tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48003445935680880332024-03-13T14:35:07.334-05:00I Taught My Dog to WhistleFocusing on assessment and standards based grading in a middle school science classroom...with some dog training on the side.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-48194284683385038872016-03-24T22:18:00.005-05:002016-03-24T22:18:52.700-05:00The 40-40-40 ruleI am going to start out bold here, but the best book and resources for curriculum development is without a doubt <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-By-Design-Grant-Wiggins/dp/1416600353" target="_blank">Understanding by Design</a> by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. The idea in its simplest form is that instead of teaching discrete content, we need to know what the big idea is that we are after, and have that in our sights the whole time as we plan goals, assessments, and instruction (in that order).<br />
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One thing that came from them also was this idea of the 40-40-40 rule. The idea is that there are things that are good to know and be able to do that last us for about 40 days. There are other things that are important to understand for about 40 months, and then there those things that are important to know and do for 40 years. The problem with school, obviously, is that we tend to focus on the 40 day stuff. I have started to ask myself more, "What is 40 year learning?"<br />
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My wife and I recently purchased an old farm house that needed a lot of work. My mistrust and frugal ways allowed my DIY side to come out as we fired our electrician and contractors when they worked too slowly and wanted too much money. One of the big things that was on my list to do was electrical work. Here is a lesson in the 40-40-40 rule.<br />
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As I look at the wiring in my house from the 1940's, I thought about how things change. Wiring is not the same in 2016 as it was in the late 1940's. Obviously, this is more than 40 years, but the idea is still sound. If an electrician from 1940 crossed the space-time continuum into my house and began wiring, he would be almost as lost as I was, perhaps more so. It made me think...what am I learning now and how does that fit into the 40-40-40 rule.<br />
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For the 40 day stuff, the things that come to mind are the recall type things. It is nice to remember, on the fly, what color of wire nut to use when I am tying together 2 or 3 wires. You know what, I am going to forget that pretty soon. I will remember that there is a color system, but if I don't use it, the specifics of some of that will be gone. So, the specific content, that is the 40 day stuff. The thing to remember here is that we should almost EXPECT ourselves and our students to forget this stuff. Why do we teach it then? Well, to have a platform for the 40 month stuff!<br />
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In wiring my house, what are some things I learned that are going to stick around for 40 months? The idea of a circuit for sure. Not any specific circuit, but the idea that we have to make a complete loop for electricity to do what it does. The idea that there are methods out there to make it easier for others to understand the work you did. The reasoning behind building and electrical codes, and that it is important to have experts available to check things over for you. These larger concepts will last a while. When I buy a new house, I will forget the size of electrical boxes, and how many wires can be under a staple, and the color of wire nuts. I will know that there is a reason for some of these weird rules. I will remember to look for circuits. <br />
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What about 40 years? I am not 40 years old yet, so it is hard to say. I haven't remembered anything for 40 years! How can I judge what will last? The other day, I was talking to some colleagues about fixing up the house and they said something to the effect that they couldn't do a project like that.<br />
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I hit me. The 40 year learning isn't "stuff." It isn't concepts, it isn't thinking. It's belief that you can learn. That is it. It made me sad to hear educators say they couldn't do something. I didn't know a whole lot about several projects that I am doing right now a few short months ago. What I did know was that I could do it. I knew I could learn how to do it. I needed the tools and the time and some people to lean on. Then I could do it. <br />
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When did I learn that?<br />
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I could probably point out literal moments in time when I learned 40 day and 40 month learning. The habit and belief that I can learn...that came from somewhere else. My dad, for sure. My great teachers that always challenged me. Awesome non-teacher teachers in my life.<br />
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When I learned about circuits sometime in 12th grade physics, the content didn't directly prepare me for the wiring of the 4 ways switch that I use to go up the stairs. The belief in people around me that I could learn did.<br />
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For our students, content is important. Why? Because if we can show them they can learn content, then we can use that to help them make bigger connections. Eventually, they will see, with the guidance of teachers along the way, that they can make connections on their own and always be able to learn. <br />
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I hope students forget a bunch of the stuff I teach them in class, but I hope they can never shake the idea that learning is possible. Even 15 or 20 years later, they can have the confidence to learn something new, perhaps because I opened that door.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-86537389920899650432014-09-30T13:11:00.001-05:002014-09-30T13:11:41.731-05:00Every time I hear someone say Formative AssessmentEvery time I hear someone say Formative Assessment...<br />
<br />
...this scene keeps running through my head<br />
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wujVMIYzYXg<br />
<br />Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-45748072888244600932014-07-08T10:05:00.000-05:002014-07-08T10:05:16.511-05:00I Hate Formative Assessments!Well, mostly, I hate the TERM formative assessments. What does it really mean? I think we get hung up on the term formative assessment and lose the real meaning.<br />
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When I think of grading and feedback, there is one purpose...communication. The only thing that ever changes when giving grades and feedback is the audience. So, instead of thinking of what sort of assessment we have (formative or summative), lets simply think of the audience of the result of the assessment and make decisions from there.<br />
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If the <u>main</u> audience of the assessment result is the student, DON'T USE A GRADE! Why not? If our audience is the student, our goal is to improve learning, and we know students do not learn from grades. When a student looks at a grade after an assessment, that is all they look at. They don't look back at their work or task. Instead, for learning, give descriptive feedback. <br />
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Some people say that the student is ALWAYS the audience. In a perfect world where one student had one teacher, sure, that may be the case. The truth is that most of us have classrooms full of 30 or more students. There are times when we need to "pigeon hole" students so we can keep things straight in our heads to plan flexible groups and future instruction. At these times we give some sort of formal assessment and write down a level of learning that reflects where individual students stand. It isn't efficient to write down an entire descriptive comment for each student, so we summarize the learning with a symbol, or a grade. Anytime a grade is written down for a student, in my mind, it is a summative assessment. I use this idea because if you assign a grade to a task, you are summarizing students learning. But, who cares how we define it. <u>When a grade is written down, the audience changes. The main audience is the teacher, because we use these grades to manage our classes.</u> <br />
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Now, you can still use this information for formative purposes! This is why things are so darn confusing! As a teacher, now you know where students stand in terms of learning levels. You can use this information to group students. This doesn't mean that students are stuck at this level forever, but it is worth recording the learning level. In my mind, it is entirely appropriate to put this information into the gradebook. Why? Well, you have a quality assessment that rates the level of learning of a student relative to a standard. Write it down! Then, when you do it again, write it down again. After awhile, we will have a collection of evidence for each student relative to specific standards. You are the main audience, but the student should still see this as well.<br />
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There are also times when the MAIN audience are people outside our classroom. This would include parents, administrators, other teachers, etc. Most schools have a system of report cards to accomplish this task with specific deadlines that these reports are due. So, on that deadline, we have to look at our knowledge of where students are for each of our standards AT THAT TIME, and report that information out. Obviously, it is more important to use more recent data on students. This is one of the reason why we have been collecting this evidence over time, so when we need to summarize the learning at these specified intervals, we can.<br />
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<b><u>Remember the MAIN audience:</u></b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>If it's the students: descriptive feedback</li>
<li>If it's you: grade the assessment with level of achievement connected to the standard and record that grade in the gradebook.</li>
<li>If it's the report card: summarize what you know of the student, by looking back at the gradebook, at that time, per standard or per class depending on your situation.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Focus on the audience, not the type of assessment.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-43653469651247453652013-12-28T13:22:00.002-06:002013-12-28T13:24:50.179-06:00Why Standards-Based Grading<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
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A Twitter conversation prompted this post. While doing a quick Twitter check before bed
last night, I ran across <a href="https://twitter.com/StopSBG" target="_blank">@stopsbg</a> and the associated website <a href="http://stopsbg.com/">stopsbg.com</a>. Whoa.
After a few exchanges, it was evident I could not argue my point using
the limited characters of Twitter. I don’t
think I will ever convince this party of anything, but I like to re-hash things
for myself sometimes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have to preface this by saying that my perspective
comes mostly as a 7<sup>th</sup> grade Life Science teacher. I do a lot of work with other content areas
in the middle level and some work with science at the high school level, but
ultimately I know the level I teach the best.
From the stopsbg.com website, it seems like the biggest concern is the
result of Standards-Based Grading (SBG) after high school. Perhaps my perspective is moot.<o:p></o:p></div>
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First, SBG isn’t something all in itself. It is one tool/strategy from a multitude of
strategies that are aimed at improving what we do as educators. Whenever I try to think about these ideas
about education, I always to try think about John Hattie’s work from his book <i>Visible Learning</i>. The central premise of this book is that
almost everything in education “works.”
