Post date: Oct 02, 2010 6:8:50 AM
Hello Again DCS-8 Parents and Students,
Another great week in room 25 has washed over us. As always, there are too many details to tell in just one email. Please review the past weeks worth of entries on the daily schedule page to get an idea of where we've been and what we've done. I have two (really, just two) items for this newsletter. First, some information and thoughts about grades and assignments; and second, an admission of nervousness as well as excitement regarding parent classroom help that starts Monday.
This week, the assignment flow and grades made their way to the forefront of my efforts and then ended up taking up more class time than I would have liked. As I began to upload the bulk of the scores for the first month of school I noticed that quite a few students had one or more assignments missing or of low quality (mostly due to not following directions). During class I worked to make sure that the students concerned were aware of this and could make plans to take action if they so desired. When I found myself putting more effort into pursuing and hounding students with missing work than they themselves were putting into making up the work, I realized that our relative efforts were out of balance -- I'm taking more responsibility for their work and accountability than they are. I'm a strong advocate of experiential learning (even negative ones) and yet I found myself depriving some students of a learning experience by shielding them from the reality of the low class grades that result from even a few missed assignments. Grades are certainly not the greatest measure of student learning, but they are one indicator of effort, accountability, and engagement. The compromise that I struck with myself regarding my role in students' awareness of their grades and what causes them, is to create as many ways as I can by which students can keep themselves aware of what work is assigned, what process is expected, when/how the product will be assessed, when the work is due, and what can be done to improve the learning/score after grading. To that end I created an assignment calendar and two spreadsheets that are all embedded in the "assignments" page of my website, as well as initiated the utilization of an online service called Edmodo, which allows me to post messages about assignments and the students can elect a variety of ways through which they receive those notifications (email, SMS text, etc). Edmodo also allows online microblogging to assist student discussion and dialog about the details of assignments. The back wall of my room, hopefully, continues to serve as a physical historical chronology about the daily schedules, activities, and assignments in both science and English. If I overdo the availability of information about assignments, then I'm hoping that the students will feel a stronger sense of accountability. If you have time this weekend, please take a look at the grades posted online and if there is something missing or a score that could be raised, the student should feel that they have every resource necessary to do it. This week the afternoon schedules often included some flexible time during which students could do make-up work, get ahead on upcoming assignments, or just sit and relax and watch a part of a movie at times. After selectives start there will be two afternoons a week during which all the 8th grade students meet with their homerooms to do various activities, both remedial and extension, therefore I'm confident that there will be ample opportunities for all students to live up to their personal level of challenge, productivity, and affinity for the subject matter.
My second item for this newsletter revolves around parent assistance opportunities in the classroom. More than anything, I want to make the most efficient and effective use of your (parents) time and talents, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that all the time. You've done this for far longer than I have, and so I will be depending on you for guidance and feedback a great deal during the upcoming months. I'm thrilled that there will be a variety of adults in the room throughout each day and yet a bit humbled by the expertise that surrounds me and concerned that I might not be able to "put you to work" with as much direction as some of you requested in the survey form that you filled out before school started. I'll try to have plans and procedures in place that make the best use of your time, but please help me by assuming that you don't need any type of approval from me in order to infuse your strengths into the schedule of activities, lessons, classroom organization, appearance, and/or atmosphere. Although my instructional style is sporadically autocratic, I am hoping to create a class atmosphere that is conducive to shared leadership and the 'village' style of collaborative work between all of us -- students, parents, and teacher alike.
The first quarter is about half over and I'm hoping that things are satisfactory so far. The more feedback I have from you the more opportunities I have to improve the many many aspects of classroom operations, lesson quality, differentiation of instruction, and overall quality and outcomes of the educational experiences. If you have a few minutes, let me know what is working for you and/or your counterpart (student or parent, depending upon who receives this email). I'm a tough guy so you don't have to be subtle or gentle, just let me know if something is on your mind.
Have a good weekend.
Chris Heumann
Oh, by the way, anyone wanna come to my "Overview of the GoogleTools" class tomorrow all day at the KCI at Foothill College? I'm actually sorta serious... you can come if you like. There are only 18 enrolled and we can take up to 30 I think. Agenda is here. Just an afterthought!