Assessments…what’s the point?
20 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
It seems like I have been inundated with assessments since my first day as a new curriculum director. First it was being trained (and then training) on mClass and Acuity. How do we give the assessment? How do we read the reports? How do we use the reports to guide classroom instruction and RtI? Then, with the Common Core standards, it has been learning the standards, deconstructing the standards, and using them to write quality assessments. I’m reading articles about formative assessments, receiving training on “evidence of learning”, leading teachers through writing higher-level-thinking assessments from which they will be evaluated for the new teacher compensation model, and I’m currently reading Formative Assessments & Standards-Based Grading by Robert Marzano (not exactly pleasure-reading material).
As a former second-grade teacher, I conducted unobtrusive assessment (Marzano term that I’m putting into practice!) all day long. This type of assessing played a major role in my writer’s workshop conferring. I used performance assessments weekly to evaluate my students’ reading growth. Both of these grades were given based on their growth and mastery over the grading period. However, I would say all of my obtrusive assessments were summative. My grading in math was done averaging scores from throughout the grading period. How did this benefit my students? I’m learning the great power in formative assessments and the larger benefit of standards-based grading.
Are athletes scored on their practices? Are dancers reviewed on what they do during rehearsals? Of course not, so why do educators continue to penalize students on the work they did on their way to mastering the content? Assessments should guide a teacher on what to do to remediate, challenge or move on with each individual student. Giving points for homework, participation, and attendance does little to tell where that student is on learning each particular strategy/skill/standard.
Do we continue to do what we’ve always done, or do we change for the betterment of our teaching and the learning of our students?
The Chronicles…
31 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
I have a nine-year-old daughter who loves to read. She would, most likely, choose reading over any other activity. Her third-grade teacher expects 70 minutes of reading time at home for the week. This past week, my little book worm, read 496 minutes. I think you get the picture…
A couple of months ago, I was sitting in a reading workshop with a fellow educator. The trainer said, “The children who read the most, are the ones who are read to the most.” I turned to my colleague and said, “I don’t read to Sydney anymore.” It just dawned on me that because I had raised such an independent reader, I know longer got that “lap time” with her. My friend said, “Choose something that is above her reading level and read it to her.” Great idea! We decided on The Chronicles of Narnia. I was excited to begin since I had never read these classics either. Little did I know, that our Narnia time would become beloved by not only my daughter and myself, but also by my five-year-old (rambunctious!) son, and my husband. The interesting part is that while I have been reading these seven volumes to my family, I am reading many professional books at work about the importance of reading aloud, building background knowledge, and the importance of vocabulary instruction. Like most great activities, what began as a fun family time, turned into a rich educational experience for my children . My five-year-old frequently interrupts my reading to ask what a word means, to inquire about a character, or comment on the setting (I must admit, sometimes it’s so frequent that it causes the reader to react in a somewhat annoyed tone – ahem).
As I write this post, I am in the middle of creating a presentation to share with the secondary content area teachers at our junior high and high school. I will be sharing some reading strategies that they can take to their classrooms. Guess what I section I just finished…Read Alouds. By reading Narnia to my children, I am able to add to their vocabularies, expand their knowledge on England during that time period, share information about knights, dukes, kings and queens, tie the books to Biblical references that they are learning about during Sunday school and our nightly devotions, and model fluent reading for them. Even more, we are having good discussions about the text we’re reading, which research shows increases their learning and solidifies the new content into their knowledge base. In a time of electronics and digital media, cracking open a good old-fashioned book is invigorating. Having my two favorite children pressed up against me is a feeling that can’t be matched. Knowing that I am helping them become life-long readers is invaluable.
I only have one problem…we are on book #6. What do we read together next? Any suggestions???
Can students form PLCs, too?
11 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
As a new curriculum director, one of my areas of interest is professional development. I’m a big believer in using “in-house talent” when possible. Our school system is blessed with outstanding teachers that have a wide-range of knowledge and gifts. I’ve recently begun an after school professional learning community (one of those new educational buzz-phrases). We have looked at using Bio Book Bags to introduce the importance of reading and real-world literacy experiences. We have explored the use of blogging as a means to professional reflection/growth, and how to use blogs with students within the classroom. We have seen how easy it is to set up, use, and share Live Binders (one of my personal favorites!). I love this time of collaborating and learning with one another. I sat down to write this blog and was originally going to write about this particular group. As I began typing the title, however, a different view came to mind. Can students form professional learning communities, too?
Research after research indicates the importance of student conversations about what they are learning. These solidify their thought processes, and settle this new material into their knowledge-bases. This dialoguing looks different depending on the teacher, the students, the classroom and/or the content. They might “turn and talk” to a partner about their writing during writer’s workshop. They can “turn and talk” about their reading in any subject area. They might moodle, blog, or respond on wikis about a piece of literature they are reading. They might work in groups to determine and solve a math problem. But, how else is student collaboration happening in K-12 classrooms?