Our goal isn’t to find something that works, it is to find something that
works really well. He tracks what works
best using something called an effect size and charges teachers to “know thy
impact,” which is to say that to not be satisfied with simply knowing that you
made AN impact, but to know how large of an impact you make.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I may be oversimplifying things, but my takeaway from
Hattie was that we need to have clear goals of our teaching. These goals need to be clear to both the
student and the teacher. In addition to
these clear goals, interested parties need to know where students are in
relation to these goals so appropriate adjustments can be made. Those adjustments are how we can help the
student move forward. Perhaps they need
some remediation to get caught up, perhaps they are right on target, or perhaps
they are ready to storm ahead. We need a
classroom that purposely and properly identifies these students and provides
the appropriate avenues.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So the above paragraph sounds like a bunch of
edu-speak. What does it mean, what does
it look like? We need clear goals, or
standards, or targets, or objectives, or whatever you want to call them. Our standards documents provide insight on
what those are. We need to work as
teacher teams to make sure we all agree on what they are. For example, I have a standard that is called
“Explanation and Argument.” It comes
from information gathered from <i>A
Framework for k-12 Science Education</i> to help student achieve the
performance expectations outlined in <i>The
Next Generation Science Standards</i>.
In order to do well on the standard, student are to be able to make a
claim about something, supply or identify evidence that supports that claim,
and explain how that evidence supports the claim using scientific
reasoning. Another standard I have is
called “Survival and Reproduction.” Part
of this standard is the understanding of simple genetics. Students need to understand how genetic
traits are passed on from generation to generation and how scientists can
deduce the genetic makeup of an organism by observing the offspring.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I know these goals, as do the people in my
department. We studied the standards and
come to the conclusion. Students know
these goals, but in a slightly different way.
I don't tell them, “Hey, you need to know how scientists can deduce
genetic makeup of an organism by observing the offspring.” Instead, I use intriguing examples from
nature to spark their curiosity and we practice the deduction and argument process. Oh, by the way, I (like most teachers) have
about 150 students spread across 5 classes with all sorts of different needs
and current background knowledge. I’m
not special, every teacher has a similar situation. I need a way to figure out what students know
and what they don’t know, and then let them know their precise situation so we
can move as far forward as possible.
This is where assessment comes in.
Part of that is conversations with students while they are working on
examples that we come up with. Part of
it observation. At some point though, I
need them to sit down and prove to me they get it. And we do that periodically too. So then, we take a quiz to see what is up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point, nothing is different from any other good
teaching. Formal assessments where a
grade is given is where things change. Now,
a grade is given in two different categories: Explanation/Argument and Survival/Reproduction. I have
students who can make an “OK” argument but don’t have a great understanding of
genetics. Conversely, and more commonly,
I have students who get the whole genetics thing, but can’t set up an argument well. In both of the above situations, in my “traditional”
grading practices when I started teaching and how I think a lot of teacher
grade now, both of these students would receive a mediocre grade. I am not inclined to say what because that is
dumb, but it would probably be “passing” and not “excelling.” When parents and or students ask what they
could do to do better, the response is, “study harder/better.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Enter Standards-Based Grading. These kids get grades in two different
categories. I literally have students that approach me that
say: “I see that I get the Survival and Reproduction part which I know goes
with genetics, but what how do I do better in this Explanation and Argument
category?” We have a conversation about what the difference is between evidence
and reasoning in this situation while we bring up how we did this in the
past. We do a little more practice that
is TARGETED on what needs to improve.
And then sometimes a student asks if they can “redo.” No, not directly. But, as a prepared teacher I have other
assessments in store. I’ll let them show
me how well they can produce an argument using evidence using a different assessment
in the short term or we will discuss when this will naturally come up again
because of the design of the class.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only can I help students who have the confidence and
drive to approach me with questions, I can also target groups of kids who are
trying to sneak under the radar. Again,
with traditional grading, both students would have received a mediocre
grade. Some kids are OK with
mediocrity. With SBG, I can figure out
what is causing that, and invite (make/compel) them come in and learn it
better. I don’t want a kid to leave my
class that doesn’t understand genetics at least at a basic level. Using SBG, I can identify whole groups of
students and work with them. Based on
their grade, I have a reasonable idea as to where they are and can provide
small group remediation, followed by directed practice, followed by another
quiz where they can prove to me if they now understand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>No, this does not happen with traditional grading.</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sure, traditional grading can have clear goals. Traditional grading should still go through
the same formative feedback loops. But
at the end of the day (or unit), the data is useless to remediate students who didn't
get it. It is a ton of work to go back
through to figure out the issues…<u>so most teachers don’t</u>. <b><u>They move the whole class on and tell them to
study harder next time.</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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SBG encourages students to ask more specific questions
about their learning. Also, it allows
confidence to build in students. Very
few quizzes are total flops. There is
almost always at least something they did OK at. Not only that, if they did poorly across the
board we can make small steps. Since I
know what they know and don’t know, I can be more helpful. And then, once those kids start doing a
little better, they know they can do it, and they now will hold themselves to a
higher standard. Students where were OK
with a “2” a few months ago know that they should be at a 3 or 4. I have a couple dozen of those examples from
this school year along.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Remember, it comes back to clear goals and feedback to
and from the students about those goals so a teacher can “know thy impact.” SBG, when done well, is an efficient way to
know your impact.<o:p></o:p></div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-33751702269013848532013-12-26T16:19:00.000-06:002013-12-26T16:19:31.790-06:00Updates on NGSS and SBGI previously posted some<a href="http://itaughtmydogtowhistle.blogspot.com/2013/03/ngss-and-standards-based-grading.html" target="_blank"> thoughts on connecting NGSS to SBG.</a> My ending question was: Is 18-19 standards too many for SBG. I have since concluded that as yes, that is too many. Below is how I am tackling this now.<br />
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Over the summer, I spent a lot of time reading NGSS, the Framework, and anything else I could get my eyes and hands on. Upon returning to plan for the upcoming year, what was hanging over my head was how to set up the gradebook. What standards do I use?<br />
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The first thing to think about was whether to have the performance expectations as my standards, or something else. I decided upon using the dimensions from the Framework instead as I feel that they are more lasting. Students can work on the idea of data analysis and interpretation from Pre-Kindergarten through forever. I see the individual performance expectations as some of the ways we can tell if students are understanding the dimensions. <br />
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I tried to just throw everything in the pot. That gave me 8 practices, 7 crosscutting concepts, and 5-6 disciplinary core idea. From the get-go, this seemed like an overloaded gradebook, so some pruning had to happen.<br />
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The first thing to go from the gradebook was the crosscutting concepts. I am not saying by any means that the crosscutting concepts are not important, but I am saying that I don't see them as a "thing" to assess and report on. I see the crosscutting concepts as themes and ideas to organize the class.<br />
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From there, I combined and cut some of the practices. First, I cut out the practice: "Using mathematics and computation thinking." Again, this is not to undermine its importance, but I feel students have a whole class on math that does a better job teaching and assessing those concepts. Also, we don't have a lot of performance expectations in Life Science that requires a lot of computational thinking. I also combined the practices of "explanations/solutions" with "arguments." I feel these are very similar. As one is explaining something, you generally need to use the evidence that was gathered connected with reasoning. A good explanation is a good argument. The same goes with solutions in engineering.<br />
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Finally, I put in 5 "Disciplinary Core Ideas." I can't remember the exact document I used to do this. I teach 7th grade Life Science and I used: structure and function, growth/development and reproduction, matter and energy in organisms and environments, organisms interactions, and survival and reproduction. <br />
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This gives me 11 standards total. I don't think I have stumbled upon a lucky number or anything, but it is where I am right now. What I still like about standards-based grading though is how having these standards keeps me grounded in what I do and more importantly what I assess. It is so easy to try to teach a lot of stuff. Having the practices on hand has kept me from having kids spout out a bunch of content. Instead, I feel like we are doing more with the content.<br />
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With this said, improvements can always be made. For next year, I will likely keep the 6 practices. For the DCI, I will use 3 or 4, as they are written in the framework. We don't "cover" a lot of ecosystem interactions in our class, so I think we could fit in the other 3 DCIs. <br />
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The next big step...getting rid of the overall grade so we can just focus on these standards. We shall see how that goes.<br />
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-30644115139403297312013-12-19T12:46:00.000-06:002013-12-19T12:46:21.219-06:00Origami Frog Natural SelectionJust a neat activity to share:<br />
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We are working on genetics, and just took that the next step to see how genetics would change as the process of natural selection was happening to a population.<br />
