Where Does a Year Go?

The answer to that question is that I have no idea.

My teaching life has taken over almost every other aspect of my life. This shouldn't be a complete shock. I've been teaching for 37 years.

I was trying to figure out why blogging has been on the back burner for the past few years, and it finally dawned on me that the blogging is directly proportional to the change in job assignments.

1. For the past six years I have been directing at least one show a year. (That knocks out three months a year for each show.)

2. Two years ago, I changed rooms and teaching assignments so that meant new preps.
            Actually, my job seems to be constantly changing, so I am having a new class to prepare for almost every year.
            Five years ago, I was teaching five hours of Sophomore English and a class called Exploring Teaching As A Career.
            Three years ago, I was teaching five hours of Sophomore English and an intervention class called Reading Strategies.
                   That was the year, I made the switch to Standards Based Grading. (More on that later.)
            Two years ago, I started teaching three hours of Sophomore English, and one hour each of Speech, Drama, and Forensics. Three new preps and I was still directing.  For Forensics, I was also attending weekend tournaments from February through April, meaning life got quite a bit crazier.
             This past year, I taught three hours of Sophomore English, Speech/Reading Strategies, Drama, and Forensics. Speech is a semester class so I picked up a Reading Strategies class second semester.
              Next year, I am teaching three hours of Sophomore English, Stagecraft/Speech, Drama and Forensics. AND, my brother and I are directing the fall musical instead of the spring play. So the changes continue.

             Confused yet? I am!

3. Standards Based Grading took a considerable bite out of my time. I like it and believe in it, but WOW!
               Essentially, each standard is evaluated and re-taught if needed. There are two practice evaluations and then a final evaluation.
               If students are struggling, we put them into tutoring hub, where they can be re-taught and/or re-tested.
               If they just aren't doing the work, we put them into academic lunch. (A forced lunch with an administrator where they complete missing work.)
              There are 9 literature standards, 10 informational text standards, 10 writing standards, 6 speaking/listening standards, and 5 language standards. (Each of them to be evaluated at least 3 times.)

           Now, there is no way that I evaluate all of those standards in one year. Our State and our English department have designated that some that need more emphasis than others, so those are the ones that receive the bulk of my class time. Since State Testing is sophomore year, I spend quite a bit of time on the State emphasized standards. (Looking back, I evaluated around 20 standards--and some of them were evaluated both first and second semesters.)

          For finals, students choose between 2-5 standards that they want to re-evaluate. (Kind of a cafeteria plan where they pick and choose.) We have written an evaluation for each standard covered in the semester. They complete the evaluation to see if they have mastered the standard yet, and their performance can change their grade for that standard, which in turn changes their grade for the semester.

         And then vacation comes and I collapse in a big heap...!

One of these days I'll figure out how to teach and have a life outside of school. I'll let you know when that happens.

Right now, I'm just happy that I am on summer break. Hopefully, that means I'll have time to catch up on this teaching blog. I have a list of things I want to share.

On the other hand, I don't want to spend too much of my summer thinking about school. I need the brain break.

I sound like a student, don't I? They've taught me well.

Magic Moments in the Classroom

After a slow start to this year, the last few weeks have been so much better. I like to call it classroom magic. (Magic because it just happens. I can't really plan it.)

Magic Moment #1:
Students read part of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and then searched for ten photos that showed people enjoying those rights or people denied those rights. (One student took it a bit further and showed people protesting for those rights.)
   
The next part of the assignment was to merge slides with a classmate. Together, they searched for a song that shared the theme of their photos and turned it into a musical slideshow.
     
To say that these were powerful would be an understatement. "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed, "Imagine" by John Lennon, and Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and "We Are the World" were just some of the songs backing some pretty haunting images.
     
Magic. (It didn't hurt that the students were pretty proud of their work.)

Magic Moment #2:
My classes memorize "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrea for Veterans Day. We study the structure, rhythm, and rhyme of the poem, but mainly we study the significance of the poem for Veterans.  Tiny Town High has a close relationship with the military in our community and many military kids attend our school.
     
Anyway, the students have been practicing the poem daily. Today, I had my classes on the stage in my room for another activity. When they finished that assignment, I had them recite the poem in a darkened room with only the stage lights. There was a haunting quality to this every hour, but 7th hour gave me chills.
       
