For the second day in a row, we have not had class during second hour. Three hours worth of class time gone.
Yesterday, the sophomores took a field trip to Flint Hills Technical College to explore options there. This is important. Technical colleges are not what they used to be. And that is a good thing. Most people, when asked, will give a pretty negative review of a technical college even if they have no idea what goes on in one. Welding. I would venture to say that is the first thought that comes up. But it is not an accurate one. So it's a good thing that kids get out and explore those options.
I'm okay with letting kids go.
Today, we had an assembly featuring the Butler County Community College Headliners. I had never seen them perform before. Mostly I was upset to lose another class day to go watch singers.
And then they sang.
Wow.
It was impressive. I couldn't find a video anywhere to share and to be honest, I can't even find a link to the Headliners on Butler's site. This is as close as I could get.
We got back to class and the kids couldn't stop talking about the show. These are kids that don't talk about anything in a good way. They were as impressed as I was.
One kid, one who is in danger of not getting a degree, now wants to join our school singers. Unfortunately, he will not be able to. Even if his schedule allowed it, our administration probably would not. He was not proficient on the state math assessment. So he gets pulled out of his "unimportant" classes to take a refresher math course. Maybe he will pass it this time around. He was also not proficient on his state reading assessment. Same thing. There is no chance this child will be able to take a class that he might enjoy and maybe even excel at.
What are we doing for our kids if we take them out of those things that they really are interested in?
How do we convince them that we are "doing this for your own good" when they hate every second of the day?
How do we make education about the kids and not about the adults?
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Calling an Audible and Adjusting My Grading
Okay, so I have had some major shifts in my grading this year. As we start thinking about closing out this trimester, kids are really, REALLY starting to panic. And to tell the truth, I am getting a little nervous. As of this moment, out of all of my classes, I have one B. And that is as high as it goes. A smattering of C's. Lots of D's and a few too many F's. While it is not uncommon for my principal to comment that I have the lowest grades out of anyone, I normally don't care how my grades stand up against other teachers'.* But even for me, I feel like this is a bit on the low side.
I love the grading out of two. If I could just get my kids (and some teachers) to let go of the percent thing, all would be well (well, better anyway). I didn't realize how stressful and time consuming it was for me to have to decide whether or not a question should receive a 2 or 3. Oh yes, this is the way to go.
But not all is well. I am rethinking how I have set up my chemistry standards. This summer, I loved the idea of having a few overarching ideas that were non-negotiable in terms of understanding matter. Actually, I still do like that idea, but it is truly driving everyone crazy. This whole system has been a much larger shift for my kids than I anticipated, and adding in the extra step in deciding your grade is about to push some of us over the edge. It just seems like too much to decode at this point. So I have changed every standard to a gold standard and adjusted my figuring accordingly.
F = 3 or more 0
D = Any 0
C = Any 1
B = All 2
A = All 2 plus 3 successful capstone projects
Capstones in chemistry are turning out to be a huge challenge. I knew this would be true, so I have not been surprised at my kids really not knowing exactly where to start. Physics is, I think, a little easier to come up with something to test. Go outside and observe nearly any phenomena and you can turn it into a physics project. In chemistry, even if you have an idea what it is you want to test, there are so many unknowns to take care of that really aren't common sense-type things. How much sodium hydroxide do we need? Should we do this in the fume hood? Will it blow up?**
At first, I told the kids that their capstone had to be in the form of a lab investigation. I still prefer this, but I have also opened up on that requirement. Students can, of course, still do the lab investigation, but they also
have the option to write a research article, create a podcast or a KA style video. I am also allowing them to work in groups of up to two, but each student has to have a separate write-up.
Really, though, I have only had two groups even attempt a capstone. I have one girl (who stares out the window a lot) who keeps saying her parents are soooooo mad that she doesn't have an A. In the same breath, she tells me a capstone would be too much work. I guess we'll see how that turn out.
