Goals and Objectives

My Developing Philosophy as the Program Coordinator

in an Ideal/Attainable Teaching Environment
I guess our profession is still so young that we dont have our ducks in a row, yet, because my
ideal environment as a program coordinator would not be to allow each teacher to go in any
direction and use any textbook that s/he desires. I understand that different people come from
different backgrounds, and that no one wants to have to create new lesson plans, so they want to
keep the textbooks from which they previously taught, but each instructor using a different
textbook is unreasonable. A textbook (used by all) and a singular direction is ultimately the
program directors responsibility. All teachers simply must be united, otherwise chaos will reign
supreme.
Does each teacher in the program have to teach exactly the same way and use the exact same
activities? No. I dont believe that everyone must be united in their choices of how something is
taught (for example, the mirror activity I mentioned in my post may be loved by another
instructor while I dont care for it). In my opinion, what happens in the classroom is up to the
instructor as long as each one teaches toward a specific end. All students leaving ASL I, for
example, and who may have had a variety of teachers before gaining admission into ASL II,
must all move forward with the same knowledge base in order to be prepared for the second
level. Otherwise, how can ASL II instructors succeed if their students dont already know the
same material? Such a situation would be a nightmare for students and for second level teachers
alike! It is unfair to the ASL II teacher to spend an inordinate amount of time to get everyone on
the same page. It is unfair to the students who are appropriately prepared to waste time sitting
through a mini crash course to get everyone up to speed.
Im not suggesting that teachers should not have academic freedom to add supplemental
materials and make the classes their own (teach in their own unique way), but specific endgoal expectations combined with a cooperative teaching atmosphere would be, in my opinion,
ideal. How could this be accomplished? The program coordinator/director needs to hold
planning meetings where every person feels comfortable sharing his/her opinion in order to
ultimately:
PROGRAM TASKS
establish a clear set of objectives for the program as a whole
create a comprehensive program exit examination (if desired)
determine policies such as allowing/disallowing the use of voice/interpreter
agree to disagree on some points while still maintaining a professional attitude and
treating each other with respect
CLASS-LEVEL TASKS
unite everyone with agreement on a set of explicit expectations for each level that are
supportive of overall program objectives
decide upon (or at least discuss) the weight for each item on a syllabus (ex. Final Exam
worth 20% of overall grade) in order to harmonize on key issues associated with
objectives for each level

choose textbooks for each level from which all instructors will teach (either vote on it or
the coordinator must decide)
identify supplemental materials and share best practices (each is made stronger by
sharing)
submit ideas for receptive and expressive skill testing tools (e.g., interviews)
create exit exams that reflect the agreed-upon expectations for each level (these should
be created by all of the instructors)

INSTRUCTOR SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

encourage daily use of muddy points to aid teachers so they know in what areas they
were still unclear at the end of the class session
design a summative appraisal form for distribution on a monthly basis to evaluate learner
satisfaction throughout the semester, so changes can be made to benefit current students,
vs. only future students (with a traditional course evaluation)
provide guidance for teacher self-evaluations to be submitted at the end of each semester
(this one is a new thought for me, so Im still trying to figure out the logistics)
generate a feedback form to use with each other when visiting each others classes to
encourage growth
advise each other about the best way to deal with needs of specific students