My small 7th hour class has nine boys and no girls. These young men gathered in a tight group and this is part of what they recited:
       
   "We are the dead, short days ago
          We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
             Loved and were loved, and now we lie
                In Flanders Fields.
     Take up our quarrel with the foe,
            To you from failing hands we throw
                 The torch, be yours to hold it high
                    If ye break faith with us who die
                       We shall not sleep though poppies grow
                           In Flanders Fields."

Those nine young men could have been the soldiers of the past and some will be the soldiers of the future. Those youthful faces made the poem so much more significant. I don't know about them, but I will never forget that moment.

I'd like to think that I control the magic in my classroom, but I don't. I think magic just happens, and these are the moments we teach for.

End of the 1st Nine Weeks

We are already 1/4 of the way through the school year, but it doesn't feel that way.

For some reason, I am just starting to feel comfortable with this class. It has taken me awhile to figure out the dynamics of some of my combinations. Usually, I feel this way by week three.

If I weren't so buried in grading, I'd think the year had barely begun; but no, my inbox tells me differently. Or it would if I still had an inbox for papers.  (Google Classroom has made my classroom nearly paperless.)

The end of the nine weeks always gives me a pain in the neck-- a real pain in the neck. It comes from too much grading and too much computer work.

Throw in a rotten head cold that my students (the darlings) have shared with me, and I am tempted to pull the covers over my head and have someone wake me up late next week.

If you have any great tips for getting through the end of the nine weeks, please feel free to share. After 37 years, you'd think I would have figured it out. *sigh

Daughters in Education

I think I have written before about being the 4th generation in a family of teachers. Well, that makes my daughters 5th generation educators. Both of them are now in the administrative end of education.

Daughter #1 is my assistant principal at Tiny Town High. She, along with the head principal, have implemented quite a few changes in our curriculum and even our teaching schedule. It has been interesting working with her--and I am always quite proud of the work she does. (Even when I don't agree 100%.) She does a great job of letting teachers know she appreciates the extra effort we put in. She has even added a bit of fun into our days.

Daughter #2 is leaving her elementary classroom and becoming an Instructional Coach in another elementary school in the same district. She has excellent classroom management skills that she needs to pass on. (She puts me to shame.) I know she will be working with a new discipline plan that the school has adopted. She has already been trained in the plan and used it several years in her own classroom. I am eager to hear how her year goes.

So that leaves me... still in the classroom. And frankly, I would hate what my daughters are doing. I love putting my room together, learning about my students, and dealing with the challenges. My classroom is where the fun is. I don't plan on leaving it.

I'm guessing you can figure out what we talk about when we are all together.

Oh, and I won't be at all surprised someday if they find an educator gene. I'm pretty sure it runs deep in my family.

Last Day of School Activity

Beginnings and Endings are important to me. (Who am I kidding? So is every day in between.)

This year, I wanted a closing goodbye that reminded my students of our year and all that we had studied and learned.

First, they wrote a reflection writing that would not be returned to them. They were to reflect on their favorite unit or activity and why they liked it.  They did the same for their least favorite. Finally, they were to give next year's sophomores some advice on surviving the class with Mrs. E. They were honest and gave me some activities to think about changing for next year. They also made me laugh with their advice.  ("Don't tick her off, and you will be fine." "Do your work. It will bite you in the butt if you don't.") I totally forgot two other questions I included: What is the first thing you think of when you think of English class, and what is the first thing you think when you walk in this classroom? I loved reading those answers. Consider adding those to a test or a quick write.

For the rest of the hour, we played a game.

I created colored card stock "game" pieces. Each table would have a different color of the exact same game pieces. Each playing piece listed a piece of literature (novels, plays, poems, lyrics, essays, letters, articles, and short stories) that we had studied this year.

When the students walked in, they saw the desks in this order. (And yes, this is another desk arrangement.) There were four groups with five students in a group, and they had to work together.

So the game (and I use that term loosely) involved me reading a line from a piece of literature. Then students in each group would shuffle through their titles, and once they thought they had the correct piece, one person from the group would bring (run, leap, elbow others, you name it!) the piece/title to me.

