly, assessment is a key component in today’s system that makes an impact on state and country student achievement. Assessment is multidimensional and sees how students are able to progress and learn throughout the school year. Sean McComb says he likes to employ different learning strategies which include vlogs, writing assignments, skits, testing, and student portfolios. Like Berliner, McComb says that PISA describes America as a low achieving country, but it is actually succeeding because PISA does not account for the amount of students on FARMs. America’s test scores have improved drastically over the years, but the media and other contributors only focus on the small components of the PISA, other than the whole picture. Sean McComb is an inspiring speaker and teacher. His optimism and view should be heard by many others who feel discouraged by the media’s constant bashing on America’s achievement scores, and by teachers who are beginning in the classroom, or struggling at a school. By creating a virtuous cycle of positive teams, students and teachers can achieve more support, compassion, and respect in the classroom, as well an improvement in achievement and test scores. To learn more about Sean McComb, or contact him on Twitter @Mr_McComb for more information and to join the conversation. Visit this page for more information about Sean McComb http://neatoday.org/2014/04/30/meet-sean-mccomb-2014-national-teacher-of-the-year/
