Today I received an email from a teacher who left our district over 5 years ago and ran across our Math Rap from last year (done by our math team in 1 period of PreCalc). It was nice because he took the time to drop me note about it. That really shows the power of youtube and other things, it is a great way to tie people together across schools, across real geography (he is now states away). I had not heard from him in the time previously so it really was a professional connection.
Now the video/the idea is planted somewhere else to see and be considered. Whether you think it is good or bad, you need to think about it (reflection is a mother isn't it!). I slowly see "my library" expanding on media and hopefully seeing some more comments and hopefully new thoughts.
It reaffirms my belief that change needs to be continous. Meaning slow progress on making each course better -- whether thru the use of technology, or taking chances and truly reflecting on what works (and doesn't) and making improvements. As each thing is recorded, created, posted or whatever we are making a log of reflection. Also it starts to make a lasting culture for the school and district....
The big programs -- NCLB, Race to the Top, etc. don't focus enough on creating the cultural change needed in the classroom for true improvement. I am now recommiting the "good" to only try and do "great."
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
PreCalc class writes Algebra text...
I have a dream this year. My class of 12 precalc students are going to write sections of an Algebra 1 text, we will use it as review and to scaffold to our new things. We are going to create on line subjects including printable posters/topics, videos, lessons with problems. We will use the common core and be standards aligned. 12 students, 1 topic per quarter, 3 quarters this year -- that would be 108 standards....
And right now instead of asking how, or why it could not work. I am gonna go with - there is a way to make this work....
And we all know teaching really means understanding....
And right now instead of asking how, or why it could not work. I am gonna go with - there is a way to make this work....
And we all know teaching really means understanding....
Friday, August 31, 2012
Standards Based Grading in a Traditional Gradebook...
So as I align my courses to the Common Core I am really trying to incorporate the core's practices and the idea of mastery versus sorting (grades). Within a traditional grade scale I have worked hard to only use summative assessments (quizzes, tests and projects) and have practice/formative assessment to be only a small portion (~3%, this is more because of community expectations).
I have made this "migration" over a number of years - so this grading scale that requires mastery of topics on summative assessments and does not reward the "head-down, nice kid who does their homework" is now the new normal at my school. Now the next step in the migration: SBG, Standards based grading....
So with the thought of never sitting still and really making the Common core relevant to myself and my students I am including standards that will be measured each quarter. I decided to start with standards that should have been mastered in previous years for quarter 1, quarter 2 will be quarter 1 material and so forth. But our gradebook did not support it - so I made an interesting system that includes SBG on a traditional 93% A, 85% B, 78% C and 70% D scale.
I made the SBG portion 10% of the overall grade this year and simply had the gradebook show a check mark for AM (Advanced Mastery) & M (Mastery) and MISSING for IM (Initial Mastery) and NM (No Mastery). I adjusted my syllabus to explain that these Standards are always graded per the last check (not the highest score) and made the conversion to a grade happen behind what the students and parents see. (I convert AM to 10/10, M to 8-9/10, IM 6/10 and NM 5/10 (I don't believe in entering zeros).
I then tie the Standards to my classroom rule that the instructor (me) can create requirements to rework any score less than 85%. This way I can give more targeted instruction and practice to students whose skills are IM and NM. It has taken more work on entering the items and making descriptions fit but I have a framework within my gradebook and it is a good step - a step with a continous improvement mentality. I really believe that the most important thing I am discovering as 6th year teacher is small steps every year result in big changes.
My hope is to see improvement in the standards that are measured (hoping to do about 50ish per course). I plan to check them on the cumulative final and look at power test results over 2 years (state testing and ACT).
I have made this "migration" over a number of years - so this grading scale that requires mastery of topics on summative assessments and does not reward the "head-down, nice kid who does their homework" is now the new normal at my school. Now the next step in the migration: SBG, Standards based grading....
So with the thought of never sitting still and really making the Common core relevant to myself and my students I am including standards that will be measured each quarter. I decided to start with standards that should have been mastered in previous years for quarter 1, quarter 2 will be quarter 1 material and so forth. But our gradebook did not support it - so I made an interesting system that includes SBG on a traditional 93% A, 85% B, 78% C and 70% D scale.
I made the SBG portion 10% of the overall grade this year and simply had the gradebook show a check mark for AM (Advanced Mastery) & M (Mastery) and MISSING for IM (Initial Mastery) and NM (No Mastery). I adjusted my syllabus to explain that these Standards are always graded per the last check (not the highest score) and made the conversion to a grade happen behind what the students and parents see. (I convert AM to 10/10, M to 8-9/10, IM 6/10 and NM 5/10 (I don't believe in entering zeros).
