Sharing With Your Peers

2/24/2018

Recently a new topic was touched on in one of my chats - can you be a, "Prophet in your own school?" One leader was saying no, others were saying yes. It was interesting. There are definitive arguments on both sides. Emotions that change the argument, and concerns that layer that emotion. On the one hand, we are in the business of sharing, all teachers should want to learn from each other, all educators should have the humility to have their ideas questioned. On the other hand, it's hard to present ideas you know will be questioned, concepts that are uncomfortable, thoughts that smack of criticism of the masses. There's a feeling of excitement, a desire to share these fantastic learnings with your friends and peers, contrasted with a frisson of nervousness as you already know of opinions and have heard the whispers ("She's one of the reasons we have a problem. If these kids would just learn about deadlines and consequences, we could get somewhere." "It all sounds great, but don't expect me to put in these extra hours."). Even though you KNOW that your staff is top notch, many are far better teachers than yourself, and most are actually supportive of what you do...it is always that handful of negatives that weigh on the mind.

Part of human nature, right? We don't listen to the positives nearly as much as we allow the negatives to impact our psyche. Ugh.

So, we were asked to put ourselves out there and volunteer to lead professional development sessions at our recent in-school PL day. I didn't really feel that I had a choice. The school had covered my registration fees for the Association of Middle Level Educators last fall, and part of the agreement was that I would present lessons learned at a faculty meeting or training. I already had an overview in mind to share, but this would be something different as it wasn't a 15 minute snippet of lessons learned, more a 45 minute opportunity to share specifics. Plus, it's good for me. I am a huge believer that putting together a training helps me in so many ways - I have to collect my thoughts, I have to ponder on what I'd planned to do compared to moments missed, I have to think about next steps, I have to challenge myself to put my actions where my intentions are.

Challenges

So, the first challenge was, what the heck was I going to talk about. No, not true. I knew what I wanted to talk about. How was I going to develop a conversation that shared so many of the shifts I have made that have been SO powerful, that was organized, to the point, linked in with my conference experience, and gave teachers takeaways for them to use in their classroom today.

The second challenge was, would I be able to find that motivation to prepare for something that I knew would have a small audience. Our teachers would have several options, my musings on how to shift things in our classrooms would probably not make the A list for many - there were so many more practical options to be had. Plus, when I read my own description, I wasn't too enthused myself! Lesson learned, sell yourself a little better!

Putting it Together

I set myself a goal. I determined that I would go back through my blog, read over my website, check back through my notes, and brainstorm what had really made a difference in my classroom this year. I looked at the basic premise of how relationships and 'every student' engagement made a difference - and the research and multiple expert voices who supported it. I came up with this list:

Shifting the balance of power in the classroom
- Room #1113 not Mrs Bryson's room
- Our whiteboard set up with kids creating the quotes and answering the questions each day
- Postcards, emails, messages and use of private comments
- Idea button, class council
Ways to help create retrieval techniques - notemaking instead of notetaking
- Things/activities that have helped in Room #1113 to involve all in the space
  - From ways to summarize to sketchnoting
Feedback
- Changes I've made in how I give feedback
- And yes, I dared to touch on grades.

How it Went

I thought that no one was coming. That was hard. One teacher had texted me that she was going to be there, so I was hopeful, but this was one teacher who already did what I do and more, so that felt a bit awkward - would she think that I was telling her what to think....when she knew already? The class next door was filling up - and I mean teacher after teacher was entering and sitting. I had no one.

The positive to this situation was that I had reminded myself of plenty of things as I had put my presentation together. I had seen some missed opportunities and had realized that there were intentions that had not yet been fulfilled. The day's preparation had definitely NOT been a waste! The positives of creating the presentation were clear. But, I really didn't want to bomb quite that badly. I mean, let's be real here, it hurt. Maybe it shouldn't have, maybe it's silly, but this is MY reflection - and it bothered me!!

But then I was not alone. Perhaps not the vibrant crowd I'd hoped for, but definitely three of the teachers I would have chosen to have on my team! And of course, probably three of the teachers who I should have been listening TOO, not giving my advice and thoughts! But that's OK, I wasn't alone, and it meant that the discussion times that I had peppered throughout gave ME plenty to think about and chew on.

As a presenter I feed off my audience. It was hard with a small group, and I didn't feel that I did either my topic or my peers justice. They definitely didn't see the best of me, and I was conscious of missing some of my best points (tableau, anyone?) that I had planned to share. But I did it. They stayed. We shared.

Lessons Learned

A good reflection shows learning.

I heard that somewhere. My learning:

It's a LOT easier to present to the county.
Stay humble. To remember that my ideas excite me, but might not enthuse others - and that's OK!
Next time, don't think so pedagogically. Think more 'practica'l if I want folk to come. Think '10 activities that helps students summarize'. Be a bit more boilerplate and sneak in the snippets where you can.
Listen to my own message and keep shifting. It's what's right for kids - and that's all that matters!
You can be a prophet in your own school - but it's tough and you can't expect to be followed. It takes courage and determination. Don't lose focus of the main thing. People will find their way - and maybe your way will help them. Perhaps their way is better. Watch and learn.

DMS Mini Conf 2018

This Week's Reading!

12/8/2017

Student Led Discussion

http://ajjuliani.com/three-step-system-getting-students-talking/

By A.J. Juliani

Some great stuff here - neat techniques worth using! I trying to talk less (hard, because...well...I like to talk 🙄😂) and have the kids engage more. It’s a breeze with three of my classes, a nightmare with my fourth. Maybe, just maybe, this system would work for them.

