Dream Day...

This past Wednesday is still on my mind. It was truly a teacher's dream...

We started with independent reading - oh, how beautiful!

A student book talk next? Why not?! (All of ours are here!)

Then came the groans... Any time we "have to" write, the groans come. We got our ideas ready to go, wrote the claim together, and then came our 4-minute break. Once back from break, we got to work writing about Phineas Gage...

I was able to go around and give over-the-shoulder conferences ("OTSCs" as Amplify calls them) to many students. I have gotten better at this the past four years. I spot something the student is doing well, and let the student know how their writing affects me as a reader. I then find something they can improve upon and ask them to "consider changing ______ to see how it will affect your readers further." Or... "I notice you did this _____ - what do you think would happen if you ________?" This way students still keep the control - they are treated as the writers they are - they have choice in the matter. (If you want guidance on how to do this, read Choice Words by Peter Johnston!)

At two minutes left, I reminded them to do a "once over," reading it through to check their capitalization, punctuation, and use of evidence. I took photos of student work (we were sans laptops this day - you can still do a lot with just one iPad in the room), and tried to be quick about uploading them to a document we would project on the screen.

We were then ready to share. "THIS is where the learning happens," I informed the class.

The first two classes went fairly well. Students were brave to share, attentive while listening to others, and took turns giving feedback and quality boosters. (Thanks for that great term, Paul Solarz!) We graded them on the spot for quality of evidence and grammar/conventions - as a CLASS. We discussed the difference between "developing," "proficient," and "mastery," and the writer could either argue peer ideas or accept them. If we graded them as anything less than "mastery," we gave suggestions as to what they could do to improve their writing. What we were doing was having discussions about the craft of writing, and NOT about the writer. I was a happy teacher.

Then came my last class. This class, as you might know, is grading themselves at the end of each quarter. Work goes in the grade book, but grades do not. Instead of a grade, specific feedback is written (often copied/pasted from the rubric) in it's spot. I believe this has made a huge difference already. When students were sharing their feedback and quality boosters, many of their words came right from my specific feedback that I've been putting in the grade book in place of grades. They said things such as this...

"You have strong evidence, but it would be stronger if you added ..."
"I notice your evidence supports your claim and connects to your reasoning."
"Only some evidence (specific evidence pointed out) supports your claim. You might want to add ___, so your claim is supported better."
"You have sufficient evidence, but what if you used __________ (insert new text here) instead of ________ (written evidence)?
I think you could prove your claim easier if you used different text."
"I think this is 'publish ready!'" (No grammar mistakes.)

At one point, I thanked them for their bravery and honesty, and using this opportunity to help each other become better writers. One student (Anna) said, "Well we're not stressed about the grade. We just want to do better." (I'm telling you - it was a DREAM day!)

At the end of this class, I suggested they turn in their writing if they did not share with the class, so I could give them some specific feedback.

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One day later (Thursday)... I hadn't received some of the writing prompts from my last class. As they were working independently, I asked them, one at a time, if they were going to turn in their writing for feedback. The first two turned them in. The next student asked, "Do we have to?"

I responded, "Did you want to use this piece of writing for proof of writing or language usage skills?"

"No."

"Okay. Just know you can't use this piece for evidence if you don't receive feedback on it."

"That's fine. I don't want to publish it on my blog, and this quarter our proof has to be published, right?"

"Yup. I hadn't thought of that. (Pause... Thinking...) I totally understand. Let me know if you ever want feedback on this piece." I went to the next student.

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These kids get me thinking. THIS is why I'm teaching. These are the days I live for at school.

The next day (Friday/yesterday), I decided to offer additional (and optional) independent practice for my classes. "Write about Phineas Gage in a blog post."

What this means - Students can write a letter to the author, an opinion piece, a book review... They can create a video, a vlog post, or a poem. Should they choose to take me up on it, I believe they will stake a claim, use textual evidence to support whatever they write (or say), and explain their evidence in relation to their claim.

What this means for my last class - Whatever they decide, they can use this published piece towards their proof of learning for writing, language usage, or speaking & listening skills. I'll give them specific feedback, and they can revise it if they so choose. (If we can get comments on their blog posts, they'll get more feedback!)