Tomorrow is an early release for us. My plan is to show everyone what their grade would be at this point and talk about what can be done to show what they know. Maybe getting everyone on the same page and reminding them of the deadline will put a fire under them.
We also have parent conferences next week. I have this strange feeling that I will have a better turn out than normal.
*This was a BIG deal when I started teaching chemistry with SBG.
**This is more often than not said in an extremely hopeful tone.
I love the grading out of two. If I could just get my kids (and some teachers) to let go of the percent thing, all would be well (well, better anyway). I didn't realize how stressful and time consuming it was for me to have to decide whether or not a question should receive a 2 or 3. Oh yes, this is the way to go.
But not all is well. I am rethinking how I have set up my chemistry standards. This summer, I loved the idea of having a few overarching ideas that were non-negotiable in terms of understanding matter. Actually, I still do like that idea, but it is truly driving everyone crazy. This whole system has been a much larger shift for my kids than I anticipated, and adding in the extra step in deciding your grade is about to push some of us over the edge. It just seems like too much to decode at this point. So I have changed every standard to a gold standard and adjusted my figuring accordingly.
F = 3 or more 0
D = Any 0
C = Any 1
B = All 2
A = All 2 plus 3 successful capstone projects
Capstones in chemistry are turning out to be a huge challenge. I knew this would be true, so I have not been surprised at my kids really not knowing exactly where to start. Physics is, I think, a little easier to come up with something to test. Go outside and observe nearly any phenomena and you can turn it into a physics project. In chemistry, even if you have an idea what it is you want to test, there are so many unknowns to take care of that really aren't common sense-type things. How much sodium hydroxide do we need? Should we do this in the fume hood? Will it blow up?**
At first, I told the kids that their capstone had to be in the form of a lab investigation. I still prefer this, but I have also opened up on that requirement. Students can, of course, still do the lab investigation, but they also
have the option to write a research article, create a podcast or a KA style video. I am also allowing them to work in groups of up to two, but each student has to have a separate write-up.
Really, though, I have only had two groups even attempt a capstone. I have one girl (who stares out the window a lot) who keeps saying her parents are soooooo mad that she doesn't have an A. In the same breath, she tells me a capstone would be too much work. I guess we'll see how that turn out.
Tomorrow is an early release for us. My plan is to show everyone what their grade would be at this point and talk about what can be done to show what they know. Maybe getting everyone on the same page and reminding them of the deadline will put a fire under them.
We also have parent conferences next week. I have this strange feeling that I will have a better turn out than normal.
*This was a BIG deal when I started teaching chemistry with SBG.
**This is more often than not said in an extremely hopeful tone.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Why My Kids Don't Want Me to Be District Attorney: An SBG Tale
So today in some really weird tangent in my ocean science class, we started discussing our district attorney. Now, several students in that class have direct experience dealing with this particular lady and not all of those experiences have come out in what you would call an equal ending. They don't like her and think we should get a new one.
Last election, she ran unopposed, so there really was no other option, and my kids suggested that I should run next time.* They would vote for me!
Then someone piped up and said, "but, wait a minute, you only grade out of 2!"
This really caused some concern, especially with some of the kids that had gotten off lightly. Apparently, should I get to decide, you would either be a yes or no case. They weren't so sure this was a good idea.
Someone else jumped in and said, "well, even if you were perfect, Mrs. Schroeder would still make you do three hours of community service to get out of jail!"
At least they seem to be lightening up about the new grading and capstones. While they still aren't happy about the changes, the have decided to accept it and move on. I have had a couple ocean kids and one chemistry who have come up with some type of extension activity. So far, they are not as in depth as I was hoping for, but I am thrilled that they are trying.
*Not gonna happen.
**I realize they were not exactly clear on the difference between a district attorney and a judge. I'll leave that to the government teacher.
Last election, she ran unopposed, so there really was no other option, and my kids suggested that I should run next time.* They would vote for me!
Then someone piped up and said, "but, wait a minute, you only grade out of 2!"