And then there’s this - my kids complained about the lack of guidance I’d given them, so for our last project, I really gave ‘point and shoot’ directions. It felt good and made the ever present reality of grading easier. But I had this constant niggling feeling that I should have just given them the standard...seen how they would translate and produce from that...and then I see this in the article:

“For project-based learning, most of my students were used to a very detailed project outline, with step-by-step directions that were more like a recipe than a wide-open project. They would get a rubric that was geared towards the final product, and rarely had anything to do with the process of learning.”

Oh my. Yes. I was so explicit that it was more about compliance. Yes, they had to understand the terminology. Yes, the choice of product was theirs. But it was handed to them on a plate. No digging deep required.

Ugh.

My only saving grace was that it was a formative review, so specific practice was a requirement. But still.

So. Hmmm. 🤔 That’s kind of another conversation for another time. This is about the talking. The author’s ideas of the colored cards is great. Maybe something to use in our upcoming Socratic Seminar. With some small tweaks, it would work well.

Here’s the basics. Each student gets a number of different colored cards to use throughout the discussion. They must play each card once, but can play the question card multiple times after using all other cards.

Red Card = I think
Blue Card = I know (because)
Yellow Card = Pose a Question
Green Card = I feel
Orange Card = Connect (to yourself, to the world, to another text/idea/subject)

Not rocket science, but a simple twist to ensure all have a chance to speak and that everyone understands what participating entails. I can change to include evidence, paraphrasing - questioning, changing questions. Maybe a wildcard of some kind.

Ideas to better what I do. Love it!

Turning “I can’t” into “I can”

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-failure-harder-work-angela-campbell

By Angela Campbell

Some interesting twists from the normal material that I read about grading. First of all, it is written by someone who works with older kids, and clearly buys into the grading culture more than I do. Secondly she clearly states that what she does is time consuming and causes her to bring home grading every day. This is not about reducing the load. Finally, she opens explaining that her change came not from the overly Grade-focused students, nor from those who don’t care or don’t do the work. Her motivation came from those students who do just enough to pass the class. A good reminder for me that I have those kids too! Doing just enough is safe, takes less investment, and is much more manageable than trying to be on top of the heap. The author says,

“A significant number of students just want to pass the class to meet their graduation requirement, and do it with as little effort as possible.”

“Many students will avoid working hard in a class that they see as challenging because of the risk involved. If they work hard and fail, they’ve proven their inadequacy. But if they don’t work hard and manage to get a D, their pride remains intact and they haven’t lost anything. That’s why I make failing harder work than passing.”

By changing the process, enforcing retakes for those with 70% or less (60% is a passing grade for her), and slowing it for anyone under 90%, she has made it harder to ‘scrape by’, and easier to strive in the first place. YES 🙌 that’s what went. So, I don't believe that I can make retakes mandatory, but maybe I can? Something to think about.

As I kept reading, I did find a fundamental difference of opinion at times - I disagree with the emphasis on grades - but some sections really spoke to me:

“I also use formative assessments, which can be homework, quizzes, or labs. They count for very little in the grade. The point of these assessments is to give kids a lot of practice with the material in a low-risk environment, and to provide feedback on their progress toward mastering the objectives.”

“I give them a test map....showing which objectives they didn’t master. The test map is accompanied by an intervention worksheet organized by objective. Students are expected to complete the worksheet sections that they need to practice in order to improve their score.”

We have used similar maps - I need to do it more - and this would tie directly into my goal of grading/reporting by standard. This would definitely be a tool to add to my box of tricks as I rebuild the ‘how’ of grading and giving feedback. Imagine that world where their 'number' reflects their standard, and they know EXACTLY what needs to be done to meet that standard.

Yes.

That's what I want.

I just know that there has to be a better way to give feedback that matters to the students, and ‘numbers’ that mean something. I think that I am getting there, I really do.

Copying docs with comments

http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/11/force-copy-comments.html

This is just plain COOL! I can use this on things like the Grammar hyperdoc, or for things that are self-graded. Not just the answers, but the WHY! Maybe add links to resources in case there was a struggle. Perfect. I need to find ways like this to make self-grading more of a possibility, while ensuring that they are reviewing and paying attention. Maybe they have to go through a process to get the answers, perhaps a link to a review game that has to be played. I don't know, there's a lot to play with here - and a ton of options of how to use it come to mind!

Shifting Grades

12/3/2017

🤔Imagine a world where students never asked whether this is formative or summative. Think of teaching a class of students who are focused on the learning, and not the number they would receive at the end. Think of the student who, rather than panicking because the due date was Friday, was focused on producing the best work that he or she could. Think of the world, where a student always knew that the learning continues, and there’s a teacher who is going to support him/her, until he/she has mastered the standard.🤔

🌟🌍🌟That’s the world I want. 🌟🌏🌟

My perfect vision is entirely possible. I honestly don’t believe that huge shift would need to be made. I even think that both students and parents would understand and embrace it! Not taking away all grades, that is probably not an option - yet. There are district rules, school and hallway policies. And I do what I can to negotiate changing from the inside, but I also need to be aware that I need to work with what I have. Is that being a pessimist? No, I believe that that is being a realist, working with in the known parameters, working to make change and doing the best for my students with the situation I have.

I have a couple of different ways I’d like to do things, a couple of different options for change.

Putting a number on an individual standard rather than grading an assignment.
Collaborating with students to consider their body of work to determine a grade.

📝📚💯💯💯💯💯📚📝

Grading the STANDARD not the ASSIGNMENT

This, I believe would be the easiest to implement - doing what I honestly believe we should be doing anyway, grading by standard.