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To do this, students made origami frogs as seen in this video:<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKaAKBVo93I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKaAKBVo93I</a><br />
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The frogs have 4 different "genes" that can be varied:<br />
<ul>
<li>The size of the starting paper (3 or 5 inches square)</li>
<li>The number of folds that make the jumping mechanism (2 or 3)</li>
<li>The color of the paper (either reddish or greenish which the students colored)</li>
<li>The stiffness of the paper (regular paper or index card)</li>
</ul>
All groups started with the same frog genotype. They used the genotype to figure out the phenotype of the first frog. Then, that frog "mated" with another random frog. This happened by the genes of the original frog being mixed with some random genes. They used these genes to create 4 "frogletts." Each of the frogletts were then lined up and students made them jump. The one that jumped the furthest was allowed to breed, the others were gone from the gene pool. Then, the "successful" frog's genes were mixed with other successful frog genes to make another generation. We continued this process for several generations.<br />
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The results are pretty neat so far. There is a very clear type of frog that is most common, but the other types of frogs continue to pop up in the gene pool. Neat to see some genetic diversity from a simple set of genes and some clear microevolution as well.<br />
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The following link should take you to a site where you can download the actual activity, if you are interested. <a href="https://www.hightail.com/download/elNMaXRCbEFlaFFYRHNUQw" target="_blank">Origami Frogs</a>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-83504792442468591552013-06-03T17:18:00.001-05:002013-06-03T17:18:36.925-05:00Letting them goAbout an hour ago, I flat our cried in front of a student, thanking her for the inspiration she provided me this year. It seems so backward. Shouldn't I be inspiring them?<br />
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We have the greatest jobs in the world. I hate this final week of school. The farewells, so longs, and good-byes hit me straight in the heart. I will miss each and every one of these little kiddos. One of my biggest fears is that I get more from them than they get from me. I get 140 different perspectives on the wonders and tragedies of our world, the smiles and tears, the joys and the sorrows. The worst part about my job isn't the workload, the pay, the hours, the administration, or the public perception of public education. The worst part is letting so many kids go after getting to know how awesome they are at the end of the year. Another awesome bunch will take their place next year. One one hand I get bummed out with the good-byes. On the other hand, who else in the world gets to do what we do. We are in the profession of getting to know people and helping them along the way. Hooray for us!Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-42252495705169601112013-04-26T14:50:00.001-05:002013-04-26T14:50:33.844-05:00Marzano Misconceptions<b id="docs-internal-guid--caa4025-47e4-e6d5-1b7b-228fc0ec896d" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--caa4025-47e4-e6d5-1b7b-228fc0ec896d" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid--caa4025-47e4-e6d5-1b7b-228fc0ec896d" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--caa4025-47e4-e6d5-1b7b-228fc0ec896d" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="docs-internal-guid--caa4025-47e4-e6d5-1b7b-228fc0ec896d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK, the power of Twitter has hit me hard. The #sbgchat this last week was, like all weeks so far, awesome. Someone asked about how to calculate an overall grade in a standards-based grading system. Obviously, the perfect world would allow us to continue to keep the standards separate, but most people have to supply a single grade for a single course. I suggested to this person to check out Marzano’s materials. A couple people tweeted and multiple people retweeted the idea to be cautious with Marzano. The only idea I could take away that evening, which was supported the next day via another conversation, was that Marzano pushes the idea to use “formative scores” to calculate grades for each standard and subsequent overall grades.</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This bummed me out a bit, as I think there is a misunderstanding. I think Marzano uses the word “Formative Scores” different than what comes to mind for much of the educational community when they hear the terms. My understanding of Marzano comes largely from this book (I didn’t make these PDFs, just Googled them...): </span><a href="http://pepstep571.wikispaces.com/file/view/Marzano+Formative+Assessment.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://pepstep571.wikispaces.com/file/view/Marzano+Formative+Assessment.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If you go to the page labeled 27, you will see a summary of his perspectives on formative and summative scores and the distinction between his “definition” of formative and summative </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">scores</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> compared to the idea of formative and summative </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">assessments</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It is crucial to understand what he is trying to say here before we are too critical of his methods. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think the key here is to take a step back. Our whole goal of assessment is to see what kids know and can do. All assessments are flawed, but hopefully, we can have enough assessments tied to a particular standard to get a reasonable idea of how well a student knows that standard </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With this in mind, when we assess students, we can use the information from that assessment in at least two ways. We can use that information to inform our learning...which is where “formative” assessment comes from. Also, we can use that assessment to inform our judgement on what a student has learned...typically called “summative” assessments. Pyscologically for the kid, if you wrote a score down on the assessment that the kid can see, you are using that assessment to judge the kid and they will likely not use it to inform their learning. Any assessment with a score tied to it is a “summative” assessment. It doesn’t matter if you are using clickers, thumbs up, exit slips, or a written test. If there is a numerical grade, the assessment has had a “summative” interpretation done on it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I am looking at student work with the lens to put a numerical score on it, I hope I write that score down into some sort of gradebook. Further, at the end of the grading period, when I look back to see what that kid knows based on a variety of assessments, I should consider all of those assessments. The most recent assessments are more important, but if an assessment was important enough for a student to do and for me to grade, it can and should have consideration at the end of the grading period. That consideration may very well be, “The have grown since then, I am ignoring this now.” It may also be, “they are really up and down and before I can give a final grade I have to find a different way to assess this student’s understanding.” These SCORES are FORMATIVE because they are giving me information about a students understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where does the classical “formative” assessment fit in to Marzano’s model? He has another use of assessment which he calls “instructional feedback.” I think this is when he is using the generally accepted idea of formative assessment. Marzano’s definitions are different from the mainstream logic. I am not going to get into which set of definitions are better. When we take a step back, most people who are talking about reforming our assessment and grading practices are saying the same things:</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have clear standards/goals/targets/objectives/whatever</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be sure instruction and assessments match the standards.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Give kids quality feedback throughout the learning processes</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Help kids find ways that they can give themselves and peers quality feedback</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you write down symbols that represent the learning (grades, numbers, etc), be sure that those symbols have a clear meaning.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When giving a grade that summarizes the learning on a standard, use math cautiously.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider more recent evidence more than older evidence.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Avoid the “overall” grade per class as much as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep kids involved as much as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It doesn’t matter who you read. O’connor, Wormeli, Marzano, Stiggins, Chappuis, Guskey or even some Schaefer. The above ideas are what we should be after. Don’t get hung up on vocabulary or methodology.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks ago, I was meeting with some colleagues socially, and the idea of grading came up, and how much of a grade should be made up of “formative assessments.” To be clear, we are talking about formative assessments in the classical sense...assessments FOR learning. Someone said that she considered quizzes to be formative, and also because of that, formative assessments should be calculated into the grade...and there shouldn’t be an opportunity to redo, reassess, revise, etc. Another fellow asked her if when she did thumbs up/down, or hold 1-5 in the air to show understanding type of exercises. Of course, she did. Were those included in the grades? Of course not!</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assessments are not deemed formative or summative based on what you decide to call them. As many people have said before, it is what is done with the information collected from the assessment that defines them. Not what you intend to do, what you actually do.</span></b>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-9250276477399536532013-03-19T14:11:00.001-05:002013-03-19T14:12:13.535-05:00NGSS and Standards-Based GradingI have a hard time thinking about anything curriculum-wise anymore without thinking about how assessment and reporting will be done. I have been trying to have at least a peripheral understanding of the NGSS as they have been developed over the last few years. Currently, as a 7th grade department, we are discussing curriculum and how what we teach matches up with the essential questions we have come up with for our class. There has been a lot of argument and discussion throughout this development. In addition, as a district, there is some very early talk about coming up with a Standards-Based Report Card as Wisconsin implements a new Student Information System.<br />
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So, how would I change my "standards" in my SBG system? As I look at the NGSS Framework and draft standards, there are some clear categories. But, as in all standards documents, it may not be useful to simply dump all of the standards in. What is the best way to group things?<br />
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This is where SBG people and mammalogist meet. Some folks are "groupers" and some are "splitters." Who is correct? The problem I run into is what degree of precision is useful to me as a teacher, to the students as learners, to parents, and to future teachers? A lot to consider, indeed!<br />