This really caused some concern, especially with some of the kids that had gotten off lightly. Apparently, should I get to decide, you would either be a yes or no case. They weren't so sure this was a good idea.
Someone else jumped in and said, "well, even if you were perfect, Mrs. Schroeder would still make you do three hours of community service to get out of jail!"
At least they seem to be lightening up about the new grading and capstones. While they still aren't happy about the changes, the have decided to accept it and move on. I have had a couple ocean kids and one chemistry who have come up with some type of extension activity. So far, they are not as in depth as I was hoping for, but I am thrilled that they are trying.
*Not gonna happen.
**I realize they were not exactly clear on the difference between a district attorney and a judge. I'll leave that to the government teacher.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Chemistry Capstones...OK...Now You Can Freak Out
Earlier this week, my chemistry class got their first taste of my new take on that whole "rigor" thing.
Because this year, I have introduce capstones. We are close to half way through our first trimester, so many of my kids are starting in on the grade anxiety. I have never really had a giant uproar over the standards part of my grading, so that isn't so much the problem.
But now...
"You mean, I'm not going to get an A in this class?"
Not easily, no.
"You mean I can be perfect and still not get an A?"
Nobody's perfect, sweetie.
"But, I'm a senior, you can't go changing the status quo now!"
Okay, I see your point, but too bad.
"So, this is like extra credit?"
Well, no, not exactly. Extra credit implies not a lot of work in order to get your grade up to where you want it.* When a student says, "can I write the definitions out twenty times to get my grade up to an A?" I just want to scream.
We discussed capstones this morning, and to be honest, I can't believe I haven't heard from a parent yet. For the most part, the reception was not favorable. We talked about why it is important for them to be able to not just memorize all this important chemistry stuff, but also why they should be able to apply it. And not just because it is chemistry class. This is a life skill, children.
To kind of ease them into it, we did a practice capstone with the last part of our conservation of mass lab. In that part, we add Alka-Seltzer to water. The mass at the end is not the same as the mass at the beginning. For our system, technically, mass was not conserved, but most kids recognized that it was because the gas escaped. So I had them think about what we could do to show that this incident did, indeed, support the law of conservation of mass. While much simpler than what I would probably require for a capstone, this was a good one to walk through and get them in the questioning mode.**
There was arguing. There was bribery. There was attempted blackmail and coercion. But we stuck with it and eventually, everyone came up with a plan and submitted a draft proposal. We went and did the experiment and I talked about what kids should have in a formal write up. There was even one or two, very grudging, "that wasn't so bad" mutterings in the back.
When it was all said and done, my kids seemed a little bit calmer. At this point, they are terrified at the idea of having to come up with ideas for a project. I totally get that. I am terrible at writing engaging questions, plus this is brand new to these kids. We spent so much time beating the curiosity out of them, that when we try to instill it back in, of course there is going to be some struggles.
But I'm sticking to my guns on this one. If I have learned nothing in the last few years, it has been that big changes can't be made if you give in even just a little bit.
*The most accurate portrayal of education in the media, ever, is the Spongebob episode where Mrs. Puff tries to give him extra credit so she doesn't have to have him back in class.
**Looking back, this was actually a lot more difficult for them than I thought it would be.
Because this year, I have introduce capstones. We are close to half way through our first trimester, so many of my kids are starting in on the grade anxiety. I have never really had a giant uproar over the standards part of my grading, so that isn't so much the problem.
But now...
"You mean, I'm not going to get an A in this class?"
Not easily, no.
"You mean I can be perfect and still not get an A?"
Nobody's perfect, sweetie.
"But, I'm a senior, you can't go changing the status quo now!"
Okay, I see your point, but too bad.
"So, this is like extra credit?"
Well, no, not exactly. Extra credit implies not a lot of work in order to get your grade up to where you want it.* When a student says, "can I write the definitions out twenty times to get my grade up to an A?" I just want to scream.
