Changes, Changes, Changes, Brain Dump number 1

                                        

                                                                               blog.esker.com

      I have to admit it. This year I feel terribly overwhelmed with all the changes that we are expected to make, I don't even know where to start. So when I feel like this I have to do a, "brain dump." I just take everything that is floating around in my head and dump it onto paper. Once I do that I feel like I can get an idea of where to start or at least do something from each category. So here I go.
    1. My first priority is to make lessons that align to Common Core Standards.  I began with my 8th grade Pre-Algebra classes last year but did not change anything with my Algebra. Second semester is when I started feeling good about the changes I made to the Pre-Algebra curriculum, but my 1st semester lessons are not put together the way I would like them to be. I can not go into the school year, less than one month away, without having the first units ready to go. I have bits and pieces but I'm not there yet. Twenty-four days til school begins. Yikes!
     Algebra is another story. I have always used the Algebra book and then supplemented where needed. Now, not having a book to refer to is really a challenge for me. In Pre-Algebra, I haven't used the book in years, but the Algebra book has been great. Not any more! The curriculum is all over the place in the book as I am sure you all know. On the last day of school we were given the curriculum and told we could pull from the book or use Engage New York - Algebra and follow it day by day. I guess I am going to try Engage New York and fit it to the needs of my students. Looking at the first module is a challenge. I like to have a book to see how everything is laid out. This is so big that to print it all is ridiculous so reading it on the computer is what I am going to have to do. We will see how it works.
     2. Standards based grading and Common Assessments- My district did provide training on SBG this summer. See my post on SBG here. I've been reading blogs and I did go through the training but I am still having a hard time with writing assessments for this. 
    3. Interactive Notebooks. I want to use Interactive Notebooks with not only my Pre-Algebra classes, but also my Algebra classes. This is going to be a lot to do considering curriculum changes this year.Why not do everything at once? I may do a modified INB scattered with more traditional notes. We'll see. Last year was my first year using INB's with my Pre-Algebra classes. I want to improve on what I started last year. See my post on Reflecting on my first year using Interactive Notebooks . 
     4. Kagan strategies - My building is going to receive training from a Kagan instructor, four times this year. (See Kagan strategies) I know just a little about these methods but am excited to learn more. I am going to pick up a book from our library on this and do some pre-reading before the training so I have a better idea what this looks like. I will be implementing these strategies in all my classes but as far as getting everything organized before school starts in this area is going to be difficult. 
     5. Group work- The layout of my classroom is going to be different this year. I have always had rows in my room as another teacher comes in for two periods a day. This will be a new teacher this year so I am going to have groups of four around the room. The newbie will think it has always been that way. Yeah! Kagan strategies are going to be used to help with the group work. I'd better get reading soon to get a head start for the year.
     6. Technology and Geometer's Sketchpad - How do I add more technology to my classroom? I have a smartboard and am comfortable with that. I use graphing calculators once in awhile, they are 25 years old and I spend so much time fixing them. I plan on using Geometer's Sketchpad when we hit graphing in both Pre-Algebra and Algebra. Geometer's Sketchpad is going to be an amazing tool to use with transformations in Pre-Algebra. I can't wait to use it for that unit. If I can do that much this year with all the other changes I will be making I think that is a good start. (See my post on Geometer's Sketchpad .)
     7. PARCC testing. This will be our first year using PARCC assessments. My students need exposure to lessons and assessments that will prepare them for the types of questions they will see.
     8. Writing standards. In my INB's (Interactive Notebooks) I am going to have the students journal more. As part of my SBG I will have questions that are more like the extended response problems I have used in the past. These problems have the students writing out explanations and I will use our writing rubric to grade the students work. 
     9. Pre Tests. I don't always pre assess prior to starting a unit. As a department we have created pre assessments for the vocabulary for each of our units. It is a starting point in this process.
    10. Differentiation. This is the hardest thing for me to do. Last year Pre-Algebra classes had students that were in the 1st through 76th percentile on the MAP test. This wide range made it so hard to differentiate. I am going to work hard to do better in this area. One of the ways I plan to do this is in the group work. I've never used stations in my class but I'm going to give it a try this year.
     Wow, I knew there were changes this year but oh my goodness! I didn't think it was this much. No wonder I'm stressed. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I'll keep you posted on my progress attacking my new to do list.
                                                            Til next time,
                                                                   Jan

    

The beginning of my journey to Standards Based Grading

      Today I finished my training sessions on Standards Based Grading. How do I write about 4 full days of training and work? Hard to do but I'll try my best.

Gina (left), me (center), and Mike (right), working hard at SBG training. These are two of my amazing colleagues from my school.

     Where to start. Hmmmm... So what have I learned about Standards Based Grading?

