I'm going to try to be a lot better at sharing what goes on in my classroom a lot more. I'll start with my first day of school!
Algebra 2 Honors
I began the class with the birthday seating challenge, as I have for the past four years. My first-period class is smaller, only sixteen students, and they completed the challenge in only a few minutes. The only class that ever did it faster had nine students in it.
My afternoon section of this class is a little larger, and had some more difficulty. They also have a more diverse mix of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. The seat five person raised her hand to report that the class was ready to begin, even after people had openly admitted that they were still wrong. I told them it was not acceptable, and that they had to do it correctly. One girl went up to the board, wrote numbers 1-12 for the months, and then counted people into their seats. They did succeed at the second attempt, and completed the challenge 12 minutes after the bell had rung. Sometimes it's taken over half the class period to finish, so this was still very respectable. I also learned a lot more about this class than I did about first period since they struggled a little more (a great point to make about the importance of productive struggle and persevering.)
I then asked students on Socrative how the activity made them feel, and what they thought the purpose of it was. They got the point really well, and I got to make the point in the afternoon class about how frustrating it can be when team members don't cooperate.
Then, I had the students do a drawing activity with the person across from them. One partner had to explain to the other person how to draw their shape without letting him/her see it. Then we repeated the activity a second time. I'm sure you can see how much easier the second round was! :) I had the students introduce themselves and share something the other person might not know, since some students knew each other either not as well or not at all.
Drawing Activity: Round 1
Drawing Activity: Round 2
I wanted to use the intellectual need principle to motivate some of the early definitions that we are going to talk about with functions. The numbers are purposely written in all different directions, so students don't know which way is up (why you need the axes). A lot of students used coordinates to describe the graphs the second time, and I asked if any of them had trouble understanding each other or had to explain it a different way. This emphasizes the importance of consistent language.
Finally, I had students "notice and wonder" about their impressions of the first day. (I know I read this about the first day somewhere else, but I can't remember who it was.) The homework was to read the course policies (I gave a video option, too) and then notice and wonder about them. That way, I introduced the structure and had a way not to read the syllabus at students for 30 minutes. (I plan on doing the same thing in my Algebra 1 class, but in class.)
Some students noticed I was enthusiastic. That's a first, since I get quite a bit of feedback about my monotone voice. I must be doing something that's doing a better job of showing my enthusiasm. (Several evaluations I've gotten have something to the point of "Zach is really enthusiastic about math. He should share this enthusiasm more with his students.") Maybe it's that I've gotten more confident, and I also have become really passionate about what I'm trying to sell.
A lot of students wondered if the class will be hard. I will ask them a follow-up question of why they wonder if it will be hard on day 2. That way, I can get an idea of what fears they might have and/or what other needs they might have.
Algebra 1/Foundations of Algebra
Two out of these three classes are co-taught. I am already worried about several of the students. I know I am going to really have to make an effort to build relationships with some of the students in these classes. I know I have work to do in that aspect of my teaching. I've built great relationships with the students that like me and the students who will do what I ask them, but I need to work on building better relationships with the more "difficult" students. It's something I really want to make a more conscious effort of this year.
In order to try to start building relationships, I used this activity. It led to some really good conversations. We had to take care of a few other housekeeping things during the classes, but I think it was helpful that a lot of the time was dedicated to helping students feel comfortable with each other.
I'm really excited for this year, even though last year was a more difficult one. That's significant though, because the last time I had a difficult year, I was dreading going back the next year. I've drawn a lot of strength from the #MTBoS, and from some of my students who have really reminded me why I teach. They've inspired another goal of mine, which is to do a better job of showing gratitude. I want to write at least one nice note to someone every day.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Assuming Positive Intent
My wife and I had our driveway replaced about a month ago. As the driveway was dug out and framed, our next door neighbor randomly approached my father-in-law on a Saturday morning about the driveway not being six inches off the property line. He comes in and says "What a bitch!" and my wife agreed as well.
On Monday, she leaves a note on our doorstep asking us to call her about it. Now my wife is really pissed, and I kind of agree with her at this point. Resorting to passive-aggressive behavior? Not communicating directly to our faces? She makes me call the neighbor. I do, and it's fine, but both of us are still quite irritated. My wife says that she won't talk to her.
On Thursday, a couple of days after the pour was completed, I ran into her outside. She told me how beautiful our driveway looked, and that she asked them for a quote to do her parents' driveway. She did seem genuinely concerned about us, and she said she had left the note because she was leaving for an early flight and didn't think we were awake. Apparently, she thought she was doing us a favor, and, right or wrong, believing that might have lessened a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety.
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A seminar I attended that same week brought this idea to front of my mind, since it involved several instances of using a "Critical Friends" structure. Many of the Critical Friends structures have an agreement or norm of "Assume positive intent" in place. By nature, Critical Friends is designed for feedback, and sometimes criticism can be taken the wrong way. But, we have to assume positive intent in order to make sure a respectful environment is preserved. (Plus, it's natural to get defensive when we receive criticism.)
How often in school do we fail to assume positive intent? Every attempt to shoot down an educational reform seems to stem from a negative statement about students.
Reform: Accepting late work
Rebuttal: If we accept late work, students won't have any reason to turn it in on time.
Reform: Not counting homework, attendance, behavior, etc. in their grade.
Rebuttal: If we don't grade it, then they won't ever do it (especially homework.)
Reform: Allowing students to re-submit assessments
Rebuttal: Students won't study the first time.
Reform: No grades
Rebuttal: Students won't have to do anything, so they won't.
Reform: Technology
Rebuttal: Students will just play games and Snapchat people all the time.
Reform: Inquiry learning
Rebuttal: The students can't handle it, or they'll complain that I'm not teaching them.
Reform: Giving students more autonomy, freedom, etc.
Rebuttal: Students will abuse it and run all over us
Reform: Doing a certain lesson
Rebuttal: My students can't do that.
Reform: Students should be able to learn whatever they want.
Rebuttal: Students will just play video games or do nothing all day.
Is it any surprise, then, when our lack of positive intent rubs off on the students and they don't trust us?
Yes, a lot of the rebuttals above are legitimate concerns, not beneficial to student learning, and actually have happened in my experience. But, when you look at the benefits of the more progressive ideas, they really seem like they would be worth it and would help students develop into competent and successful adults. The students just need some support from us.
I think we need to re-frame our thinking (kind of like this thing I saw about re-framing of problems). Instead of "students won't ____________ (negative statement)," I think a better thing is to ask "how can we support students in _______________ (progressive idea.)" For example, instead of "Students can't handle more freedom," let's ask, "How can we support students in making responsible choices?" If we dare to call ourselves teachers, maybe we should try teaching them these things. Denying them opportunities to do things won't make them better at those things.
