What do you do in June?
Here's my question, and I'll admit, it's a bit broad. However, with the weather reaching over 95 the past four days, it sure seems like June in my school, and not just with the weather. I do in-school suspension duty and the amount of kids in in-school has tripled since Friday. Furthermore, we've had three fights since Monday, which is the most since October, I think. For me, in the private world of my own classroom, the kids have been off-the-wall. I've even been in the computer lab, where it's air-conditioned, doing something fun and my 2 year old has more of an attention span than them. So the question becomes:
How do you keep the student motivation and interest and challenge as high in June as it is in October?
Sometimes there is nothing to be done; sometimes the school year just needs to end. (Sometimes?) But we need to continually offer the same high level of challenge and assessment throughout the year. But we need to also offer change...for example, right now I have over 25 pieces of writing in my students' portfolios. We have written on everything we have read and we have done a wide variety of different types of writing. I think it's safe to say that my students are burned out on writing, and that's OK...it was the price we paid for our goal of increasing the writing abilities and trying to step it up. But now, with the warm weather approaching and my favorite novel to teach on the horizon, I want to mix it up. We'll try a visual essay, where the students are going to take images from Flickr to prove their point from a list of topics. Instead of writing, they will be visualizing their thoughts. Hopefully this accomplishes the same as a formal essay and will continue to generate interest that will carry through to the end of the year.
This is also the time of year when music really helps as well. I usually use music throughout the year, whether it be something playing when the kids are working or as a method of timing the students..."when the song is over, time is up"...that kind of thing.
The bottom line is that we must continually change our approaches and methods if we want to reach every student. This certainly goes for our assessment as well...if we continue to revise and adjust our methods of assessment, then ideally our student output and interest rise and students leave our rooms feeling somewhat refreshed.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
What Did I Learn from the Interactive Journal Process?
I think we were discussing earlier the misconceptions most of us (especially me) had with the concept of blogging. For some time, blogging seemed to me the biggest waste of time, even more of a waste of time than watching The Office, if you can believe that. However, forced exposure to the world of blogging has changed my mindset.
I used to do interactive notebooks with my students...these were notebooks that the kids wrote in on a variety of topics, both in and out of class. The notebooks would never leave the room and when I had time, I would comment in them, hence the interactive part. However, this interaction only functioned two ways: from me to them and back again. With blogging, the communication becomes three dimensional and allows for students to comment on each other's blogs and in that manner, new learning and understanding can flourish in that capacity. What I resisted for years was the idea that blogging could be conducive to learning; how that was possible was beyond me. I thought that bloggers were people with nothing better to do, had an intense desire to let everyone know what they were doing at every particular moment of the day ("Hey, I'm off to do laundry" or "Oops, the pasta boiled over"), or simply were addicted to the concept of being networked.
This is not the case anymore. Our world is moving so fast, and as Kathy said, I cannot imagine my future classroom without this tool. Journals that I collect on a weekly basis can now be done online. Journaling is such a go-to activity for an English teacher that the concept of blogging has to be seen as the ultimate in journal accessibility. In fact, I'm writing this while staring at a mountain of papers that need to be filed and handed back and placed in portfolios...if I had been doing blogs all along...
This has changed for me. Now I can see the educational value in it, and believe it or not, I actually enjoy the writing. It feels good to get some of this stuff off my chest and to have some people view it and actually respond to it. Will I continue with this? The verdict's not in yet on that, but it will become part of my classroom toolbox and in fact, has already done so.
I used to do interactive notebooks with my students...these were notebooks that the kids wrote in on a variety of topics, both in and out of class. The notebooks would never leave the room and when I had time, I would comment in them, hence the interactive part. However, this interaction only functioned two ways: from me to them and back again. With blogging, the communication becomes three dimensional and allows for students to comment on each other's blogs and in that manner, new learning and understanding can flourish in that capacity. What I resisted for years was the idea that blogging could be conducive to learning; how that was possible was beyond me. I thought that bloggers were people with nothing better to do, had an intense desire to let everyone know what they were doing at every particular moment of the day ("Hey, I'm off to do laundry" or "Oops, the pasta boiled over"), or simply were addicted to the concept of being networked.
This is not the case anymore. Our world is moving so fast, and as Kathy said, I cannot imagine my future classroom without this tool. Journals that I collect on a weekly basis can now be done online. Journaling is such a go-to activity for an English teacher that the concept of blogging has to be seen as the ultimate in journal accessibility. In fact, I'm writing this while staring at a mountain of papers that need to be filed and handed back and placed in portfolios...if I had been doing blogs all along...