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I decided to look into the Framework as well as the most recent draft standards, just to get my mind going. There are two extremes. Someone could have only 3 "standards" if they wish: Science and Engineering Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. If I was to have data on students in these categories, I don't think that is enough precision to make any decisions that are worthwhile.<br />
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On the other extreme, I think you could have upwards of 29 "standards" just for the "Life Science" strands. That would be 8 practices, 7 cross-cutting concepts, and 14 separate core ideas. Again, as I look through these, what sort of data would be useful? Are there places we can obviously group things together? How well can these groupings be defended? How much would they change with upcoming drafts?<br />
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My current thinking is this:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Use 7 of the Science and Engineering Practices. Eliminate the "Using mathematics and computational thinking." I don't see a direct connection to life science there at the middle level in a way that is worth reporting out above and beyond what math class already does. Moot point. 8 standards would be OK too.</li>
<li>Use all 7 of the Cross-Cutting Concepts.</li>
<li>For Life Science, in its current structure, use the 4 core ideas from Life Science.</li>
</ul>
This would make 18 "standards" to assess and report on. (or 19 if we did the math computation one) <br />
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Pros:<br />
This idea could be used throughout a student's K12 experience. As data was added from classroom level assessments during the normal grading process, a pretty robust picture could be painted of a students understanding and growth.<br />
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A lot of the "work" is done for us. The standards are laid out. The performance expectations are there. The work could really focus on coming up with assessments and experiences to work towards those expectations.<br />
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Cons:<br />
Are 18-19 standards too many? <br />
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Thoughts on this?<br />
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<br />Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-70859390219040252522013-02-13T17:36:00.003-06:002013-02-13T17:36:52.473-06:00Bored kids...my faultI try really hard to not blame kids. When something isn't going the way I want it to in the classroom, I try to shoulder the responsibility. This doesn't always work. Sometimes I go down that road of blaming, but I don't think I has ever been productive for the long term. I can, through the stupid power that we sometimes have as teachers, create compliant kids for a short term, but not under an atmosphere that I enjoy or one that is conducive to learning.<br />
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For the big chunk of the year in 7th grade Life Science, we learn about how the human body works. The goal is to investigate the main body systems and get an idea of how they interact to make us work. I have been struggling for years to come up with something to really pull this together. I have a lot of great activities, some neat labs, good reading materials...but I was missing a big piece. I feel like I need more open assessments, something that has less of a correct answer. Something a big obscure, but will connect to what I am doing.<br />
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Yesterday was terrible. I thought I had an extension project set up, and the kids flat didn't like it. Now, they would DO it, but I wasn't seeing any passion. I was getting a lot of procedural questions and a fair bit of off task behavior. The cell phones were driving me nuts. Then I had to remember, what I find cool and interesting may not be what they find cool and interesting. These are mostly 12 and 13 year old kids. The internal working of an invasive species in the Florida Everglades just isn't cutting it.<br />
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So I switched gears. What is my goal? I want them to connect the body systems we are talking about to something, in a novel way, to see how it makes an entire organism function. Well, why not just have them "build" an organism from the ground up. That's the project, that we will attempt to extend through our body systems learning. "Create" an organism. Be goofy and creative and fun and crazy. We will share through blogs and online posters.<br />
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First period today, a student had to figure out how a spider's digestive system works because the craziness she came up with somehow involved a spider. No cell phone issues today. Kids were taking them out to take pictures of each other's creations. Class ended too quickly.<br />
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I'm worried about misconceptions. Organisms are not "created." There is no such thing as a unibear. I am aware of these misconceptions on the forefront, and we can deal with those. Each day that kids are not being curious, is a big day lost. I can't deal with that. Their excitement was overwhelming. They're still kids. They are goofy, immature, morphing pre-teens and barely-teens. And I like them that way!<br />
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And some of them are learning about the spider's digestive system and comparing it to ours...not because I <b><u>MADE </u></b>them, because I <b><u>LET </u></b>them.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-61187607381973670992012-12-12T17:19:00.003-06:002012-12-12T17:20:42.384-06:00Standards-Based Grading SuccessThis isn't directly MY success, but was a very neat thing to see.<br />
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I took on the task of a home-bound instructor for an ill student. During my first visit, we had some math to do. We worked through a concept review activity which would help formatively assess where she was to see if she was ready to move forward or to get more instruction. As part of this activity, the math teacher had written the concept goals as well as which questions would tell the teacher and student the level of understanding. After the student was done, we looked it over together and had decided that she understood the Level 2 questions perfectly, but was struggling on a few specific parts of the Level 3 things. Those struggles made approaching the Level 4 question quite challenging.<br />
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Today, I went to school and chatted with the math teacher. I told her I was going to "test" her, the teacher, on the 4-Level rubric with this student. I told her just what I said above, solid on Level 2, struggling but almost there on Level 3. She replies, "Well, she must be able to set up the ratios and proportions using whole numbers, but must be having troubles when the scaling factors have decimals."<br />
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HOLY COW! Exactly right.<br />
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In the end, the goal of grading is to communicate. This teacher has set up a system that works. Clear goals matched with quality assessment. Awesome. As an "in-between" teacher in this case, the system worked nicely too as I could easily give the student some specific practice that will allow her to make that tiny step to be at a Level 3. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-17854931673321605922012-08-28T09:48:00.004-05:002012-08-28T09:49:14.931-05:00Classroom StreamYears ago, I stumbled upon a website titled "<a href="http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1995/tweed_ecosystem.php" target="_blank">A Stream Ecosystem in the Classroom</a>." I have been intrigued by this idea ever since, but kept procrastinating building one. Well, this summer, a couple of cabinets had to be removed from my classroom to help out another teacher, which gave me some wall space. I finally decided to get the project going. With scrap wood laying around in the shed (which my wife always wants me to find a use for), about 15 dollars worth of plastic gutter material, and a couple of hours of time, I came up with this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHIJlPQ_q_QMQJmrfTvk9zWiqTzU15ScBtLjQqx6o9NLuPzGxEF8e76VaH1IRMsIqbjVTHttqAfMlk5d3isDBWEZ_jSfnLnu7x_IPbrqvbt8GQksoRnThucoiEc4XpCFgUmXMHGWdohYj/s1600/Classroom+stream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHIJlPQ_q_QMQJmrfTvk9zWiqTzU15ScBtLjQqx6o9NLuPzGxEF8e76VaH1IRMsIqbjVTHttqAfMlk5d3isDBWEZ_jSfnLnu7x_IPbrqvbt8GQksoRnThucoiEc4XpCFgUmXMHGWdohYj/s320/Classroom+stream.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The gutter pieces are about 6.5 feet long. I simply bought two 10 footers, cut 6.5 out of two of them, and then connected the scraps for the middle piece.<br />
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I am not a big homework person, but the first assignment of the year will be for kids to bring in muck, and rocks, and sand and other wet gross things. Then, we get to see what happens!Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-84693979500744163172012-06-12T13:38:00.000-05:002012-06-12T13:38:10.907-05:00Reflection and goalsFor me, the end of the school year is always one of reflection, but also one of goals and ideas for next year. When our final day was done last year, I was all jazzed up. Not for summer, although there are a ton of fun things happening there. School starts in 84 days. I think I get more excited about the next school year starting as most do about the last one ending. <br />
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I looked at my goals a bit differently this year. Previously, in my head or on paper, I had some ideas. They were not quality goals. This year is a bit different. Over the last two school years, I have spent quite a bit of time studying John Hattie's book: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Visible-Learning-Synthesis-Meta-Analyses-Achievement/dp/0415476186" target="_blank">Visible Learning.</a></i> Hattie's book is almost entirely focused on achievement, and many of my goals in the past, although not greatly defined, were also about achievement. As I read and studied his book, I had a lot of ideas about strategies that I could/should use in my class, but I wondered how I could use his overall message about effect size. The basic idea is that a treatment's effect can be studied by comparing achievement results pre and post treatment. Then, by creating an effect size, different treatments can be compared to each other. This is typically done with meta-analyses, or collections of many studies typically with many students.<br />
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I wanted to use the idea in my class, but like all things, a good use wasn't readily apparent. I attempted, last year, to use pre-assessment data and effect sizes to make goals for students to achieve for their post assessments. I didn't like how that turned out. Too often with pre-assessments, the ideas are so new that almost any real gain will produce a very large effect size. That may help my ego, but it didn't help with real goal setting.<br />
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During the 2011-2012 school year, I finally worked out a grading system that worked well. I used a 4-point scale with well defined levels. Basically, I used a modified Marzano's scale:<br />
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4: Students understand the simple and complex ideas, concepts, and processes that were taught in class AND show the ability to make in-depth inferences and applications beyond what was taught in class.<br />
3: Students understand the simple and complex ideas, concepts, and processes that were taught in class.<br />