We discussed capstones this morning, and to be honest, I can't believe I haven't heard from a parent yet. For the most part, the reception was not favorable. We talked about why it is important for them to be able to not just memorize all this important chemistry stuff, but also why they should be able to apply it. And not just because it is chemistry class. This is a life skill, children.
To kind of ease them into it, we did a practice capstone with the last part of our conservation of mass lab. In that part, we add Alka-Seltzer to water. The mass at the end is not the same as the mass at the beginning. For our system, technically, mass was not conserved, but most kids recognized that it was because the gas escaped. So I had them think about what we could do to show that this incident did, indeed, support the law of conservation of mass. While much simpler than what I would probably require for a capstone, this was a good one to walk through and get them in the questioning mode.**
There was arguing. There was bribery. There was attempted blackmail and coercion. But we stuck with it and eventually, everyone came up with a plan and submitted a draft proposal. We went and did the experiment and I talked about what kids should have in a formal write up. There was even one or two, very grudging, "that wasn't so bad" mutterings in the back.
When it was all said and done, my kids seemed a little bit calmer. At this point, they are terrified at the idea of having to come up with ideas for a project. I totally get that. I am terrible at writing engaging questions, plus this is brand new to these kids. We spent so much time beating the curiosity out of them, that when we try to instill it back in, of course there is going to be some struggles.
But I'm sticking to my guns on this one. If I have learned nothing in the last few years, it has been that big changes can't be made if you give in even just a little bit.
*The most accurate portrayal of education in the media, ever, is the Spongebob episode where Mrs. Puff tries to give him extra credit so she doesn't have to have him back in class.
**Looking back, this was actually a lot more difficult for them than I thought it would be.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Inner Peace...A Modeling Update
I don't think there has ever been a time in my teaching career where I could say that I have truly become comfortable with what I am teaching. I taught at my first school for one year before getting married and moving on. My second year teaching was at a school so far away from my home that I moved to a closer district the next year. I taught at the middle school level for two years before being non-renewed, and fell into my current position the next year. I have now been in my district for eleven years, which might have found me in a fairly comfortable place if not for all the new classes I have been "allowed" to develop. In those eleven years, I have taught twelve different classes. Now, some have a little overlap, but creating a new class from scratch nearly every year was a lot more stressful than I realized.
Until today. Today, I got an idea what it really feels like to know what is going on.
Right now I have two sections that are working through the Modeling Chemistry. One is a regular chemistry class and one is what we call applied, that is made up of "those" kids.
My first year with Modeling was, well, tumultuous. The entire situation was new to my kids as well as to me. Even if they hadn't been so incredibly resistant, I am pretty sure they would have sensed my unfamiliarity with the process. They can smell fear, you know.
Last year was my second year, and while I was at least more familiar with the material, I still had some issues and wrinkles that I needed to iron out. Luckily, the kids I had were much less resistant. I think word had spread that I could take whatever they could send my way and stick to my guns. I am pretty sure that if I had given in, just a little bit the year before, I would have had a lot more testing of boundaries. As it was, I had a great group of kids who for the most part bought in to what I was trying to do. For my part, I spent a lot of time writing out exactly* what I wanted to accomplish with each lesson just so I could go back and remember what worked and what didn't. While I'm not obsessed enough to read it all out during class, it has proved invaluable to look over beforehand and remember what types of things tripped kids up. Since I seem to know where I want them to go, my questions and prompts are actually leading them there.**
The other day, I assigned the first worksheet in my chemistry class. This is not a common occurrence, as I really try to save homework for special occasions. The worksheets in the Modeling units are wonderfully done. These are not "right there" questions that kids can google, nor are they all repetitions of the same problem. When my kids came to class today, there was true panic going on. They had tried. They didn't get it. Their parents didn't get it. They were never going to pass this class.
It took awhile, but I reminded them that we had had this conversation about homework awhile back. Remember how it's practice? And struggling is actually a good thing? This doesn't count toward a grade, so let's whiteboard the problems and see what we come up with.
Then things got really tense.