This has changed for me. Now I can see the educational value in it, and believe it or not, I actually enjoy the writing. It feels good to get some of this stuff off my chest and to have some people view it and actually respond to it. Will I continue with this? The verdict's not in yet on that, but it will become part of my classroom toolbox and in fact, has already done so.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
What Factors Are at Stake When Evaluating a Curriculum?
Since this topic is at the core of my curriculum paper, I will be brief here.
1) Does the curriculum address 21st century skills? If so, are they clearly defined and outlined?
2) Does the curriculum meet the needs of the students of your particular school? Meaning, is the curriculum challenging and engaging in terms of student motivation? If so, how?
3) Are the creators of the curriculum given latitude to take risks in this curriculum? In other words, if it is a literature course, are there modern works or works from other cultures, particularly areas which are not popular right now?
1) Does the curriculum address 21st century skills? If so, are they clearly defined and outlined?
2) Does the curriculum meet the needs of the students of your particular school? Meaning, is the curriculum challenging and engaging in terms of student motivation? If so, how?
3) Are the creators of the curriculum given latitude to take risks in this curriculum? In other words, if it is a literature course, are there modern works or works from other cultures, particularly areas which are not popular right now?
I subscribe to Marzano's theory of a guaranteed and viable curriculum and I think schools need to realize that they need to make the distinction clear between the two. I think all three of my criteria for curriculum can fall into what Marzano is advocating. 21st century skills need to be guaranteed and viable in curriculum across the country, as does student motivation and "thinking outside the box" to beat that dead horse, which is another way of stating my third criteria.
Is the Future Now for A.I.?
First of all, allow me to address why I chose this article, despite its thickness:
I just think the content is really cool. Imagine what your class would be like if individualized testing and student control of assessment is a working component of your lesson plan.
The timeliness of the artifical intelligence based testing programs cannot be overlooked. In a world gone mad (said in movie trailer guy voice) with standardized testing, there is no room for individual strengths and, as the article clearly points out, weaknesses. If we as teachers are to address differentiation in the classroom, where does that differentiation go on the standardized test? Oh, wait...there is a section for students to put their name down on the test, isn't there?
Clayton Christensen's term "disruptive innovation" is as apt a term as you're going to find here. This is exactly what is going to happen to the world of assessment if this kind of personalized assessing is happening: it will be cheaper, more effective, and the data the teachers will be able to harvest here will certainly disrupt the previous paradigm in public schools to lead way for a new frontier of valid, quality assessment.
I loved the anecdotes regarding Lexia and ALEKS. These are two programs which serve to identify problem areas the students are having and working on these areas until the students are ready to move on and have mastered the skill. They both remind me of a program I used to use called Criterion, which was actually sponsored by the state department of education. In this program, students wrote on a HSPA type persuasive prompt for the allotted time on the state tests. The computer would then assess the results and come back with a number based off the state registered holistic scoring guide. The student could then see within seconds what score they would have received on the writing. I would use it as a starting off point to making a polished final draft. The problem however was that the program was actually too nice to students: it would grade them significantly higher than I would! I would give 4's to papers that Criterion would grade a 6. But again, this was over five years ago...according to this article, the technology have improved greatly.
Of course, the problem becomes accessibility. Ramaswami goes on to note that A.I. based software and programs become useful only when they can be integrated seamlessly into the classroom and unfortunately for many, this is not the case.
I do take issue with John McCarthy, who I think missed the boat on the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The whole point of that film is to illustrate the futality of loving something that can't love back, which is what Brian Aldiss (the author of the original short story) makes clear in the story and the film. Of course they are not going to be fully human and that is the point: how does something that you create to act, think, and behave like a human not understand what love is?
Sorry to get that in there, but as a self-respecting movie fan, I had to do it.
I just think the content is really cool. Imagine what your class would be like if individualized testing and student control of assessment is a working component of your lesson plan.
The timeliness of the artifical intelligence based testing programs cannot be overlooked. In a world gone mad (said in movie trailer guy voice) with standardized testing, there is no room for individual strengths and, as the article clearly points out, weaknesses. If we as teachers are to address differentiation in the classroom, where does that differentiation go on the standardized test? Oh, wait...there is a section for students to put their name down on the test, isn't there?