2: Students understand the simple ideas, concepts, and processes, but have trouble with the complex ones.<br />
1: Students do not understand the simple ideas, concepts, and processes.<br />
0: No evidence.<br />
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In addition to this, each assessment was explicitly connected to one or more pre-defined learning targets. I then used <a href="http://activegrade.com/" target="_blank">ActiveGrade</a> as a place to hold and communicate this data with students and parents. What this gave me, finally, was a wealth of data at the end of the year. For each learning target that we had written out in our curriculum, I could tell you how well students did, in terms of grades anyway. This shouldn't be a huge accomplishment, and I am embarrassed that it took me this long to achieve this. The messed up way I have graded in the past, along with a poorly defined curriculum, I didn't have the tools to create quality data. I finally feel like I have some, and frankly, I am a bit proud of myself!<br />
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Now, what to do with this data? At first, I sort of stood back, rubbed my chin, and gave a nod of approval. Nods of approvals and patting one's back doesn't really help kids much though, so what could I do now. This is where Hattie came to the rescue. I finally have a baseline data set. I can now use that to set a goal for next year, and have benchmarks in which to gauge success. To create goals, the first thing I did was to find an average of grades for each learning target. Hattie says the "hinge-point" for success is an effect size of 0.4. I set that as my goal for next year, and ran numbers for each learning target assuming this effect size. Then, I personally reflected on what I would need to do to get students to that level.<br />
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Of course, our goal for all students should be a "4." What I really want for all of my students is to understand what we do in class and then use it in a new context. The problem is that not all students achieve that. I decided previously that all students *must* achieve at least a "2" in all learning targets, as a bare minimum, and that goal was achieved. I like how I can use Hattie's recommendation to set a, hopefully realistic, goal for next year.<br />
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Below is an Excel document that shows the learning targets, current achievement, and goals.<br />
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="400" src="https://www.box.com/embed/e2t1k4tal2ony0h.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="466" wmode="opaque"></embed><br />
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Each learning target is assessed multiple times throughout the school year. Next year, as a department, we will do some clarification on these. Also, I have reflected on the number of times each learning target was assessed. Lots of work to do this summer, but I feel like I have a great starting point.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-18414618683354260092012-04-12T15:29:00.000-05:002012-04-12T15:29:26.919-05:00A car without a dashboardRecently, I ran across a few analogies between grades and vehicle dashboards. (See <a href="http://itsaboutlearning.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/changed-what-if-we-disaggregated-the-single-score-60-60-60-24/">Here</a> and <a href="http://www.joebower.org/2012/04/one-average-to-rule-them-all.html">Here</a>). These are interesting comparisons that I ended up thinking about even more. I spend about one hour a day driving. I adore this hour for the contemplation time, definitely worth the gas spent. With my transition to a standards-based grading system, I have felt a mixture of emotions from parents. The whole spectrum is observed. Some parents think the change is good and helpful, others don't care one way or another, and some are frustrated. This post is an attempt to collect my thoughts for the frustrated parent.<br />
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Imagine our cars did not have gauges within their dashboards. Instead, displayed on the other side of the steer wheel, would be a letter: This letter ranged, just like grades, from an "A" to an "F." We will even put pluses and minuses in for fun too. What does the letter mean? We think we know, but in the end "A" is good, and "F" is bad. Anything in between is, well, in-between. We don't know how the overall grade is figured. Every model is different. Some manufactures weigh speed 70%, while others have oil pressure as the most important.<br />
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When you drive your car, the letter changes. There is no speedometer, odometer, tachometer, gauges for temperature, fuel level, oil pressure, or amperes. No extra warning lights for low fuel or when sensors detect issues. Only the final grade.<br />
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So, when you are driving along, all is well so long as the "A" stays on the dashboard.<br />
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Imagine lending your car out to your teenager. When they leave, the car is "A+." Upon returning, "C-." Someone is in trouble! But, for what? Is the engine out of oil? Low on gas? At this point, we do not know anything. Now, you have a well equipped car with all the bells and whistles. You can actually go online to checkyourcarsgrade.net and see what actually happened mile by mile. You find out that around 10pm last night, the cars grade was actually an "F" for awhile!<br />
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Also imagine that you just started your car, and it's cold outside. The temperature of the engine is well below where it should be, so to start out, your car reads an "F." You hope that upon warm up, the grade rises. What if it doesn't?<br />
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Obviously, this scenario would drive most people nuts. The crazy thing is that grades in our classrooms have been this way for years, decades, and generations. Along the way, we give grades that are connected to assignments that are oddly added up to give an overall class grade. We think we know what the grade means, but in the end, "A's" are good and "F's" are bad. There isn't any consistency as to how the overall grade is figured. Part of the game is for students to figure that out as we go along. We can look at the grades in real time with different internet tools, but the assessments are disconnected from the learning. A "B+" on Green Worksheet doesn't help any more than a "C-" on the car dashboard at 9pm.<br />
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A car's gauges could be looked at as learning targets. We have a range that is optimal, a range that is concerning, and a range that is just flat dangerous. Some of the gauges are easy for us as operators to understand and regulate. If the tachometer reads to high, I simply can shift to a higher gear or let off the accelerator. If the fuel is low, I fill up. Others may need further investigation. If my oil pressure is low, I may bring my car into a mechanic. When the service engine light comes on, I know more diagnostics need to be done.<br />
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When we make a switch to standards-based grading, we are asking students and parents to make a tough switch as well. They have learned to drive the car with only a letter grade appearing. No, it is not ideal. It is not efficient. The feedback is poor. Change is difficult. As hard as it would be for us to begin driving a car without gauges, it is just as hard for students and parents to play school with the additional information. We have to help out on that end. We have to, for one, show that it is OK to have more information. We have to help make the switch from the assumption that a low grade means missing work. Perhaps the "C-" typically meant the car was low on gas, but we realize that there are lots of other cases as well. We have given the tools to have a more engaged conversation about what is happening under the hood, but we also have to train students and parents to understand the information coming at them.<br />
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In addition to this, students and parents will need to understand sometimes you have to take the car into the mechanic. Sometimes it is an easy fix. Sometimes new habits will have to be formed for higher achievement. As teachers, we can explain what the oil pressure gauge is trying to communicate. We can change the conversation. It will take time, and understanding of where both sides are coming from.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-74921573048787429932012-02-13T14:19:00.000-06:002012-02-13T14:19:06.157-06:00Shut up and let the kids talk!I have spent a fair bit of time the last couple of weeks re-reading John Hattie's book Visible Learning and then reading his new book Visible Learning for Teachers. He talks several different times about teachers talking and how students don't listen. A few stories about this.<br />
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For one, I have a boring monotone voice, and I realize this. I try to use it to help progress my dry sense of humor, but as far as lecture goes, it just isn't exciting. Over the years, I have made a huge effort to remove the lecture part from my classes and make class more about students doing the learning. I always ran into one problem though...going over answers to practice problems. I always ended up having the students sit down and listen to me spout off the correct response to various questions, or lead a whole class discussion. So many students simply are not engaged at that time. Can I blame them?<br />
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Awhile ago, I came across <a href="http://noschese180.posterous.com/day-22-quiz-day">Frank Noschese's Orange Pen</a> idea. This really resonated with me and I gave it a try on my next question set. The funny thing was that I was telling the students about the idea, and explained that most of them are not listening when I am reviewing these types of questions. I didn't blame them, I simply stated that was how our brains work. A few girls giggled in the back. Upon investigation, they said, "You get it!" The students then lamented about other teachers who didn't get it...like me 3 days prior!<br />
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On the assessment that followed, students had the same achievement that I would have expected they would have had if I had talked at them. It was nice though because some students didn't need a lot of time to check their answers. They were on the right track and ready to cruise forward. Others needed more time. It freed up my time to work with those who were struggling, it also allowed more students to ask questions about their understanding. These were students who typically wouldn't have raised their hands in the whole class discussion, or ones were time wouldn't have allowed it. For now on, student self correction for feedback is a permanent practice.<br />
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We are currently working on a large skull activity. I use mammal skulls to introduce the digestive system as well as introduce ideas about scientific classification and evolution. It is a great activity. During the activity, students do not get to know the identity of the skull. Usually, at the end of the activity, I would have a nice slide show of the pictures of the animals and their common and scientific names. We would put the skull under the document camera, guess a few times about what it was, then get the answer from the slide show. Turned out to be quite a show...the Mr. Schaefer show! I really enjoyed it. I got to tell stories about where the skulls came from, make scary faces with the different skulls, say how cute some of the animals were. I, I, I.<br />