The first group to bring me the correct title would earn two points. If another group was correct but not first, they would earn one point. Incorrect meant no points. I kept score on the whiteboard. It was easy to keep track of who was first because each group had a different color of game pieces.

Since this was a comprehensive assignment, quotes had to be pretty obvious if the stories were from the first of the year. It challenged them to remember and work together.

And oh, the racing! ( I feared for my safety a couple of times. yikes!) There was quite a bit of scrambling.  If everyone had the wrong answer, they were all given a 2nd chance.

The students were amazed at just how much we had covered in 180 days.

The prize was cans of pop or individual bags of chips for the winners, and Airhead candy for all. Sophomores are so competitive that even if prizes are pathetic, they still will kill themselves trying to win.

Finally, we ended the hour with a group photo.

I reminded them that I would always be watching for signs of them in the world.

Them: "So basically you mean you will be stalking us?"

Me:  "Well, I guess you would call it that. I call it caring about who you are and what you do with your life. Feel free to stay in touch, so I don't have to 'stalk' you!"

And with that, the class of 2018 exited Room 502. What a fun, reflective way to end a great year.

Summer Conferences

I am just returning from two days of conferences, with four sessions, and one earned college credit. (Everything but the college credit was free.) Professional development always refreshes me and makes me excited for another year.

The four sessions I attended were on Social Media in the Classroom, Intentions and Success Criteria, Best Practices in the Writing Process, and Feedback: Failure for Future Success. Only the Writing session was geared to Language Arts teachers. All the rest of the sessions hit all disciplines. Quite a few administrators who are instructional coaches for their schools attended the sessions, too. We were a diverse group of people in any session, and that was valuable, too.

I am always interested in Social Media and how it can be used to make me a better educator. The session reinforced some ways I use it, but also gave me quite a few new things to consider.

Intentions, Success Criteria, and Feedback were all relevant to some of the ideas I have been considering with Standards Based Grading. It was great to find out that what I have been thinking is part of several new movements. Much more on this for another day.

The Best Practices in Writing was a breath of fresh air in terms of grading feedback and writing audiences. I will save this for another day, too.

It is June 8th and a summer conference already has me excited for a new school year and many changes in my teaching style--not just for English, but for my speech and drama classes, too.

I am attending another conference next week. (When conferences are free, it is hard not to attend.) This time a colleague and I are attending together. It will be great to share ideas and figure out how to implement them on the way home.

Summer--recharge and revitalize time. So far, so good!

The Not So Necessary

This app has been a nice addition to the holiday classroom.

Fireplace 3D. If I can't have the real thing, this is pretty darn close. In fact, with this free app you get the dancing fire and the crackling sound of burning logs. I project it from my iPad.

Some students swear my room feels warmer, and today, I would have sworn I smelled smoke.

OK. Maybe we're all losing it.

I don't know the last time I enjoyed a free app this much.  (I might be compensating for the lack of windows in my classroom.)

Sometimes, it's the little things, folks!

Necessity...

Yes, it really is the mother of invention. I'm sure I saw this on Pinterest, and it has been a lifesaver this year. There are three doors coming into my room. (Three!) Each of those doors is a "Columbine" door, meaning they are made of cement, can't be propped, and should remain locked most of the time for student safety. This little trick means that the students can enter the room, but we can also be on lockdown really quickly. (Well, as fast as I can sprint to three doors to remove them!)

Swim noodles. They aren't just for swimming anymore.

Summertime Teachers

Tiny Town doesn't have summer school. If they did, I would probably be teaching it. Instead, I am channelling my teaching skills in other ways.

I have been filing, storing, and trashing paperwork that I have been storing too long in my daughters' bedrooms. Unlike teaching, I boxed up what was left and delivered it to my daughters' homes. I'm sure they were thrilled.

At the end of the school year, I was cleaning out cupboards and closets for the teacher who is teaching in the room next year.  At home, I cleaned out closets and cupboards for my own benefit.  My husband was surprised to see there was a floor in one closet. It was pretty awful prior to the cleaning.

For my new classroom, I cleaned and weeded out things that I wouldn't need.  I gave quite a bit to the art teacher.  At home, I sold quite a few furniture pieces and household goods on a garage sale. Things were priced to go--and they did. Both places are now a bit emptier, and I like that. (Clutter makes me tense.)

