27 posts tagged “school”
...... that I am tired of the current trend in education that if we just rearrange how we figure grades that children will appear to be learning more and therefore, they did - all without any further effort on the part of the kids, or the teachers?
Formative assessment, the walking around the room and working with students until you know that everyone "got it" before you give a quiz or test is and always has been a part of my style. Letting a kid do 3 extra problems to make up for the ones he bombed on the last test but now knows well how to do is something that most of us have done at one time or another. Assigning a "group grade" just because we are too lazy to let each kid show what he knows has never been part of my practice. I take late work when there's a reason - even if the reason is, "I didn't quite understand this so could you help me after school and I can turn it in tomorrow."
I cannot in good conscience let a kid have the same high grade when he turns something in 4 weeks after his classmates turned theirs in on the deadline (see above for late work). I cannot give a kid 50% when he did not make any attempt to submit an assignment. Every assignment, yes EVERY assignment that is scored in my classroom demonstrates a student's mastery of science standards or building goals as stated in our School Improvement Plan. For me to mark off an assignment as half-done when in fact the student showed no mastery of a standard being measured is just not valid. The student did not "half-way" master something when there is no evidence.
This takes us full cycle to the late work issue. If a kid does not complete something, should I mark it with an I and give him extended time to show that he can meet the standard? How much time? My principal doesn't have a problem with a student carrying an I in a sophomore class until the week before graduation, when he suddenly realizes that he needed to submit that photosynthesis lab to get credit for 1st semester biology. The kid should be able to come to me and do the lab at that time, for full credit. What? I would have to spend a few hours re-teaching the concepts and helping him do a prelab write-up including safety, procuring materials, making the sodium bicarbonate and bromthymol blue solutions, help him set up, hang around each day for a week while he records a daily measurement, and then help him through the data analysis and conclusion. Oh, he could just do some lame simulation or alternative lab, maybe online? I should have a video copy of the lab available for cases just like this (made with my own videocamera because my building does not have one)?
Which brings us to the issue that we already face by taking late work when students choose to do it - our time. When I assign something to be due on say, Tuesday, I usually have blocked 1-4 hours off that evening to grade/assess/give feedback.whatever the assignment. When I get only 70% (on a good day) of those assignments, that means the rest will come in the week grades are due because someone's parent decides they need to pass (get a C, a B, whatever.) Forget that I might have had a committment on my own time that week. I get to score the work and make sure the grade is recorded before the onnline gradebook closes up at the stroke of midnight.
My solutions:
1. All assignments not submitted on time automatically revert to the alternate assignment. This is either something more difficult for the student but simpler for me to assess, or a simple textbook worksheet packet that the student comes in after school and corrects himself. Little or no time on my part.
2. We will take photos of all labs in progress and keep a sample set of reasonable data. The procrastinator can then do the normal write-up, look at teh pictures, and use the data to do an analysis. As I see it, the standard for lab technique would not have been met, so there will be some kind of grade penalty for not meeting that standard. The assessment-for-learning purists would argue that this is a performance or behavior thing and should not be assessed at all, but I will disagree. Perhaps they would be pleased with a dental hygenist who's never actually worked on a live person, but who's watched lots of movies about cleaning teeth.
3. No summative assessment (test or quiz) will be given until a student has completed the "formative," practice, or whatever. On test day, the student will work on making things up while the others take the test. He can then take the test on his own time, later. Whenever is fine. It will be an alternative test, possibly essay.
whew. Do I have a plan here, or what? I'm all for fair assessment and have been during all of my 20 years in the classroom. I also insist on a reasonable dose of accountability and the effort to learn from my students. Is that wrong?
There are 70 guppies. I found 3 more the day after I moved the rest. I added 6 Glolight Tetras a week ago and they are doing fine too. Today, a school board member is donating a tarantula. I am beyond excitement. Best of all, TTFH, Princess, despises spiders.
I would post updsates to the room appearance, but it really does not look any differently. I am doing lesson plans for my FIVE classes, 1 of which is new this year and 1 of which was new last year so really has no curriculum yet as I designed the course, so I am busy.... meanwhile Princes TTFH is fluffing about making things look nice and hoping I am sure to scab the Biology lesson olans I will eventually have to create. I've put that class off till last for that very reason. She usually likes to have things done ahead, and it makes her crazy when I have procrastinated ( i have the first month roughed out on a little paper calendar but have not yet put it on the web) so she ends up doing her own.
It will be too noisy for me to do any work requiring thought today so no doubt the room will gert put together and I will have photos. In any case, I will have photos of the tarantula.
I'm still putting stuff away. Of course it would have helped had I not, each year for the past 4, gotten tired of filing as school let out and just left the last several inches of stuff to file in a box under the front desk........ so now I have taken it upon myself to weed that all out and file the stuff that I still need. The recycle box in only half full. Does that mean I threw away most of the stuff I needed to, or does it mean I am still keeping too much stuff? Tomorrow, by the time I leave, it all will be put away so that I can start lesson plans. I will take 1 day for Biology, 1 day for AP Biology, 1 day for Physics, and 1 day for Science Skills. Then I will take next Friday off. OFF. I will NOT go in, I will NOT. And I will just hope that TTFH is not in next week, or I will have to stay in my classroom with my door closed and my AC on. Yes, I have certainly taken what others felt was a lemon of a room and made it into a lovely margarita. Others will want to teach there. They already want to come and sit at my desk and look at the mountain :-)
I'm going to be much more gentle with last year's new hire. I'm just now seeing how much help he truly needed. I think that since the last new science teacher I worked with was TTFH, my perspective on what new teachers need is a little slanted. SO, we are back to square one with him, now that he has had his year to make every mistake inthe book. I picked spitwads and gum off the ceiling in his classroom as I was moving in, for pete's sake.