Are we allowing students to split into groups of their choice to learn from one another about a particular topic? In a third grade class we have an expert on Denmark (he was born and lived there the first six years of his life), one who knows a lot about Peru (having spent a few weeks there one summer), an expert on Ethiopia (she was born and lived there for the first six years of her life). Could we allow the students to choose which country they wanted to study and join that “community” using one of the student-experts to lead the group? Major components of a seventh-grade social studies class involve the development of Africa, Asia and the Southwest Pacific from ancient civilizations to modern times. Why not let students decide which area they want to focus on, let them study different aspects (i.e.religious institutions, trade and cultural interactions, political institutions, and technological developments), and then let them teach the rest of the class in their area of expertise? Student-learning will increase when they have an authentic purpose. Students will practice multiple 21st century skills (wow – two buzz-phrases in the same blog) including collaboration, leadership and responsibility, initiative and self-direction, and communication. The teacher takes the sidecar and lets the students do the driving. It’s a win-win!
Attitude
03 Jan 2012 1 Comment
As I get back to work after Christmas break, blogging is almost last on my “to do” list. So, I post something from Charles Swindoll that is good for each of us to remember…
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of
attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important
than the past, than education, than money, than
circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what
other people think or say or do. It is more important
than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or
break a company. . . a house. The remarkable thing
is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude
we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our
past. . . we cannot change the fact that people will act
in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we
have, and that is our attitude. . . I am convinced that
life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react
to it. And so; it is with you. . . we are in charge of our
attitudes.”
– Charles Swindoll
What can 6th Graders do about Human Trafficking? #endslavery
20 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Education
Last Thursday I got to go back to the classroom, this time to teach sixth graders about human trafficking. (Keep in mind that my last fourteen years as an educator have been spent in K-2 classrooms.) Our sixth grade teachers do a study on various cultures through a unit called Passport to Adventure. They invite in various guest speakers to teach five 45-minute rotations. One of the sixth grade teachers knows that I am passionate about doing our part to end modern-day slavery, so she asked me to come share. For the past several years, I taught a two-week unit on slavery in the cocoa industry and fair trade chocolate. I had to try and decide how to convey all of this information in a 45-minute time period. I knew that most of these students wouldn’t know that there are currently 27 million people enslaved today. I was pretty certain that they didn’t know that almost 20,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. every year. And I was positive that they didn’t know that child slaves were forced to labor 18 hours, neglected, abused and denied an education for that chocolate they ate at Halloween.
I began by using a vimeo featured on www.accessoriesforhope.com to set the background knowledge on human trafficking. We defined abolitionist, and I told them that by the end of the lesson they would know what they could do to fight slavery. My passion for social justice began with chocolate – something I’ve always loved. When my daughter was 5 years old, I read about children her own age forced to carry 50 pound bags of cocoa beans. This discovery led me to research more on modern-day slavery. I heard about girls her age raped 10-40 times a night. I saw pictures of children her age and their parents locked inside a brick kiln making bricks all day long in the hot Indian sun, just to wake up to the nightmare again the following morning. Why is it okay to turn a blind eye when it’s not my child? I decided that ignoring the issue was not an option. As an educator, I have a heart for children and it doesn’t stop at the classroom door.
After talking with the sixth graders, telling them about International Justice Mission, Not For Sale Campaign, and Challenging Heights, I showed them that just by telling people around them about human trafficking, and switching purchases to fair trade products, that they, too, would become abolitionists. I was blessed to receive thank you letters from many of the sixth graders. One girl and her friends started a contest to see who could avoid non-fair trade chocolate the longest. Another student wrote that his parents posted the new information they learned on facebook. I heard from a community member that the teacher in the next rotation these students attended tried to give them Hershey’s candy as a reward, and they refused it! Twelve and thirteen-year-olds get it! They can, are, and will make a difference!
The whys and hows of collaboration
14 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
Collaboration: n. 1. The act of working together; united labor.
2. The act of willingly cooperating with an enemy
Okay, so I’m not talking about strategies of war, though sometimes the life of an educator may feel like a battle. For the past several years, our school system has had “late start Wednesday” – a cause of joy for my third-grade daughter every Tuesday evening. However, the purpose was intended for teachers to meet in grade levels/departments, by school, or on occasion by district to collaborate on various educational topics. I believe some of the best pd available happens in these small, in-house, settings. This morning at a K-2 collaboration, a second-grade and a kindergarten teacher shared what they had learned at a recent workshop on using technology in your writing curriculum. This brought up the topic of Twitter, blogs, and Skype. I shared how I use Twitter and blogs to collaborate with and learn from educators around the world. Wow – collaboration, literally, at my fingertips! I recently read (in a blog, of course) about a school system where teachers log into Skype every morning and use that to communicate with one another more often (and quicker) than by email. Research has shown that people learn better when they talk about what they are learning. So, here is the big question, are you allowing your students to collaborate? On a daily basis? Using Twitter, blogs, Skype, moodle, Edmodo? Good old-fashioned face-to-face communication?