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Today, I tried the traditional approach for the first two periods of the day. I had good class participation; there was always a hand up to guess the animal or count teeth. It was usually the same hands. Several students were simply following along. They were not really engaged. So, I had some time between my 2nd and 3rd class of the day and I quickly revamped the lesson. I simply printed out the slides, grouped up the skulls, and had the students go from station to station looking at skulls and their correct identities. The conversation changed entirely. Students who would have anyway been involved were still involved. Other students also had a chance to come out of their shell as well. They were handling the skull, telling stories about what they knew about the animals, and asking questions about dentition, shapes, sizes, and relationships. A simple change of perspective changed everything.<br />
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Earlier today, I was reminding students to not blurt out...turns out I was telling the wrong person to shut up (of course I never used those words!) Sometimes, it is worth it to be quiet and let the kids talk...and learn.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-36620713761790127332011-12-28T19:20:00.002-06:002012-01-05T08:21:28.242-06:00Using Dissections to Ask QuestionsNormally, in 7th grade Life Science, we do dissections as a capstone activity at the end of the year. Most teachers have the students complete a frog dissection. This usually means a frog is cut open and organs are identified. I have always thought this activitiy was lacking. Seriously, at the end of the year, all we can do is have kids ID organs? Also, as teachers, we actually identify these organs ahead of time during lecture/demonstration. Students could do quite well on the dissection just by paying attention during that week. How can we improve this?<br />
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One way I tried to improve was to have other animals to dissect. We stuck with familiar animals, as well as inexpensive ones. Students chose between a frog, a mouse, or a bird. After the dissection, students taught each other the organs of their animal. It worked well, but still, it was only identification of organs mixed with a little bit of function. How can we improve more?<br />
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Finally, I am going to try something different this year. First, I went with larger animals. We typically bought the smallest, most inexpensive animals. This makes organ identification even more difficult. I remember saying in the past, "Well, imagine that there is a thin muscle here. We will call it the diaphragm."<br />
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Since, we are looking at larger animals, I couldn't order as many, as our budget didn't magically increase. I ordered enough for a class set. This means that students will not be able to cut them open, but that was a minor cost in my opinion.<br />
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Lastly, and this is the big one, I am doing the dissections in January instead of June. The goal here is to introduce our study of physiology instead of ending it. My goal is to have students look inside the animals and ask questions that we can investigate the rest of the year. I hope it works.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-71174110023609142022011-10-19T15:40:00.000-05:002011-10-19T15:40:09.420-05:00ActiveGrade and Parent-Teacher ConferencesLast night was our first set of Parent-Teacher Conferences of the school year. This school year has been crazy busy. As a 6-teacher team, we have adopted <a href="http://activegrade.com/">ActiveGrade</a>. Without a doubt, ActiveGrade has been a tool that has helped us really change the conversation around assessment and grading. This program is so well designed. It forces you to reflect on your current assessment practices and make changes as necessary. Because of the reflection and change in practice that ActiveGrade has inspired, there has been a ton of work to do. On my own level, I have had to re-think many of my assessments. This is fine, I am used to it. I was sort of the guy on the bandwagon campaigning to adopt ActiveGrade, so when others need help with assessment, grading, or set-up, I was the go to guy. There were busy times, frustrating times, and a few encouraging times...then conferences happened.<br />
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We have a neat setup for conferences. Parents get to come in and visit with the whole team of teachers. Typically, we had grade reports for each student that listed assignments we had given and corresponding scores. The format of the grade report created an atmosphere where you talked about tasks that students had completed, how well they had completed them, and ideas to improve if needed.<br />
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Last night was so different. We still sat down together. Instead of grade printouts, we were circled around a SMART board. Each teacher brought up their class, but the focus changed. ActiveGrade doesn't allow you to focus on the tasks, instead it really forces you to focus on the learning goals (or standards, outcomes, skills, whatever you want to call them). Our entire set of conferences totally focused on the learning. Sure, from time to time the tasks and assessments that went into the learning came up, but the learning targets were on the forefront. Amazing how a simple tool change can change so much.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-56748883710338940812011-08-22T21:32:00.002-05:002011-08-22T21:34:08.100-05:00Capitalizing on Desire<div class="MsoNormal">Summer time for me is a subtle switch in gears. I take a few weeks away from thinking about school and put a great deal of focus on my dogs. This is the time of year to polish up a dog for hunting season, or in the case of two of our dogs, finish up some important training in preparation for hunting tests.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This blog is primarily for talking about teaching, and I promise to bring it around by the end of the post. This evening, I was training a young dog named <a href="http://www.coraschatten.com/Meet_Our_Langhaars/Meet_Colt.htm">Colt</a>. He is well named, as at 80 pounds he is very horse-like. We were preparing for a section of his <a href="http://www.jgv-usa.org/Test_Descriptions/HZP.htm">HZP</a> hunting test that is referred to as the search-behind-the-duck. In this section of the test, the dog and handler stand on a shore line. Prior to their arrival, a duck, who is unable to fly but can readily swim, was released about 25 meters into the marsh. The dog’s job is to enter the water, swim around until if finds scent of the duck, track the duck hopefully to the point that the duck is recovered. When you think about it, this is a pretty complex task. How do you train a dog to do this?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are 3 main methods that I have seen to teach this. One method is very scripted. It starts out on land. A white 5 gallon bucket is placed a distance away. The trainer sets the dog on a stay, walks out to the bucket, and drops a retrieving bumper. He then returns and commands the dog to retrieve the bumper. This is done over and over again, eventually the dog doesn’t have to see the handler drop the bumper, he simply knows that the bucket means there is a bumper nearby and can be sent to retrieve “blindly.” This idea is transferred over to water, the whole sequence is repeated. Eventually, the bucket is even removed, and the dog is supposed to cross the water and search.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another method is more streamlined. Here, a duck is released without the dog’s knowledge. Then, the trainer crosses the water with the dog in a kayak or canoe. Eventually, the dog works out in front of the kayak and finds the scent. Hopefully, the dog follows the scent on its own, and learns that the key is to cross the water without the help of the trainer’s canoe or kayak.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our method of training is a little different. If anything, it is a little like the first method. What we do is rely upon the dog’s innate desire. Our dogs have been bred for over a century to want to go out, search for, find, and retrieve game. I don’t have to train them to go to a bucket. All I really need to do is find a way to light the fire inside them. What typically works is to work with 2 people. The handler/trainer is next to the dog at the shoreline. The helper appears on the other side of a small marsh. This person usually stands out, and the dog easily sees this person. An alive, but flightless duck is thrown from that opposite shore. The dog gets to see the splash, see the duck flap its wings a few times, and is more than ready to go across. From here, the dog isn’t really sent to go search, instead he is simply released. The dog typically crosses the shore, and since it has actually seen the released duck, rarely gives up until the duck is found. Dogs in this situation make all kinds of mistakes. They have to teach themselves to focus. They over run the track sometimes, they focus on too small of an area sometimes. Because they know that duck is out there somewhere, the persevere. </div><div class="MsoNormal">This idea is repeated, with the helper taking a smaller and smaller role. Before long, the dog can actually be hard to control when you approach any water. They simply think there is always something to find if they go searching long enough. As a trainer, I do two things. First, I don’t try to hold back the excitement, if anything, I try to encourage it. When we approach the water, I whisper, “Do you want to get the duck.” They get amped! Also, I have to be sure to not let them down. There has to be game out there to find every time they are sent. I certainly can make it challenging, but success has to be within their reach.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I look back at these three methods, I think of dogs that I know that have been trained in each of them. I will say that our dogs love searching for ducks. They usually do really well, and I attribute at least some of it to our approach. One of our good friends does the “bucket method.” Their dogs tend to struggle. They look at the duck search as work. They are commanded, or sometimes almost forced, across the water. In the end, their scores are similar, but there is something lost. Their dogs are more robotic, and less fluid.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As I came home today, it was hard to not think about how this relates to kids. Our kids come in with a ton of curiosity. They want to learn. They want to figure things out. I think of the times when I have held kids back until just the right moment, and released them to go do a task. They make all kinds of mistakes, but they learn so much. I think of other times, when I teach step-by-step….the bucket method. Both approaches have their time and place, but I try to think of how I can build on their desire first.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-24798047741618217812011-07-06T10:31:00.000-05:002011-07-06T10:31:42.874-05:00AssumptionsFor the summer, I am teaching a Physical Science class. This class is remedial in nature. All students are in here to make up credit. Most of them are between their 9th and 10th grade year. I have taught this class for multiple years, usually with poor results. I tended to watch the clock more than the students.<br />
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This year, I wanted to take a different approach. I am given a lot of latitude. We only have 6 weeks, so I can't "cover" everything from a semester of Physical Science. That generally isn't my approach anyway. What I have found in the previous years, which isn't much of a revelation, is that these students tend to not like the regular approach to school. My first year, I tried to make the class interactive and fun. The regular class focuses on physics, so I tried to have some different hands on physics projects for students to complete. They balked at the whole idea. I developed a very poor attitude, but kept trying a few different things.<br />