Grading by mastery of standard.

By breaking down every assignment to specific standards, this would allow me to truly see were each student is at. More importantly, it would allow each student to see where HE or SHE is at.

By taking a rubric, and giving separate grades according to the individual standards embedded within the assignment, I would actually give clear opportunities for where relearn and retake needs to happen, and make it far easier for student to be able to change a grade 3 months later once a concept finally takes root! After all, we don’t all learn at the same pace.

Let’s say for example, we are talking about the standard:

🤓ELAGSE6RL3: Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves towards a resolution.

So let’s say the beginning of the year, we have an assignment where the student has to write about how a character might respond to a certain situation, and how that might change from the beginning of the book/story, to what might’ve happened at the end of the book/story. The student’s goal would be to show how the way the character has changed would affect the decisions made. At the beginning of the year it’s a disaster. They maybe scraped a passing grade. Later on in the semester, we are reading a different book, and we have an assignment on how the character has changed. It could be a completely different assignment. But this time, the student knocks it out of the park. How easy it would be to go to that ONE standard, fix that one grade, and show that that student has not mastered the learning. I can’t do that when a bunch of standards are embedded into one grade, at least not with fidelity. But in this scenario, it would be easy. Sure, I would need to learn to take good records, but I think I’m capable of that.

Shouldn’t we be doing this anyway? It makes me think about Rick Wormeli’s article, Calling for a "Timeout" on Rubrics and Grading Scales. https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/539/Rubrics-and-Grading-Scales.aspx Rubrics aren’t always the answer - and when they are, they must be used far more carefully than we are...but that conversation aside, I could still use the same rubrics as others, I would just apply a grade to each section. I would simply need to talk about editing the criteria so that each fit a standard.

Then think about how much better conferences would be, think about how we could actually look at the numbers, and have them mean something. Instead of the student panicking because they had a 69, they could see the one area they needed to work on. Does this really need to be a dream? This seems very realistic to me.

Each semester we would have summative grades for every standard. Oh, WOW! Talk about a double check that we are TEACHING every standard! Yes, we built our curriculum carefully, starting with the standards, but this would be a stark reminder of just where our focus should be.

In Ditch That Homework (Keeler and Miller, 2018), Alice Keeler talks about how taking away the need to ‘talk about the past, go over homework, and more’, has freed up time to allow students more time to talk - ‘whoever talks the most learns the most’ - time saved = more time for me to conference. More time to talk about LEARNING, less time to have to answer questions about GRADES.

📝📚💯💯💯💯💯📚📝

Tell Me Your Grade - Let’s Collaborate

The second idea - One of my admin shared this idea, and my recent reading delved more into the concept. I’m not sure that I’m ready for this one though - it might be a battle that I fight once assessing my standards is in place and I have a clearer vision.

I could call this STEP TWO.

This would revolve around collecting a body of evidence, then discussing with the student what they believe their grade should be. Together we would look at the work and the standard, together we would agree upon a grade.

This concept involves better teaching of individual reflection, using feedback in multiple ways, and truly involving students in their learning. So, yes, a big picture of everything I want to achieve in our room 🙄🙃. BUT much harder to accomplish. Now, I’m not scared of ‘hard’, but I do have parameters to work within....

Joy Kirr's thoughts on grading processes:

Integrating the Ideas

The bottom line is that I believe that grading standards and not assignments is where I want to be. I think that with communication and explanation, parents would be on board with that. Talk about personalized learning! I could being in the official quarterly conference to discuss evidence for grades. It might not yet be a conversation about students determining their grade, but it would be an opportunity for a student to see their weak spots in black and white, and to come up with a plan to make change.

Problems? Solutions?

So, what’s stopping me? Well, my ideas for shifting won’t happen overnight and will take some work. We are required to have ‘like’ summatives across our CPT (collaborative planning team), and I would assume that would mean the same number of summative grades. I haven’t had the conversation with my team yet, but initial feelers have had mixed response.😉

???

If the team sticks to current practices and I grade assignments MY way....I could maybe get by that with averaging, but we all know that, pedagogically, averaging does not work - there is no true picture. However, it would be a start. Kids would know how they got their final grade and be aware of what needed relearning and retaking. 👍

???

Could I keep two grade-books (ugh), one for conferences, one for the world? Might be a practical solution, but we all know which one the parents and students will care about, so it would create a lot of effort with (I believe) minimal change. There is so much wrong with this picture.

This Year So Far

I have made SOME changes re:grading. It just needs to be more wholesale to really do great things for my kids. I’ve:

Shifted feedback and emphasis on learning.
Feedback before the Grade (need to improve this).
Increased reflection

This is all good, but the focus is still in the number - and the way I’m doing things now, students still find it hard to look beyond a number.

The kids hear me say, “It’s not about the grade, it’s about the Learning,” and, “It shouldn’t make a difference whether it’s a formative grade or summative,” .... but of course the way we work now they are more than encouraged to play the game. And we teachers buy into it too - “It’s so much work that it should be a summative.” I hear that a lot. In fact I had to make something a summative that I believe strongly was ALL practice - and I am still ashamed that I didn’t have the words to express what I was thinking.

Practice should be more work than proving mastery - grades should not be a reward for compliance. That’s what I wanted to say, that’s what I couldn’t explain to my team, the words never came clearly through the emotion and frustration. As a result, my kids had their practice graded. To be fair to myself, I did come back from that nicely. They had 10 questions to answer, so as we went back over our evidence-based answer strategy, I told them that they had to answer all 10, but to pick their best two for grading purposes. At least they had both practice and an opportunity to show mastery.

