What the Ice Bucket Means to Me

In case you didn't know, the Ice Bucket Challenge is all about raising awareness of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). When I asked some of my kids at school if they knew why they were participating, they mumbled something along the lines of "doing it for that cancer thingy."

I nearly cried. If you have ever known someone who has been afflicted, you know that this disease is one of the most horrible fates you could ever imagine. Your body shuts down. You are trapped inside knowing that you are unable to do anything about it.

Mr. Griffin was one of those teachers who could reach out and pull you in without you even realizing it. I had him for freshman PE and A&P my junior year. I vividly remember his tests; blank pages with a subject at the top. "Tell me everything you know about this" he would say. I also remember specific days in his class more than any other I have ever taken. He just had that way about him. Brandon Evans was his aide that year and they both spent the majority of their down time pranking Mrs. Potts.

Mr. Griffin started to die our freshman year. I can remember walking between buildings to go outside for PE and he would just be sort of shuffling along. At that point, a lot of us didn't really know what was wrong, just that he was having trouble walking. It became more apparent the next year when he came to school in his scooter. The next year, he couldn't use his hands and he was having trouble talking. Mr. Griffin left us over spring break my senior year. A group of us were loitering downtown when the ambulance went by and we all kind of knew when we saw which way it was headed.

I know I am just one of many who was affected by his life and death. He is always one I cite when asked why I became a teacher. To this day, I donate blood because he told me it was important. Even after all this time, he is still remembered.

So I am taking the other option in this challenge. The check is in the mail.

http://www.alsa.org/fight-als/ice-bucket-challenge.html

A New Path to Reassessment

One of my big hurdles for the last few years has been how to go about getting kids to be able to really show that they understand a topic. There are a lot of ways to do that, but usually, what it comes down to is the kid having to show that knowledge on a quiz or a test. One reason is that this is something concrete. You can point to a question and say, you got this (or not) based on the quality of the answer. Being able to prove a kid knows something based on what they are doing in a particular lab, however, seems to be more of a gray area and open to a lot more subjectivity.

When I started SBG and introduced the idea of reassessment, it quickly escalated into a mad rush of points collecting. So much so that in my chemistry classes, the targets are now written so that they are covered over and over on future assessments. Basically, reassessment is required and a student cannot come in and just retake a quiz on his own. I love this, but most of my chemistry targets are skills based and it didn't work so well with some of my other classes. It could be that my targets need rewritten (again), but I really like them right now so I am reluctant to do much adjustment there.

So I am trying something.

Every student in our district has a Google account and so my Ocean Science class is doing a lot of blogging this year. Lab analysis and critical thinking assignments are all written up. Pictures are good. If we draw on a map, we upload a picture to help describe it. Kids are taking pictures during labs so they have evidence of what went on. It is still in beta testing, so they aren't as polished as I would like. We also haven't made it quite as interactive or public as I am envisioning, but I think that might come later. Either way, this gives kids a way to talk about what they have learned in labs. These are not recorded for a score, but are commented on and kids are encouraged to edit in response to suggestions.

We still take tests. This is Phase I and actually, the path of least resistance for kids to show what they know is to really study for a test and do well there. I still give 0, 1, 2 as a score based on the covered targets and these get recorded into the grade book.

Phase II is sort of a reflection on those scores. Each student has also created a site on their Google account specifically for this class. This is modeled after what Chris does in his classroom. In my case, each unit has a page, so for example after we take the test on Waves, students create a new Waves page and add each target to that page. Then they take their test and talk about what it was that went well and what it was that did not go so well. What did you get correct and why do you think you understand it? Link to your blog. Which labs tie into that target and show how you really get the ideas? Why were you able to understand it in the lab but couldn't apply that knowledge to the questions on the test?

As you might imagine, some kids do really well and some do really not well. We are really getting into that whole idea of metacognition here and that is not an easy thing for a lot of them to do. I get a lot of "I could have studied more" as a way to explain why they didn't do well. We are working on that. If students do an amazing job reflecting and can tell me exactly why something was misunderstood and how those ideas have changed, the scores can go up to reflect that. If not, there is one more thing they can do.

Phase III is essentially a mini capstone. Design, carry out and present an activity that demonstrates your understanding of the target. This is also written up on their blog, but they also have to present it to the class. So far, I haven't had many takers on this one, mostly because I think it is a lot of work. I am okay with that. The ones that have gone through the process have been extremely creative and done a great job of showing that they do in fact know what is going on.

So far, I like this. The feedback I have gotten has been mixed. I expected that. Everything from the predictable "it's too much work" to "can we just do the activity without taking the test?" I think I am doing a bit more work than usual, but then again, so are my kids. If kids are going to succeed in this type of activity, I really owe them thoughtful and constructive feedback.

My biggest problem has been to allow a reasonable amount of time in class. There is a delicate balance between kids that will use every second I give them and those that still don't want to do anything.

There are some kinks to work out, of course, but overall, I think this is something I am going to integrate at least to some degree into my other classes.

Is there something I am missing? What other options could I offer kids?

Making Sense of Assessment...My Grading Philosophy

As many of you know, I have struggled to find good and valid ways to assess the kids in my classes. And if you have any twitter presence at all, you know that there has been quite possibly the most epic discussion ever held on that platform about Standards Based Grading*. If nothing else good comes from this twitter discussion, it has been an opportunity for me (and several others) to really reflect on what it is that makes assessment in my classroom authentic and not just some random number that gets translated into a grade.

