Ah yes... the textbook.

I'm not one that thinks the textbook is an evil shackle purchased by districts to make sure teachers follow the curriculum in lockstep. In fact, quite the contrary. I have always felt the textbook can complement the high school social studies curriculum in many ways. In addition to exposing students to narratives from experts and images/graphs that illustrate what is being learned, textbooks often do an excellent job of infusing higher order questioning (upper levels of Bloom) assessing reading comprehension. Like any strategy or information source, the textbook is one of many tools a teacher can use to differentiate instruction (let's face it, some kids just learn better by reading it) and support learning.

Where I have struggled in the past is how to use the textbook in terms of time and assessment. In the past, I have always been one of those teachers that says: "Read chapter 2, section 1 tonight, define the vocabulary, and answer the three questions at the end of the section." I would then "check in" the homework the next day by walking around the room and either glancing at it to see if it was done or finding one question to see if they answered correctly. Then an arbitrary number of points would go into my grade book.

Okay... feel free to roll your eyes. I deserve it.

My journey towards pedagogical best practice has introduced me to many other ways to encouraging students to study the text, without the simplistic and somewhat punitive approach of assessing these assignments in a summative format.

While I am still attempting to workshop ideas with my colleagues, my goal for next semester is to allow more class time to read the text and then form discussion circles where students can bounce main ideas off of each other in the safety of a small group. Assessment will be based on me working from group to group and listening/joining in on the conversation. In addition, I could pose questions on "Exit Slips" to see if students genuinely understand what was read and discussed. These assessments will be purely formative in nature and will allow me the opportunity to truly gauge what the students gleaned from the text. This will require some intrinsic motivation. I think a great deal of this will come from the way it is introduced and infused into the class. It is my theory that a greater number of students will have a more in-depth understanding of the material at the end of each day and grades will reflect much of the student's knowledge versus their ability to find time to read and answer questions.

So - any thoughts? How do you handle the textbook in your class? If you treat the assessment of the textbook learning as formative on a daily basis, how do you do it? Please share. I'm genuinely interested.

For a dose of humility - Video yourself...

So - you've been teaching for over 10 years. You've been asked to mentor new teachers. You have a good rapport with your colleagues, the parents know you and your students seem to like you... Things are going pretty well - aren't they?

Then - you decide to take the recommendation of a professional learning coach from downtown and record some video of yourself teaching. No problem, right? I mean - what could go wrong?

Folks - I thought I had this teaching thing sort of figured out. I know I have a long way to go in terms of implementing best practice (hence the reason for this blog), but I thought I had the basics down and was linked to my students in some ethereal way where they magically soaked up all I said. Boy was I wrong!

The coach (a dear friend of mine for many years), has been working with me on implementing Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) in my teaching. This is a recent initiative to the district and I'm trying to get out ahead of the curve and pilot something new. Upon his suggestion, I took some video of myself attempting to implement a GRR lesson. The "GRR" portion was fine. I'm obviously still learning, but overall it was a solid attempt. However, the real shocker was actually seeing myself teach from the perspective of a student in a desk. The way I had the camera set, it was as if I was a teenager during 8th period on a Friday waiting for the bell to ring.

A few [painful] observations...

• I'm not nearly as engaging as I think I am. I always thought "at 6'5" and 280 lbs with booming voice, how could they possibly tune me out?" Well - I actually tuned myself out watching the video. If the way you present your material is boring, then you're boring - no matter how loud you are. Break things up and get the kids involved. Keep things organic and fluid.
• I only truly interact with the front row. Outside of a few token glances to the back and an occasional stroll in that direction, I really never interacted with those students outside of the front row.
• SLOW DOWN!!! I'm still acting like a groomsman trying to rush through his mandatory speech at the head table. Breath. This isn't a stand-up comedy routine - it's education. Take your time!
• I need to go on a diet and do something about that bald spot.

This has managed to stick with me like an aching joint this weekend. I can't get over it. I'm grateful to my friend for suggesting this and proud of myself for actually doing it for the first time since student teaching. However - now I need to "modify and adjust" based on the viewing. Fortunately, I am teaching a similar lesson the same time next Friday. I plan on recording myself again with adjustments infused into the lesson plan based on this past week's video.

I throw the challenge out there - TRY IT! Check out a video camera and tripod from your school media center. Set it up and have a go at it! Post back here what you find out about yourself. I think you'll be unbelievably surprised.

An Alternative To Traditional Semester Exams

What's the problem with finals?

It's the end of the semester. We've assessed our students right into the ground. We've banned them from retaking earlier tests on which they have scored poorly. We've stooped to the bottom levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in our summative assessments over the semester. What do we do now? Celebrate their learning and share their discoveries over the semester? NO! Let's throw at them a high-stakes, multiple choice exam which consists entirely of recall multiple choice questions already asked earlier in the semester on unit tests!

In addition - we'll expect them to perform their best while testing three or four 90-minute marathon tests back-to-back in one day! Then - when they go home that night exhausted, we'll ask them to do it again the next day.

We justify this as making sure they've "learned something" over the course of the semester. In the United States Constitution, this is called double jeopardy. In high school, we call them final exams.

I've searched high and low for data to support my contention that "final exams" don't truly assess anything new or of merit. Anecdotally, I have heard of major universities in the United States starting to go away from the traditional final exam. However, I have yet to find anything sincerely concrete.

A better way?