I'm still getting up early to walk, though it is 5:30 in the summer and 4:30 during the school year. Unfortunately for them, people can see me walk in the summer-- rolling out of bed and out the door means no makeup or hair combing. It isn't pretty, but no one knows during the school year when it is too dark to see.

At home there is a stack of books on the table beside my chair and another on the dining room table. At school the stacks are always on the counter or a back table. There is always something that needs reading or grading. Piles--there are always piles.

I'm so used to schedules, that I schedule in the summer, too: appointments, vacations, lunches with friends, even hikes at a different trail every week. Yes. I admit it. Just like at school, I have been researching trails, too. Success is always in the planning. It works at school, so I figure it works at home, too.

In the summer I've been known to shush people in movie theaters, caution kids about running at the pool, and stare down an elevator full of teenagers who have pushed the button for every floor.  (Not all of my skills are appreciated, I'm sure!)

Teachers are teachers are teachers- whether we are in school or not. Is it in the DNA?

A Teacher's Summer

Interspersed with trips to the water park, a short vacation, ball games, and other summer activities, I am already working on next year. And that is the life of a teacher.

What might most teachers be doing in the summer?

*Cleaning out files.  (Sometimes, actually filing all those loose papers we didn't get to during the year. Or is that just me??)

*Weeding out supplies: markers and pens that don't work any more, dried up glue sticks, tape dispensers that have "lost" their inner core, recycling paper and magazines that aren't needed, cleaning out all the excess in cupboards and drawers, and pitching all the lost and found items that weren't claimed.

*Planning for new teaching assignments and making lessons for the first weeks of school. (Three new assignments next year:  Speech, Drama, and Forensics. These require a different kind of planning than Sophomore English, but I'm on the hunt for all kinds of new activities!)

*Researching blogs and websites for new lesson planning ideas or classroom management techniques.  Some favorites:  Edudemic, AchievetheCore, Dr. Curtis Chandler, Edutopia, Teachers.net, ReadWriteThink, and WeAreTeachers.
  (Best resource for finding new ideas: Twitter.)

*Designing needed methods of tracking data (Spreadsheets, Google Docs, etc.)--and it would be oh so helpful if Excel were working this summer.

*Writing shared formative and summative assessments for classes.

*Tweaking class notebooks in English II.  (Between Standard's Based Grading and Interactive Notebooks, I'm not sure which was the best addition to my classes last year.)

If I plan and work now, next year will be much less stressful.

Oh, and I really need to select next spring's All School Production.  If I leave it until after school starts, I will be hunting the show over Christmas Break. Then, I really will be rushed and unprepared at the start of 2nd semester.

June, July, and August.  These days, I consider them an extended Plan Period.

Working On the New Classroom

My custodians took the door off of my new classroom so that they could take the scissor lift in.  The ceilings are so high that they needed the lift to clean the light fixtures and replace some ceiling tiles.

I jumped on the chance to use the lift. (An opportunity available only every 4-5 years.)  They helped me hang a couple of pieces on the front walls of my classroom.  (OK. It might have taken the five of them plus me to do it!)

Custodians, cooks, secretaries...

these are the people that keep our schools afloat.

I couldn't function without them.

I am assuming that the crew will be working on my floors and then moving some furniture from my old classroom into this new room.  I am trying to stay out of their hair for now.  Besides taking them breakfast, that is probably the best gift that I can give them.

Let's hear it for great support personnel!

End of the Year

I love teaching.  I love the fact that there is a beginning, middle and an end to my job.

That being said, the end of the year wears.me.out.!

To begin with, it would be easier to keep track of who is in class than who is absent.  Everyone is absent.  There are track meets, tennis meets, softball games, baseball games, golf meets, field trips, state music competitions, high honor roll trips, etc., etc., etc.!

Thus, there are many students who need to turn in late work.  I spend quite a bit of time, grading late work.

I also grade notebooks for the final time, and grade final projects and final essays. The students need to put their portfolios together and clean out their classroom folders.  Checking in books and chasing down students who still owe me classroom library books or textbooks becomes a regular part of lunch or plan period.

There are finals to write and grade, Accelerated Reader points to add to the nine weeks grades, and submitting one final copy of all grades to the office.

Then there is a checklist that requires initials from the librarian, lunch lady, two secretaries, and one principal.