As we went over the independent practice listed on the board, I halted. I erased "Phineas Gage," and left it blank. I suggested, instead, that they begin to write on their blogs, and then let me know which posts they'd like feedback on. The posts they shared with me for feedback could be used towards proof of their skills in class. (This weekend I will figure out HOW to give this feedback - on one spreadsheet per student is what I'm thinking - I don't want to give the feedback in a blog comment. I will also have to figure out how they can then let me know that they revised, if they choose to do so.)

Source unknown - This image was sent to
me via Erik Kipling yesterday.

Hopefully this will be writing they WANT to do, using what we practice in class to write what THEY want to write, not prompts I provide. I can just imagine it now... We do the work we're supposed to do in class in order to learn the skills, and then they APPLY that work outside of class on something they enjoy... Hmmm.... Isn't this the way learning is supposed to work?

Nix the "Dream Day" title. This was a teacher's dream WEEK!

My resources so far: 
"FaR" tabs of our classroom Weebly
Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder 
     for parents to inspect
My own reflections on this journey

Feedback - #TTOG Update

When midterms popped up on us unexpectedly two weeks ago (already?!), students gave themselves As, mostly for "effort."

We discussed it the next day, and here were some of their responses:
   "_____ bumps our grade up if it's hard for us to run the mile, but we still try."
   "_____ gives us extra credit for not using our bathroom passes. I have to try to not use them."
   "_____ gives us a point for being prepared in class - isn't that just effort?"

So... they shot down my idea that grades are not based on effort. We didn't go down the route of SHOULD they be based on effort - we'd have to take a ton of time for that discussion! These students are aware that I do not "give" points, and there are no opportunities for extra credit. I do offer revisions for all of our work, and also let them use the washroom when they need...

I had to explain that in this class, effort PRODUCES product (their grades) - success or not. If we do not put forth effort, we will not be as successful.

This is not how I expected it to go this quarter. I expected to have students documenting on a spreadsheet or some other tool each day. I expected to have technology in the room as well. I had the tech for the first 2-3 weeks, but we were still building classroom culture at that point. Now that I have to reserve a cart for technology, we do not reflect on a consistent basis. Without this documentation on their part, I feel as if I haven't guided them much as I thought I would be when I planned for this class over the summer.

Students need help seeing what is "A" material, and what is not. So... I did a little backtracking this week. While the other two classes were revising their response to "A View from the Bridge" (by Cherokee Paul McDonald) because they didn't like the grade they earned, this class was not. The written feedback I'd given them - with language exactly from the rubrics - was not persuading them to revise. Nor did it let them know that they did not have "A" quality work (according to the rubrics). Backtracking for me meant to go back into each of their documents and highlight where (on the rubrics) I noticed they were at this point in time. Then, instead of just one revision suggestion, I gave one for EACH rubric we used (claim, quality of evidence, analysis of evidence, grammar/conventions). And then I decided to make it independent practice (a.k.a. homework) for them to revise this writing assignment. Sadly, they were not inspired to do this on their own. I think it is because I wasn't specific enough in my feedback.

As part of our learning process, each class evaluates themselves at the end of each week. (This idea is from Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz - His 5th graders evaluate themselves daily; we do this weekly.) A student stands at the front of the room and draws a T-chart. On the left is a "plus" sign, and he/she asks for suggestions on what we did well that week. On the right is a "delta" (triangle) sign, and he/she asks for what we could / should change for next week. We are still working on what is student-driven, vs. what is teacher-driven. For example, students will say, "We did a lot of reading and writing this week." Well, yes, this is true, but I have to ask them HOW they did it, as it was MY plan that they read and write, not theirs. They change their language to something such as, "We read quietly without many interruptions," or "We were really focused when we were writing." An example from the "things we should change" side - students say, "We should do another fishbowl discussion next week." I remind them that those plans are the decisions of the teacher team, and they should focus on what THEY can change. (Blog post on how this has been going coming soon!)

This week, each class evaluated themselves again. However, things were a bit different in block 9/10. I had a roster of their names, and I told them I'd be tallying when they contributed to the discussion. They can use this documentation (that I'll continue) as part of their proof for the "speaking and listening" portion of their grade. Suddenly, we had more ideas than in our previous four discussions.

This evaluation was great - they took the time to think about what they did well and what they could change. I believe this was a result of me taking tallies. Seeing this in green and blue, I realize they are still focused on the grade, which is NOT my intention. I started this journey with little guidance, however, and it wasn't working. So... I'll try to guide them more, then maybe by fourth quarter some, most, or all of the guidance can dissipate.