Clayton Christensen's term "disruptive innovation" is as apt a term as you're going to find here. This is exactly what is going to happen to the world of assessment if this kind of personalized assessing is happening: it will be cheaper, more effective, and the data the teachers will be able to harvest here will certainly disrupt the previous paradigm in public schools to lead way for a new frontier of valid, quality assessment.
I loved the anecdotes regarding Lexia and ALEKS. These are two programs which serve to identify problem areas the students are having and working on these areas until the students are ready to move on and have mastered the skill. They both remind me of a program I used to use called Criterion, which was actually sponsored by the state department of education. In this program, students wrote on a HSPA type persuasive prompt for the allotted time on the state tests. The computer would then assess the results and come back with a number based off the state registered holistic scoring guide. The student could then see within seconds what score they would have received on the writing. I would use it as a starting off point to making a polished final draft. The problem however was that the program was actually too nice to students: it would grade them significantly higher than I would! I would give 4's to papers that Criterion would grade a 6. But again, this was over five years ago...according to this article, the technology have improved greatly.
Of course, the problem becomes accessibility. Ramaswami goes on to note that A.I. based software and programs become useful only when they can be integrated seamlessly into the classroom and unfortunately for many, this is not the case.
I do take issue with John McCarthy, who I think missed the boat on the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The whole point of that film is to illustrate the futality of loving something that can't love back, which is what Brian Aldiss (the author of the original short story) makes clear in the story and the film. Of course they are not going to be fully human and that is the point: how does something that you create to act, think, and behave like a human not understand what love is?
Sorry to get that in there, but as a self-respecting movie fan, I had to do it.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Exit Card
List three things you learned, two things you found interesting and one thing you still have a question about. Comment on someone else's question.
1) I've certainly learned to be more computer literate. Now I'm pretty much ashamed of how much I didn't know before this class, so I will say that using some of this technology has been very helpful. I put together a Flickr slideshow yesterday for "Huck Finn" and it was a big hit in class and that's something I never would have done last year.
2) I've learned that collaboration is really the key to increasing success in the classroom. Just being able to sit down once a week with everyone here and talk about what's going on in the classroom is a big help. I wish I could do it more with the people in my building, but seriously, where's the time for that?
3) I've also learned that the world of blogging is more useful than I originally thought. I used to think blogging was a vapid, shallow, senseless waste of time, especially on the part of the person reading it. But now I see the value in it and with the help of Google Reader, it can be an incredibly useful tool for teachers. I really enjoy reading the blogs and wikis I'm subscribed to and at this time last year, I would have laughed at the person who did that.
4) I think that the most interesting aspect of this class is again the collaboration and communication we are sharing...I enjoy reading what people have posted and I must confess a big smile came across my face when I read Susan's post this week...thank you Susan!
5) Another interesting aspect of class has been the sense of a community beyond the walls of my school building. We are all dealing with the same problems, but the methods we use to solve them are incredibly different. I like that we come together to realize that.
6) My question all semester, as it will continue to be, is how do we practically and effectively use this time and these resources to better ourselves? How do we get our building administrators to see the value and give us the time to integrate the tools into our professional lives?
1) I've certainly learned to be more computer literate. Now I'm pretty much ashamed of how much I didn't know before this class, so I will say that using some of this technology has been very helpful. I put together a Flickr slideshow yesterday for "Huck Finn" and it was a big hit in class and that's something I never would have done last year.
2) I've learned that collaboration is really the key to increasing success in the classroom. Just being able to sit down once a week with everyone here and talk about what's going on in the classroom is a big help. I wish I could do it more with the people in my building, but seriously, where's the time for that?
3) I've also learned that the world of blogging is more useful than I originally thought. I used to think blogging was a vapid, shallow, senseless waste of time, especially on the part of the person reading it. But now I see the value in it and with the help of Google Reader, it can be an incredibly useful tool for teachers. I really enjoy reading the blogs and wikis I'm subscribed to and at this time last year, I would have laughed at the person who did that.
4) I think that the most interesting aspect of this class is again the collaboration and communication we are sharing...I enjoy reading what people have posted and I must confess a big smile came across my face when I read Susan's post this week...thank you Susan!
5) Another interesting aspect of class has been the sense of a community beyond the walls of my school building. We are all dealing with the same problems, but the methods we use to solve them are incredibly different. I like that we come together to realize that.