The author deals with why kids are not productive - the real, underlying cause of why a kid isn't doing something. It might be that he lacks the ability to write letters on the page while still keeping the meaning of his thought in his head, or many other things....
I'm going for a run. It has finally cooled off a bit and the sky is beautiful.
Announcement:
It is totally possible to actually keep walking on an escalator. Totally.
Garage sale finds:
1. Grocery sack full of yarn, not more than 2 skeins the same color. Some will be used at school and my mom scabbed some. $4.
2. 33 Star Wars pencils and one random Happy Halloween pencil, $0.50
I later went for a run with the new headphones and yes they DO stay in place and yes they DO sound lovely and my left ear still hurts from the stupid iPod ear buds that came with.
ya - typing madly again for a week. Spent the 1st week of Christmas break on school stuff and now almost, almost finished with first draft of Ch. 2. OTOH, Biology is pretty well done until semester. Tomorrow, I will go to school and finish prep for physics and intro for the rest of the semester. And of course a ton of grading. But for now, until tomorrow AM, I am writing. I need to update with all the Christmas happenings too - but for now, I am writing.
Inertia demo
Here is my Friday, as posted to a support group for those trying to get a grip on their lives and time. I'd love to post the responses as so far I have gotten 2 very helpful posts, both suggesting that I got a lot more accomplished than I thought, but I am sure there are copyright issues. Here is the post:
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Advice with time, please. Inservice; no kids. Meetings (oh YAY!) Here was my plan:
1. Remove all materials from parts of chemical storage room so electrician can install electrical outlets as per email received late yesterday.
2. Set up new inbox system a la Frank
3. Lay out curriculum map for Biology; work 1 hour after meetings
4. Replace materials in storeroom after electricians finish
Actual day:
5:15 AM arrived at school to clean out an area of the chemical storage room so that electricians could install some outlets. Tons of stuff from cupboards in chem storage room moved to lab tables in classroom to accommodate expensive electrician
7:20 AM stopped cleaning and had coffee with a mentee
7:45 AM went to mandatory staff meeting; did not take any papers to grade because it's rude
10:25 AM meetings over
10:25-10:40 AM spoke briefly with a department member
10:40-10:50ish returned a container to the local florist
11-ish-11:50 had lunch at local hangout with teacher-friends
12:00 -1:20 department meeting to deal with decisions on curriculum mapping
1:20 called maintainence to see where electricians were; learned that they were out on an emergency and would arrive instead on Tuesday or Wednesday.
******* ARGH now stuff is all over lab and we have labs scheduled for Tuesday.
1:20-1:40 whined and drowned sorrows in a diet coke
1:40-2:30 began curriculum mapping of one of my courses
2:40 received email from 1 department member including her (incorrectly) completed curriculum map
2:45-ish principal stopped by to debrief department meeting
5:15 principal left
5:30 I go home, having crossed NOTHING off my closed list except the removal of materials which I now must stow somewhere in order that I and one other teacher may use the lab on Monday and Tuesday.
The time spent with my principal was needed. We rarely have any uninterrupted time to do any long-range planning or discuss staffing. She is new this year and is making a great effort to bring herself up to speed on the building climate and I have a lot of respect for her wanting to be certain that her decisions compliment our work in the building before she was hired.
How might I have averted any of this and actually accomplished something so that I will not be once again working all weekend? I'm always afraid that I will cut someone short when they need something and they will be offended.
drowning,
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What came from it all was a pretty good GTD-style brain dump. Two pages in the Mole. I know it's all supposed to be on pieces of paper but I just can't deal with another piece of paper anywhere. So now I will put all that dumped stuff into the latest beta of OmniFocus to see if I want to pre-order the final release. Then tomorrow I will go to school and get started on my new classroom - that will really and truly finally be organized.
Back at school all last week.
It was so good to see the kids coming in and out to get their schedules. They stopped by to visit, to tell me about their summers, to ask about what this next year might bring. This part, the kids, will be wonderful as always.
Our new principal is OK in my book. She's her own person, and that person has rubbed some staff the wrong way. I won't be judgmental until she personally pisses me off. I deal with administration by staying as far away as possible and choosing my confrontations carefully.
The new teacher in the department will be excellent. He's committed and learns quickly. He is looking to the leaders in the building, the teacher-leaders, for guidance and he listens to them. It will be good.
The textbook adoption process that we began last November was neglected by our assistant principal, and picked up again only after I badgered the new principal into action. She got the ball rolling once again, got us the correct procedure, but too late. The board adoption policy requires review at 2 board meetings, the second of which is the first week of school. Of course the textbook warehouse is OUT of books (I call daily to check), and so now our new books will arrive in early October. So, I got to tell my department to plan 5 weeks of text-less instruction and then we'll see. Of course they see this all as my fault. Argh.
The rest of my department continues on their path to make everyone's life hell but their own. I can't get them to see that it is NOT "us against the students." It is possible to start the year by giving the students the feeling that your mission is to help them, not set up a challenge that most will abandon before they even get started. It is not a competition to see who the kids like best. The easiest job I ever had was in a school where the teachers were great and the kids loved everyone. I want that again........ I've given about all I can to this current colleague. Most things I give to her are turned immediately into knives and used to stab me in the back. I don't know how much longer I can do this. I will stay on the high road and keep it up. It's just too exhausting to have to stay chronically defensive. There are much better uses of my energy. Sooner or later, won't this catch up to her?
What goes on at your building/district during the week before school actually starts? What does your district do to help you prepare for students?
