Dr. Elena Tachau
I came to education a little later than most after earning my master’s degree in English education and getting certified to teach at the same time. My adventures in education took me across the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania and led me to my professional home in the Octorara Area School District in southern Chester County, PA. I have had the pleasure of serving my district as a high school English teacher, middle school English teacher and literacy coach. It was my experience as a literacy coach that made me realize that I love teaching adults just as much as I love teaching kids. That led me to pursue administration and I was fortunate enough to serve Octorara as a secondary principal and elementary principal prior to my current role as Director of Curriculum and Instruction. We are a small, rural district, so in this role, I wear many hats. Planning and implementing professional learning for the teaching staff and the paraprofessional staff is the most critical aspect of my job as it has the most impact on student success. I often remind staff that our organization is a learning organization, and if all of the adults in the organization are not learning and growing then we cannot expect our students to learn and grow. Professional learning is vital to the success of our students and the continuous improvement of our school district.
During my time as a literacy coach, I had the good fortune to attend a curriculum mapping conference. It was there that I first heard Heidi Hayes Jacobs speak on curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and why we need to bring it all into the 21st Century. “In America,” she stated, “we have 19th century school conditions and a curriculum that prepares our kids for the 1990s.” She introduced me to questioning my work through the lens of student success in the 21st Century. Listening to her speak helped me to understand that as educators, we are never “there.” Teaching and learning is dynamic work filled with constant, necessary change. Heidi Hayes Jacobs and the work she has done led me to understand that teaching is not a craft to be mastered, but a subtle mixture of science and art (and common sense!) that must continually be reworked based on new learning and student needs. I was able to go back to the same conference for the next two years and each time I came away inspired by my own new learning. That experience propelled me to take charge of my own professional learning and expand my perspective beyond the professional learning that was being provided at the time by the school district. I have continued to follow the work of Heidi Hayes Jacobs and her colleagues and am awed by her vast contributions to the field. Her influence on my own professional learning is still palpable as I recall the feeling I had listening to her speak that first time. She truly was the catalyst that expanded my thinking, my professional learning, and eventually my career.
During my time as a literacy coach, I had the good fortune to attend a curriculum mapping conference. It was there that I first heard Heidi Hayes Jacobs speak on curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and why we need to bring it all into the 21st Century. “In America,” she stated, “we have 19th century school conditions and a curriculum that prepares our kids for the 1990s.” She introduced me to questioning my work through the lens of student success in the 21st Century. Listening to her speak helped me to understand that as educators, we are never “there.” Teaching and learning is dynamic work filled with constant, necessary change. Heidi Hayes Jacobs and the work she has done led me to understand that teaching is not a craft to be mastered, but a subtle mixture of science and art (and common sense!) that must continually be reworked based on new learning and student needs. I was able to go back to the same conference for the next two years and each time I came away inspired by my own new learning. That experience propelled me to take charge of my own professional learning and expand my perspective beyond the professional learning that was being provided at the time by the school district. I have continued to follow the work of Heidi Hayes Jacobs and her colleagues and am awed by her vast contributions to the field. Her influence on my own professional learning is still palpable as I recall the feeling I had listening to her speak that first time. She truly was the catalyst that expanded my thinking, my professional learning, and eventually my career.