The first couple of questions were pretty straightforward. The group presented and every head in the room turned to me to see if I was confirming their excellent work.
Cue the crickets.***
Finally someone, almost with a twitch, said, "well, is it right??"
So I said, "do you think it is?"
These pauses are going to kill me.
The group presenting, of course thought they were correct. When I asked if anyone had written anything different, no one spoke up. So I asked them if they had any questions about how this group came up with their answers. Again, not a sound.
As the group started moving towards their seats, one student turned around with her paper and asked me if what she had was acceptable. So I stopped the group and had them go back up to their whiteboard.
Now, here's where it got tricky. We stopped and talked about the overall purpose of whiteboarding. It isn't just about copying down the right answer on your paper. This is about learning from each other and being able to ask questions when you don't understand. Not necessarily asking ME, but asking your classmates to explain their thinking.
The big question for this question was that the student had done the problem in a different manner, but came up with the same answer.**** There followed a huge discussion about whether or not this was "correct" for this problem. Apparently, in the past, there has been only one way to get to the right answer, and that is how the teacher has already explained it. No free thinking allowed.
Yeah, whatever. Personally, I would like to see this every time. While this student explained how she came up with her (same) answer, a couple other kids were nodding their heads. Comments like, "oh, I get it now" started rumbling around the room. Kids were talking to one another, asking good questions. There was really only one smart-alec in the room and he was put down pretty quickly.
By the end of the hour, I had students fighting to present their problem on the whiteboard. I had retreated to the back corner and didn't say another word.
It took us two days to whiteboard this worksheet. In fact, with this class, we are taking quite a bit longer on everything, but I am so okay with that. All of those little details that have taken all trimester to even get the nerve to bring up the last two years are being addressed here in the first month.
And they are buying into it!
So today, we are whiteboarding a lab. The discussions going on are amazing and so beyond anything I would have expected up to this point. I am wandering around the room listening, waiting for questions. There are none. I hear one group who seems to be struggling say "well, we will present it and see what everyone else has done. Maybe they can show us where we messed up." Whoa! Really? I move on to eavesdrop on another group. They have a gorgeous multi-color whiteboard that oh-my-goodness includes a particle diagram!
I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming here. I am also a little nervous because I don't really know what I did to get here so quickly (or, for that matter, at all). I'm not entirely sure I did anything at all. I think, though, that it comes from knowing exactly where I want my kids to go and having a plan as to how to get there. What I do know is that I have never been so excited, or relaxed, about where my classroom is headed.
*When I say exactly, I mean word for word, every-question-that-makes-sense-OCD-scripted type of write out.
**Now this is probably not news to most of you. I can see you shaking your head, wondering, "is she serious?" All I can say to that is, yes. Yes, I am.
***There seems to be a lot of awkward pauses in my room this year.
****Seriously, the stars are all in alignment today.
*****My footnote addiction seems to be getting worse...sorry about that...
Until today. Today, I got an idea what it really feels like to know what is going on.
Right now I have two sections that are working through the Modeling Chemistry. One is a regular chemistry class and one is what we call applied, that is made up of "those" kids.
My first year with Modeling was, well, tumultuous. The entire situation was new to my kids as well as to me. Even if they hadn't been so incredibly resistant, I am pretty sure they would have sensed my unfamiliarity with the process. They can smell fear, you know.
Last year was my second year, and while I was at least more familiar with the material, I still had some issues and wrinkles that I needed to iron out. Luckily, the kids I had were much less resistant. I think word had spread that I could take whatever they could send my way and stick to my guns. I am pretty sure that if I had given in, just a little bit the year before, I would have had a lot more testing of boundaries. As it was, I had a great group of kids who for the most part bought in to what I was trying to do. For my part, I spent a lot of time writing out exactly* what I wanted to accomplish with each lesson just so I could go back and remember what worked and what didn't. While I'm not obsessed enough to read it all out during class, it has proved invaluable to look over beforehand and remember what types of things tripped kids up. Since I seem to know where I want them to go, my questions and prompts are actually leading them there.**
The other day, I assigned the first worksheet in my chemistry class. This is not a common occurrence, as I really try to save homework for special occasions. The worksheets in the Modeling units are wonderfully done. These are not "right there" questions that kids can google, nor are they all repetitions of the same problem. When my kids came to class today, there was true panic going on. They had tried. They didn't get it. Their parents didn't get it. They were never going to pass this class.
