Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Please Give Us the Glass Castle!
My very wonderful teacher friend, Ms. Dillon, is working to get a class set of the wonderful memoir The Glass Castle through Donors Choose. These books will make a difference for readers of all levels at our school. If you donate by March 19 and enter the code BLOOM at checkout, your donation will be matched. Please help here!
Obligatory Standardized Test Critique
"I don't think it's a coincidence that standardized examinations of a highly punitive and judgmental character have often been promoted most aggressively by those who also favor market competition in the educational arena, with the ultimate objective of established a universal voucher system in this nation." - Jonathan Kozol, Letters to a Young Teacher
I recommend the PBS documentary School to anyone interested in how our education system has evolved since Jefferson first recommend three years of non-compulsory education for everyone provided by the state. Most germane to my students and I last week was the history of the standardized test.
In the beginning, these tests were used to sort students into academic tracks, according to the series. Then, they were used as a benchmark to give teachers and school leaders ideas about how students were progressing and where they might need help. Many readers may remember the Standford 9s all ninth graders used to take here in Virginia.
Then came the "accountability" movement (quotations because I still haven't figured out who is supposed to be accountable to whom and by what means). We started using the tests to evaluate whether or not students were prepared to graduate and then if schools ought to be accredited. Most recently, these tests make up various percentages of teacher evaluations.
I don't have a problem with tests -- standardized or otherwise. I give my students assessments on a near-daily basis. Assessments aligned to objectives can lead to a rich and responsive curriculum that creates the sort of critical thinkers our society sorely needs. I have not seen one shred of evidence to suggest that the standardized tests the president wants to make part of the way I'm evaluated as a professional have anything to do with what happens in the seven weeks I had with my students before they took the English 11 Writing SOL. It makes no sense to me to argue about whether these tests should be 20 percent of a teacher's evaluation as they were in the recently-released (and much maligned) NYC teacher evaluations or 40 percent as my governor has suggested. We are asking these tests to do something they were never designed to do.
More importantly, these test seem really detrimental to students. I'm still amazed when students ask how a creative assignment will help them on the SOL or demand more explicit test prep because they know that the best way to increase test scores isn't a rich content knowledge but having an arsenal of test-taking strategies.
So, I can't help but wonder why we spend all this time hemming and hawing about how and when and why to administer these tests. Why don't we just make new ones correlated to real student outcomes and encouraging the critical thinking skills schools ought to foster rather than the test-taking strategies many seem to emphasize?
I recommend the PBS documentary School to anyone interested in how our education system has evolved since Jefferson first recommend three years of non-compulsory education for everyone provided by the state. Most germane to my students and I last week was the history of the standardized test.
In the beginning, these tests were used to sort students into academic tracks, according to the series. Then, they were used as a benchmark to give teachers and school leaders ideas about how students were progressing and where they might need help. Many readers may remember the Standford 9s all ninth graders used to take here in Virginia.
Then came the "accountability" movement (quotations because I still haven't figured out who is supposed to be accountable to whom and by what means). We started using the tests to evaluate whether or not students were prepared to graduate and then if schools ought to be accredited. Most recently, these tests make up various percentages of teacher evaluations.
I don't have a problem with tests -- standardized or otherwise. I give my students assessments on a near-daily basis. Assessments aligned to objectives can lead to a rich and responsive curriculum that creates the sort of critical thinkers our society sorely needs. I have not seen one shred of evidence to suggest that the standardized tests the president wants to make part of the way I'm evaluated as a professional have anything to do with what happens in the seven weeks I had with my students before they took the English 11 Writing SOL. It makes no sense to me to argue about whether these tests should be 20 percent of a teacher's evaluation as they were in the recently-released (and much maligned) NYC teacher evaluations or 40 percent as my governor has suggested. We are asking these tests to do something they were never designed to do.
More importantly, these test seem really detrimental to students. I'm still amazed when students ask how a creative assignment will help them on the SOL or demand more explicit test prep because they know that the best way to increase test scores isn't a rich content knowledge but having an arsenal of test-taking strategies.
So, I can't help but wonder why we spend all this time hemming and hawing about how and when and why to administer these tests. Why don't we just make new ones correlated to real student outcomes and encouraging the critical thinking skills schools ought to foster rather than the test-taking strategies many seem to emphasize?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Beg, Borrow, Steal
Hi teacher friends! I promise I have a very eloquent post on the SOL madness all eleventh grade teachers just went through, but I wrote it in my writer's notebook which I left at school. Right now, I'm looking for more post-reading activities to help students sort out thematic elements and have fun. We did Facebook pages for The Odyssey. We made some collages comparing and contrasting our own thoughts about the American Dream versus the dreams presented in Of Mice and Men. What have you got?
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Why I Love Using Pop Music to Teach Grammar
Me: So, why do we use the subjunctive here?
B: Because Beyonce said so!