This year, you can throw into the mix the fact that I had to pack up one classroom to move to another.   I don't know how many trips I made, but more than I care to count.  Even with quite a few students roped into helping, I wore a little path in the hallway.

With three new preps and a new classroom to get ready, I think it is safe to say that I will spend some of my summer at school or working on school things at home.

My last day was Thursday, and I have already put in 12 hours at school.  I finished the move. (My old classroom is completely empty of my things, except a couple of furniture pieces that the custodians will be moving for me.) I have also cleaned out a huge prop/costume closet and a couple of cupboards that I needed for storage. (Merging two classrooms is work!) I have completed a little (huge size wise, little work wise) art project for the front of my new classroom.  Today, I actually began organizing my desk drawers.

I'm not sure whether to consider this the end of one year or the beginning of the next.  I just know that I am going to enforce a strict no-schoolwork rule for at least a couple of weeks this summer.  Otherwise, next year might be a really long year!

Spring Break,Twitter, and Teaching Changes

Spring Break has been wonderfully relaxing.  After finishing the All School Production on the Thursday and Friday before break, I spent the beginning of break collapsed.  (Actually, I rallied in time to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday and spend time with my daughters, their husbands, and my adorable grandkids.)

Of course, school is never far from my mind. Twitter has become my "go to" place for ideas and for answers to questions. Edutopia, Edudemic, WeAreTeachers, and Achievethecore are just a few of my favorites. I am beginning to connect with some other Secondary ELA teachers, and their ideas inspire.

This next nine weeks of school will fly by with State Testing and the end of the year hubbub.  (You can add in the fact that my oldest daughter/boss is expecting their 2nd child at the end of April. I am ready for that little bundle to arrive!) It will go especially fast this year, as on top of everything else, I am changing rooms and subjects next year.

Our administration has decided to do some rearranging of our English staff.  By splitting classes, we will work with another teacher and be able to compare class results to improve our teaching skills.  I will be teaching Sophomore English for three hours and speech and drama for the other three hours. I think all of us have concerns, but I also think there is the potential to really strengthen our department, too.

The concerns:
*For the first time in 33 years, I won't have every sophomore that goes through our school.  It will be strange not knowing the majority of the students in our high school.

*Leaving behind my beautiful classroom with carpet and lots of light from big windows will be difficult.

*The physical part of moving a whole classroom is a bit overwhelming.  It will involve a lot of work and hours of time packing, organizing, and decorating a new classroom.

*Planning for Speech, Drama, and Forensic classes will require quite a bit of work prior to the start of the year.

These concerns are outweighed by some of the perks:

*Less paper grading.  With half the number of English students, I will have half the number of papers.  It is hard to be sad about that!

*I am moving into an awesome room with a stage. It is has always been one of my favorite rooms in our high school.  (But there are no windows and no carpet, which will remind me of pre-tornado days in our old school.)

*While the new classes will require different planning, it is the creative kind of planning that I enjoy.  I will begin working on new curriculum after break. (I have spent part of break searching for resources.)

So this spring break has been filled with Twitter, researching new curriculum, and trying to cram in all the things I love: hiking, a manicure and pedicure, time with my daughters and grandkids, shopping, movies, and relaxing meals out with my husband.  I've caught up on sleep, and I think I am ready for the end of this school year. I actually feel pretty refreshed and ready to go!

PS. This blog is about to become an English/Speech and Drama blog. Stay tuned!

Things Teachers Need

I'm sure other teachers can add to this list, but these are the things that make my day happy!

Breath mints.  I still remember a smoking, coffee drinking teacher whose breath knocked me out as a high school student.  I almost always have some kind of mints or gum in a drawer of my desk.  I don't want to be THAT teacher.

Coffee.  (Hence the breath mints.)  I'm not sure how people operate without coffee.  "Never underestimate the power of a highly caffeinated woman."  Whoever said that knew what they were talking about.

School gear.  High school kids in our area appreciate seeing the adults in school, supporting them on game days.  I have old football jerseys, a couple of hoodies, t-shirts that are older than they are, and several neatly monogrammed shirts provided to the staff.  Fortunately, the school colors happen to be a favorite.

