What is a teacher?

What a pleasure it is to be a teacher!  Reading the updates to the teacher job description at this week's board meeting brought back memories of citing the CSTPs when I completed BTSA to clear my credential 17 years ago during my time teaching at Lexington Elementary.  The CSTPs, or California Standards for the Teaching Profession, are what teachers grow into and prove they embody as they gain experience (and clear their credential).  We at CVUSD have no control over the CSTPs that the state establishes, but we can control how those standards come across to our staff.  Job descriptions are important - they set the bar and reveal a lot about what our district values.  I love inclusion, don't get me wrong, but not at the removal of a reference to actual learning that is best for each student and subject.  Efficiency in teaching should determine our classrooms and routines and procedures.  While that efficiency is dependent on providing a place of physical safety, lowering our students' affective filters, including students in the learning process, and collaboration as appropriate, we must not forget the goal is the learning itself.  As your representative, I hope to preserve that focus on functional learning in our teachers' goals.