So, time to make a plan. I need to talk to my administration and gather their thoughts, learn from their ideas and experience, and develop a strategy to implement.

I can do this, and my kids will be better for it.

My New Mantra

**Practice should be more work than proving mastery - grades should not be a reward for compliance.

**If we have to put a number on work, it should be clear precisely what that number represents, and what needs to be learned or practiced, in order to make change.

Slide by Bill Ferriter ~ The Tempered Radical

blog.williamferriter.com @plugusin

Looking For Answers

11/18/2017

I Know The Answers Are Out There

Shifting learning to the students.

Shifting from homework.

Escaping the load while still giving personalized feedback and attention.

I have goals. I know what I’m looking for. I have a pile of books purporting to answer my questions - and to an extent they do.

Although sometimes they raise as many questions and light me up with MORE ideas

😳🙄

"But That Won’t Work For Me!"

It seems to be that almost everything I find that speaks to how to shift the class, how to stop homework, etc., seems to be more from an elementary standpoint. It sounds wonderful, conference and grade all the work during class, never take work home - but how? By the time we’ve settled and done the warm up, I have 40 minutes or so to facilitate learning. 100+ students = hundred plus essays. There’s feedback to give, reflections to read, grades to assign. With every great idea, I get hyped up, but then still don’t know how I could possibly do all that in school and not at home, unless I’m just staying at school the whole time.

It’s a conundrum.

So anyway, that’s where I’m at today.

Not negative, questioning.

The Ultimate Question

How do I find a way to balance this? How do I find a way to treat each student as an individual, to be aware of where each student is, and what each student is doing, and yet have a life myself?

I don’t know.

But I’m going to find out.

I will keep reading. Keep searching. Keep considering.

The Grind of Grading

11/10/2017

Why am I spending hours reading over and over the same thing.

What do I mean by that?

Well, we just did a Socratic seminar, and the students had to answer 10 different questions using the RACE format.

It’s been taking me about 25 minutes per student to read over all 10 answers, and to give pertinent feedback.

Detailed & specific commentary.
How to make it better.
Which element could be strengthened..

All that good stuff.

But Wait!

After going through several sessions at the AMLE conference, missing potential opportunities for pedagogical conversations, and having a virtually sleepless night wondering when I was ever going to get this done, it suddenly occurred to me....

Why on earth am I looking at all 10?

The pattern is the same, the kids tend to have the same mistakes on each one, why am I making this so difficult on myself?

A Much Better Idea

Why not do a generic go-over for everyone, honing in on the common mistakes and misconceptions,and then have the children have an opportunity to edit, learn as they make corrections, then pick their favorite for me to ‘grade’?

Wouldn’t that be better? That way I am sure they are going back over the work on reflecting upon the results, and I am grading work post-practice & learning.

Plus I can compare results with the class that I toiled over for three days, in every moment that I had.

My kids need me, not an exhausted version worried at the backlog in Google Classroom.

I need to see their work, and feedback is vital, but this seems a much more healthy, and himself pedagogically sound, way of accomplishing the goal.

New Ideas To Mull

http://catlintucker.com/2017/08/grade-interviews/

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1693716?tabid=055887e6-4a4c-da0b-c72a-4c08123b0c45

~ AMLE 2017 ~

IMMEDIATE TAKE-AWAYS

November 8, 2017

~ reflections on my experiences at the Association of Middle Level Educators.

New Eyes

I always come to conferences hoping for major moments, aha upon aha, brilliance to change my life. I always have set my sights high! Optimism is my proverbial middle name.

But change comes from within. All the brilliance in the world can only effect change if I am open to it, listen to it, and change my practices when I get home.

How many times did I hear things that I have been planning to do? Changed I was meaning to make? Ideals that were going to be stood by, but I still haven’t made the leap.

It’s not just about NEW, it’s about hearing those who have so much to share, opening my eyes and considering in new ways.

My first two AMLE conferences I was a student. My second, I was a first year teacher. Now I’m in my third year, and I truly felt the difference in how I was receiving information and how I thought about the possibilities of implementation.

I was looking at the same information through new eyes.

I was hearing new ideas with a new mindset.

Relationships

The crux of what we do. I don’t know that a session went by without this being a vital tenant. The quotes varied, the meaning was the same. If we don’t connect, we can’t guide, mentor, facilitate, or teach.

Everyone Learns at a Different Pace and a Different Way.

Don’t tell kids they’re wrong, ask them how they got there. They might not be ready yet, or they might just see things in a different way.

You don’t have to learn it the way the teacher learns it.

It is Pedagogically Unsound to Deny an Opportunity to Learn.

Keep learning if you don’t have it yet. We don’t all learn at the same time any more than we all learn the same way. I always love Rick Wormeli’s analogy of a parent teaching a child to ride a bike. We don’t expect every child to get it the first time, nor do we tell them they missed that learning and have to move on without it. Some kids have training wheels for support - we don’t consider them lesser beings, nor are they labeled for life.

Think about it.

And then there’s this message - if it isn’t important enough to redo, then why was it so important to do in the first place?

Students Learn the Most When They Create it.

#truth.

From acronyms to songs. Videos to stories. Why do I spend so much time being the learner, or scouring other people’s learning, when it could be my kids producing.

Metaphors & Summaries

When you make comparisons between two entirely different objects or processes, you have to think deeply. You make connections. You create images and visuals.