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The next few years I focused on "information." I wanted students to gain as much Physical Science information, assuming they simply didn't learn the information from class. <br />
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This year I took a different approach. My thinking is that these students see themselves as not capable of doing well. Frankly, I am less concerned with what they learned, instead I want them to see that they CAN learn. I want them to see the process of finding things out. I want them to see that learning science can help us do things, and I want them to know they can do it. My hope is that with some confidence they may be able to do better in their 10th grade Biology class.<br />
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So, I need to get them hooked. To do that, we are doing a challenge based approach. I am giving the students a challenge (we are building a mouse trap car right now), they attempt to build it. Typically, the first build is not so good. They go in cold, with little background knowledge. What this first build does is gives them some spark. They are still resistant at first, as many of them don't have an idea as to where to start, but now, we can do some learning. We can look at designs online. We can read out of the book or other places, and talk about the science involved in solving the challenge. From there, we rebuild the challenge. It is really fun to see the improvement from the first project to the second. The neater thing is inbetween the two builds. When you release them to go do research, they stay on task. They find out things, on purpose, about leverage, friction, energy transfer. They argue about what is best and why. Today, I had a few students simply staring at a mouse trap. "How am I going to make this work?" So cool. No behavior problems. No attitude problems. Better attendance than past years.<br />
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I started writing this post to talk about assumptions. The interesting thing when we started the mouse trap car. I had done this project before. I realized that you somehow had to connect the moving arm of the mouse trap to an axle. From there, you get to work with leverage on the arm and the size of wheels, think about friction, etc. I only had 1 or 2 students who knew how to work a mouse trap. Only 1 student has connected the arm to the axle. The others have simple put the mouse trap on wheels, set it, and let it go. Hoping to get some movement. I'm not saying this to make fun of these students. Instead, this shows how important it is to give students a chance to tell you what they already know. Sometimes the way they tell you is interesting.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-79581701606756819902011-06-16T09:22:00.001-05:002011-06-18T17:49:22.075-05:00The Evolution of my Grading Practices<div class="MsoNormal">I just finished my 8<sup>th</sup> year teaching. Each year, I have done some different things with grading. I am not quite where I want to be yet, but I think the direction is a lot better than it was in the beginning. I decide for this post to document where I have been, and the plan for the future.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Student Teaching:</u></b> As a student teacher, I had 2 cooperating teachers. One of them used a total points method of grading. Each assessment/assignment was deemed to be “worth” so many points, and students were given points out of that total. At the end of the grading period, points were added up and a grade was recorded. The other cooperating teacher used a categories approach. She focused mostly on assessment. Daily assignments were graded for completion, and only made up a small portion of the grade. Labs, quizzes, and tests were somehow divided amongst the remaining part. Each assessment/assignment was out of 100 points. It was then placed into a category that was weighted. I don’t remember the weights.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 1:</u></b> When I first started out, the only direction I had with regards to grading was from my cooperating teachers. Here’s one idea for teacher prep programs: TEACH STANDARDS BASED GRADING! It still isn’t happening, my student teacher from this spring had no instruction on grading. Anyway, I used the total points method my first year, set up in an Excel document. My grading was very assignment heavy. Students received much of their grades by completing learning tasks. A portion of the grade, I don’t remember how much, would have been test and quiz like assessments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 2:</u></b> Hurray! I bought a grading program called <a href="http://www.gradebusters.com/">Making theGrade</a>. Don’t ever buy it. It was an improvement over Year 1, but lead me down a road of point counting. I switched to a 100 point scale with weighted categories. My rational was students could understand their grade better if everything was out of 100 points. I don’t know if that is true.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 3-5:</u></b> New school (still at this school). Still using Making the Grade. What luck, the school I moved to had the same archaic program I had bought on my own. I dabbled around in these years a couple of different ways. Points off for late work, penalties for different things, but switched back and forth between the total points method and the 100 point scale/weighted category method. Really thought the Holy Grail of grading was hidden there somewhere.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 6:</u></b> A learning year for me. I tried a system I had seen when I was in Junior High. I didn’t like the 100 point scale. It was too many points for me. I didn’t like that 60 percent of it was about failure and only 40 percent was about success. So, I tried a 13 point model. A “0” represented an F, a D- was a “1”, a D was a “2”, up to an A+ which was a “12.” I think this approach was critical for me, because it made me think of grades and assessment in a more criteria based idea rather than a collection of points. Students didn’t received 94/100 points on something. Instead, their work was looked at and found to be at the “A” level, so I put an 11 in the grade book. Assignments and learning tasks were not graded, but checked and recorded as done or not done. Most of the grade was made up of assessments. It worked OK for me, it started my progress well into better grading, but it was incredibly confusing to parents.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 7:</u></b> I was working on my Masters project during this year, which focused on grading. I began to use a 4-point scale. I only graded assessments. Most students still completed learning tasks and assignments, even though they were not graded! I set up an Excel grade report that reported students grades out for each of the Enduring Understanding we had set up for our department. In addition, the grade report had a lot of room for narrative comments on student learning and behavior, both from the teacher and the student perspective. What I found: parents and students crave the narrative feedback.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Year 8:</u></b> Just finished! Continued with 4-point scale. My goal was to increase narrative and descriptive feedback to students and parents. I did a decent job with that for students, but not so much with parents. My Excel grade report proved to be logistically tough. I was trying to keep grades in too many places. My attitude was the best thing about the year. I focused on learning and stressed that to the students. We worked harder to connect what we were doing to learning targets. Students learned the importance of feedback and revision, but I struggled with finding a method that worked in a fluid manner. Because of this struggle, I was constantly looking around for something that worked better…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>This summer:</u></b> Summer school starts on Monday, this is a Physical Science class for students who didn’t pass this past school year. I will be using Evernote as a way to give feedback to students and parents in a way that I think will be much more fluid. This will be an adaptation from what I read on Russ’s blog, <strike>which I can't seem to get to link to right now.</strike> His main blog is at http://russgoerend.com. First is <a href="http://russgoerend.com/2010/09/evernote-as-a-1-on-1-reading-conferencing-tool.html">HERE</a> and the next is <a href="http://russgoerend.com/2010/12/in-early-september-i-wrote-post-about.html">HERE</a>. I am backing away from grades until the end. Too much research keeps pointing to the idea that a grade written on an assessment makes learning stop. Instead, the focus will be on feedback, revision, and learning.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Next year:</u></b> I hope the Evernote idea works out well. If so, I will continue to use it next year. I plan on backing away from grades a little bit as well. I want each assessment opportunity to have some descriptive feedback and revision attempted before a grade is awarded. When grades are recorded, I will be using <a href="http://activegrade.com/">ActiveGrade</a>. I will still use a 4-point scale. I am at a middle school with teams. We are working as a team to make sure that each of our points match up in each of the core areas. Other teachers will be trying out ActiveGrade as well. Next year is going to be great! Only 76 more days to go!</div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-59209561646475029372011-05-22T19:47:00.000-05:002011-05-22T19:47:23.104-05:00Toxic Grading PracticesI don't know where I came across the term "Toxic Grading Practices." If someone else has heard this, and they remember where, feel free to comment. I don't want to steal any ideas; instead hopefully build upon them.<br />
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We all know there are some grading practices that hurt student learning. I have plenty of my own ideas as to what those may be, and plan on taking several of my next posts looking at those practices, as well as suggesting better ways to accomplish the same goal. Instead of me simply spilling my ideas out right now, I would like some suggestions from the broader community. If you know of any grading practices that inhibit student learning, please do one of the following:<br />
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<ol><li>Comment and tell me about it below.</li>
<li> Go go <a href="http://goo.gl/nKT7y">this survey</a>. There is a Google form waiting for you that will allow you to remain anonymous. </li>
</ol>Upcoming blog posts will allow us to discuss each of these in more detail.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-73891026753396725642011-05-20T07:09:00.000-05:002011-05-20T07:09:29.085-05:00Mistakes to Avoid<div class="MsoNormal">I was cruising the dog training forums the other day and ran across a thread titled: <a href="http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=29204">Mistakes to avoid in gun dog training.</a> I was curious of what people had to say, but almost immediately I was surprised. Almost all of the hints listed in the thread could be directly translated to teaching human students as well. To make it fun, I took the text from the thread and created a wordle. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3634116/Dog_Training_Wordle" title="Wordle: Dog Training Wordle"><img alt="Wordle: Dog Training Wordle" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3634116/Dog_Training_Wordle" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 4px;" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some big things jump out. First, the words “training” and “dog.” I think we could easily exchange those for teaching/learning and students. The next level of words that jump out to me are things like humor, patience, fun, time, and short.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From the thread, I made a list of comments that were posted. First is a list of things not to do, in no particular order:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><li>Loss of temper</li>
