Accountability
Assessing ELL's
Peaceful Coexistence
"The hunger and thirst for knowledge, the keen delight in the chase, the good humored willingness to admit that the scent was false, the eager desire to get on with the work, the cheerful resolution to go back and begin again, the broad good sense, the unaffected modesty, the imperturbable temper, the gratitude for any little help that was given - all these will remain in my memory though I cannot paint them for others." Frederic William Maitland
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Schoology.com
Tired of competing with social networking? Check out Schoology.com, a grading program designed in the same format as facebook. I began using this with the start of the new year in order to revamp and organize my classroom. I also believe it has the capacity to make what we do more transparent which I believe is an important link between students, parents and teachers.
Schoology has profiles just like facebook, privacy settings which keep it as a school community, a gradebook, attendance record, a discussion board, blog, and a test generator. Put simply, it combines social networking with learning management.
It has been amazing working on this with my students in the first week, and I hope to keep it up with a creative and transparent way of connecting learning to the real world.
Reviews from students so far include:
"This is a very unique way to do work in class. I think that the majority of the students will enjoy Schoology since it has the appeal of Facebook. We'll be able to turn in work and do assignments in a new way allowing versatility."
"I think this is a very good way for students and teachers to stay organized. Also, I think if the students cooperate with the program then it will turn out to be very good. Also, this saves the teachers from grading papers, the students from writing on paper, and it keeps the class quiet."
Another bonus, it has the potential to cut down the amount of paper used in your classes, along with the amount we are carrying home each night. Nearly everything can be done on this website!
Schoology has profiles just like facebook, privacy settings which keep it as a school community, a gradebook, attendance record, a discussion board, blog, and a test generator. Put simply, it combines social networking with learning management.
It has been amazing working on this with my students in the first week, and I hope to keep it up with a creative and transparent way of connecting learning to the real world.
Reviews from students so far include:
"This is a very unique way to do work in class. I think that the majority of the students will enjoy Schoology since it has the appeal of Facebook. We'll be able to turn in work and do assignments in a new way allowing versatility."
"I think this is a very good way for students and teachers to stay organized. Also, I think if the students cooperate with the program then it will turn out to be very good. Also, this saves the teachers from grading papers, the students from writing on paper, and it keeps the class quiet."
Another bonus, it has the potential to cut down the amount of paper used in your classes, along with the amount we are carrying home each night. Nearly everything can be done on this website!
Michelle Rhee, Producing Results FOR KIDS
The controversial persona of Michelle Rhee has become one of great hope in repairing the broken system of education which exists in America today. She is real. She understands the necessity of what needs to be done, and she understands what matters without having to say it. Her actions reflect her belief in one simple axiom, students first! She has since created a nonprofit group which seeks to continue much of the reform movements she began as superintendent of Washington, DC schools.
Anyone, and everyone should take the pledge and vote on four key beliefs about what effects first our students, our future when anyone discusses education policy today. Go to studentsfirst.org, and begin the conversation.
My favorite quote and something I try to think about daily when going into school, "You wake up every morning and you know that 46,000 kids are counting on you, and you know that most of them are getting a really crappy education right now." Then when asked to clarify, she responds, "I don't think they are, I know they are." While these words sting a bit, it definitely motivates and sends a direct message for the importance of education and the immediate and ever changing business of touching the future. It never is just the lesson plan or just the grad. exam, it is all relevant connected and important. If we don't think what we are doing is best for kids, then we must scrape it and keep going. As in life, the one thing constant is change, we must also see and be willing to do whatever we can to, "produce results for kids."
Anyone, and everyone should take the pledge and vote on four key beliefs about what effects first our students, our future when anyone discusses education policy today. Go to studentsfirst.org, and begin the conversation.
My favorite quote and something I try to think about daily when going into school, "You wake up every morning and you know that 46,000 kids are counting on you, and you know that most of them are getting a really crappy education right now." Then when asked to clarify, she responds, "I don't think they are, I know they are." While these words sting a bit, it definitely motivates and sends a direct message for the importance of education and the immediate and ever changing business of touching the future. It never is just the lesson plan or just the grad. exam, it is all relevant connected and important. If we don't think what we are doing is best for kids, then we must scrape it and keep going. As in life, the one thing constant is change, we must also see and be willing to do whatever we can to, "produce results for kids."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
"The seemingly impossible is possible, we can have a good world!" ~Hans Rosling
Thought this was a direct refute to my last blog's attack on high stakes testing and numbers... fun with statistics, and the possibility of it all!
http://www.wimp.com/countriesyears/
Monday, November 1, 2010
How will IBL and PBL effect high stakes assessment?
What I found in researching this project reaffirmed a belief I've learned through working at Tarrant City Schools. If we teach to a level that is higher than what is expected, the students will perform at that level and beyond. We must expect more in order to get more.
There are days that are tough and there are days that reaffirm all the possibility that lies in the youth. You may have a fight in your class that is so brutal, one might give up on the humanity of man; however, you also may discuss the American Dream in the next class. You see the American Dream in the face of students learning and in the face of students crying and yelling about making their family proud. It's terrifying, rigorous, but absolutely the most pressing issue of Modern America. You see the failures and the possibilities in your face and a teacher is met with the challenge of making those faces believe that their dreams are possible while Time Magazine's cover, "Restoring the American Dream," describes most Americans as "glum, dispirited and angry." You see the American Dream in its rawest form: imperfect, stubborn, failing, and disappointing.