I wonder if my classroom (and maybe even my life in general) could be a happier place if I could establish a culture of assuming positive intent. Assuming positive intent could also help us to work with each other instead of against each other.
On Monday, she leaves a note on our doorstep asking us to call her about it. Now my wife is really pissed, and I kind of agree with her at this point. Resorting to passive-aggressive behavior? Not communicating directly to our faces? She makes me call the neighbor. I do, and it's fine, but both of us are still quite irritated. My wife says that she won't talk to her.
On Thursday, a couple of days after the pour was completed, I ran into her outside. She told me how beautiful our driveway looked, and that she asked them for a quote to do her parents' driveway. She did seem genuinely concerned about us, and she said she had left the note because she was leaving for an early flight and didn't think we were awake. Apparently, she thought she was doing us a favor, and, right or wrong, believing that might have lessened a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A seminar I attended that same week brought this idea to front of my mind, since it involved several instances of using a "Critical Friends" structure. Many of the Critical Friends structures have an agreement or norm of "Assume positive intent" in place. By nature, Critical Friends is designed for feedback, and sometimes criticism can be taken the wrong way. But, we have to assume positive intent in order to make sure a respectful environment is preserved. (Plus, it's natural to get defensive when we receive criticism.)
How often in school do we fail to assume positive intent? Every attempt to shoot down an educational reform seems to stem from a negative statement about students.
Reform: Accepting late work
Rebuttal: If we accept late work, students won't have any reason to turn it in on time.
Reform: Not counting homework, attendance, behavior, etc. in their grade.
Rebuttal: If we don't grade it, then they won't ever do it (especially homework.)
Reform: Allowing students to re-submit assessments
Rebuttal: Students won't study the first time.
Reform: No grades
Rebuttal: Students won't have to do anything, so they won't.
Reform: Technology
Rebuttal: Students will just play games and Snapchat people all the time.
Reform: Inquiry learning
Rebuttal: The students can't handle it, or they'll complain that I'm not teaching them.
Reform: Giving students more autonomy, freedom, etc.
Rebuttal: Students will abuse it and run all over us
Reform: Doing a certain lesson
Rebuttal: My students can't do that.
Reform: Students should be able to learn whatever they want.
Rebuttal: Students will just play video games or do nothing all day.
Is it any surprise, then, when our lack of positive intent rubs off on the students and they don't trust us?
Yes, a lot of the rebuttals above are legitimate concerns, not beneficial to student learning, and actually have happened in my experience. But, when you look at the benefits of the more progressive ideas, they really seem like they would be worth it and would help students develop into competent and successful adults. The students just need some support from us.
I think we need to re-frame our thinking (kind of like this thing I saw about re-framing of problems). Instead of "students won't ____________ (negative statement)," I think a better thing is to ask "how can we support students in _______________ (progressive idea.)" For example, instead of "Students can't handle more freedom," let's ask, "How can we support students in making responsible choices?" If we dare to call ourselves teachers, maybe we should try teaching them these things. Denying them opportunities to do things won't make them better at those things.
I wonder if my classroom (and maybe even my life in general) could be a happier place if I could establish a culture of assuming positive intent. Assuming positive intent could also help us to work with each other instead of against each other.
Quick Reflection after Reading Student Evaluations
Successes
I had a lot of favorable comments about the positive atmosphere and attitude created in the classroom. I've tried really hard all year long to sell this to the students, and I'm glad it was effective for a number of students.
I also had several students put that my tests were hard in the strengths column. I'm really glad to see students that want to push themselves and be challenged.
And several people said I was their favorite teacher. That label usually goes to the social studies teachers, so I will shamelessly bask in that flattery for a few minutes. :)
Things I need to improve and next steps:
I'll never make everyone happy all the time, and I shouldn't try. However, I can continue to develop ways to give students more choice in the classroom, and this can help make everybody happier more often.
The biggest "weakness" that students wrote over and over was that I didn't explain things clearly enough. I know there is much deeper meaning than that, and I am pretty sure what the real issue is. However, rather than assuming what it means, I need to directly ask the students, and I am contemplating how I will do that right now, so that I can take action immediately. I need to figure what need I am not meeting by "not explaining enough."
There were several negative comments about spending one class talking about an entire problem. This requires a culture change, and I need to figure out how to get students to buy into it more.
I had a lot of favorable comments about the positive atmosphere and attitude created in the classroom. I've tried really hard all year long to sell this to the students, and I'm glad it was effective for a number of students.
I also had several students put that my tests were hard in the strengths column. I'm really glad to see students that want to push themselves and be challenged.
And several people said I was their favorite teacher. That label usually goes to the social studies teachers, so I will shamelessly bask in that flattery for a few minutes. :)
Things I need to improve and next steps:
I'll never make everyone happy all the time, and I shouldn't try. However, I can continue to develop ways to give students more choice in the classroom, and this can help make everybody happier more often.
The biggest "weakness" that students wrote over and over was that I didn't explain things clearly enough. I know there is much deeper meaning than that, and I am pretty sure what the real issue is. However, rather than assuming what it means, I need to directly ask the students, and I am contemplating how I will do that right now, so that I can take action immediately. I need to figure what need I am not meeting by "not explaining enough."
There were several negative comments about spending one class talking about an entire problem. This requires a culture change, and I need to figure out how to get students to buy into it more.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
SBG-ish 3.0
Considerations, questions, concerns, and current ideas to resolve them as I work to make my grading and assessment practices evolve from the previous iteration.
Why am I doing this? Why do I care? The goal:
Give students more control over what they learn and how they demonstrate what they learn. Encourage them to take ownership. ENGAGE them!
Ever since transitioning to only grading summative assessments four years ago, it's been VERY test heavy. The spirit of the policy is supposed to be that a student's grade is representative of what they have learned in the course.
My fear is that the unintended message that we've sent is:
Jon Hasenbank's use of indicators kind of helped guide my thinking about how to use standards and learning targets. We've used learning targets (of course written in student friendly "I can" statements!) since I've been at my current school (I think I actually brought the template we use from my pre-service courses), but they've always seemed kind of shallow, merely a laundry list of skills. How my understanding has evolved is that the "I can" statements should not be the learning targets, but should be the indicators of meeting them. The actual learning targets should be the Common Core Standards, because those explain what we actually want students to know. Common Core calls for a combination of Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding, so I thought it was important to separate the two, and then create "I can" statements that would indicate understanding of the standard. I included a sample document below.
Main Concern #1: How do I make sure the evidence I'm seeing is legitimate (not "fuzzy") and definitely attributed to the student?
It's amazing the variety of answers you get when you ask a question that requires a written response. Then, as a teacher, I'm left with the task of judging whether or not the group of words that the student decided to collect together and write on his paper is an acceptable response or not.