It took awhile, but I reminded them that we had had this conversation about homework awhile back. Remember how it's practice? And struggling is actually a good thing? This doesn't count toward a grade, so let's whiteboard the problems and see what we come up with.
Then things got really tense.
The first couple of questions were pretty straightforward. The group presented and every head in the room turned to me to see if I was confirming their excellent work.
Cue the crickets.***
Finally someone, almost with a twitch, said, "well, is it right??"
So I said, "do you think it is?"
These pauses are going to kill me.
The group presenting, of course thought they were correct. When I asked if anyone had written anything different, no one spoke up. So I asked them if they had any questions about how this group came up with their answers. Again, not a sound.
As the group started moving towards their seats, one student turned around with her paper and asked me if what she had was acceptable. So I stopped the group and had them go back up to their whiteboard.
Now, here's where it got tricky. We stopped and talked about the overall purpose of whiteboarding. It isn't just about copying down the right answer on your paper. This is about learning from each other and being able to ask questions when you don't understand. Not necessarily asking ME, but asking your classmates to explain their thinking.
The big question for this question was that the student had done the problem in a different manner, but came up with the same answer.**** There followed a huge discussion about whether or not this was "correct" for this problem. Apparently, in the past, there has been only one way to get to the right answer, and that is how the teacher has already explained it. No free thinking allowed.
Yeah, whatever. Personally, I would like to see this every time. While this student explained how she came up with her (same) answer, a couple other kids were nodding their heads. Comments like, "oh, I get it now" started rumbling around the room. Kids were talking to one another, asking good questions. There was really only one smart-alec in the room and he was put down pretty quickly.
By the end of the hour, I had students fighting to present their problem on the whiteboard. I had retreated to the back corner and didn't say another word.
It took us two days to whiteboard this worksheet. In fact, with this class, we are taking quite a bit longer on everything, but I am so okay with that. All of those little details that have taken all trimester to even get the nerve to bring up the last two years are being addressed here in the first month.
And they are buying into it!
So today, we are whiteboarding a lab. The discussions going on are amazing and so beyond anything I would have expected up to this point. I am wandering around the room listening, waiting for questions. There are none. I hear one group who seems to be struggling say "well, we will present it and see what everyone else has done. Maybe they can show us where we messed up." Whoa! Really? I move on to eavesdrop on another group. They have a gorgeous multi-color whiteboard that oh-my-goodness includes a particle diagram!
I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming here. I am also a little nervous because I don't really know what I did to get here so quickly (or, for that matter, at all). I'm not entirely sure I did anything at all. I think, though, that it comes from knowing exactly where I want my kids to go and having a plan as to how to get there. What I do know is that I have never been so excited, or relaxed, about where my classroom is headed.
*When I say exactly, I mean word for word, every-question-that-makes-sense-OCD-scripted type of write out.
**Now this is probably not news to most of you. I can see you shaking your head, wondering, "is she serious?" All I can say to that is, yes. Yes, I am.
***There seems to be a lot of awkward pauses in my room this year.
****Seriously, the stars are all in alignment today.
*****My footnote addiction seems to be getting worse...sorry about that...
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
So Tell Me How You Really Feel
Now that we are a couple weeks into school, we are starting to get a little deeper into actually assessing some work. So now the questions on how to actually get an A in my class are really starting to be asked. There has been so much talk about GPA in my classroom lately that I am seriously starting to twitch.
My chemistry class is still pretty quiet. Most of them do not know me well enough to come right out and complain, but they are nervous, to be sure. I have an amazing first section this year, and they are pretty used to getting high grades. For the most part, they seem to be up to the challenge. We ended up walking through how to do a capstone* so they know what it should look like. I think they are slightly less anxious now.
