Savannah-Chatham schools begin Thursday with 187 teacher vacancies

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Lead Talent Management Specialist Michelle Fox confirmed that as of Monday, July 22, the district has 187 teacher vacancies leading up to the start of school on Thursday, Aug. 1.

About 80, or nearly 43 percent, of the vacancies are for elementary school teachers. Special Education (SPED) teacher vacancies make up another 55 openings.

Approximately 200 new teachers were added to SCCPSS last year through its new teacher orientation programs according to Kurt Hetager, chief public affair officer. "We're always looking to hire and add to the great workforce of our great public school system," he said at the July 22 SCCPSS Media Day.

As the district works to fill as many vacant positions as possible before school starts, nearly 1,000 new and returning teachers attended the district's 2nd Annual Teaching and Learning Conference this past Tuesday and Wednesday.

'Teachers on fire'

Two conference groups for elementary school and secondary school teachers offered tailored itineraries filled with workshops and lectures to enhance classroom management and instructional practices. Some sessions focused on leveraging technology in the classroom while others dug deeper into core curriculum practices for math, reading or writing.

Keynote speakers also headlined the conference. The elementary group heard from Cer'Princeton Harden, a science teacher and national education consultant from the Ron Clark Academy (an Atlanta nonprofit school for fourth through eighth graders). Also on Tuesday, secondary group heard from Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa , the 2014 Florida Teacher of the Year, who was in the top four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. Natalie Wexler , a nationally recognized journalist and author of books about literacy and writing, spoke Wednesday morning.

Bernadette Lambert, a literacy coach and national reading specialist spoke about school culture and climate Wednesday morning to secondary teachers at Savannah Arts Academy, 500 Washington Ave..

Her speech's theme borrowed from singer Alicia Keys. Lambert said she gets "that girl-on-fire attitude but I am a teacher of fire." However, she advised teachers to pace their passion to protect against burnout. She said teachers should be wary of viral social media posts of teachers dancing on top of desks to energize their classrooms because those classrooms may not necessarily be "electrified, energized or engaged."

'Classroom is training ground for the real world'

Lambert framed her keynote address around specific words meant to help teachers create stronger 'authentic student engagement' rather than 'student compliance' with instruction. The main word that seemed to be associated with the others was agency . "The classroom is a training ground for the real world, and people who work in the real world have to have a sense of agency," she said.

She talked about how teachers can turn a student's failure into feedback, which can elevate student engagement and instill resiliency, especially in SPED students. "The point of special ed is to get kids out of special ed," Lambert said to cheers from the audience of educators. She encouraged teachers to consider classrooms with no seating charts so teachers know which students opt for retreating to the back of the classroom and are thus disengaging.

She also advocated for a 'No Hands Up' classroom, meaning students should only raise hands to ask questions, not answer them. She said this practice empowers students because a "teacher on fire pre-plans question-and-answer formats" based on the level of student engagement. She said, for example, there is no need to put students in a group of five to answer what the capital of Georgia is.

Her own teacher-on-fire energy took some time to spread among the crowd, but the teachers eventually mirrored her enthusiasm as she connected their level of engagement Wednesday morning to how students might enter their classrooms starting Thursday.

Members of the community interested in teaching can enact some agency of their own by visiting teachsavannah.com to review and apply to job postings.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham schools begin Thursday with 187 teacher vacancies