It's really not that simple though. Depending on the student's writing skills, the student might have the right thinking and understand what she's supposed to, but it gets lost in translation when she writes it on the paper. Not to say that communication isn't super important, (It is!) but now I'm grading a student on writing and not accurately representing her mathematical knowledge with her grade. Responses might suggest that I didn't word the question well, which is difficult to figure out if the question hasn't been used on an assessment yet. Or, I could just train the students in advance to give the answer that I want and turn it into a useless memorization and regurgitation exercise. The goal is to see what a student is thinking, but I worry that judging it for a grade undermines that goal.
Therein lies the first major concern. Students' own evidence submissions could be either useless or total garbage. One submission clearly shows that the student didn't care about learning much from the assignment; they just tried to get it done and accumulate points. Another student spent ten hours on their submission, but the submission doesn't indicate any understanding or might have a lot of correct stuff on, but completely misses the point. Now we're both very frustrated, if not angry with each other. Practice and feedback will probably improve this issue, but I don't want to inflict frustration on students (or myself!) that isn't particularly helpful. We all already have enough stress to deal with. The "How do you know what/how much/if/to what level your students have learned?" question is crucial here. The problem is, it's difficult to get myself and students on the same page with what the answer to that question looks like.
An obvious worry of attributing evidence to the student is plagiarism. It could be very difficult to detect given the vast amount of videos out there. Busting a student in the act could be a very time-consuming and possibly fruitless venture. Also, the prevalence of Google and algebra manipulation tools give plenty of opportunities for students to mis-represent their understanding and avoid putting much thought and effort into their submission.
I think the metacognitive memoir format does well to address many of these concerns (although not necessarily the plagiarism), in forcing the student to articulate their thinking. For topics that are more symbolic in nature, I require students to communicate clear connections between class activities, previous knowledge and topics, etc., so that even if Google or Wolfram Alpha finds its way into the students' work, there still has to be some degree of understanding visible.
It's non-negotiable that the procedural fluency indicators need to be done in front of me. The conceptual understanding is where I feel I could give students more flexibility. But, I still think I would like to see students do some deeper conceptual assessment items in class, too. I also wonder if I need to have more specific rubrics for communication and articulating connections with observable behaviors indicative of the different levels.
Dealing with this concern effectively is huge, as it is unfair to future teachers (and the students, too!) if they just get passed along without learning what they were supposed to.
Main Concern #2: Is the format/layout, etc. understandable for students?
So I'm a kid who struggles a lot with my executive functioning and "student skills" in general, not to mention that I read below grade level. The point of learning targets, objectives, whatever, is to clearly communicate a goal and/or help students focus on what they should be doing.
I think it could work, as long as I consistently used the document explicitly and showed students where we were in reference to the document. I might also have them mark dates on the document. Perhaps there are also ways to link the document to students' notes (if they primarily use Notability for note-taking), or they could make a table of contents and number the pages in their physical notebook. I would also need to support students in self-assessment, which is very difficult. (I don't think I've practiced this with them enough.)
The beauty is that ideally, students working on the same task might be working on different learning targets or indicators at the same time, but this would concern a lot of people, especially those who have a very linear view of math education. I'm not sure how to deal with that.
Main Concern #3: How do I deal with the logistics in place in a traditional grading system?
The biggest areas here are weekly athletic eligibility and a student knowing how they are doing.
I think the best solution here is to set a time limit until a student's current level gets locked in (still with opportunity to re-submit/provide more evidence.) Probably the most reasonable would be about two weeks past when assessment would be expected. The problem with this is that could be 4-5 weeks before a student who isn't performing has an actual consequence to deal with. This isn't necessarily the biggest problem with honors students, but in a regular class this could be a f-ing disaster. "You don't technically have an F right now, but you would have an F, and you'll have an F when I put the score in next Friday" doesn't seem to incite action as "You have an F right now" does. (However, you could make the case that "You have an F right now" has other equally or more damaging effects.)
I also wonder what an efficient way of parent communication of student progress would look like. Ideally, the student would be the best vehicle for this, but that's not always feasible. Maybe a portfolio or learning log kind of thing would be best, but it needs to be something that will engage students and be genuinely beneficial, not just a task I have to do because the teacher said so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, that's my working description of my system. It will likely change, and I'm not sure to what extent I'll get to use it in my co-taught classes and courses I teach with other teachers (which leaves two classes). I still plan on using the rubric in the same ways I have been and cross-referencing between levels and percentages the same way.
Why am I doing this? Why do I care? The goal:
Give students more control over what they learn and how they demonstrate what they learn. Encourage them to take ownership. ENGAGE them!
Ever since transitioning to only grading summative assessments four years ago, it's been VERY test heavy. The spirit of the policy is supposed to be that a student's grade is representative of what they have learned in the course.
My fear is that the unintended message that we've sent is:
"It really doesn't matter what you've learned or how hard you try. The only way that you can demonstrate your learning is by solving these problems on this test on this day. (Unless you re-take it later. Even with re-takes, the same thing happens.) Regardless, the goal is not to learn math, but to accumulate the number of points needed to achieve your desired grade. You can play the 'tank and re-test' game. You can cheat as long as you don't get caught. If you're lucky enough to have 'a study guide that's just like the test,' just do that and not anything else. You can do very little most of the semester and then do massive re-takes at the end. Again, it doesn't matter what you've learned. As long as you have enough points, it's okay."
Jon Hasenbank's use of indicators kind of helped guide my thinking about how to use standards and learning targets. We've used learning targets (of course written in student friendly "I can" statements!) since I've been at my current school (I think I actually brought the template we use from my pre-service courses), but they've always seemed kind of shallow, merely a laundry list of skills. How my understanding has evolved is that the "I can" statements should not be the learning targets, but should be the indicators of meeting them. The actual learning targets should be the Common Core Standards, because those explain what we actually want students to know. Common Core calls for a combination of Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding, so I thought it was important to separate the two, and then create "I can" statements that would indicate understanding of the standard. I included a sample document below.
Main Concern #1: How do I make sure the evidence I'm seeing is legitimate (not "fuzzy") and definitely attributed to the student?
It's amazing the variety of answers you get when you ask a question that requires a written response. Then, as a teacher, I'm left with the task of judging whether or not the group of words that the student decided to collect together and write on his paper is an acceptable response or not.
It's really not that simple though. Depending on the student's writing skills, the student might have the right thinking and understand what she's supposed to, but it gets lost in translation when she writes it on the paper. Not to say that communication isn't super important, (It is!) but now I'm grading a student on writing and not accurately representing her mathematical knowledge with her grade. Responses might suggest that I didn't word the question well, which is difficult to figure out if the question hasn't been used on an assessment yet. Or, I could just train the students in advance to give the answer that I want and turn it into a useless memorization and regurgitation exercise. The goal is to see what a student is thinking, but I worry that judging it for a grade undermines that goal.