Ice water.  Year round.  I have several insulated glasses that don't sweat.  (Current favorite: a Bubba Cup.)  I usually drink two large glasses of ice water a day. Besides being good for me, I'm not sure how my voice/throat would hold up without it.

Glitz Bic pens. They come in a package with about 8 different colors, and I love the way they write.  I now grade in lime green, sky blue, pink, and purple. Just seeing the pens in the drawer of my desk makes me happy.  (I have to confess, I hide them from subs.  I lose more pens and pencils on days of substitutes!) I think these little gems are 88 cents a package.

A computer bag.  I would have said a brief case at one time, but the computer bag works better for me these days.  I had a canvas and leather LL Bean bag that I loved; however, the school switched to macs and my computer no longer fit in my bag.  This year, I made the switch to a Vera Bradley computer bag.  (It was half price, or this teacher never would have spent the money for it.)

The lunch size crock pot.  This was a Christmas gift from my faculty Secret Santa. (Sweet, young former student, now colleague.)  Best.Gift.Ever!!  Leftovers are hot and ready to go by lunchtime.  The inside metal pot is removable for easy cleaning, too.  No more waiting for the microwave in the workroom.

A survival pack for me would also have to include:  dental floss, Shout Wipes, safety pins, bobby pins, and sample sizes of hairspray and Static Guard.

Do I NEED all of these things?  No, but I sure LOVE them!

Student Teacher Woes

I have an amazing young student teacher.  She is professional, informed, and creative.  (She has the Common Core App on her phone, for God's sake!  Who does that?)  She feels more like a colleague than a student teacher.  I bounce ideas off of her.  We look for solutions together.

And then I have to wonder...maybe all (or most) of my former student teachers were like this, but I was too young and sure of myself to pick their brains.  I wonder how many opportunities I have missed.

So, when am I aware that she is the student teacher and I am the teacher?

*When she is finishing one unit and planning for the next one.  It feels a bit overwhelming to her.  Especially, when the unit she is finishing is one that she developed in college with oodles of time to research, submit it, and rework it.
    I remember this feeling.  Heck, I still feel this way from time to time! So, we are working on the next unit together. She will see that, though it is work, it can be done. (It will drive you crazy, but it can be done.)

*As she is grading papers. The light slowly dawns on her that about 10% of the students plagiarized.  It was like watching air escape from a balloon.  She was so disappointed. Academic dishonesty will be a discussion on this blog for another day, but she and I came up with a plan for this to be a teaching moment.  And as she is teaching them, I am teaching her.
    You can't teach these things from a book. Sometimes, students will break your heart, but you can't let them break your spirit. And you can't let them cheat themselves out of learning the important things: they have far too much ability to simply copy someone else.

One other thing I hope she is learning:

There's always a critic.  It might be the kid who complains about the assignment you love, the colleague who shares a negative comment they overheard about your class, or an administrator who doubts what you are doing or suggests that what you are doing is not enough.  Some weeks, the critics are all you hear.  The goal is not to let yourself become the critic.  And that is always easier said than done.
     Most of us are hard enough on ourselves without the words of the critics.  But, we have to remember to listen carefully.  There are students who show their appreciation in quiet ways, colleagues who copy an assignment or technique (no better flattery than imitation), and an administrator who asks us to do some work that few others will try.  Their words might not speak their praise, but frequently their actions do.

I remember how tough, but also how darn much fun, student teaching was.  And I'm remembering it all over again, watching a cute little redhead as she finds her way. I am fortunate to be watching excellence in action.  I'm pretty sure the future of education will be safe in her hands.

Saturday Morning Thoughts

"Know your worth."  That thought has been going through my mind all week.  From the top down, teachers are often reminded of our worth both collectively and individually.

Our students let us know what they think on a daily basis. Sometimes their parents share their opinions.  Our bosses evaluate our efforts, and then our politicians and elected officials weigh in on the matter.  Finally, the media puts in their two cents.  And of course, we get the monthly reminder in the form of a paycheck.

We know the work that we do is valuable. We know the amount of time we give to this profession is in direct proportion to our passion. But then a message, intended or not, comes through loud and clear: your work is not valuable and not a priority.

I stop. I reevaluate. I doubt. I try to remember to look up.  I breathe.

What am I worth?  This morning, I am worth a 2nd cup of coffee.  Well, at least I think I am...