However, students in my ocean science class, for the most part, know me pretty well. And they let me know exactly what they think about the new system. I have this class set up just slightly different than my chemistry. I don't have the blue and gold standards, mostly because wasn't completely happy with the standards I had written. This turned out to be good thinking because I have already changed some of the targets. I am really debating on this, because this system seems to be a little more straightforward with not as much in the way of decoding to figure out your grade. But then I like the idea of those big ideas, so who knows where this will all end up.
Today, I handed back an ocean science test along with a grade sheet. There was freaking out and some of them just can't let go of percentages. The majority of complaints seem to stem from the fact that they can't get away with not understanding something. To them, it is completely fine to not understand how waves travel through a medium because next week, they can do better on tidal movement. It will all average out and they will never have to come back to understanding waves. This is apparently a much bigger safety net than I had realized because there is some major panicking (and complaining) going on.
Going along with that is grading out of 2 instead of, say, 10. Or 50. Or some other arbitrary number. Basically, they either understand it or they don't. There really is no "partial credit" here. Again with the safety net.
I mentioned capstones to my ocean science and was immediately bombarded with the extra credit question. That is how they are viewing the idea of capstones. I am having a hard time getting them to see it from another angle, because they see this "extra work" as equating to "extra credit". I can honestly say I understand their perspective, but I think it's a little too overwhelming for them to cope with the idea of applying knowledge at this point. So we'll come back to that in a couple days.
I pretty much had two camps in my ocean today. On one side are those who kind of accepted the idea and are going to humor me in hopes I change my mind when everyone's grades are terrible. The other side is made up of those who are still pouting.
What I really need to do a good job of is guiding my kids through this system. I can't just throw it out there and hope they catch on. This is such an enormous shift in philosophy that I'm not sure they are all going to follow. Giving examples and keeping kids from giving up is going to be crucial. And exhausting.
Lucky for me, my principal is on board. I gave him a print out of my set up and he was intrigued. A couple days later, I stopped in his office and he pulled out a little green book called A Repair Kit for Grading and asked if I had read it. No, do I have to? I was a little nervous thinking I had really done something wrong and he was going to make me revert back to a more traditional grading approach. However, he congratulated me on already implementing what he thought was a good system. Whew.
So tomorrow is a new day. My ocean is going to get their first taste of capstones and what it really means to take all this information and use it. Hopefully, we will discover together the difference between extra credit and actual learning.
*Another post that hasn't been finished yet.
My chemistry class is still pretty quiet. Most of them do not know me well enough to come right out and complain, but they are nervous, to be sure. I have an amazing first section this year, and they are pretty used to getting high grades. For the most part, they seem to be up to the challenge. We ended up walking through how to do a capstone* so they know what it should look like. I think they are slightly less anxious now.
However, students in my ocean science class, for the most part, know me pretty well. And they let me know exactly what they think about the new system. I have this class set up just slightly different than my chemistry. I don't have the blue and gold standards, mostly because wasn't completely happy with the standards I had written. This turned out to be good thinking because I have already changed some of the targets. I am really debating on this, because this system seems to be a little more straightforward with not as much in the way of decoding to figure out your grade. But then I like the idea of those big ideas, so who knows where this will all end up.
Today, I handed back an ocean science test along with a grade sheet. There was freaking out and some of them just can't let go of percentages. The majority of complaints seem to stem from the fact that they can't get away with not understanding something. To them, it is completely fine to not understand how waves travel through a medium because next week, they can do better on tidal movement. It will all average out and they will never have to come back to understanding waves. This is apparently a much bigger safety net than I had realized because there is some major panicking (and complaining) going on.
Going along with that is grading out of 2 instead of, say, 10. Or 50. Or some other arbitrary number. Basically, they either understand it or they don't. There really is no "partial credit" here. Again with the safety net.