Therein lies the first major concern. Students' own evidence submissions could be either useless or total garbage. One submission clearly shows that the student didn't care about learning much from the assignment; they just tried to get it done and accumulate points. Another student spent ten hours on their submission, but the submission doesn't indicate any understanding or might have a lot of correct stuff on, but completely misses the point. Now we're both very frustrated, if not angry with each other. Practice and feedback will probably improve this issue, but I don't want to inflict frustration on students (or myself!) that isn't particularly helpful. We all already have enough stress to deal with. The "How do you know what/how much/if/to what level your students have learned?" question is crucial here. The problem is, it's difficult to get myself and students on the same page with what the answer to that question looks like.
An obvious worry of attributing evidence to the student is plagiarism. It could be very difficult to detect given the vast amount of videos out there. Busting a student in the act could be a very time-consuming and possibly fruitless venture. Also, the prevalence of Google and algebra manipulation tools give plenty of opportunities for students to mis-represent their understanding and avoid putting much thought and effort into their submission.
I think the metacognitive memoir format does well to address many of these concerns (although not necessarily the plagiarism), in forcing the student to articulate their thinking. For topics that are more symbolic in nature, I require students to communicate clear connections between class activities, previous knowledge and topics, etc., so that even if Google or Wolfram Alpha finds its way into the students' work, there still has to be some degree of understanding visible.
It's non-negotiable that the procedural fluency indicators need to be done in front of me. The conceptual understanding is where I feel I could give students more flexibility. But, I still think I would like to see students do some deeper conceptual assessment items in class, too. I also wonder if I need to have more specific rubrics for communication and articulating connections with observable behaviors indicative of the different levels.
Dealing with this concern effectively is huge, as it is unfair to future teachers (and the students, too!) if they just get passed along without learning what they were supposed to.
Main Concern #2: Is the format/layout, etc. understandable for students?
So I'm a kid who struggles a lot with my executive functioning and "student skills" in general, not to mention that I read below grade level. The point of learning targets, objectives, whatever, is to clearly communicate a goal and/or help students focus on what they should be doing.
I think it could work, as long as I consistently used the document explicitly and showed students where we were in reference to the document. I might also have them mark dates on the document. Perhaps there are also ways to link the document to students' notes (if they primarily use Notability for note-taking), or they could make a table of contents and number the pages in their physical notebook. I would also need to support students in self-assessment, which is very difficult. (I don't think I've practiced this with them enough.)
The beauty is that ideally, students working on the same task might be working on different learning targets or indicators at the same time, but this would concern a lot of people, especially those who have a very linear view of math education. I'm not sure how to deal with that.
Main Concern #3: How do I deal with the logistics in place in a traditional grading system?
The biggest areas here are weekly athletic eligibility and a student knowing how they are doing.
I think the best solution here is to set a time limit until a student's current level gets locked in (still with opportunity to re-submit/provide more evidence.) Probably the most reasonable would be about two weeks past when assessment would be expected. The problem with this is that could be 4-5 weeks before a student who isn't performing has an actual consequence to deal with. This isn't necessarily the biggest problem with honors students, but in a regular class this could be a f-ing disaster. "You don't technically have an F right now, but you would have an F, and you'll have an F when I put the score in next Friday" doesn't seem to incite action as "You have an F right now" does. (However, you could make the case that "You have an F right now" has other equally or more damaging effects.)
I also wonder what an efficient way of parent communication of student progress would look like. Ideally, the student would be the best vehicle for this, but that's not always feasible. Maybe a portfolio or learning log kind of thing would be best, but it needs to be something that will engage students and be genuinely beneficial, not just a task I have to do because the teacher said so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, that's my working description of my system. It will likely change, and I'm not sure to what extent I'll get to use it in my co-taught classes and courses I teach with other teachers (which leaves two classes). I still plan on using the rubric in the same ways I have been and cross-referencing between levels and percentages the same way.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Biggest Signs We're Doing It Wrong? December and May
By far, I find December and May are the most stressful months of the year. I actually think this fact is just as true for the students as it is for the teachers. It's no coincidence that those two months mark the end of the first and second semester of the school year.
A number of things make them stressful. May is especially stressful because it's right before summer, and I coach softball, so the season is still going and the extra time demands make it tough.
What else makes these months so stressful, and why does it show we're probably doing things wrong?
1) Stress over Final Exams and Final Grades
I think determining final grades gives me the most anxiety out of everything. In fact, I would not be surprised if about 99 percent of complaints about me stem from grades. Even when students say "I don't get it" or "I'm so lost in this class," I think a lot of that perception stems from students' current grade or prediction of what their grade is going to be.
Even though I would say that my grades are fair and accurate for the most part, there has to be a deeper problem if I always have the sinking feeling that I did something wrong at the end of the term.
Students are really stressed as well. Even students who struggle in math class can calculate and re-calculate what they need to get on the final for a certain grade or what their GPA will be. That stress that I can see in the students seems to elevate my stress level as well.
2) Can I retake... ?
By far, most reassessments are requested at the end of the term. The days leading up to the final deadline that we set for accepting re-dos is the worst. It's very clear that some of the students still don't get the point. They think the point is to re-take the test. They only want to do what is necessary to re-take the test. They really don't care about understanding (because that's what should have happened a long time ago...). It's just a game of point accumulation. They don't get that if you put the work in to really understand it, the grade on the test will take care of itself.
Sometimes it's so painfully obvious. A student will just ask if he can re-take some tests, and I will imagine blowing a gasket, and then hopefully not appear too angry when I ask the student that he needs to tell me a specific test and we need to make sure that he understands the material that that assessment is actually testing.
The sheer number of students that show up is overwhelming. I literally need to tell students to get out of my face, or I will ask them to leave. They would have had plenty of attention from me if they came three or four weeks ago, but it's frustrating to students that my attention is really divided because they waited until the last minute.
3) Regret
There is nothing worse when you're helping a student try to re-assess something or when you're trying to help a student preparing for the final exam than feeling like "I haven't taught these kids a damn thing all year."
When I look at students who are failing, I wonder why it didn't work out. In what ways did I fail to connect with this student? I didn't do (fill in the blank) for that student. The cloud of guilt that surrounds me is really disheartening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to fix this, we really need to ask ourselves some difficult questions:
1) Why do we have final exams?
Lots of other people ask this question, like here. The more important question is "How do final exams benefit our students?" The only one I can think of is "It prepares them for college" or "It teaches them how to study for them." But, as even colleges consider the same question, this could become less and less relevant.