Our State has been busy lately, and some weeks it is tough to be a teacher.  This would be one of those. 

Old Dog, New Tricks: Standards Based Grading So Far

My switch to Standards Based Grading has been... interesting.

This was my initial post on Sophomore English grading and my grade book.

First of all, I have changed using a √ and a 0 in the formatives. (I know how parents can freak out over a zero, even if it isn't affecting their student's grade. They assume the assignment hasn't been completed.)  Formatives are now rated with an S, S-or U.  The formatives still have no affect on the student grade, but they let the student (and the parent) know if they understand the standard or need further work before the Summative test.

The biggest challenge has been the mindset of the teacher. (That would be me. Gulp.) One short unit can involve several standards, and each of those standards requires two formatives, reteaching activities, and a summative test.  My grade book now looks like this:

(Well, that is a portion of this nine week's grades so far. Oh, and the Standard RL2 Determining Theme or Central Idea and its development is going to be revisited-probably more than once.)

Thankfully, formatives don't have to be a quiz. (Though they can be.)  They can also be teacher anecdotal notes from observation, exit tickets, standards practice in their notebooks, etc.  Getting past the idea that students only show progress based on a quiz has been quite helpful and not nearly so limiting.

I really like this grading rubric on the Summative assessment of a standard.

10= Advanced- superior mastery
  9= High Proficiency- progressing toward advanced mastery
  8= Proficient Grade Level- mastery meets standard level
  7= Basic- limited understanding
  6=  Improvement necessary
  5=  Insufficient effort
  0=  Absent for summative

That being said, my student grades have changed.  A student really has to go above and beyond to show superior mastery. An A+ was easier to earn using the old method of grading.  On the other end of the scale, fewer students are failing.  Most students can show at least a basic or limited understanding of a skill or standard.

What does this mean?
1. A student who has done the minimum requirements has a tough time earning an A+, and they aren't thrilled about being challenged to show advanced or superior work.  I haven't had the first parent/teacher conferences since switching to this system, but I have a hunch that will be a discussion with some parents.

2. I spend quite a bit more time in the planning stages of lessons and units that I have taught for years.  I have to determine which standards I will emphasize, write the summative evaluation of each standard, decide how I will evaluate the standards through formatives, create the formative evaluations, and create some method of reteaching for students who need it.

3. Above all, I have to limit the number of standards that I evaluate in a unit.  A short unit might have several reading standards, a writing standard, and a speaking/listening standard. Julius Caesar could have included 10-15 standards. (I have narrowed it down to seven or eight this year.) Keeping track of student progress on the formatives, reteaching, and summative tests is a bit of a juggling act; however, it gives a much clearer picture of what the student actually knows. And isn't that what a grade is supposed to show?

Right now, this switch to Standards Based Grading has been quite a bit of work.  The best part is that it is becoming second nature to me now, and I feel like I have a much more thorough knowledge of the standards.  The work that I do this year is going to make next year that much simpler, if only because I have walked through the process this year.

Have I mentioned that I have had company on this road to change?  I am quite thankful for Sweet Young Former Student Now Colleague, an amazing Student Teacher, and my math colleagues who are jumping in this year, too.  It is always better to have friends to travel the road with you!

I Laugh So I Don't Cry

For many years now, I have had my classes memorize poetry a couple of times a year:  "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale, "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, and/or "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrea.

Over the past decade, the assignment has become much more difficult for a larger number of students.   This year, I think I have hit the wall.  They might be able to remember a stanza at a time, and that is about it.  They stumble through the poem stanza by stanza, and frequently still need prompting. (I have to keep track of how many stanzas they have recited.)

The other night at auditions for the All School Production, the director asked students to hop up on stage and recite the Pledge of Allegiance so that they could be heard clearly.  It was horrifying how many students needed prompting.  At least 75% of the students couldn't say it without help.  The other 25% left out words or phrases.  I was stunned.  (And I'm having them memorize "Invictus"?  What the heck am I thinking?  How about the Pledge of Allegiance? Wowsa!  I had no idea!)

A girl in class told me that she can't recite the Lord's Prayer unless she is in church.  She says she just can't remember it.