I then tie the Standards to my classroom rule that the instructor (me) can create requirements to rework any score less than 85%. This way I can give more targeted instruction and practice to students whose skills are IM and NM. It has taken more work on entering the items and making descriptions fit but I have a framework within my gradebook and it is a good step - a step with a continous improvement mentality. I really believe that the most important thing I am discovering as 6th year teacher is small steps every year result in big changes.
My hope is to see improvement in the standards that are measured (hoping to do about 50ish per course). I plan to check them on the cumulative final and look at power test results over 2 years (state testing and ACT).
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Curriculum mapping - really helping students?
I believe the pendulum swing in education has made senior staff jaded. The pendulum has swung from one big fix to the next, and the common core is just another swing. Why wouldn't a veteran believe that and be in doubt of this new thing...
I really think the core is the right idea (I do think it is too big 9-12). But now schools are looking for the big fix -- just to be aligned to the common core.
So schools are putting effort into curriculum mapping to show where voids are, but what it ends up being is teachers searching for one place where one standard is shown, or how to add a lesson to hit one thing (one time usually). Where is the mastery? Is student learning really improved? Is this the best use of time for improvement? It may be good but is it great?
I have started to refuse to be part of the swing, I want great. There is too much work to accept good, we must do the great things first! I am fighting energy wasted in large scale fixes that do not improve student learning. I will work on small things - integrating standards into my lessons, real connections and real problems! The common core is a huge migration, it does not happen overnight and even if we change materials, and introduce "quicky" lessons we are doing a disservice to our students. Teachers must move students from current mastery "A" to "B."
Mastery takes time, it takes prechecks and follow up assessment. It takes well prepared lessons that are reflected upon and improved (and shared). A curriculum map that shows a books table of contents that matches the standards however loosely they fit -- it just does not do it!
Time is a precious thing, I will not waste it on a big fix. If we are not careful the Common core will be another swing -- because unless really change is done at the lesson level it will fail.....
I really think the core is the right idea (I do think it is too big 9-12). But now schools are looking for the big fix -- just to be aligned to the common core.
So schools are putting effort into curriculum mapping to show where voids are, but what it ends up being is teachers searching for one place where one standard is shown, or how to add a lesson to hit one thing (one time usually). Where is the mastery? Is student learning really improved? Is this the best use of time for improvement? It may be good but is it great?
I have started to refuse to be part of the swing, I want great. There is too much work to accept good, we must do the great things first! I am fighting energy wasted in large scale fixes that do not improve student learning. I will work on small things - integrating standards into my lessons, real connections and real problems! The common core is a huge migration, it does not happen overnight and even if we change materials, and introduce "quicky" lessons we are doing a disservice to our students. Teachers must move students from current mastery "A" to "B."
Mastery takes time, it takes prechecks and follow up assessment. It takes well prepared lessons that are reflected upon and improved (and shared). A curriculum map that shows a books table of contents that matches the standards however loosely they fit -- it just does not do it!
Time is a precious thing, I will not waste it on a big fix. If we are not careful the Common core will be another swing -- because unless really change is done at the lesson level it will fail.....
Thursday, August 23, 2012
"Your job is school." Student reply "I don't get paid." Yes they do....
I have one rule in my classroom. Our classroom is our workplace. A workplace itself has a large set of inherit rules that make my classroom run. I then mention that teaching is obviously my job and their job is learning, And every year I can count on one student saying "No it is not mmmyyyy job, I don't get paid." And I reply "Yes, you do."
It leads to a discussion that I allow to happen each day for a few minutes for several class periods and ends with the students receiving their first open ended project. (I let the discussions occur until nothing new is said).
The assignment is to research what a High School diploma is worth over the student's lifetime. Then calculate the "pay per hour" to earn that degree. It is done as an essay, including citing and supporting calculations.
For round numbers there is a 300K difference in lifetime earnings between a HS grad and an non-HS grad. Then assume 40 hour per week with homework, 38 week per year (rough) and 4 years to graduate. And you end up with $300,000/(40 hr/wk*38 wk/yr*4yr) = $49/hr.
And while the students joke about it, I believe it really helps for the students to see the value in HS.
It is just deferred compensation......
It leads to a discussion that I allow to happen each day for a few minutes for several class periods and ends with the students receiving their first open ended project. (I let the discussions occur until nothing new is said).
The assignment is to research what a High School diploma is worth over the student's lifetime. Then calculate the "pay per hour" to earn that degree. It is done as an essay, including citing and supporting calculations.
For round numbers there is a 300K difference in lifetime earnings between a HS grad and an non-HS grad. Then assume 40 hour per week with homework, 38 week per year (rough) and 4 years to graduate. And you end up with $300,000/(40 hr/wk*38 wk/yr*4yr) = $49/hr.
And while the students joke about it, I believe it really helps for the students to see the value in HS.
It is just deferred compensation......
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
New grading scale, still not grading homework...