Even a couple of my colleagues at school have asked some form of this question. Our Algebra final was a disaster and a half. Out of the four of us involved in the course, two of us questioned whether how the questions and the exam affected the students' grades was fair. One of us bemoaned students' poor preparation for final exams. One said it did accurately reflect their lack of understanding. But even the one who cited poor preparation as a reason (which, by the way, I do not disagree in the least about students' poor study habits and preparation, nor do I disagree in the least with their lack of understanding) asked the question "what's the point?"
My personal feeling was that the low exam scores are just another instance of "blame the student" mentality. However, I really struggle in how to successfully toe the line between "not blaming the student" and "holding the student accountable." Swinging too far in either direction creates problems.
I would say pretty confidently that a very significant amount of non-honors students (forgive me for overgeneralizing) do not study for their final exams outside of class.
Another problem is that there's an expectation in place that you spend at least a couple of days reviewing for finals. Often, you plan a few more. The finals are spread over a little more than two days at our school. Therefore, that's probably about ten instructional days per year. I can think of a lot of things that I would love to do with my classes with ten more days.
2) How do we create a system where students focus on continuous self-improvement and always doing their best, instead of just doing what it takes to get by?
Jon Hasenbeck, a professor who extensively uses standards-based grading, doesn't seem to mind that a lot of evidence comes into at the end of the year, even though the last week did end up very stressful. This is pretty much the opposite of how I feel at the end of the year. The last week is very stressful, and not at all rewarding. There has to be a shift on my part personally, and hopefully in the whole school as well, to make this a more worthwhile experience for the both the students and the teachers.
Another idea I like from a recent Global Math Department is not using the word "re-take" or "re-do," as I see how that word can imply that the first one can just be a "practice" and doesn't need to be taken seriously.
I have some more specific ideas, which I will outline in a later post.
3) (I hope???) We really did accomplish a lot this year. We really did learn a lot this year. How do we turn this into a celebration instead of a high-stress event?
At least some students realize it. They've told me.
I would like to more deeply explore exams that are a vehicle of reflection, more than a "remember all eighty of these different things we learned." I loved this from David Theune.
It would be great to see the final exam as a showcase of things that students learned and how they grew throughout the year, rather than a punishment for things that they couldn't remember at that moment or for things that they really weren't ready to learn but we tested them on it anyway. Furthermore, it would give students control over being able to show what they have learned, rather than it being based on the luck of which questions appear or don't appear on the exam. I think I would have to structure this very carefully, however, to still ensure that the big ideas of the course are being hit.
Reflecting on what I have written above, I think the common theme is students have very little control over when and how they demonstrate what they have learned. I know we are held to certain standards, and I know that students need to be pushed.
However, I always ask the question: if a student can do something that he wasn't able to do yesterday, if a student can do something this year that she wasn't able to do last year, then hasn't learning happened?
And so we have some very important questions to ask and conversations to initiate if we want December and May to be the joyous occasions they deserve to be.
A number of things make them stressful. May is especially stressful because it's right before summer, and I coach softball, so the season is still going and the extra time demands make it tough.
What else makes these months so stressful, and why does it show we're probably doing things wrong?
1) Stress over Final Exams and Final Grades
I think determining final grades gives me the most anxiety out of everything. In fact, I would not be surprised if about 99 percent of complaints about me stem from grades. Even when students say "I don't get it" or "I'm so lost in this class," I think a lot of that perception stems from students' current grade or prediction of what their grade is going to be.
Even though I would say that my grades are fair and accurate for the most part, there has to be a deeper problem if I always have the sinking feeling that I did something wrong at the end of the term.
Students are really stressed as well. Even students who struggle in math class can calculate and re-calculate what they need to get on the final for a certain grade or what their GPA will be. That stress that I can see in the students seems to elevate my stress level as well.
2) Can I retake... ?
By far, most reassessments are requested at the end of the term. The days leading up to the final deadline that we set for accepting re-dos is the worst. It's very clear that some of the students still don't get the point. They think the point is to re-take the test. They only want to do what is necessary to re-take the test. They really don't care about understanding (because that's what should have happened a long time ago...). It's just a game of point accumulation. They don't get that if you put the work in to really understand it, the grade on the test will take care of itself.
Sometimes it's so painfully obvious. A student will just ask if he can re-take some tests, and I will imagine blowing a gasket, and then hopefully not appear too angry when I ask the student that he needs to tell me a specific test and we need to make sure that he understands the material that that assessment is actually testing.
The sheer number of students that show up is overwhelming. I literally need to tell students to get out of my face, or I will ask them to leave. They would have had plenty of attention from me if they came three or four weeks ago, but it's frustrating to students that my attention is really divided because they waited until the last minute.
3) Regret
There is nothing worse when you're helping a student try to re-assess something or when you're trying to help a student preparing for the final exam than feeling like "I haven't taught these kids a damn thing all year."
When I look at students who are failing, I wonder why it didn't work out. In what ways did I fail to connect with this student? I didn't do (fill in the blank) for that student. The cloud of guilt that surrounds me is really disheartening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to fix this, we really need to ask ourselves some difficult questions:
1) Why do we have final exams?
Lots of other people ask this question, like here. The more important question is "How do final exams benefit our students?" The only one I can think of is "It prepares them for college" or "It teaches them how to study for them." But, as even colleges consider the same question, this could become less and less relevant.
Even a couple of my colleagues at school have asked some form of this question. Our Algebra final was a disaster and a half. Out of the four of us involved in the course, two of us questioned whether how the questions and the exam affected the students' grades was fair. One of us bemoaned students' poor preparation for final exams. One said it did accurately reflect their lack of understanding. But even the one who cited poor preparation as a reason (which, by the way, I do not disagree in the least about students' poor study habits and preparation, nor do I disagree in the least with their lack of understanding) asked the question "what's the point?"
My personal feeling was that the low exam scores are just another instance of "blame the student" mentality. However, I really struggle in how to successfully toe the line between "not blaming the student" and "holding the student accountable." Swinging too far in either direction creates problems.
I would say pretty confidently that a very significant amount of non-honors students (forgive me for overgeneralizing) do not study for their final exams outside of class.
Another problem is that there's an expectation in place that you spend at least a couple of days reviewing for finals. Often, you plan a few more. The finals are spread over a little more than two days at our school. Therefore, that's probably about ten instructional days per year. I can think of a lot of things that I would love to do with my classes with ten more days.
2) How do we create a system where students focus on continuous self-improvement and always doing their best, instead of just doing what it takes to get by?
Jon Hasenbeck, a professor who extensively uses standards-based grading, doesn't seem to mind that a lot of evidence comes into at the end of the year, even though the last week did end up very stressful. This is pretty much the opposite of how I feel at the end of the year. The last week is very stressful, and not at all rewarding. There has to be a shift on my part personally, and hopefully in the whole school as well, to make this a more worthwhile experience for the both the students and the teachers.