My language is slowly changing, as well, and I like the changes...
     Homework -->
          Independent Practice (and no, I still do not check it in)
     Revision assignment -->
          Revision suggestion
     "Turn in your half sheet when you're finished." -->
          "Turn in your half sheet when you're ready to receive feedback from me."

Next... I need to plan how to guide them towards creating their (up to) five-minute video reflection explaining their grade. Our grading period ends October 30th, so I'd like these the weekend prior (October 24/25). That way, if I feel there's a discrepancy, I can schedule a conference with the student and we can have a discussion in that last week. I will provide a list of the work they can show to prove their grade, and show them how to organize prior to beginning their video. I, too, have been keeping notes on feedback I've given students, so I'm not in the dark when it's time to provide a final grade for the report card. (This is another name I'd like to reframe - I need to start using the name "progress report," in order to emphasize progress, not finality.)
     Report card -->
          Progress report

Another plan... I will create my own 4-5 minute video on how I believe I'm doing with this process of students grading themselves. I will share the preparation for the video, and then share the video itself. We can then create time in class to prepare for their explanation of what their grade should be.

We still have a ton of work ahead of us. What bums me out is that all of this is still leading up to that arbitrary grade. That grade is still the carrot hanging in front of these kids. I'm simply doing what I can in the constraints I am currently up against.

My resources so far: "FaR" tabs of our classroom Weebly
                                    Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents to inspect
                                    My own reflections on this journey

The Marble Theory

I finished Paul Solarz's Learn Like a Pirate: Empower your students to collaborate, lead and succeed over a month ago, I believe. It's time to blog about one idea on pages 63-64 that I MUST implement next year within the first week... The Marble Theory.

We've all got these students...
     ...those who do well in our class...
          ...and those who don't do so well in our class.

And the students notice, too. Some egos become more inflated, and others more deflated as the year goes on. I hope, that the more time I spend on Genius Hour-type activities, the more students see that ALL students are skilled, and in many different ways. How do I share this idea with something tangible? How can I embed this idea in the minds of 12-13 year olds? Paul shares this great idea...

"Some students come into my classroom with very low self-esteem, due to low grades or poor performance in school. Others believe they are better than their peers because of past success in school. My goal with Marble Theory is to level the playing field. I want my students to realize that we are all equals with amazing gifts, talents, and interests. No one is better than anyone else. No one is worse. Once they understand we are all equals, increased respect leads to improved collaboration.

The Marble Theory states that we are all born with the same number of marbles in our brains. When we are born, these marbles are just in a big pile, but over time we allocate these marbles into cups. The cups represent our skills, talents, and abilities. We can have as many cups as we need and these cups are extremely specialized. For example, we don't have a cup for reading abilities. Instead, we have several cups for reading: one dedicated to decoding, one for literal comprehension, one for inferential comprehension, one for oral reading fluency, etc. But we also have cups dedicated to dribbling a basketball, drawing horses, telling jokes, and playing the flute.

In school, teachers usually spend time evaluating how many marbles students have in their academic cups, causing children to falsely assume that grades determine how intelligent they are. Kids who have many marbles in their cups dedicated to math, reading, writing, spelling, science, and social studies become known as the "smart kids." Children who have fewer marbles in those cups but more in their musical, athletic, interpersonal, or creative cups are not given the same accolades.

Quote used w/permission

I contend that we are all equal in terms of intelligence and that intelligence needs to be measured differently. Because of grades and report cards, students learn to think of themselves as smart or dumb. Low grades do little more than disappoint and discourage students. High grades often create perfectionists and cause children to become extrinsically motivated. ... "

I would love for students to recognize just where their talents lie. In what "cups" do they believe they have the most and the fewest skills? I will ask students to figure this out in some way. My dream would be to try this with actual Dixie cups and marbles. I don't believe I can afford as many as I'd like, and I'm not really THAT ambitious, so I'll resort to a blank sheet of paper, circle templates (lids off milk cartons) and hole punches - 100 "holes" for each of my 70 students. (I wonder - is there a spray glue students can use to just stick it all on when they're done placing them? Or... should this one be an activity they work on at home??) If the holes don't get punched (a lunch bunch project??), we can resort to dots using markers. These charts can be the start of our "Resident Expert Wall of Fame," where we recognize each other's talents/skills/genius. Heck, this activity can even be part of Dot Day around September 15th!

Update: A high school teacher shares her day with The Marble Theory in this post.