When you summarize, or translate for a small child, you have to understand, determine what matters, Break it down. I do this. But there’s room for so much more. So very much more.

Judgement Shuts the Student Down. It’s the End of Learning.

Teach responsibility by concentrating on learning and reflection, not grading. We should de-emphasize grades. They all talked about it - almost all anyway. My final session, Dr Brassell, left me with the vision that all of his kids got an A. Period. End of story. Why let grades get in the way?

Create self-efficacy by empowering learning.

Oh. Wow.

And I need to create a hashtag. Something that defines me. Something to connect the world, my pedagogy, and my kids.

#BritSpeak

#TaughtInTheMiddle to match my website?

#BritintheMiddle

Maybe I should have my kids vote. Yes. Next teacher report card. Done!

My Final Thoughts

So much powerful learning - and I wish that I had a few days to digest and implement, but that’s not reality. Instead I will hope that some things just sink in and create change. I’ve already reduced the grading grind on a pile of work, increased togetherness with specific questioning within my next teacher report card, and hopefully plans for change and shifts will abound as time moves forward.

In the meantime, my favorite slide of the week - it doesn’t just speak to what I want to do for my kids, it speaks to what I need to do for me too.

Needy Advanced vs. On-Level Needs

November 4, 2017

I am struggling managing the gulf between advanced students’ neediness & the needs of my on-level kiddos.

Background

I have two periods of advanced students - a mix of gifted and those who have registered for s higher level of learning (in my school, you aren’t placed by test. Rather, you may choose the best opportunity for you). Then I also have two periods of on-level students. Both of those classes also including both 504 & IST kids, all at different levels of need and accommodations. In addition I have my literacy class - a complete mix.

Variety is Awesome

It's a pretty cool schedule overall, no time to get bored, lots of stuff to work on. I thrive on the variety and the challenge. But here's the problem. I'm really having trouble balancing between the advanced expectations and on-level needs.

My Beliefs

I believe in a higher expectations for all students. Sometimes that's my downfall, as it can be a shock to my kiddos. I'm not a huge believer in grades, in fact, I don't like them at all. I believe they make the kids concentrate on the wrong thing. I see them as a stopping point for learning. The number is the goal, not the mastery. But that's another blog post for another time. Although I’m pretty sure that I mention it in any/every reflection 😜😂

The Problem

So what’s the problem? Well the first trap that I sometimes find myself falling into is to remember that advanced is not just about more work-actually it's not about more work at all, it's about deep at work, more thoughtful work, which sometimes does turn into more work. Because you have to think more. We worked hard at creating the ‘more’ as fun opportunities for extending, chances for students to have choice, and a voice in the learning. We also gave them the opportunity to choose which challenge to do first, and how to do it. On paper it all looked great, and for the sixth grader ‘rather-lazy-ELA-was-always-so-easy-in-elementary-school brain, that meant leaving things to the last minute and resulted in panic ensuing! But we’re working through that. That’s a great learning experience.

The second trap is the parents asking for homework. I must not fall into that hole of despair. As Alfie Kohn says (and I paraphrase), in what world is it right that we should be expected to give our students after-hours work? Why is there an expectation that they should leave ‘work’ and have more work to do at home?

Here's my real problem. It's weighing the neediness of the advanced team, with the need of the on-level.

The advanced kids are demanding. They message me, they email me, they use private comments. It is constant communication. I kind of love it! They message me about their work, we do private comments back-and-forth on Google classroom, their reflections are often full and complete, and actually truly help me with my teaching. I love it when they reflect upon my comments on the work. I adore seeing these answers that also replete with thoughtfulness. They are only 11 years old, and yet they can already determine things like, “Now I understand that I shouldn't just write a story, but that a conflict and climax are important. That without a turning point of my story it isn't really a story.” When they write things like, “Thank you for helping me to build my characters, my story is much better now,” well, quite frankly, I am delighted!

Side-note, I did also have a couple kids he said my comments were not helpful, and I also had one student who kindly just answered only “yes” or “no” where it wasn't asking for yes/no questions. But that happens.

Now to my own level kids. Different kettle of fish. Other than the few standouts, you actually would assume that they don't think about school at all once they are on that bus on their way home. And why should they? I think that maybe that's a fair assumption! I think I did when I was a kid, but I also had a parent and a grandparent who supported and pushed me. I got home, had tea, then an hour of homework was an expectation. A lot of these kids don't have that at home. Many times it's not that the kid doesn't understand the content, it's just that they don't have a background or culture that really enforces educational thought at home. And/or they don't have the support, or access to the tools they need to do work at home. Well that's OK, I have set a new goal of reducing - hopefully dropping - homework. Another Kohn moment to paraphrase - nothing creates an economical divide quite like homework.

The Real Problem

No, the problem here is quite simple. There seems to be this huge dichotomy between the levels of the students. I go from teaching kids who on occasion write things I would personally be fairly proud of, to teaching kids who won't write. I go from kids who are panicking about getting work completed done in a period, to kids who were just sitting around trying to chat, sharpening their pencil constantly and asking to go to the bathroom one more time.

The Answer.

So, I look to me. Because where else can I look?

These kids have had years of this behavior, years of being able to get through school this way.
So it's up to me to make my lessons more interesting and engaging.
It's up to me to fire them up the way I get fired up.
It's up to me to find better ways to support them, so that they know that someone believes in them.
It's up to me to find them times to get the work done, if they can't do it at home.

So many things are up to me.

And I have to think, and plan, and do so much more than just reflect.