Another idea I like from a recent Global Math Department is not using the word "re-take" or "re-do," as I see how that word can imply that the first one can just be a "practice" and doesn't need to be taken seriously.
I have some more specific ideas, which I will outline in a later post.
3) (I hope???) We really did accomplish a lot this year. We really did learn a lot this year. How do we turn this into a celebration instead of a high-stress event?
At least some students realize it. They've told me.
I would like to more deeply explore exams that are a vehicle of reflection, more than a "remember all eighty of these different things we learned." I loved this from David Theune.
It would be great to see the final exam as a showcase of things that students learned and how they grew throughout the year, rather than a punishment for things that they couldn't remember at that moment or for things that they really weren't ready to learn but we tested them on it anyway. Furthermore, it would give students control over being able to show what they have learned, rather than it being based on the luck of which questions appear or don't appear on the exam. I think I would have to structure this very carefully, however, to still ensure that the big ideas of the course are being hit.
Reflecting on what I have written above, I think the common theme is students have very little control over when and how they demonstrate what they have learned. I know we are held to certain standards, and I know that students need to be pushed.
However, I always ask the question: if a student can do something that he wasn't able to do yesterday, if a student can do something this year that she wasn't able to do last year, then hasn't learning happened?
And so we have some very important questions to ask and conversations to initiate if we want December and May to be the joyous occasions they deserve to be.
Monday, March 23, 2015
SBG-ish
One of the great things about being on Twitter and participating in some of the chats is how it pushes me to write more. One of the #slowmathchat questions this week was to tag some of your favorite people on Twitter and why.
One of the people I tagged was Professor Jon Hasenbank from Grand Valley State University, because of his Standards Based Grading material. He asked how I've made it mine, and how I've made it better. I'm not totally happy with it right now, but I think it's benefited my students in several ways.
The most helpful thing I have taken from his blog posts about SBG is the rubric. I think the descriptors are very clear, yet leave enough room for interpretation. I also love the right column of the rubric, which gives students "next steps" they should take if they want to move up.
My biggest use of the rubric has been as a formative assessment tool. I'll have students rate themselves after doing a practice quiz, entrance or exit slip, homework assignment, etc. I need to get a little more consistent, as students have trouble with both rating themselves accurately and at following through with the "next steps." I add my rating, too, so students can at least think about how I might see it differently than them. I also try to give examples of what work at certain levels looks like, but again, I could use more consistency.
I teach Algebra 2 Honors on my own, so I've been able to use it more expansively there. Our school still uses percentage grading, so I've come up with a few ways to make it work in a percentage system.
First, I determine whether the assessment is a 4-level or 5-level assessment. Usually something more procedural fluency based would have 4 levels, and something where either more application, flexibility, or conceptual understanding is required would have 5 levels.
Our school uses 90-80-70-60, so I use 0 percent for Level X, 30 percent for Level 1, 60 percent for Level 2, 80 percent for Level 3, 94 or 100 percent for Level 4, and 100 percent for Level 5.
I can use it to grade an assessment holistically. If the assessment is small enough, I will put the rubric directly on the assessment and underline reasons why the student got the rating that she did.
Sometimes, I use an average of individual problems, along with considering the lowest level rating overall, to convert it to a percentage.
Or, sometimes I label problems with level scores, so if a student gets the Level 3 questions, he gets an 80 percent, and then higher scores based on performance on Level 4 or Level 5 questions. Evidence from Level 4 or Level 5 questions could replace the Level 3 question.
As far as standards, I use the Common Core Standards, and about 50 points per standard. Based on how small or large the standard is, this can be either weighted higher or lower, or combined with other standards. I score standards individually, even when I combine scores into a larger grade in the gradebook. Our school uses an 80 percent cap for re-tests, so I let them bank higher scores on standards, and re-take any score falling below Level 3, or 80 percent.
In Algebra 2 Honors especially, I am very generous, (to a fault sometimes I worry) with chances for revision. I most often let students have more time to finish an assessment if they need it. I'm very explicit about when I don't do this, and often, students are okay with it because I am explicit about it and explain why. Sometimes, the fact is, you just need to study it and not make excuses. Life's like that sometimes.
Benefits:
The attitude in my classes where I've used it more expansively have been better. It's also allowed me to at least open some conversations about traditional grading practice with other colleagues. I think it helps promote the idea that you're expected to keep trying to improve.
Drawbacks:
I feel like it would work better full on rather than square-peg-round-holed into another grading system. I just don't feel confident in the infrastructure in my school to do it. Students know how to play the game, and I have to challenge that reality, but still acknowledge that it exists.
I feel like the regular kids need it more than the honors kids, but it's difficult when the expectation is that people teaching the same course should be doing things the same way.
I feel like kids take advantage of when I am generous with revisions in a bad way. It's an excuse or a safety net not to work hard. Again, I've made it very clear that sometimes I will not do it. But that they take advantage of opportunity for revision at least shows they care a little.
As I said, it's not a perfect system, but I think there are many aspects of it that have been helpful. As far as my next steps, I am really intrigued by Jon's use of indicators, and would like to try to incorporate it into a unit by the end of the year.
One of the people I tagged was Professor Jon Hasenbank from Grand Valley State University, because of his Standards Based Grading material. He asked how I've made it mine, and how I've made it better. I'm not totally happy with it right now, but I think it's benefited my students in several ways.
The most helpful thing I have taken from his blog posts about SBG is the rubric. I think the descriptors are very clear, yet leave enough room for interpretation. I also love the right column of the rubric, which gives students "next steps" they should take if they want to move up.
My biggest use of the rubric has been as a formative assessment tool. I'll have students rate themselves after doing a practice quiz, entrance or exit slip, homework assignment, etc. I need to get a little more consistent, as students have trouble with both rating themselves accurately and at following through with the "next steps." I add my rating, too, so students can at least think about how I might see it differently than them. I also try to give examples of what work at certain levels looks like, but again, I could use more consistency.
I teach Algebra 2 Honors on my own, so I've been able to use it more expansively there. Our school still uses percentage grading, so I've come up with a few ways to make it work in a percentage system.
First, I determine whether the assessment is a 4-level or 5-level assessment. Usually something more procedural fluency based would have 4 levels, and something where either more application, flexibility, or conceptual understanding is required would have 5 levels.
Our school uses 90-80-70-60, so I use 0 percent for Level X, 30 percent for Level 1, 60 percent for Level 2, 80 percent for Level 3, 94 or 100 percent for Level 4, and 100 percent for Level 5.
I can use it to grade an assessment holistically. If the assessment is small enough, I will put the rubric directly on the assessment and underline reasons why the student got the rating that she did.
Sometimes, I use an average of individual problems, along with considering the lowest level rating overall, to convert it to a percentage.