High-stakes assessments effect us all. It causes stress, and it causes more work which at times seems unnecessary. However, assessment gives us a benchmark for how our schools are doing. With the criticism of Bush's No Child Left Behind, the effects are evident, but it seems also a de jeure remedy to a much deeper problem with the American system. As Mayor Cory Booker observed of the New York Public School systems, "The struggles I see they shouldn’t be the struggles we see in modern America…We should not live in a country where your destiny is determined by how much money you have in your pocket, by what zip code you live in, or by the pick of a ball." Our lives have become about test scores but with all the stress, I think we as educators must take a moment to realize the infinite magnitude which lies in what we do as part of the educational field. While a politician's quick fix will always be with us, we must strive for more and expect this from our students. We are in the business of the American Dream which has never been easy.
By focusing on what’s possible, the end result being the dream, that was all the effect on testing I needed. If we as teachers constantly choose innovative teaching methods, the students will rise to the occasion. Teaching students to ask questions and work through problems are clear life skills which make sense. The question became the difference in scores and dreams. We must understand why students are where they are, meet them there, and move them forward. For too long, many students have believed that average is acceptable, that just passing is ok, and that they aren't going anywhere. However, I believe it's because they see their dreams so far out of their reach, they simply resign. As one of my students responded to my inquiry in defining the American Dream, "People lower their standards on what life they want to have for themselves and it is saddening. People have reduced it to nothing.”
Below are some relevant articles on the controversy of high stakes testing:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-01-07-no-child_x.htm
http://www.fairtest.org/arn/caseagainst.html
There are days that are tough and there are days that reaffirm all the possibility that lies in the youth. You may have a fight in your class that is so brutal, one might give up on the humanity of man; however, you also may discuss the American Dream in the next class. You see the American Dream in the face of students learning and in the face of students crying and yelling about making their family proud. It's terrifying, rigorous, but absolutely the most pressing issue of Modern America. You see the failures and the possibilities in your face and a teacher is met with the challenge of making those faces believe that their dreams are possible while Time Magazine's cover, "Restoring the American Dream," describes most Americans as "glum, dispirited and angry." You see the American Dream in its rawest form: imperfect, stubborn, failing, and disappointing.
High-stakes assessments effect us all. It causes stress, and it causes more work which at times seems unnecessary. However, assessment gives us a benchmark for how our schools are doing. With the criticism of Bush's No Child Left Behind, the effects are evident, but it seems also a de jeure remedy to a much deeper problem with the American system. As Mayor Cory Booker observed of the New York Public School systems, "The struggles I see they shouldn’t be the struggles we see in modern America…We should not live in a country where your destiny is determined by how much money you have in your pocket, by what zip code you live in, or by the pick of a ball." Our lives have become about test scores but with all the stress, I think we as educators must take a moment to realize the infinite magnitude which lies in what we do as part of the educational field. While a politician's quick fix will always be with us, we must strive for more and expect this from our students. We are in the business of the American Dream which has never been easy.
By focusing on what’s possible, the end result being the dream, that was all the effect on testing I needed. If we as teachers constantly choose innovative teaching methods, the students will rise to the occasion. Teaching students to ask questions and work through problems are clear life skills which make sense. The question became the difference in scores and dreams. We must understand why students are where they are, meet them there, and move them forward. For too long, many students have believed that average is acceptable, that just passing is ok, and that they aren't going anywhere. However, I believe it's because they see their dreams so far out of their reach, they simply resign. As one of my students responded to my inquiry in defining the American Dream, "People lower their standards on what life they want to have for themselves and it is saddening. People have reduced it to nothing.”
Below are some relevant articles on the controversy of high stakes testing:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-01-07-no-child_x.htm
http://www.fairtest.org/arn/caseagainst.html
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Problem ID Reflection
Throughout the process of completing the problem ID assignment, I found an array of interesting information along with many real life examples that proved that these methods can work in high school classrooms. It was interesting also to read about other subjects that I do not teach such as Economics and Math and how these would apply in those fields of study. I found both problem-based learning and inquiry-based learning to be effective and innovative practices in teaching. Both seem to give students real life skills which makes learning more authentic.
I also enjoyed beginning to use these ideas in my classroom. The Sophomores had a great conversation about The Great Gatsby using quality question stems which led to us transferring knowledge of the text to making comparisons to the West Egg and East Egg of Birmingham, reading and listening to the lyrics of "Empire State of Mind," and character analysis of many characters who up until this conversation many of the students did not connect to. I was also extremely proud when one student remarked confidently after discussing the character of Tom Buchanan that hitting a woman was never right. We did a similar "seminar" style in studying for nine weeks test, and they did so well with creating questions that I used some of their questions on the actual exam.
At first, inquiry can be uncomfortable. I was a little upset at how absent the sense of wonder seemed to be when I asked the students to ask questions. However, once they saw their work being included authentically, the questions and discussion were amazing.
I will also never forget Myca's version of "In Newww Yorkkkk."
I also enjoyed beginning to use these ideas in my classroom. The Sophomores had a great conversation about The Great Gatsby using quality question stems which led to us transferring knowledge of the text to making comparisons to the West Egg and East Egg of Birmingham, reading and listening to the lyrics of "Empire State of Mind," and character analysis of many characters who up until this conversation many of the students did not connect to. I was also extremely proud when one student remarked confidently after discussing the character of Tom Buchanan that hitting a woman was never right. We did a similar "seminar" style in studying for nine weeks test, and they did so well with creating questions that I used some of their questions on the actual exam.
At first, inquiry can be uncomfortable. I was a little upset at how absent the sense of wonder seemed to be when I asked the students to ask questions. However, once they saw their work being included authentically, the questions and discussion were amazing.
I will also never forget Myca's version of "In Newww Yorkkkk."
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