From Venspired.com

Email to Advanced Parents

October 30, 2017

The email I never sent. Written while students were determining whether or not they should remain in the Advanced Course. Many kids had struggled with our first assignment and a large amount of work was missing.

Dear Parents,

I heard a quote today, that seems very apropos for our advanced kids. I can’t remember it properly, I just know that it was something to do with the fact that if it's easy you don't learn. And that it is during the struggle that you learn the most. That a teacher’s job is to create

So I looked it up.

I couldn’t find the original quote, but here’s an image that explains it well -

How true is this. I have to tell you, it broke my this teacher’s heart a little, when one student said that he wanted to stay with me but he needed to leave the advanced class because he wanted it to be easier to get an A. He is on the lazy side, and he does owe me a lot of work, but still he's clearly a student who should be in the advanced class. So I asked him why does that matter? I mean I would understand if he wanted to leave me, but he said that wasn't the reason! Surely he would rather be engaged than bored?

No

His response was, “ELA has always been easy for me, and I just want to make sure I have straight A's this year.”

Why does this break my heart a little? One of the things it makes me really sad as a teacher is when students think that it's about the grade. When they feel they feel that they have achieved something with an A, and ‘failed’ with a B, when it is often the student with the B who has really made strides.

Learning is not about getting an A. Learning about it is about taking on the difficult task, getting through it, learning new skills, and achieving.

So, why the philosophical rant? As I'm going through submitted work and giving feedback, and seeing who is missing work, and seeing the standard of work done, it shines a light on who is a student who is overwhelmed, and who is a student who is just not doing the work.

Overwhelmed is OK!

I would much rather have a student who is slightly overwhelmed, and struggling. Its up to me to fill the need for support and to help him or her to grow. That’s my job. That’s what makes me get up in the morning! I’d rather have that student than one who can easily do it, and just hasn't bothered.

The question is, which category does your student fall into? Are they struggling? Are they overwhelmed and need organizational help? Or are they lazy and unconcerned.

Let’s talk about what motivates your student. Let’s have a conversation about learning, not grades. Ask yourself, which is more important?

So, I'm never going to send this email, although I might include some verbiage at times.

After all, it's how I feel.

Using Private Comments in Google Classroom

October 26, 2017

Using private comments in google classroom has created a vastly more independent learning environment.

How?

I can personalize my teaching because I can make comments that those students and only those students can see.
I can be immediately reactive to the work or question, not having to go back through things to remind myself what I had originally said.
As soon as I have graded, or given feedback on something, I can immediately go into the private comments-which I often use for the feedback-to give my thoughts and ideas, and next steps to take. This way the students can see it immediately also, and if they have the notifications correctly set up (which most of little app-savvy group have), they even get a message that tells them that I had left a comment.
Students can respond to me, and I get that immediately. When students are retaking work, making changes, editing, etc., I not only get a notification that they have done so, but I can go back to see my original comments, to make sure that we’re all on the same page. It’s so much easier, than trying to figure out what changes were made!
Personal comments give clues to individual misconceptions and help me to correct them for that individual student. I can ask seeking questions and determine where the problem might lie.

So, How Does it Work?

Every assignment and announcement allows Class Comments. These are useful for moments that are helpful to all. Annoying until the students understand that a litany of, “Hi!” is not acceptable. That’s useful. But what is really powerful is the private comment feature.

Once students have opened an assignment, there is a place for private comments. These messages come right to me and allow an immediate response. Perfect. No one has to fear the silly questions in front of their peers. No one has to worry about others hearing their question. I don’t have to look to far to understand the question as it is irrevocably linked to the assignment in question. Plus we all see the messages that went before and are able to refer back to them as necessary!

Example of a 'Private Comment' conversation for a student advocating for herself.

But, Aren’t You Always Available?

Well, sure. But you can always receive an email too - and this is far more convenient. You could turn off notifications too so that you can schedule that non-work time. Or you can be like me, who’d rather get the message and answer it in a timely manner. That way it isn’t hanging over me, work gets done, and I don’t ha e another item for the morning to-do list.

I can scarcely comment about students not being invested in their learning but then ignore them when they are, now can I?!

Text Structures - an awful lesson plan!

10/20/2017

When we went back to text features and text structures, I didn’t see much point in creating fantastic lessons, we had the tried-and-true. We don’t spend a lot of time on it, because we're basically reviewing what the students did in elementary school.

The kids are mostly pretty solid on text structures, we just have to make sure they understand the difference between sequence in chronological. Some elementary teachers have taught the kids that way already, others have not. So it’s a pretty straightforward unit, over a week for on-level, almost a week for our advanced kids. Quick.

We had just come off a fantastic narrative HyperDoc with the advanced kids, and our on-level kids had been working with figurative language, and it was time for text structures. We pulled up the old PowerPoint, checked the information; Yep, looks good. And so I taught it.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Oh my goodness. What a difference a year, and a shift in thinking makes. I will not be teaching Text Structures this way next year. I’ve already started making notes, and figuring out what I’m going to do differently. What we did this year, was a regular slideshow filled with information. The kids took notes, and then we did a gallery walk activity, and a very cool poster activity that a teacher friend had found on Pinterest a couple of years ago at my old school. The gallery walk and poster activities will stay. They were interactive, engaging, and clearly moved the kids from comprehension to mastery to demonstrating knowledge. But that note taking? It was horrific.

Notes.

Boring. Excruciating. Time consuming. Necessary.