Or, sometimes I label problems with level scores, so if a student gets the Level 3 questions, he gets an 80 percent, and then higher scores based on performance on Level 4 or Level 5 questions. Evidence from Level 4 or Level 5 questions could replace the Level 3 question.
As far as standards, I use the Common Core Standards, and about 50 points per standard. Based on how small or large the standard is, this can be either weighted higher or lower, or combined with other standards. I score standards individually, even when I combine scores into a larger grade in the gradebook. Our school uses an 80 percent cap for re-tests, so I let them bank higher scores on standards, and re-take any score falling below Level 3, or 80 percent.
In Algebra 2 Honors especially, I am very generous, (to a fault sometimes I worry) with chances for revision. I most often let students have more time to finish an assessment if they need it. I'm very explicit about when I don't do this, and often, students are okay with it because I am explicit about it and explain why. Sometimes, the fact is, you just need to study it and not make excuses. Life's like that sometimes.
Benefits:
The attitude in my classes where I've used it more expansively have been better. It's also allowed me to at least open some conversations about traditional grading practice with other colleagues. I think it helps promote the idea that you're expected to keep trying to improve.
Drawbacks:
I feel like it would work better full on rather than square-peg-round-holed into another grading system. I just don't feel confident in the infrastructure in my school to do it. Students know how to play the game, and I have to challenge that reality, but still acknowledge that it exists.
I feel like the regular kids need it more than the honors kids, but it's difficult when the expectation is that people teaching the same course should be doing things the same way.
I feel like kids take advantage of when I am generous with revisions in a bad way. It's an excuse or a safety net not to work hard. Again, I've made it very clear that sometimes I will not do it. But that they take advantage of opportunity for revision at least shows they care a little.
As I said, it's not a perfect system, but I think there are many aspects of it that have been helpful. As far as my next steps, I am really intrigued by Jon's use of indicators, and would like to try to incorporate it into a unit by the end of the year.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
I originally titled this post "F$%&#&% Freshmen!" but in reality, I'm the one who blew it. - Part 1
I began this post a few weeks ago on a particularly rough day. Yes, I would have been over-sensationalizing my title. I do enjoy working with freshmen. They're fun. I'm just really frustrated lately and not feeling like I'm meeting their needs.
I started a post earlier which I never finished/published, so maybe I will do that, but I need to vent a little and reflect a lot.
We had been working on lines of fit a few weeks ago in Algebra 1 class. A string of about three days had seemed really unproductive. It didn't seem like something that should be taking days and days of time. These questions are still relevant now, especially after receiving projects that they did. I will explain that part in my next post.
Problems?
1) Ability variation/lack of background knowledge
After the classes changed this semester, I got quite a different mix of students. About half of the composition of one of my Algebra 1 sections is really weak students. I mean really weak. There are also some really high performers, but probably because they took algebra in eighth grade. It helps that they do what they're supposed to and regularly practice outside of class, too.
2) Immaturity
This should be expected; they are only freshmen after all. The lack of focus over those few days was absolutely deplorable. Sometimes they just don't listen. Classic example: we make a big deal of making sure students pick points on their line of best fit, and not necessarily points from the scatter plot. Yet, some students on the test, even after being corrected and reminded numerous times, tried to write the equation of the line through data points that did not lie on their line. (despite all of our efforts through the whole year about connecting different representations, etc.)
Questions:
1) Are my tasks not appropriate? Boring? Making kids feel stupid? Am I destroying a topic that actually has potential to interest and engage students?
Yes, I'm taking some canned data from textbooks and other places. Why the hell would students be interested in some of this data?
Some kids in my class still have no idea of the concept of a variable. They might as well just flip a coin when picking whether to substitute the information in the question for x or for y. And God forbid that x represents something like "Years since 1990." or y is labeled as "thousands of something." Are they not capable of reading the information? Do they just not bother? Do they just not care? And should I really blame them?
If a kid still can't write the equation of a line, if a kid doesn't understand slope, if a kid can't interpret what variables stand for and how to label them or read the labels, if a kid doesn't know the difference between evaluating the expression when the x gets plugged in for and solving for x when the y gets plugged in for, am I denying students entry to the topic/problem?
Am I just doing a terrible job of engaging students?
But, these skills are important. And some of these prerequisite skills are things they should have already learned. I don't teach in a vacuum, so I have to teach these things. (At least, that's the way I feel.)
2) Am I not scaffolding or differentiating enough?
But what I've seen some people refer to as "scaffolding" is really doing the thinking for the kids. It probably means I need to work at developing this more, but there's things about differentiation that are just as bad as not differentiating at all.
Plus, a lot of the time, I've found that attempts at differentiating/scaffolding just confuse the kids more. They don't know what they're supposed to do, and it's a lot of wasted effort.
3) Why am I worrying?
The other side of me tells me to stop over-thinking it, and that these kids just need to deal with it. How are they going to function in life? They get a lot of coddling here that they are not going to have in the future. Some things in life you just have to do because you have to do it. Life is not going to pander to your interests. I love teaching, but there are parts of the job that I really do not enjoy. Yet, I do them because I am supposed to, and because I value the parts of the job that I like, I do the best I can to do those parts well.
Part 2 - Why did I blow it? (coming soon)
I started a post earlier which I never finished/published, so maybe I will do that, but I need to vent a little and reflect a lot.
We had been working on lines of fit a few weeks ago in Algebra 1 class. A string of about three days had seemed really unproductive. It didn't seem like something that should be taking days and days of time. These questions are still relevant now, especially after receiving projects that they did. I will explain that part in my next post.
Problems?
1) Ability variation/lack of background knowledge
After the classes changed this semester, I got quite a different mix of students. About half of the composition of one of my Algebra 1 sections is really weak students. I mean really weak. There are also some really high performers, but probably because they took algebra in eighth grade. It helps that they do what they're supposed to and regularly practice outside of class, too.
2) Immaturity
This should be expected; they are only freshmen after all. The lack of focus over those few days was absolutely deplorable. Sometimes they just don't listen. Classic example: we make a big deal of making sure students pick points on their line of best fit, and not necessarily points from the scatter plot. Yet, some students on the test, even after being corrected and reminded numerous times, tried to write the equation of the line through data points that did not lie on their line. (despite all of our efforts through the whole year about connecting different representations, etc.)
Questions:
1) Are my tasks not appropriate? Boring? Making kids feel stupid? Am I destroying a topic that actually has potential to interest and engage students?
Yes, I'm taking some canned data from textbooks and other places. Why the hell would students be interested in some of this data?
Some kids in my class still have no idea of the concept of a variable. They might as well just flip a coin when picking whether to substitute the information in the question for x or for y. And God forbid that x represents something like "Years since 1990." or y is labeled as "thousands of something." Are they not capable of reading the information? Do they just not bother? Do they just not care? And should I really blame them?