B: Because Beyonce said so!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Pizza for Points
I've really struggled with my late work policy. First of all, it's nice to know when to expect a weekend of full of grading. More germane to my students, they need to learn that in the real world, there are deadlines. You need to meet them in order to keep your job, renew your driver's license, or not default on any sort of loan repayment. But those deadlines have real consequences, right? The consequence for not turning in work in high school is that your grade suffers to the point you may have to repeat a class. For someone who already dislikes school and feels unsuccessful there, is lowering his or her grade going to teach any sort of lesson?
The answer is no in my classroom, apparently. Last semester I had no late work policy except that work had to be turned in by the end of the six weeks. Driven to distraction by the constant grading, I decided that this semester I would take off two points for every day an assignment was late. We're on a four-point grading scale, so this gives students one "gimme" day and then they'd drop a third of a letter grade the next day. Seemed reasonable to me. I didn't consider, however, that of course these students aren't motivated by "good" or "bad' grades. If they were, they wouldn't have ended up in my classes. Late work has not been any more or less of a problem this semester than last.
So, I've decided as the only person in the room who definitely values education, as the person responsible for teaching these kids to do work in which they can take pride, I would hound them. I would round them up as they walked the halls in the morning and make flashcards to review for that quiz they never made up or plug in a computer and talk through a thesis statement. I still had a lot of missing work.
On Wednesday, we had a breakthrough. I offered pizza after school to any one who wanted to come and do make-up work as the six weeks ended Friday. I had twenty-five students show up. I ordered the pizza once everyone got there so they had to work at least forty-five minutes before grabbing their slice and leaving. Most people stayed after the pizza came.
I went from eighteen Ds and Fs to six. Three of those Fs will get incompletes for the six weeks as they all had some sort of long-term medical absence. So, I have three Ds and Fs to work really hard on as we begin the new six weeks on Tuesday.
Some people might think I'm coddling these kids, setting them up for real failure in a world that doesn't allow flexibility for deadlines. Well, let me tell you about my last two semesters at the University of Virginia. I got an extension on every single paper in the first semester of my last year because I had mono and that was the only way to avoid a medical withdrawal. My last semester, I had more extensions as I traveled for job interviews and figuring out post-graduation life. I made Dean's List twice. I got inspired to become a teacher. I started to feel successful at college in a way I never did when I tried to hold myself to the same standards as kids who had gone to more rigorous high schools and had a better idea of what to except from the work. I decided to come back for more a year later. All because some teachers decided it was important that I do the work well rather than hew to some arbitrary deadline.
I want my students to see that if they work hard and turn in quality work, school can be a good place for them. If it takes thirty bucks for pizza and deadline flexibility to teach them that valuable lesson, I say that's a small price to pay.
The answer is no in my classroom, apparently. Last semester I had no late work policy except that work had to be turned in by the end of the six weeks. Driven to distraction by the constant grading, I decided that this semester I would take off two points for every day an assignment was late. We're on a four-point grading scale, so this gives students one "gimme" day and then they'd drop a third of a letter grade the next day. Seemed reasonable to me. I didn't consider, however, that of course these students aren't motivated by "good" or "bad' grades. If they were, they wouldn't have ended up in my classes. Late work has not been any more or less of a problem this semester than last.
So, I've decided as the only person in the room who definitely values education, as the person responsible for teaching these kids to do work in which they can take pride, I would hound them. I would round them up as they walked the halls in the morning and make flashcards to review for that quiz they never made up or plug in a computer and talk through a thesis statement. I still had a lot of missing work.
On Wednesday, we had a breakthrough. I offered pizza after school to any one who wanted to come and do make-up work as the six weeks ended Friday. I had twenty-five students show up. I ordered the pizza once everyone got there so they had to work at least forty-five minutes before grabbing their slice and leaving. Most people stayed after the pizza came.
I went from eighteen Ds and Fs to six. Three of those Fs will get incompletes for the six weeks as they all had some sort of long-term medical absence. So, I have three Ds and Fs to work really hard on as we begin the new six weeks on Tuesday.
Some people might think I'm coddling these kids, setting them up for real failure in a world that doesn't allow flexibility for deadlines. Well, let me tell you about my last two semesters at the University of Virginia. I got an extension on every single paper in the first semester of my last year because I had mono and that was the only way to avoid a medical withdrawal. My last semester, I had more extensions as I traveled for job interviews and figuring out post-graduation life. I made Dean's List twice. I got inspired to become a teacher. I started to feel successful at college in a way I never did when I tried to hold myself to the same standards as kids who had gone to more rigorous high schools and had a better idea of what to except from the work. I decided to come back for more a year later. All because some teachers decided it was important that I do the work well rather than hew to some arbitrary deadline.
I want my students to see that if they work hard and turn in quality work, school can be a good place for them. If it takes thirty bucks for pizza and deadline flexibility to teach them that valuable lesson, I say that's a small price to pay.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Ms. Thornton, Are You Sexist?