First of all, the kids do need to learn how to take notes, I’m aware of that. I also know that writing helps to imprint information in the brain. Don’t get me wrong, not about it being painful for me. The problem is, some of the kids love taking notes, and they do it beautifully, others hate it. After all it’s writing :-) and it’s forced writing at that. Some of them are quick, some of them are incredibly slow. This means that the quick ones are waiting for the slow ones to finish - it’s somewhat excruciating. They’re wriggling, they’re not used to such confined behavior in Mrs. Bryson’s classroom. That’s just not how we do business here!

So what am I going to do differently? Well I’m not completely sure to be honest. But I really I’m thinking of having them find the notes. Having them find out what different things are, getting definitions, maybe jigsaw-perhaps of the online kind. Groups of kids working and seeking together. Creating examples. Sharing. Maybe we could create a document together. There must be a multitude of ways I can make it a lot more interesting than this. Probably not a hyperDoc, because we’ve just come off a whole bunch of hyperDocs. Plus of course, there’s always the issue of how many times you get the Chromebook cart each month. But maybe something in groups, where 10 of them are using my class Chromebooks and researching, 10 of them are doing some hands-on activity - maybe working together with graphic organizers, and 10 of them are conferencing with me. The problem is always time. It always is. But notes take time too!

Time.

Time is never our friend. But text structures - and features that followed - could become standout units with better thought and greater creativity.

I’m on it!

First Nine Weeks of Change

10/03/2017

After sending 26 different messages to 26 different sets of parents, about work that was missing last night, it is maybe time to sit back and reflect on how my choice and challenge projects have been going. It was a big change, from the very sectionalized work that I did last year, to a more all-encompassing challenging project this year. And they're have been highlights and lowlights.

Plus Side!

There is the student who took it on and has done the most fantastic work. He stayed on pace, and his challenge work was exemplary - thoughtful, creative, showed not just learning, but mastery.

Be still my ❤️

And Then...

There is the student who’s done nothing. The sheer scope of the project overwhelmed them. For many of the Advanced crew, they are used to little elementary worksheets that they could scribble off in a moment and get an A. Mrs. Bryson said 8 weeks - I’ll check it out later. Work time in class, no rush, I’ll goof off a bit. They finally, due date looms. There is no way they can accomplish this. None. Can’t do it. So, switch off and head in the sand.

And then the majority of somewhere in between.

So let me back up and explain what we did.

Instead of separate little projects for each section of literary elements, we created one big challenge. Each of the elements had a criteria task to accomplish. Their answers showed knowledge of the learning target. They could choose where to start. We even offered choice of novel, so the students could use a novel that they enjoyed. Each element also had a choice of three challenges to produce, to show deeper learning - show their learning - and also to create a more project-based environment. I developed the challenge last year, and I have to say I was pretty proud of the product. I had our county ELA leader look it over, and she went through with a pretty fine tooth comb and help me change many of the challenges and questions to ensure that every single learning target was hit well.

It was a lot of work.

When meeting with my collaborative planning team this summer, we decided to use it in totality for the advanced classes, giving the more opportunity for project-based learning, more chances to truly have choices, and more ways for deeper learning. For the on-level classes, they were tasked with the criteria tasks, but were required to fulfill only one challenge. And that challenge would be the summative grade. For the advanced kids, they would get to choose which one they had graded as a summative.

So lots of choice, many options, and an opportunity to work at the own pace. All good stuff. I mean, personalized, choice-driven, connected with learning targets. Totally pedagogically sound.

Then there reality. The reality of the carefully planned calendar been ruined by inclement weather (thanks, Hurricane Irma), once-in-a-lifetime events (thanks eclipse), and various events such as pep rallies and so forth. All good stuff, nothing I would criticize, well except for the hurricane, but things that we didn't plan for. Or at least, not well. So, the basic plan of mini lesson, do a slide, mini lesson, do a slide, which looks so good on paper, kind of went to ‘hell in a hand-basket’. So what happened was, half a slide was done, and except for the truly go-get-em kids, half a slide was not finished...So then we added in workdays, those days where you feel like the worst teacher in the world-because you know you traveled around the room, you know you checked in with every student, you know you conferenced, and at the time felt like you were doing a fantastic job. Then you check back a week later, and wonder, what were they actually doing in that class?

But I digress.

So clearly, time has to be planned a little better. Obviously, I need to have more check ins at earlier times. And that's why you do things the first time, so you can perfect it the second! It's not like I'm going to leave my students hanging, and it isn't as if they haven't learned.

So now I'm going back and checking through things, and there are so many lessons learned.

Just so many.

First of all, just for the sake of my sanity, I can't have this much grading at one time again. I'm drained and exhausted. Not just from the grading, but from all the personal communications with students, the back-and-forth, as they redo and retake.

So here are the lessons I've learned.

Need more check-ins. They could still perhaps have a choice of what they're working on, but that needs to be a specific time to check that everyone has accomplished one, two, etc.
There could be an opportunity to do one challenge with the advanced as a group activity, in class. I love when they learn together. This would create an exemplar type scenario which would help with expectations.
Time. Time. Time. I have to find a way to make more time, to give them more time. Where those moments that I could've grabbed, that we lost?
The choice side was excellent. The reflective practices, were fantastic. Having the students reflect on the work, and reflect on how they liked or didn't like the choices was great. Finding out how many students would rather just be told what to do, was fascinating. This is one situation where they might not be getting what they want :-)
I have to manage the personalized and independent learning, with the fact that I can't spend every waking moment, talking to a student! It's great that they see how much I care about the learning, and it's awesome that they are interested enough to connect with me, and have these conversations. But it is really difficult to manage 64 students in 64 different places with my advanced and then another 40+ in the on-level.
My struggling on-level kids got lost...and I have not found a great solution other than less independence, more guided. First assignment is always hard because how do I know who needs more guidance, less choice?
Remember that I'm not just teaching literary elements...
Adjust the questions so that they can be answered without the book being completed. Have a clear list of which can be answered without reading the book. Have short stories to read in class that can be used to answer questions - which was the original plan. I’m not sure how that got lost in translation.