If a kid still can't write the equation of a line, if a kid doesn't understand slope, if a kid can't interpret what variables stand for and how to label them or read the labels, if a kid doesn't know the difference between evaluating the expression when the x gets plugged in for and solving for x when the y gets plugged in for, am I denying students entry to the topic/problem?
Am I just doing a terrible job of engaging students?
But, these skills are important. And some of these prerequisite skills are things they should have already learned. I don't teach in a vacuum, so I have to teach these things. (At least, that's the way I feel.)
2) Am I not scaffolding or differentiating enough?
But what I've seen some people refer to as "scaffolding" is really doing the thinking for the kids. It probably means I need to work at developing this more, but there's things about differentiation that are just as bad as not differentiating at all.
Plus, a lot of the time, I've found that attempts at differentiating/scaffolding just confuse the kids more. They don't know what they're supposed to do, and it's a lot of wasted effort.
3) Why am I worrying?
The other side of me tells me to stop over-thinking it, and that these kids just need to deal with it. How are they going to function in life? They get a lot of coddling here that they are not going to have in the future. Some things in life you just have to do because you have to do it. Life is not going to pander to your interests. I love teaching, but there are parts of the job that I really do not enjoy. Yet, I do them because I am supposed to, and because I value the parts of the job that I like, I do the best I can to do those parts well.
Part 2 - Why did I blow it? (coming soon)
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Fear
A note: I have about ten different unfinished posts that I've started and never finished from anywhere from the past two weeks to the last year. I've probably spent quite a bit more time thinking about those. I started this about half an hour ago. It just sums up what's on my mind about several things I've been writing about, and I just needed to spit/vomit it out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I don't face my fears, I will never overcome them.
If I want to face my fears, then I need to admit them. Here we go.
Fears about changes in my teaching philosophy:
1) If there are no grades, students will not work as hard. They will not feel the need to put effort in inside class. My evaluator will walk in and consistently see a bunch of students not doing anything. Since every other teacher has grades, work for those classes will always supersede work for my class. Students won't learn any math.
2) If there is no consequence for failing, students will not put in the work necessary to learn math well. I think I'm referring more to failing as a consequence of not doing the work. Students won't learn any math.
3) If I don't teach students the skills/procedures, someone who has them in future years will come back and yell at me. "None of the students who had you in Algebra 2 have any idea how to factor! What the hell were you doing all year?" Whatever you're teaching them, Zach, IT'S NOT MATH!
4) If I don't give students tests, I cannot accurately ensure that they can perform the necessary skills to be successful in later topics. I won't know if they really know how to do it themselves, or if they did it with help. They will not be successful in future courses where they have to take tests. Our school won't make AYP. They'll come ask me why my scores are so low.
5) If too many students have low grades, or if I don't teach "traditionally," or if I don't give them a "study guide" that tells them "exactly" what's on the test, they will
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I don't face my fears, I will never overcome them.
If I want to face my fears, then I need to admit them. Here we go.
Fears about changes in my teaching philosophy:
1) If there are no grades, students will not work as hard. They will not feel the need to put effort in inside class. My evaluator will walk in and consistently see a bunch of students not doing anything. Since every other teacher has grades, work for those classes will always supersede work for my class. Students won't learn any math.
2) If there is no consequence for failing, students will not put in the work necessary to learn math well. I think I'm referring more to failing as a consequence of not doing the work. Students won't learn any math.
3) If I don't teach students the skills/procedures, someone who has them in future years will come back and yell at me. "None of the students who had you in Algebra 2 have any idea how to factor! What the hell were you doing all year?" Whatever you're teaching them, Zach, IT'S NOT MATH!
4) If I don't give students tests, I cannot accurately ensure that they can perform the necessary skills to be successful in later topics. I won't know if they really know how to do it themselves, or if they did it with help. They will not be successful in future courses where they have to take tests. Our school won't make AYP. They'll come ask me why my scores are so low.
5) If too many students have low grades, or if I don't teach "traditionally," or if I don't give them a "study guide" that tells them "exactly" what's on the test, they will
- Give up
- Complain about me to their parents, counselor, the department head, the principal, etc. that class is unfair, or that they don't understand anything, or that I don't explain anything, or that I don't teach
- Hate math
6) If I let students have extra time to finish tests/don't time tests
- They won't practice enough problems or study hard enough to finish the test within the amount of time usually allotted, so they won't gain fluency
- They'll cheat. They'll look up the answer. They'll ask someone how to do it. They didn't study hard enough, and they didn't know it. They'll just look up what the test problem was. They won't ever have to study, because if they don't know it, they can always go find the answer and not have any penalty.
7) (reiterating #5) If I put challenging problems on tests, students will complain to someone that I'm testing them on things that we didn't do it in class, or that I'm being unfair. Students will get low grades. Students will hate math.
8) If I do things a lot differently than the other teachers in our department/school, I'll be the crazy one. My students and my colleagues will tell me I'm not doing my job.
9) If I don't tell students exactly what to do, they will not know what to do. They will choose to do nothing.
Fears about what will happen if I don't face my fears:
10) Students won't learn any math. The skills and procedures I am trying to teach will be too easy for many students and too hard for many others. Many students will be bored and won't be challenged. They won't grow as much as they could. Many students will not be able to do it and will give up. They won't try, so they won't grow.
11) Students will learn math, and they will grow, but they will get failing grades. See #5 and #7 above.
12) Good students will continue to be compliant answer-getters. They will only do what is necessary to get the grade that they want. They will get good grades, most people won't complain, and I'll probably be pretty safe. I'll pass them along to the next course, and they'll be able to play the same game successfully another time. They'll memorize a bunch of shit without really learning any math. Students won't grow as much as they could have, however. If I'm happy with my C, then why do I need to try any harder? Kids who are good at this might like math. Some might comply and be pretty good at, but will be bored and passive. Kids who struggle will hate math. Kids will still blame me if they ever come across something that "we didn't go over enough." Kids will have no independence. They will continue to see learning math as the product of the teacher, and not of their own efforts. The cycle will continue, and the math classroom of 2090 will look no different than the math classroom of 1940, or the math classroom of 1990, or the math classroom of 2015.
13) If I don't continue my efforts to engage students in class, students will be bored and passively complicit (maybe, because they might just not even comply)
14) If I don't give students the opportunity and freedom to decide and figure out what they need to do, they will never learn how to handle it.
15) If I don't challenge students, if I don't let them struggle, if I don't teach them that difficulty and failure are good, they will never learn how to deal with adversity, and they will never grow as much as they could have.
16) The questions I'm asking them on tests will continue to be shit. Doesn't #6 tell me something about the quality of the questions I'm asking?
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