getting it now

saved!

Could self-assessment/grading be worked into this? Survey the students at the beginning of the course about where they think they are on the various topics and, when they are confident in their abilities, put them to the test to see how accurate their self assessment really is.

It's a shame that the easiest ways aren't usually the nest ways. I like the idea of pass/fail checklists where the student has to show mastery of X number of items before they can move onto the next level.

While not all teachers can/should use the same, I've thought a lot about how I want to consult with other teachers in my department about how they grade (and the materials they are teaching) so that the students are having a consistent experience.

This is one area where I think the 0-4 scaled rubrics are handy. "2 - meets baseline understanding of standard but shows room for significant development in order to prove mastery" tells a lot more than, "C."

How do we 'group' students without stigmatizing those on the lower end of mastery? Obviously, we don't announce "bad" grades to the class or anything so obviously harmful. Is there a risk of academic segregation when all of the 'gifted' students are hidden away from the rest of the student body? I suppose it depends on the subject being studied (e.g., you wouldn't put pre-algebra kids in an AP calculus class), but I think there are opportunities for students of varying levels of mastery to learn from one another.

This is an interesting point. I agree that part of the purpose of a grade is to keep the parents up to date about their child's progress. But, I wonder if we are doing enough to help parents understand that grades alone do not tell the whole story.

This is so important. Some of my most discouraging experiences in high school were based on the feeling that my teachers would rather spend their time with the students who naturally "got it" rather than take the time to help out those who didn't.

Why > how

Encourage not just right answers, but right efforts.

Tie participation to group grade? That is, if one student out of a five person group contributes nothing should the rest of the group only be able to get 80% on the project? If someone isn't contributing, it's on the rest of the group to either encourage them to do so or to consult their teacher about it.

This helpful. I like the idea of letting students choose their role, but I also see the value of assigning them randomly so that student strengths in the various categories can be determined through assessment over the course of multiple projects.

I'm wondering if there is some kind of assessment that can be done to determine individual skill sets for working in groups.

More and more I see that this arrangement is becoming a standard classroom layout.

It also will result in a final product that is unique to each group and worth sharing with other groups/the whole class.

This is so important. This is something that also requires reinforcement by teachers as we move about the room, not just assisting with the material discussed, but also facilitating student cooperation.

Having a clearly established policy that all students will contribute to their groups is so important here. Additionally, the lines of communication between teacher and student must remain open so that if a student does not feel that they are being heard inside their group (or if they are pulling their teammates weight alone), they can reach out for some help.

Engaging them both in the sense that they are becoming involved to the material taught, but also engaged in the sense that they are being involved and connected to the process of learning itself.

What are some examples of this?

Very useful! This is definitely going into my folder

As a student, having the rubric available, knowing what is expected of me, and avoiding unnecessary guesswork is a huge help.

I'd say the rubric starts developing as the standards and objectives are being settled on. Even if I don't know exactly what will be in the rubric, I have some notion of what it will cover.

saved this to my "teaching" folder. Having these sort of charts on hand so important when I'm working on lessons.

Practice is so crucial. This is why independent and one on one reading sessions mean so much more to a student's development as a reader and writer than group reads or just being read to.

This is the part that makes me glad that I chose the backward model of lesson planning. If I started with tasks/assignments first and figured out the association with the standards and objectives after the fact, I know for sure that I would wind up with parts that don't fit.

I recently saw a good example of this when my cooperating teacher, after an explanation of homophones, gave the kids a quiz thru kahoot. This was the first hour class and they, to their teacher's surprise, performed quite badly on it. This was a clear sign that the information provided to the students had not been sufficient to prepare them for testing. The lesson was adapted through out the day based on that initial assessment with far better results.

This is where the distinction between assessment and grading is so important. Rather than simply grading a student's work (either on a A-F, pass/fail, or whatever scale) it is far more important to evaluate their progress compared to previous assignments. Beyond that, the assessment needs to be made of the class as a whole so that future iterations of the lesson can be adapted accordingly.

I think there's something to be said for re-thinking how classrooms are laid out entirely. The entire concept of a font and back of the classroom assumes that everything important is happening only on one end. If there was a way to keep everyone equidistant from the teacher/presentation materials, that would be ideal. Not saying I know how to do that, just that it's something I've been thinking about.

Calling the student out/embarrassing is obviously the wrong move - but keeping my thoughts on track mid-interruption is a whole other thing.

your own laptop and a long HDMI cable (to connect to the smartboard or projector) will save you a lot of headache if you can't get onto someone else's computer/network.

I really want to encourage small group discussion and work... but am nervous about having kids so close together that they will easily talk/distract each other.

While I agree that open spaces make a room more inviting as well as more productive - it's also important to think about how not all teachers/schools/classes have the luxury of open spaces. Many classes are packed so tight that it's hard to just walk between desks.

these ideas feel like a good guide for designing a rubric

I think this is a key word in so much of what we do. With lessons/classroom tasks specifically, if what we give students isn't intentional it's just busy work.

I've heard this analogized similarly before; to paraphrase, when you are writing, you have to function as either a gardener or an architect. That is, by the seat of your pants or with a detailed plan in place. Either approach can work I think, but with something like a lesson plan where attention to detail is so crucial the architect approach is more effective by far. My problem is that I am a natural 'gardener' who wants to let things just develop as I work.

I see designing the lesson plan as a means of brainstorming your way to the 'where you want your students to wind up.' once you get there, you can go back and refine the lesson to better fit that. It's like trying to draw a map; you'll have a much easier time of it if you know where things are supposed to be and what the destination is.

bookmarked!

More than important, I would say that lesson planning is one of the most essential parts of effective teaching. Just planning out how you will enter the room and greet the students can make a big difference.

I've had experience with this. I've said things to students that I thought were pretty clear only to have them genuinely not understand what I was talking about. Simplify!

This is a hard one for me to remember when students are actively disrupting class - but I'm getting better

saved!

I've had students accuse me of "disrespecting" them because I had the nerve to tell them to stop talking or stay in their assigned seat. I think it might be a good idea at the beginning of the year to have a conversation with the class about what respect is and how it goes both ways.

Something I have noticed in a lot of classrooms is that many, if not most, students arrive to class with no supplies whatsoever.

Consequences are essential to encouraging productive behavior in the classroom. If we can't provide the student with consequence to their actions we are powerless in situations in which they are unwilling to cooperate with established classroom procedure. The effective enforcement of consequence to non-productive behavior can only take place with the full support of school administration and parents.