We all learned valuable lessons.

BLOG Narrative Choice Challenge EXEMPLAR

The above slideshow is the Advanced Narrative Choice Board. Exemplar responses and projects have been included.

Starting To Change Methods & Process

9/21/2017

Well, I have been trying to change my teaching now for two months. It’s been an interesting process.

The stage had already been set. The attitude was not a shift. I was ready to turn my classroom into a more student-led environment.

On the one hand, I feel that I have strengths and skills, and it’s exciting to see how much I have learned in a short period of time. After all, it’s only my third year! I have found myself coming up with ideas so much more quickly. I’m able to look at test results, and easily see a pattern - and be able to address that need instantly. I’m getting much better at changing streams during a course of action, rather than panicking because my carefully laid out plans are not going to work anymore.

This is all good stuff.

But....

I have also discovered that teaching has completely taken over my life. Actually that’s not a discovery, that’s more a fact I noticed in year one! It’s also not unexpected. I love what I do, and I like to do what I love! But I’d like to have time to focus on my husband and my horse...

And.....

Trying to truly personalize, and individualize experiences for students is fun and rewarding, but I am finding that it is almost 24-7 experience for me. This is not really healthy, and I don’t know that it’s truly the best for my students either. I know they benefit from my constant feedback and attention, but how much of a difference does it truly make? Can I influence in a smarter way? I really need to find a good balance.

But it’s hard.

Time. Feedback. Giving Work Its Due.

I’m not a fan of grades, or in fact I can’t stand grades. But of course I have to get feedback. I mean, otherwise why assign work? Whether there’s a number involved or not, I have to do due diligence and check for learning, advance the learning, increase the learning. And that all takes time. Slowly but surely, I’m coming up with different strategies involving students looking at each other’s work, giving an answer key and going back fixing things - then of course reflecting upon the changes made, otherwise they will do nothing but just change the answers. But then, at some point I do have to go in and look at that work. I do have to give my own responses. I do have to make commentary. I enjoy it, I take it seriously - and with reflections, I have twice as much to look at than other team members - but I am proud of my kids’ thinking.

BUT this all takes time.

I’m finding that the meeting of the neediness of my advanced student sometimes overtakes the needs of my on-level kids. Quite frankly, the struggling students need me more, but they’re the ones who are only too happy to fly under the radar more often than not. Whereas my advanced kids with a 96% is still hassling me over the final 4%. Particularly frustrating when you’re someone who doesn’t really believe in grades, and sees them as a prevention of work, rather than a celebration of learning. “Hey kids! Learning doesn’t stop with a Grade!”

Tired 😴

I’m tired. Honestly, I’m exhausted. I’m not unmotivated, I still plan to keep doing what I’m doing, because quite frankly I do love it! But I do need to find a way to reduce the exhaustion...or at least a way to reduce the workload. I know that all the teachers think I’m crazy to allow these opportunities to for kids to relearn and retake on pretty much everything, but the way I see it I honestly believe that’s my job. My job is to keep teaching the kids until they achieve mastery. The easy way out is tempting. But then I remind myself, I will never see every child achieve mastery of every single thing at the same time on the first try, if they do, I’m not pushing them enough.

And so it goes. So how to find the balance?

I don’t know. I’m just going to keep reading and keep looking and keep considering.

Oh Man! Hyperdocs!!

9/19/2017

...Read about them, heard about them, listened to podcasts talking about them, learned about creating them at our county EdSummit...and then we finally integrated our first true hyperdoc into class.

It was fantastic

Oh my goodness. Where have these been all my life? When can I do the next one?

Now Bridget, remember that anything you do every day becomes 'same old' and loses power 🙄😂

So what was so great about it? After all, it really is just an online lesson plan. The difference is, instead of me standing up there and talking for a lesson, and then stop while students do an activity, then talk again, then stop to do an activity, and so on, and so forth, the kids worked at their own pace, learning and showing their learning as they went.

Students were engaged (be still my heart), working with partners, enjoying the lesson, learning in spite of themselves. Definitely a plus.

Feeling Good

It felt so good, to walk around and conference, to see the learning that went on, and help them as they went. It really felt great. And the kids loved it too! When I did my reflective piece for the week, asking them what they thought about the experience, each response was a positive.

And the results of the learning were great too.

There are, however, always lessons learned.

The Lessons

One was, even though they're working together, they must turn in individual work. It makes it too easy for the ones who aren't bothered to try to just copy their partner’s work.

The second lesson was, there need to be stopping points. Check-in with Mrs. Bryson time - a nice big stop sign on the HyperDoc, a check-off situation just to make sure we're on track and doing the right thing. Going around and conferencing with each kid is great, but when you have 34 students in the class, you don't get to them all in one period. I found that students were barreling on through with misconceptions. A check-in is vital!

Third, I should've started off the class whole group, a little mini lesson to set the scene, instead of expecting them to watch the set the scene video and gather the information I wanted them to. That was the biggest lesson I think. Start with a solid message. Make sure that the instructions are understood.

Hook them, explain the process, and let them fly.

Visit My First Hyperdoc

For my reflections from the last two years, please visit my old website at: Taught in the Middle ~ Teacher of Tweens