• Do grades reward working or learning? Grades should determined by academic performance only.  I never really questioned my grading policies before. It makes sense to me now that the grades I was giving were not a true picture of my students knowledge. It was so inaccurate because homework was a completion grade and that does not show what my students do or do not understand.
• Behavior is important and should be communicated to parents and dealt with in another way. It should not be something we add or subtract from a grade. Effort or just being a nice kid should not earn you a better grade. Just as your students who have challenging behaviors should not get a lower grade. Grades are not for sale. Bringing in a box of Kleenex does not show me how a child has improved their ability to factor  (or fill in the blank.).Grades reflect knowledge that can be shown through evidence.
• You  need clear standards and all assessments should be consistent with the standards.We need to communicate clearly to our students through rubrics what the objectives are. Something we have decided to do is to place all the learning standards for the unit we are working on in each math classroom and refer to them everyday throughout the unit. We are not just going to place them on the board daily but have all the standards for the unit instead of just one or two on the board. We want them to see the big picture everyday of the unit. We did create a generic rubric that we are going to tweak for each of our standards. This is still a work in progress. 
• Group grades for group work should not be used. Again students should only be graded on their individual knowledge that can be shown through evidence. Grading students lower for work that others do not do or giving a student who does nothing a higher grade is not a true reflection of their knowledge. Group work is absolutely a valuable learning tool and should not be eliminated.
• Anything that can be copied should not be graded. We have decided not count homework as part of the grade but we will keep track of it. It will appear in our grade book with a weight of zero. That way parents, students and teachers can see what has or has not been completed. Also, when a student wants to retest and has not done homework for the practice, one of the criteria to retest will be to do homework and show us evidence that they are have practiced the targets they want to improve.
• No more completion grades, only grade assessments. We have decided to have our grades weighted as 20% formative assessments and 80% summative assessments. Some believe that the entire grade should be summative only. We aren't ready for that.
• Grades are inconsistent from teacher to teacher, so aligning and grading  to the standards gives a true grade of student performance. We have always aligned our tests and work to the standards but now we are switching to Common Core Standards so we need to rewrite the assessments to reflect these standards.

     So there is my brain dump from my training. There was so much more but these are the parts that really resonated with my school. We are in the process of many things and I will share them in later posts. So much to do and so little time. Next week: Geometer's Sketchpad class.

     On a funny note, a teacher from our science department came up to us and said, "Look at this great retest form that _______ Middle School gave me that they use." This was amazing because this school never shares anything unlike my amazing school that shares everything with everyone. I looked at the form and smiled and said, "That's the form that I stole from Sarah at math = love , that Kathryn Smith,one of our reading teachers,  rewrote for me, that I posted on my blog on the Retesting - a new idea for me post.." Too funny.

      And of course, I can't leave without sharing something I love with you. If you have never seen Tarsia puzzles before, you have to download the free program  from Mr Barton Maths that has a wonderful list of puzzles that are already made for you to use. (Do not hit the first download button you see. Read the directions further down.) We use these all the time and the kids love them. You can also create your own puzzles but there are so many I haven't had to do that yet. They are so much fun and look very nice hanging in your classroom. Enjoy!

                   

                                                                       Til next time,

                                                                          Jan

Thoughts on formative and summative assessment training and nice a coordinate plane foldable

     Yesterday I finished my training on formative and summative assessments. Everything that I am learning is so different than the way I have graded for years. I am a very traditional teacher and have been using percents forever to grade kids. Unit tests were weighted at 50%, quizzes and 25% with homework being the other 25%. My homework has always been viewed as a learning experience and they were given a completion grade for doing the assignment. The comment from one of our trainers was, "if it can be copied, it shouldn't be graded," hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been placing grades in my grade book for years that is homework I know some of my students copy from each other. After a long discussion with Gina and Mike, two of  my math colleagues at work, we made the decision not to grade homework or give it a effort grade. Wow, I am nervous about that. Are the kids going to do the homework or not?  
      We now grade only on the knowledge the students can demonstrate and our grades will be 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0. The way we need to grade now is a complete shift but it some ways it seems like it will be easier and a much more accurate reflection of what the kids really know.  As a department, we decided to start doing Standards Based Grading next year and the first step is to figure out what our formative and summative assessments will be. We are developing a plan of what all of our changes are going to look like and placing them on our syllabus. I really need time to wrap my head around all of this. I am so glad that my entire department, there are 7 1/2 of us, are jumping in and doing this together! We work well together and will all have the same criteria so that will help. I am so glad I already have been allowing kids to retest, see Retesting a new idea for me, as that is a large part of what we talked about today. I know this is all just ramblings but it is what is floating around in my head. If you've read this far, thanks. Tomorrow we finish the second day of training on Standards Based Grading. I'll keep you posted of our progress.  

     I can't have a post without sharing a foldable with you. This is one of my favorites from last year on the Coordinate Plane. It takes time but there is so much information on here and it's all in one place. The kids really liked making it as well. Click here for the original from   Amy Harrison at teaching in a virtual reality. Her pictures are much better than mine so visit her site. Thanks for sharing Amy!
  

Coordinate Plane  Foldable Cover

middle of foldable

Inside of foldable

Til next time,

Jan