<li>Impatience</li>
<li>Failure to look at things from a dog’s point of view.</li>
<li>Don’t train angry</li>
<li>Loss of temper and YELLING.</li>
<li>Over training</li>
<li>Brutality</li>
<li>Don’t talk too much</li>
<li>Commands dogs don’t understand</li>
<li>Commands you cannot enforce</li>
<li>Correcting a dog when it doesn’t know what it did.</li>
<li>Overuse of e-collar</li>
<li>Not having fun</li>
<li>Not having a game plan</li>
<li>Dogs are made gunshy, they do not come that way.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Next is a list of things to do, or general recommendations:</div><ul><li>½ an hour daily is better than three hours on Saturday.</li>
<li>Forgetting to socialize</li>
<li>Allow other people walk it, feed it, let it see different people, explore and gain confidence</li>
<li>Be a fair leader, not a dictator</li>
<li>Make sessions short and end on good notes.</li>
<li>Better a short quality session than a long pushed the dog to boredom session.</li>
<li>Patience</li>
<li>Enjoyable</li>
<li>Sense of humor</li>
<li>Fun</li>
<li>Friends</li>
<li>Keep smiling</li>
<li>A puppy can do no wrong.</li>
<li>Guidance, not punishment</li>
<li>Persistence</li>
<li>Patience</li>
<li>Patience</li>
<li>Persistence</li>
<li>You are gonna screw up</li>
<li>Trust</li>
<li>Let pup learn</li>
<li>Keep training sessions short and focused.</li>
<li>Be patient and keep your mouth closed.</li>
<li>Did I mention patience.</li>
<li>Learn to listen</li>
<li>know when to quit</li>
<li>Cut you expectations in half for the first two years so that failure doesn't tweak your patience and temper and immediate success doesn't blind you</li>
<li>Do not train unless your mind is on it and you are motivated.</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As always, I have to bring this back to education. From reading the thread, and re-reading my lists, some things stood out to me in terms of how educating people is similar to training dogs.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Patience and persistence is huge in both.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I liked the one that said, “Learn to listen.” How do you listen to a dog? Ah, they speak. So do our students.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also liked the comment, “Dogs are made gunshy, they don’t come that way.” How does this relate to students? I think there is a connection.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Anyone have additional thoughts?</span></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-12892161256478601952011-05-09T16:57:00.000-05:002011-05-09T16:57:18.521-05:00My Dog's Formative Assessment<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">As my blog title suggests, in addition to education, I am also interested in dogs.<span> </span>My wife and I breed, raise, train, test, and hunt German Versatile hunting dogs.<span> </span>The versatile hunting dog world is interesting from the perspective of a teacher.<span> </span>The dogs are asked to do a variety of tasks, and as a breeder, trainer, or hunter, you need to be able to assess the quality of the work on these tasks for a variety of reasons. Very similar to teaching!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One thing that helps us in this assessment is the use of hunting tests.<span> </span>These are standardized performance tests.<span> </span>Dogs run in the test and are “graded” against a pre-determined standard.<span> </span>This means that the dogs are not measured against each other.<span> </span>It is entirely possible for every dog to be awarded a maximum score on a given day.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We are currently training for the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (<a href="http://www.navhda.org/">NAVHDA</a>) Utility Test.<span> </span>We will be running this test during the first weekend in June.<span> </span>This is a test for a versatile hunting dog that is finished with its training.<span> </span>As the word “versatile” suggests, these dogs are expected to do a variety of things.<span> </span>Many other breeds of dogs are specialists.<span> </span>A Labrador retriever is an example of a specialist.<span> </span>These dogs are supposed to retrieve game and other objects back to their owners.<span> </span>As our test is assessing the versatility of the hunting dog, this upcoming test actually has the dogs complete several different tasks.<span> </span>I will briefly explain.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First, they have to search an upland field to find game.<span> </span>Typically, birds are released into the field for the dog to locate.<span> </span>When they find the birds, they point them.<span> </span>This is when the dog stands still after the game is located by scent.<span> </span>At that time, the dog’s handler as well as a couple of “gunners” move in on the bird, flush is, and dispatch the bird.<span> </span>The dog is to remain still during this time.<span> </span>After the bird has been shot, the handler releases the dog to retrieve the bird, which means the dog goes and gets the bird and brings it back to the handler.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next, the dog has to do some another upland retrieve.<span> </span>Here, a judge drags a dead game bird about 150 yards and leaves it.<span> </span>The dog tracks the dragged bird, finds it, picks it up and returns it to the handler.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In addition, the dogs have to do some different work in the water.<span> </span>First, they have to stay steady while a bunch of shooting goes on.<span> </span>A judge and the dog handler shoot several times over the water.<span> </span>Gun dogs typically get excited when gunfire is present, but it is important for the versatile dog to remain calm and collected during this time.<span> </span>Also, a dead duck is thrown into the water at this time, and the dog has to swim out and retrieve the duck and return it to the handler.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Lastly, the dog has to search a marsh to look for wounded waterfowl.<span> </span>To do this, the dog and handler stand on one side of a marsh.<span> </span>A blank shot is fired across the marsh, and the dog is directed to search.<span> </span>For this test, the dog is supposed to cross any open water and search the emergent vegetation for about 10 minutes without any help from the handler.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In addition to these tasks, the dogs are also asked to walk at heel and show a high level of obedience, desire to work, stamina, and cooperation throughout the day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The reason I listed everything here is because when you look at this, it is similar to what we ask our students to do in class.<span> </span>Very few, if any, classes are students expected to do one thing.<span> </span>We have a variety of tasks, learnings, understandings, concepts, or whatever we want students to be able to do.<span> </span>This is the time of year where I get very frustrated with education.<span> </span>You see, this past weekend, my wife and I took our 18 month old dog, Ellie, out for a training session.<span> </span>Basically, we were running her through a formative assessment.<span> </span>We know what the test looks like.<span> </span>We set us scenarios similar to what we would see on test day.<span> </span>She did pretty well, but we did find a few areas where some improvements could be made.<span> </span>That is exactly what a formative assessment should do…inform of strong and weak areas.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My frustration comes in that in a 2 hour training session, I was able to get more information on my dogs performance in relation to a set of standards than what I think any of my students would be able to do.<span> </span>Why is that?<span> </span>The reason is because the standards in which my dog is judged are clear, concise, and relevant.<span> </span>I have a hunting dog, I want her to hunt, this organization defines what a trained hunting dog should be able to do.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This weekend allowed me to think of the weaknesses of my own classroom assessments.<span> </span>It is so nice to know as a dog trainer what is expected of me during a test.<span> </span>Because of this knowledge, I am able to prepare my dogs, as well as myself, accordingly.<span> </span>I think of what it would be like if these tests were run like assessments in my classroom.<span> </span>I “hint” as to what I will want students to do.<span> </span>They have a “general” idea.<span> </span>I lay out learning targets and “I can” statements.<span> </span>Even with all of these things, my assessments are nowhere near as clear as what my dogs get.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My question to anyone still reading…What would an assessment look like that is fair, clear, concise, and relevant.<span> </span>I’m curious what others do to.<span> </span>I suspect a sort of performance assessment will be at hand.<span> </span>Does anyone want to share?</div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-73746434756078531332011-05-06T10:02:00.001-05:002011-05-06T10:10:58.438-05:00Blogging and Twitter In-serviceI am hosting a Twitter and Blogging in-service next week. I am very new to Twitter and have just started this blog. I have been reading and interacting through blogs for several years though. Anyway, I want to share some of the neat stuff I have found by using these resources. I have kept quite a few resources I have found along the way, but the biggest thing I have found is that there are a lot of ideas out there beyond my own. So, readers...if anyone has some Twitter/blogging in-service thoughts and/or resources they are willing to share, that would be awesome!Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4800344593568088033.post-74261423577278835892011-04-22T16:24:00.001-05:002011-04-22T16:48:35.325-05:00How Specific?<div class="MsoNormal">I was just reading some new comments on the ActiveGrade blog from the post <a href="http://activegrade.com/blog/?p=146">Should it “Count.”</a> This post, others like it, and just my random thoughts, has gotten me thinking. How specific should a Standard’s Based gradebook be?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the end, I still am on the idea that the most important purpose of grades is to communicate achievement. The communication of that achievement is likely to go to the students, their parents, as well as other teachers (both current and future). Where is the appropriate line of specificity? I definitely want to be more detailed than just having one grade for the class. Science: B+ doesn’t help anyone with anything. I could list every standard and report on those. Who would look at them? Is it worthwhile to be that specific? I have tried to lump many standards together under Essential Questions headings. Is that specific enough? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the past, my gradebook (Making the Grade) allowed for 10 categories. It also allowed for less than 20 characters of explanation of those categories. Now, I am using ActiveGrade. More than enough categories, plenty of room for explanation. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Looking for thoughts. How specific should a gradebook or grade report be? Where is the happy medium? How does a teacher decide this for their individual class?</div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028247514592133365noreply@blogger.com4