I try to focus my classroom management plan on teaching kids how to behave rather than punishing them for making me mad. To this end, once someone has a warning for the day, the next step is to come talk to me and decide on a plan to help him or her reintegrate into the classroom smoothly. I like this system a lot. I think it helps me build those relationships that are proving key to student motivation (more on that next time). I also think it shows students that I'm not interested in wielding power in the classroom; I'm interested in helping them be successful (even if I'm not perfect at achieving this goal).
At times these meetings leave me with a lot to think about. Friday, I spoke with J. after he had spoken repeatedly when others were speaking. We were talking about how he could self-regulate and what I could do to help him consider others. He decided to switch seats. The feeling was good. Then he asked me a question that floors me still.
"Ms. Thornton, are you a sexist?" J. asked in that way that only a ninth grader can.
My mind raced. Had I kept boys after class more than girls? In trying to cover up my Jo March-like preference for teaching boys, had I been "nicer" to the girls? I asked J. what he meant and it was none of those things. He wondered if I was sexist because I had once shared with the class that I consider myself a feminist and that's why I prefer Ms. rather than Miss as an honorific. I told him no. I try my best to treat all people equally and certainly do my best to not show favoritism to students. What, I wondered, had made him think that being a feminist was equal to being a sexist.
"Well, I asked my science teacher if she was a feminist, and she said no because she likes all people," J. responded.
I felt a little like I'd been kicked in the chest. I'm still trying to figure out if his science teacher meant that, actually said that, or if J. was trying to deflect from the issue at hand. I was glad that J. couldn't point to any one thing that had happened in our classroom, but I'm also still kind of mad! I want very much to meet my students and my community where they are, but I don't think that means I could ever give up my understanding that a feminist is someone with the radical idea that men and women are equals. My mama raised me better than that.
At times these meetings leave me with a lot to think about. Friday, I spoke with J. after he had spoken repeatedly when others were speaking. We were talking about how he could self-regulate and what I could do to help him consider others. He decided to switch seats. The feeling was good. Then he asked me a question that floors me still.
"Ms. Thornton, are you a sexist?" J. asked in that way that only a ninth grader can.
My mind raced. Had I kept boys after class more than girls? In trying to cover up my Jo March-like preference for teaching boys, had I been "nicer" to the girls? I asked J. what he meant and it was none of those things. He wondered if I was sexist because I had once shared with the class that I consider myself a feminist and that's why I prefer Ms. rather than Miss as an honorific. I told him no. I try my best to treat all people equally and certainly do my best to not show favoritism to students. What, I wondered, had made him think that being a feminist was equal to being a sexist.
"Well, I asked my science teacher if she was a feminist, and she said no because she likes all people," J. responded.
I felt a little like I'd been kicked in the chest. I'm still trying to figure out if his science teacher meant that, actually said that, or if J. was trying to deflect from the issue at hand. I was glad that J. couldn't point to any one thing that had happened in our classroom, but I'm also still kind of mad! I want very much to meet my students and my community where they are, but I don't think that means I could ever give up my understanding that a feminist is someone with the radical idea that men and women are equals. My mama raised me better than that.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Student Work Sample
Sorry for the hiatus, friends. We're on the block system at my school, so I got to start a whole new school year in the middle of January. Things are finally starting to settle down into a routine.
Every six weeks, my students turn in a short paper where they respond to a number of (hopefully) creative prompts about whatever book they've chosen to read. The following is a response that lost a few points on conventions but gained a lot in hilarity while responding to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
If I had to have pizza with a character from my book, it would be Gordy because he is smart. I would ask him about math, science, and computers. Just to be a nice and try to get him to talk. Then, after all the boring things about school are done, i would get him to do my homework because I need someone to do my work that doesn't have anything to do. If he does not want to do it then I will bribe him and if that does not work I will wipe his face with the pizza.
If it turns out bad, then I will order more pizza and make him eat till he is fat then order two more and tape slices to his face because h is a loser. Then I'd slap him with pizza because he is boring. Then we would get kicked out and never be able to come back until we are ninety-nine. The end.
Every six weeks, my students turn in a short paper where they respond to a number of (hopefully) creative prompts about whatever book they've chosen to read. The following is a response that lost a few points on conventions but gained a lot in hilarity while responding to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
If I had to have pizza with a character from my book, it would be Gordy because he is smart. I would ask him about math, science, and computers. Just to be a nice and try to get him to talk. Then, after all the boring things about school are done, i would get him to do my homework because I need someone to do my work that doesn't have anything to do. If he does not want to do it then I will bribe him and if that does not work I will wipe his face with the pizza.
If it turns out bad, then I will order more pizza and make him eat till he is fat then order two more and tape slices to his face because h is a loser. Then I'd slap him with pizza because he is boring. Then we would get kicked out and never be able to come back until we are ninety-nine. The end.
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