Collaboration:If it’s important for educators, then it’s important for students.
Holiday hustle
13 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
One meeting at 9:30 (that lasted until 12:30), and another at 3:30. Tomorrow: meeting at 7:45, leave for North Webster at 11:15, back for meeting at 3:30. Thursday: present at our intermediate school all morning, then back to elementary for school-wide planning meeting. Friday: meeting at 9:00, then leave at 11:00 for meeting in Fort Wayne….and that is just four days! This was not a part of the job I expected, and yet, for the most part very much enjoy. I love the professional collaboration, the teaching and learning, that happen at these meetings. Fortunately, not all months are like December or I wouldn’t get anything else done but collaborate. I’m particularly excited about by after school literacy collaborative tomorrow afternoon. This will be our initial meeting. It’s going to be a place where colleagues can meet and share what we are doing, learning, needing in our classes. Tomorrow I will be sharing my Bio Book Bag. It will be filled with artifacts that speak to my reading and writing life. It’s a great activity to do with kids. It shows them that we do read and write outside of a school environment. I’m going to have some picture books that I used with my second-grade class to teach various writing lessons. I’m going to include both a professional book and a “pleasure” book that I just finished. My bag will hold several (ahem) journals that I have started at some point and never continued. The last piece will be my iPad. This is going to represent my new step into blogging. I think I’m going to be more apt to keep this type of journal. I don’t mind typing, and can sure get my thoughts out quicker than with a pencil. Honestly, I’ve never blogged from my iPad, but I just don’t think my desktop computer will fit nicely into my bag.
So, anyway, in the hustle of this holiday season (Did I mention that this weekend I have two family Christmases, my daughter’s ninth birthday, and two of her choir performances.), I’m going to try and take some time to reflect on my professional life, as well. Merry Christmas!
Technology take-off
06 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Education
Wow…in the past two weeks I have done more technologically-speaking than in my last five years. As a second-grade teacher, I never felt like I had extra time to “explore the world of technology”. As a new curriculum director, however, I see the value of doing whatever I’m expecting the teachers in our corporation to be doing. So, starting Nov. 21 I began this blog (my first!), opened a Twitter account (and actually use it!), set up a LiveBinder (who knew?!), began using Google Docs daily (what easy access!), and scanned my first QR code (so simple, and yet, so fun!).
My eight-year-old was just commenting last night how only six months ago, we were a one-computer house, and my husband and I had the most basic cell phones money can buy (actually, they were free with the plan). Now, we each have smart phones, he has a laptop, and I have an iPad. We started talking to her, then on how technology is changing the face of education. It was fun trying to project what her education will look like in just a few short years. The digital world is so quickly evolving that what I’m learning now (albeit slower than some of my more technologically-adventurous colleagues might be), could very realistically be out of date by next school year.
Technology pd is just a google search away. We can read about it on Twitter, blogs, and other websites We can watch it on YouTube, blogs, and webinars. We can talk about it with colleagues through Twitter, Facebook, Face Time and Skype. I am collaborating with educators around the world, whom I’ve only ever met through my Tweet Deck. Who doesn’t have time for this? I’m hooked…
Slowing down to move forward
05 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Education
For the past 11 years, I have had the privilege of teaching in a small-town school district. I taught second grade with a wonderful team of teachers who listened to and shared best practices. Then, at the end of last school year, I was given the chance to be our district’s first curriculum director. My emotions worked the entire spectrum. All summer I vacillated between excited, unease, and “What in the world did I do?”. Well, my first day finally arrived and I moved into my new office. It was strangely quiet on my first day of school…not the norm I was used to as an elementary school teacher. Though I missed my former students, I didn’t miss the other aspects of being in the classroom. This surprised me after my summer waffling. Another fact that caught me pleasantly off-guard…I loved my new job from the beginning! Since my entire career had been spent in elementary schools, I began doing some intense professional development. Here is where things got tricky. I love to learn. I love professional development. I also love to train people. The problem was every time I’d come back from a workshop, watch a webinar, or finish a book, I’d rush to my superintendent to tell him what we needed to be doing in our district. Add to these learning experiences, everything being pushed down from our DOE: new standardized assessments, RtI implementation, transition to CCSS, new science and math curriculum…well let’s just say I was getting overwhelmed, and the teachers were beyond stressed. A common mantra from my supe was “Janelle, you need to prioritize.” Oh, but I wanted to get all of these initiatives and practices in place right now! So, as the school year has moved on, I am adjusting to my new position. I have set personal goals. Our administrative team has set corporation goals. And I have to continue revisiting them to make sure what I’m currently researching is in alignment with our current goals. Through prioritizing, I’ve learned to slow down…and we are moving forward.