I mentioned capstones to my ocean science and was immediately bombarded with the extra credit question. That is how they are viewing the idea of capstones. I am having a hard time getting them to see it from another angle, because they see this "extra work" as equating to "extra credit". I can honestly say I understand their perspective, but I think it's a little too overwhelming for them to cope with the idea of applying knowledge at this point. So we'll come back to that in a couple days.
I pretty much had two camps in my ocean today. On one side are those who kind of accepted the idea and are going to humor me in hopes I change my mind when everyone's grades are terrible. The other side is made up of those who are still pouting.
What I really need to do a good job of is guiding my kids through this system. I can't just throw it out there and hope they catch on. This is such an enormous shift in philosophy that I'm not sure they are all going to follow. Giving examples and keeping kids from giving up is going to be crucial. And exhausting.
Lucky for me, my principal is on board. I gave him a print out of my set up and he was intrigued. A couple days later, I stopped in his office and he pulled out a little green book called A Repair Kit for Grading and asked if I had read it. No, do I have to? I was a little nervous thinking I had really done something wrong and he was going to make me revert back to a more traditional grading approach. However, he congratulated me on already implementing what he thought was a good system. Whew.
So tomorrow is a new day. My ocean is going to get their first taste of capstones and what it really means to take all this information and use it. Hopefully, we will discover together the difference between extra credit and actual learning.
*Another post that hasn't been finished yet.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Just...Don't Freak Out
On the first day of school, we talk for just a little bit about how students will eventually receive a letter grade for chemistry, not too much because this is what everyone else does and we want to move on to bigger and better things just as soon as we possibly can. Usually, there are some sideways looks and maybe even a few questions, but what I have noticed is that while there is nodding, the reality doesn't actually set in until there are actual marks involved.
Like today.
Like today.
On Friday, we finished up our Mass and Change Lab, talked about the Conservation of Mass and turned in our lab notebooks. Pretty routing and straightforward.
Today, the notebooks were handed back. Along with the notebook is a sheet that I have typed out comments about each target that is assessed. They look something like this...*
Lab Notebook Feedback SampleThere is always (even near the end of the year) that minute or so where kids are turning the paper over, looking for their grades. So I let them flounder for a while, mumbling among themselves, until finally someone speaks up and asks what everyone wants to know. "How did I do on this?"
Most of the time, I come back with something along the lines of, "well, how do you think you did?" This is often met with blank stares while they try to absorb what I am trying to say. I didn't give them a grade, and they have no idea how to handle that. Today, I had them talk to their lab partners about their comments. What are some things you did well? What do you need to work on? If you were to give yourself a grade, what do you think it would be?
I try to get them to see that it's not just about a number, but about what you can do to truly learn about something. Some try to make sense of it, some just humor me.
Then, I pointed to the wall where I have posted the targets we are covering at this particular time. Remember these green sheets we keep pointing to? Let's talk a little bit more about those. So today, I reintroduced my new and improved grading system. There were a lot of wary looking kids sitting out there. And then I handed out their grade sheets.
See, we use PowerSchool as our grading program, and I know there must be a way, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get it off of percents. So if I put in 2 points as possible and you get a 1, it shows you have a 50%. Even after promising not to, some of them freaked out, although, thankfully, none of them cried.
While there wasn't much in the way of excitement about the new system, at least there wasn't any outright hostility. I think just getting over the initial shock and getting used to the idea will be smoother than past years.
I know that I like it much better than what I did last year. Getting rid of the 3 and 4 levels makes this so much easier. Where last year, I would have hem-hawed around and made a judgement call, this year, I can simply say, "not perfect" and give it a 1.
And then.....I introduced capstones. Now that is a different story. There was quite a bit to say about those...
*This is a critique for another day, but there are a few things I would change about this. I find myself only picking out the things a student did wrong. My goal this year is to also leave specific comments about what was done correctly as well. For whatever reason, I find this much more difficult. But I love typing it out. Copy/paste is soooooo handy sometimes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)