I'm pretty sure it is a sign of the times, and it really concerns me as to what memory issues our whole society faces in the future. Kids don't need to remember anything, because any information they need is at their finger tips. (That is if they can remember what it is that they need to be looking for!) And what are we losing?  Our collective memories.

Where will it end? I'm not really sure.  Fortunately, I'll probably be too dead to care.  Just don't say I didn't tell you!

Back Where I Started

Today is the first day of school, and I feel like I have landed right back where I started 37 years ago.  Well, almost.

Why, you ask?

My room has no air conditioning. It has been broken for the last two weeks, and the repairmen haven't been able to fix it...yet!  (I have high hopes and every finger crossed.)

I also have no technology working.  The tech plate on the wall that controls my document reader, mini mac, VCR/DVD, and projector quit working on the last day of school in May.  The tech guys alerted the company who has left this repair job until this coming Monday---after school had started.

And the computers in my computer cart all need some kind of update that I don't have permission to do.

But, I have survived without technology and air conditioning before--and I'm sure I will today, too.  My classroom will be more pen/paper oriented, and I'm fairly sure it won't smell all that great either. (Hormonal teenagers in 85+ indoor temperatures = YIKES!)

The difference today?  My daughter is now my assistant principal.  *sigh!  (Do you think there are paybacks coming for the time she spent in my room as a sophomore?  "Dear, what is that you don't understand about the concept of getting quiet??"  Yes, I might have said that during Sophomore English back in '97.)

Actually, watching her in this leadership position has been a treat.  I'm sure there will be rough roads ahead from time to time, but she seems like a natural.  I remember her kindergarten teacher knew what we would come to know--that she had exceptional leadership skills even in kindergarten.

Now, if she could just lead the AC people and the technology people to my classroom, I would be thrilled!

English Op Room

I spent Monday working with two colleagues on an "English Opportunity Room" curriculum.  One colleague is the head of our PLC and an invaluable resource.  She and I wrote the first curriculum for another class similar to this one. The other colleague is our college English teacher who will be teaching this remedial class with me.

The isn't going to be called English Opportunity Room, but it will be based loosely on the Math Op room that provides a double dose of math for struggling students.  We aren't calling our class English Op room because we have had a Reading Strategies class for the past 10-12 years, so we are leaving the name the same. (I'm guessing that will be less hassle in the computer enrollment program.)

Last spring, I sat down the Math Op room teacher and was able to pick his brain.  He was so helpful and let me see all the activities the students worked on, the individualized instruction, and the testing schedule. There was a lot of variety in how they tackled the standards, which tends to be crucial for struggling students.  He has had a lot of success in helping students succeed in their regular classes.

Sometimes I wish that our Language Arts Standards were a bit less overwhelming and not quite so broad or all-encompassing. However, one of the first things we did was go through and circle the Anchor Standards that are absolutely crucial to the success of the students. We will concentrate on those.  And once we know which students will be in our class, we can individualize what skills need particular emphasis.  (Though now that I think about it, it doesn't really matter if we know our roster.  We could have drawn up the skills for each student on a separate page and then pulled the ones we needed when we saw our roster.  Darn!  Now, I think of that.)

We spent most of the morning hashing out exactly what the class was to do and then hunting for resources. We divided up the semester into six week segments, but then also divided up how class time was to be used each day of the week. The use of actual class time will change with each six weeks period.

The students in first semester English Op will be Juniors who need some extra work on their reading and writing skills. They were identified through the STAR reading test and also a fluency test.  (Their performance in my English II class also indicated a need for some remedial work, though this wasn't used for placement.)  The hope is that they will perform better, not only in English class but all classes, and then succeed on the State Test next spring.

Right now, the plan is to incorporate interactive notebooks into this class.  (Disorganization tends to be a quality that many low performing students share.)

All this being said, I bet you can guess what I am doing.
*I have spent several days hunting reading and writing resources that we can use to teach and challenge.
*I've found interactive websites to work on grammar and punctuation skills.
*Today, the plan is to create the interactive notebook for the first two weeks, so we can help the students.

And all this work is just for the new class.

There are new textbooks for my English II class.  I definitely need to immerse myself in the new text. I also want to have 180 days of Bell Ringer activities ready before school even begins. Somehow it always seems like the more work I can have done before school starts, the more enjoyable the school year is.

Do I have a bit to do before school begins?  Why yes, yes I do.