Warning: personal conjecture ahead...
The thing about the grading and assessment that occurs in your class is that it is extremely personal.** It truly ties into what your teaching philosophy really is. Think back on your teacher preparation classes for just a second. Did ANY of you have ANY kind of instruction or even guidance as to how to grade the kids in your classes?? I didn't. I'm not sure I know anyone who has. Essentially, we were set loose with the assumption that we would figure it out. Now if you were anything like me, I just graded how I had been graded in the past. I kind of started with 100% tests. Now you realize in high school pretty quickly that that is probably a bad idea.*** So I made it something like 20% homework. Then I added in some participation points. And for the love of everything holy, I gave extra credit for bringing in kleenex. Hey, everyone had a cold that year.

And so over the years, it just kind of morphed into something that really reflected what I believed as a teacher was important. My guess is that you have probably followed a similar path to end up with whatever type of assessment regime you currently work under. It has taken me quite awhile and a good bit of trial and error, but I have finally arrived at a place where I really feel like the final grade that I assign to any given student is one that I feel good about.

So in the spirit of waxing philosophical, here is my personal grading philosophy...

1. I believe, in my heart of hearts, that a grade a student receives in my chemistry class should be a reflection of what he knows about chemistry. Period. Done. That's it. You're acting up in class today? Fine. I will deal with that, but not by reducing your grade. You want to bring cookies in for my birthday? Aw...I love you even more. But not enough to give you extra credit. For me, grades are NOT a classroom management tool. I don't hold points over your head to make sure you don't cause me any problems. In turn, I don't reward you with points for sucking up.

2. I am going to be as clear and concise as I possibly can as to what it is you need to know. I use Standards Based Grading in my classroom for a lot of reasons, but first and foremost I use it as a tool to describe exactly what skills and ideas you need to master in order to navigate through a specific class.

3. I am not going to give you points for your homework. Probably the biggest argument I hear about this is that by not grading homework, we are not preparing kids for the "real world".**** I give homework about once a week. This is typically practice and an extension of what we have learned in class. Kids know they are expected to complete it (yes, I keep track) and they know that the next day we will whiteboard it in class. When I first started whiteboarding, I didn't realize what a powerful formative assessment tool this can be. As kids are preparing their boards, I wander around and answer questions and listen to the discussions. That right there gives me mountains of information about whether or not kids are getting it. Then those kids present their work. I have a group of kids this year who fight over who gets to present. Know why? Because it helps cement in their brains what it is we are doing. I have teachers who argue that this is a waste of class time. (Seriously.) They don't have time for kids to go over every single homework assignment. I just have to say that I do not agree. For me, if it is important enough to assign, it is important enough to go over with my kids. Amazingly enough, even though I am not bribing them with points, I have found that kids still do their homework. Can you guess why? Because they see the value in it. They understand that if I am going to give them the opportunity to practice those skills and give them feedback on their progress then they will be much more successful when it comes to test time.

4. I don't do averages. This is a big one. I don't have too many standards that kids are expected to master in any of my classes. How you score on each target counts individually towards your final overall grade, but one does not override the other. This means that one target is no more important than another. You have to know them all. You can't do horrible on Conservation of Mass and balance that out by totally rocking Stoichiometry.

5. There will be lots of opportunities to reassess on something you didn't understand the first time around. I more or less have my targets set up in a way that allows me to circle back to each one over and over again throughout the year. For me, if I haven't assessed that target more than three times in the trimester, it is worth a look at rewriting. I really don't believe education is a one time shot. Listening to some of my colleagues and a surprising number of parents, this goes against everything they believe education should be. There is also a big debate on the whole retake thing. That is an individual preference and can be handled in a lot of ways. In general, a student cannot walk through my door and just get a retake. I have allowed that in some cases, but there is a lot of work on the student's part that must be done before I will let that happen.

6. I care that you are understanding what I am teaching. How that translates into a letter grade is a side concern of mine. All that letter does is give you an idea of where you stand in your mastery of the standards. Notice that I did NOT say where you stand in relation to your peers. Grades are not a competition in my room. If what you know rewards you an A, awesome. If you "only" get a B, awesome. You're getting an F? Um, you really aren't getting it. Get in here and let's see where you have gone off track.

I think that pretty much sums it up! Now that I actually have it on paper and can look at each point individually, I really feel better about the decisions I have made to change my classroom assessment.

Our district has just started the conversation about how to move to a more transparent system of grading. I'm not sure how it is going to go. We spent nearly two hours debating the homework issue one day. This could get pretty interesting, so I will keep you posted on that one...


*This thing has raged on for weeks now, one THREAD has over 2,000 replies, and at this point is mostly at a point of last-worditis and not so veiled name-calling because Frank and Brian and lots and lots of others realized you can't have a decent discussion when the other side refuses to even pretend you might know what you are talking about...good luck @DataDiva :) And truly, this has morphed into something that isn't even really about grades any more.

**I am NOT saying that it should be, just that it is.

***Ironically, I am sort of back to that theory now...

****This. Right here. This is probably the worst argument I hear. Besides teaching, in what world are kids going to have three hours of homework every night to be turned in the next day??? In what job are kids going to get a reward for every. little. thing. they. do??