6) My question all semester, as it will continue to be, is how do we practically and effectively use this time and these resources to better ourselves? How do we get our building administrators to see the value and give us the time to integrate the tools into our professional lives?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math
Is this where we're heading? This was written over two years ago, so I really hope there's been some push in the new administration for a broader curriculum and definite overhaul of NCLB. I completely agree with Paris Smith, the eighth grader who says he can't take two hours of math. I couldn't take forty minutes of it when I was in school, and if I had to take two hours a day, I'd go nuts. How can this be good? Won't the students get to a point where they've soaked up all the relevant knowledge and anything after that will just spill out onto the floor? How far can you push a kid in reading and math before their brain just shuts down and won't accept any more information?
The state of our nation's education is forever dictated to us by people who lack the fundamental understanding of what is means to help kids succeed. The final comment of the article only confirms the dire situation we are in. When a teacher says that the only motivation for her students to do well is get out of this "special" class and into a mainstream one, we have all failed as educators. There is no spark, no zest, no desire for education...just a understanding that if I fail the test, I'm in the low class.
The state of our nation's education is forever dictated to us by people who lack the fundamental understanding of what is means to help kids succeed. The final comment of the article only confirms the dire situation we are in. When a teacher says that the only motivation for her students to do well is get out of this "special" class and into a mainstream one, we have all failed as educators. There is no spark, no zest, no desire for education...just a understanding that if I fail the test, I'm in the low class.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Response to Classmate's Blog
This is a response to Susan's blog from March 30, 2009:
Yes! Attitude has to be the number one factor here. I know that I wrote about the lack of motivation among teenage boys (shown in the study Boys Adrift by Dr. Leonard Sax...awesome study, go check it out, especially if you have boys), but this issue is so key to our future I think. Sax states that in 1949, 82% of the undergraduates at American universities were men. In 2008, that number is more like 42%. Fewer and fewer boys are going to school and those that are in high school right now see school as only an insignificant precursor to whatever they're doing after school...when they're real day begins. This is the time for them to play video games, be with friends, or indulge in drugs or alcohol.
Susan is absolutely write when she says the factors that shape a student's attitudes...teacher's roles in this should be to continue to motivate that kid...I would rather work with a below average student who truly gives his best every time than a smart kid who is just lazy and won't do the work.
Can I indulge myself for a moment?
OK, thanks.
My proudest moment as an educator was when I was teaching a class of lower level juniors the skills necessary for the HSPAs...most of the kids had IEPs or 504s and one of the girls was pulled out by the child study team and told she was going to be exempt from taking the HSPAs. Her response was no, she didn't want to be, because Mr. Craig would be disappointed in me and he's worked too hard to give me what I need to pass the test. I was floored. And I only knew about it because a friend of mine was the special ed teacher in the room for the meeting. The student never told me. When I found out, I told her how proud I was of her. That's the type of kid who can do anything, I think. She had the right attitude but maybe not all the skills, but she got there and she eventually passed by a pretty wide margin. I think this is what Susan is getting at when she talks about attitude. If every kid had this girl's attitude, I think a lot of our problems would get a lot smaller.
Yes! Attitude has to be the number one factor here. I know that I wrote about the lack of motivation among teenage boys (shown in the study Boys Adrift by Dr. Leonard Sax...awesome study, go check it out, especially if you have boys), but this issue is so key to our future I think. Sax states that in 1949, 82% of the undergraduates at American universities were men. In 2008, that number is more like 42%. Fewer and fewer boys are going to school and those that are in high school right now see school as only an insignificant precursor to whatever they're doing after school...when they're real day begins. This is the time for them to play video games, be with friends, or indulge in drugs or alcohol.
Susan is absolutely write when she says the factors that shape a student's attitudes...teacher's roles in this should be to continue to motivate that kid...I would rather work with a below average student who truly gives his best every time than a smart kid who is just lazy and won't do the work.
Can I indulge myself for a moment?
OK, thanks.
My proudest moment as an educator was when I was teaching a class of lower level juniors the skills necessary for the HSPAs...most of the kids had IEPs or 504s and one of the girls was pulled out by the child study team and told she was going to be exempt from taking the HSPAs. Her response was no, she didn't want to be, because Mr. Craig would be disappointed in me and he's worked too hard to give me what I need to pass the test. I was floored. And I only knew about it because a friend of mine was the special ed teacher in the room for the meeting. The student never told me. When I found out, I told her how proud I was of her. That's the type of kid who can do anything, I think. She had the right attitude but maybe not all the skills, but she got there and she eventually passed by a pretty wide margin. I think this is what Susan is getting at when she talks about attitude. If every kid had this girl's attitude, I think a lot of our problems would get a lot smaller.
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