Only during my first year of teaching did I have the class grade homework (or me). Since then I have never wasted class time or planning time grading homework. I have always felt it was a complete waste of time, I also have never had homework count for much in their grade and I am trying to find a method that makes homework required without keeping a grade on it. I spent my time on other formative and summative assessments. My feedback methods are working in class with them.
Last year I assigned homework daily, aiming for 2-3 hours per week outside of class. On daily work for practice I always provided the answers and assign work they knew. My projects I assign as homework are not designed for one solution but can have many answers and are more about providing support of a solution (will talk about in a later post). I simply had the students turn in the homework for about 5% of the student's grade. I coupled that to a policy of all homework had to be completed (Homework FAQ). There are 2 sides - the grade side and the responsibility side. I was carefully not to mix the two; so late work was full credit - the consequence for missing homework was staying with me outside of class to complete. But yet their grade had 5% credit.... Why?
So lately I have read blogs on homework they had 3 things. They suggest traditional 10-20% for homework, graded in class or by teacher (nope) OR two other ways on how to handle homework -- 1) assign suggested homework and let assessments be the grade & 2) assign homework count it for a little, based on completion. I have been on #2 for a couple of years and want to move off it -- thru a migration so the community can keep up. But I am not sure what it should look like....
My problem with number #1 (assign suggested homework and let assessments be the grade) is HS students make crappy decisions, they will not do the work. And often by the time they react the damage is too high.... My job is to make sure they learn math, not just give an opportunity. Often the blogs that suggest method #1 seem to be teachers of honor classes or high social-economic communities, where grades motivate. I fear how this would work in my traditional Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 class.
SIDENOTE - for the record I assign very little homework outside of class to my struggling students (Pre-Algebra, etc). They need to have instant feedback. The little I ask outside of class is web based with instant answers (so they cannot do the problems incorrect). Because even if they have answers they typically will not do problems incorrectly, math has become painful for them typically, and they just want to finish....
I feel like homework in my class this year will be only about 2.5-3% (migrating from 5%) based on completion. I also plan to have assigned problems and suggested problems, which they would keep in their math notebooks (plan to check as they start warm up problems each day). Finally the big changes, what I am seeing in my mind is a standards based grade mentality where I select about 10 standards per quarter to track. Also I see myself continuing optional retakes but adding a lot more "mandatory" retakes on the standards, which would/could include additional outside of class work (tutoring, homework) for individual students based upon their weak spots.
This thinking starts the process of moving from grades to standards, but I would still issue a grade that is based upon assessments (tests/quizzes/projects) ~85%, the 10 standards ~12.5%, HW ~2.5%. I think it allows the community to get their hands around what I am doing, making it the "new normal."
As always I would love to do something bigger and faster but I have to take bite size pieces or this becomes too much too handle.
Last year I assigned homework daily, aiming for 2-3 hours per week outside of class. On daily work for practice I always provided the answers and assign work they knew. My projects I assign as homework are not designed for one solution but can have many answers and are more about providing support of a solution (will talk about in a later post). I simply had the students turn in the homework for about 5% of the student's grade. I coupled that to a policy of all homework had to be completed (Homework FAQ). There are 2 sides - the grade side and the responsibility side. I was carefully not to mix the two; so late work was full credit - the consequence for missing homework was staying with me outside of class to complete. But yet their grade had 5% credit.... Why?
So lately I have read blogs on homework they had 3 things. They suggest traditional 10-20% for homework, graded in class or by teacher (nope) OR two other ways on how to handle homework -- 1) assign suggested homework and let assessments be the grade & 2) assign homework count it for a little, based on completion. I have been on #2 for a couple of years and want to move off it -- thru a migration so the community can keep up. But I am not sure what it should look like....
My problem with number #1 (assign suggested homework and let assessments be the grade) is HS students make crappy decisions, they will not do the work. And often by the time they react the damage is too high.... My job is to make sure they learn math, not just give an opportunity. Often the blogs that suggest method #1 seem to be teachers of honor classes or high social-economic communities, where grades motivate. I fear how this would work in my traditional Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 class.
SIDENOTE - for the record I assign very little homework outside of class to my struggling students (Pre-Algebra, etc). They need to have instant feedback. The little I ask outside of class is web based with instant answers (so they cannot do the problems incorrect). Because even if they have answers they typically will not do problems incorrectly, math has become painful for them typically, and they just want to finish....
I feel like homework in my class this year will be only about 2.5-3% (migrating from 5%) based on completion. I also plan to have assigned problems and suggested problems, which they would keep in their math notebooks (plan to check as they start warm up problems each day). Finally the big changes, what I am seeing in my mind is a standards based grade mentality where I select about 10 standards per quarter to track. Also I see myself continuing optional retakes but adding a lot more "mandatory" retakes on the standards, which would/could include additional outside of class work (tutoring, homework) for individual students based upon their weak spots.
