{"id":1676,"date":"2021-10-20T13:06:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T20:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/?p=1676"},"modified":"2022-10-31T12:35:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T19:35:44","slug":"ten-incredible-years-five-true-things-ilsa-dohmen-on-hillbrooks-resident-teacher-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/2021\/10\/ten-incredible-years-five-true-things-ilsa-dohmen-on-hillbrooks-resident-teacher-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Incredible Years, Five True Things: Ilsa Dohmen on Hillbrook\u2019s Resident Teacher Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re an educator, chances are you\u2019ve come across this quote by Robert Heinlein: When one teaches, two learn<\/em>. Hillbrook\u2019s Resident Teacher Program<\/a> \u2013 now in its tenth successful year \u2013 is a case study in the truth of Heinlein\u2019s words: the importance of teaching as a community experience. We sat down with Ilsa Dohmen, Hillbrook\u2019s Director of Teaching and Learning \u2013 and one of the first Resident Teachers, beginning her life at Hillbrook in tandem with the start of the program \u2013 to talk about how she\u2019s watched the program grow and evolve over the last decade, and the five true things she learned along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Resident Teacher Program has grown, its positive impact has, too. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“In year one, we just had two Residents in Lower School, and that\u2019s grown to consistently be one Resident in every Lower School grade \u2013 we\u2019ve had as many as nine teachers in one Resident cohort. In the beginning, we weren\u2019t exactly sure how to leverage our early-career teachers, but over the years we\u2019ve seen the impact a Resident has on grade-level teams, especially when we\u2019re hiring great people and helping lead teachers figure out how to mentor them in the course of their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Residents Teachers also have a remarkable impact on the faculty and student body at large. We\u2019ve learned to explicitly invite Residents to lead with their own passions and expertise \u2013 and as a result, we\u2019ve seen them do everything from coaching sports and creating clubs to running classroom-applied research studies and collecting audit data \u2013 and they still<\/em> manage to find time to lend their expertise in things like jewelry-making, robotics, or dance to Hillbrook\u2019s bespoke after-school programs. Residents also bring ideas they just learned in their graduate studies into the classroom with seasoned practitioners \u2013 a collaboration challenge, to be sure, but a combination that is ultimately really great for kids, for adult learning, and for the health of our program.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We teach better when we\u2019re teaching together.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“I don\u2019t think there is a school leader or teacher on campus this year who doesn\u2019t co-teach \u2013 that certainly wasn\u2019t true ten years ago, and it makes Hillbrook a really unusual place to both work and learn. All schools have people who volunteer in a classroom that\u2019s not their own, but Hillbrook\u2019s faculty, staff, and school leaders co-teach routinely all across the school \u2013 across disciplines, grade levels, and teams. We\u2019ve built in larger homeroom teams in Lower School, and also many years hired Residents who bridge grade levels within a discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The fact is, it\u2019s hard <\/em>to co-teach. Faculty at Hillbrook hone that skill over years, and most of our faculty and school leaders \u2013 myself included \u2013 co-teach at least once a week, if not every day. We co-teach for performances and events and field trips, for Reach Beyond Blocks, for Math and Reading groups, and for interdisciplinary projects. And the skills it takes are unique \u2013 it\u2019s not simply an extension of the same practices you follow when planning, teaching, and reflecting alone. We\u2019ve challenged ourselves to really build a new skill set \u2013 and we\u2019ve really seen the benefits that come from consistent, transdisciplinary, trans-generational collaboration. Our students and families benefit as much as our faculty.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the last ten years, Resident Teachers at Hillbrook have lead with their own passions and expertise – a great combination for students, adult learning, and the health of our program.<\/span> <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Resident Teacher Program is a huge head-start for new educators.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“As I\u2019ve met with leaders at other schools who run Associate or Assistant Teaching programs, I see that Hillbrook offers something unusual in the realm of early-career teaching: cohort-based experiences and full integration in the faculty body. As a cohort, Residents meet bi-weekly for Seminar, where we dissect lessons and challenging classroom management moments, and watch expert teacher videos. Often, school leaders and lead teachers join Seminar to share an area of their practice. We also plan and run lesson observations as a cohort, so each Resident is getting regular, written observation from me and from peers in their cohort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Residents are also fully enmeshed in a faculty culture while they\u2019re at Hillbrook, and they stay long enough that they can forge deep connections with colleagues, leaders, families, and students. They aren\u2019t just co-teachers in children\u2019s classrooms \u2013 they\u2019re coaches, tutors, and facilitators. They join protocol groups, affinity groups, and curriculum audits. They also have access to professional development that\u2019s unmatched at most other teaching prep experiences \u2013  if they choose to, Residents can pursue their MAs, certifications, and accrue hours and hours of workshop training in a wide range of topics from foundational literacy to Social Emotional Learning. Our Residents learn so much in their time here \u2013 not only from their lead teachers in the classroom, but also from a broader community of educators and professionals. When they leave, they\u2019re ready for lots of next steps in the field of education, whether it\u2019s pursuing a graduate degree full-time, becoming a lead teacher in their own classroom, pursuing a career in speech or occupational therapy or other educational services, or moving into educational leadership positions, Residents go off after their second year to keep making a difference for kids and families around the country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher training is just the beginning.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“The Resident Program is an unmatched chance to observe and learn, test out practices, and be a fly on the wall for challenging moments \u2013 a gift that gives our teachers the courage to lead a classroom with confidence. Because they occupy that dual role \u2013 being a core part of their grade level teams and classrooms, but with significant flexibility \u2013 they get to witness and <\/em>lead in the trickier moments of working in a school community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I still remember being a Resident in year one and being part of a difficult Student Progress Conference with a family. I was able to observe how my co-teacher navigated the conference, and also add some things to the conversation, neither of which would have been possible had I not already built this routine of co-presence and trust with my co-teacher or with this family. I learned in one year what it would probably have taken me seven years to figure out on my own.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Resident Teacher Program is a great chance to discover who you are \u2013 as an educator and an individual. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“Residents have a lot of power and influence at the school, and an amazing opportunity to practice both being a learner and a knower, a listener and a leader. The advice I give to Residents is: learn what values you\u2019re bringing to work each day, figure out what you\u2019re really good at and what your colleagues are really good at. Practice noticing when things go wrong. What happened before that? How can you share what you\u2019re seeing, and get others to help you figure out what you\u2019re missing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the end of the day, good co-teaching is mostly about good observation, humility, a commitment to constant learning, and great communication. If you\u2019re lit up by those things, then you\u2019ll really like it at Hillbrook.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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