This thinking starts the process of moving from grades to standards, but I would still issue a grade that is based upon assessments (tests/quizzes/projects) ~85%, the 10 standards ~12.5%, HW ~2.5%. I think it allows the community to get their hands around what I am doing, making it the "new normal."
As always I would love to do something bigger and faster but I have to take bite size pieces or this becomes too much too handle.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Common Core Standard based versus Standard reference
Had a meeting/training today with another school about the common core, it was led by our local CESA people (Cooperative Educational Service Agency, group of people who support local schools). It was a good training and I am glad districts surrounding me are sharing/networking.
It is networking that I think of first because without it today would have never happened. What I mean is the training was not by my school or district; yet I was allowed to sit in without paying (or my school). This may be the best thing for smaller districts going forward, figuring ways to share without arguing over the incident hours (and that can include teaching time if done right). I will surely help them out when I have something too.
The real meat of the day was the concept of teaching standard based versus standard reference (while intro-ing the CC). And while there were some things I already try hard to do, such as learning is constant and time is variable. I discovered that I need to reflect deeper on my daily teaching as I move forward on the common core. (See this document about SB vs SR RobertMarzano)
Yet there is seeming to be a hole in the software to support this standard based approach. I know what I want/need -- I need curriculum mapping software that operates in a standard based way but yet can be viewed like a traditional planbook (or an online program like planbook.com, planbookedu.com, etc.). So I can make the links to the standard and yet have a plan to look at in a format that works with all my preps.
The problem I see currently is I would spend a lot of time entering info creating material that is not easy to access and use, and I would quickly fall back to system that I am used to. I have about 3 minutes to move from one class to the next, I really need all my things visible in one spot for my day (like my planbook). It seems that there is software to map and software to plan but the 2 do not connect well. The mapping software is all by standard but the lessons are buried 3 screens away with no connection to a schedule. And the planbooks do not track standards well or drive planning by standard (like the mapping software).
So either I continue being standard referenced (nope) or I try and figure a way to marry them.... Unless I can find something that does it all.... (Currently have seen Curriculum Companion and Eclipse)
So I sit here at the end of the day thinking of what my next step is and my goals. The number one goal is to work and plan in a system where the standards guide and texts/materials support. But it has to not kill me either....
So my plan is to use an on-line gradebook which I am in the process of reviewing (planbook.com, starplanit, planbookedu.com & planbook 2.5) using the standard as the lead, connecting my map (somehow) and using it as place for reflection, mapping and cultivate a system where I think of my teaching in a standard based way. And the last important detail is that I can then use the planbook again with improvements thus becoming more effective. Ah.... now if only the software would do what I want.....
It is networking that I think of first because without it today would have never happened. What I mean is the training was not by my school or district; yet I was allowed to sit in without paying (or my school). This may be the best thing for smaller districts going forward, figuring ways to share without arguing over the incident hours (and that can include teaching time if done right). I will surely help them out when I have something too.
The real meat of the day was the concept of teaching standard based versus standard reference (while intro-ing the CC). And while there were some things I already try hard to do, such as learning is constant and time is variable. I discovered that I need to reflect deeper on my daily teaching as I move forward on the common core. (See this document about SB vs SR RobertMarzano)
Yet there is seeming to be a hole in the software to support this standard based approach. I know what I want/need -- I need curriculum mapping software that operates in a standard based way but yet can be viewed like a traditional planbook (or an online program like planbook.com, planbookedu.com, etc.). So I can make the links to the standard and yet have a plan to look at in a format that works with all my preps.
The problem I see currently is I would spend a lot of time entering info creating material that is not easy to access and use, and I would quickly fall back to system that I am used to. I have about 3 minutes to move from one class to the next, I really need all my things visible in one spot for my day (like my planbook). It seems that there is software to map and software to plan but the 2 do not connect well. The mapping software is all by standard but the lessons are buried 3 screens away with no connection to a schedule. And the planbooks do not track standards well or drive planning by standard (like the mapping software).
So either I continue being standard referenced (nope) or I try and figure a way to marry them.... Unless I can find something that does it all.... (Currently have seen Curriculum Companion and Eclipse)
So I sit here at the end of the day thinking of what my next step is and my goals. The number one goal is to work and plan in a system where the standards guide and texts/materials support. But it has to not kill me either....
So my plan is to use an on-line gradebook which I am in the process of reviewing (planbook.com, starplanit, planbookedu.com & planbook 2.5) using the standard as the lead, connecting my map (somehow) and using it as place for reflection, mapping and cultivate a system where I think of my teaching in a standard based way. And the last important detail is that I can then use the planbook again with improvements thus becoming more effective. Ah.... now if only the software would do what I want.....
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