A few years ago I finally said enough. There had to be a better way. After a great deal of time discussing ideas with colleagues, researching best practice, and simply thinking through my pedagogy, I settled on the idea of a portfolio where students would synthesize their learning through a writing prompt, apply their learning to their present-day lives, and submit evidence of their learning from the unit. The evidence would range from essays, projects, etc. Students would no longer have to cram for a multiple choice manifesto at the end of the semester. They could submit portions of this portfolio gradually over the course of the semester. I could work in conjunction with the student and offer feedback through various target benchmarks. In addition, I could scaffold the structure of the synthesis essays which would allow me to differentiate based on the writing ability of the student.

How did it go?

Mixed results the first year I implemented it. I had structured my rubrics too strictly around Bloom and students were struggling to figure out what I was looking for in their submissions. Plain-English rubrics followed and that helped a great deal. In addition, the first semester I tried the portfolio, I asked for too many submissions over the course of the semester. In my mind I felt I should request one submission per unit. What I later found out was that true synthesis is the ability to identify themes from one unit to another, or over multiple units. I ended up not burning out the students (or myself) and the students produced a much better product in the end.

Does this take more time? Absolutely. I currently ask for three portfolio submissions over the course of a semester. I have 150 students, with roughly 30 in each class. Each class takes me about 1-2 hours to assess. So - we're looking at 30-60 hours a year of assessment. That's a great deal more time than grading traditional final exams offered twice a year.

Why do it?

In addition to getting a better snapshot of student knowledge and taking a great deal of stress away from the student, the thing I really like is that the student has a nice thick folder of projects, writing, and synthesis examples to take with them to their next year. I have a secret hope that these students are saving these and will pull them out 20 years later when they are cleaning the garage and seeing their growth over time.

What's next?

Digital portfolios. I would like to get to a point with my comfort level and our district's technology abilities where students can submit these electronically. This would not only help the environment in terms of less paper used, but students would be open to a great many other ways to demonstrate their competencies. Think about things like recorded interviews, simulated newscasts, video from outside of school (show me an escarpment and illustrate for me its characteristics), etc... Very exciting. And - if nothing else - not having to drag home 150 thick folders six times year! I think I'm a year or two away from this.

Feedback

As always, I make no claim to be an expert here. As stated above, I have tried and failed to find concrete data that my approach is correct. However, when I take into account all that I have read from experts in the field and blogs from other teachers, this seems to be the direction in which to head. As for those teachers who say: "You're not preparing these kids for high-stakes tests..." My response is quite simple. There are PLENTY of teachers out there who will continue to give high-stakes final exams for decades to come. I have no fear that students will lose out on the incredible opportunity to exhaust themselves cramming mundane trivia in their craniums for an assessment that is disproportionate to the sum of their work over the semester to date. So - with the exception of that point, please offer me feedback - it is welcome and appreciated!

Blog Update

I've been nervous about the fact that there have only been a couple of comments on these blog posts. However, I've had some great conversations with some of you via Twitter since this blog has been active. In addition, in the past two weeks, we have had 227 people visit from 10 different countries. (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, Russia, Germany, Australia, Spain, and Ireland - in case you were wondering). Thank you! I'm glad word is getting out about this. I look forward to continuing to hear from you all.

Test Retakes - Why would we NOT allow these?

It's a rare treat to hear a speaker on a professional learning day say something that changes my pedagogy forever. This happened many years ago when our school district brought in Damian Cooper to speak to us as a faculty. A few years later my building principal at the time also brought Damian to our school to work with our staff over lunch hours. One amazing thing that Damian had said to us that first occasion was something to the effect of... "A student's final grade in a class should a reflection of what they know on the last day of the semester, not based on a variety of snapshots over the course of the semester." This floored me and forever changed my philosophy of education.

I was never one to let students retake tests, resubmit projects, etc. I always wanted students to look ahead to the next challenge versus becoming mired in the past. I convinced myself that this was correct as this is what many of my colleagues did at the time as well. However - what I eventually realized (with the help of Mr. Cooper) is that a child's grade never reflected the sum of their knowledge. Their grade was based on multiple successful and unsuccessful attempts over the course of a school semester.

I immediately revised my classroom expectations and philosophy of assessment. From that point on, ALL students could retake assessments as many times as they would like. Why wouldn't I give a student another opportunity to demonstrate to me their competencies? Perhaps it took some students longer to understand the five themes of geography? Maybe a student didn't know the locations of all 50 states in September, but now knows them in October and wants another shot to show me this newly-gained knowledge? Their end-of-semester grade should be organic and be able to evolve with the child over time versus being locked into these various assessment benchmarks throughout the semester.

As I implemented this policy, I quickly learned that I should also extend this to projects, papers, etc. Education is the acquisition of knowledge over time. I found my old policies were severely inhibiting that pursuit of knowledge. If a child bombed a test, there was no incentive for them to ever go back and learn that missing information.

Now, I do have a policy for test retakes. My policy reflects that one of three things didn't happen the first time preparing for the assessment.

• The child did not understand the material.


• The child does not know HOW to study for a test.


• The child did not put in the necessary time to prepare for the test.

I make my students follow three basic steps in order to earn the ability to retake a test:

1. Make an appointment to come in, correct the test, and work with me 1-1 to go over the trouble areas of the first assessment attempt.


2. Create flashcards for all vocabulary from the unit. (Sometimes I have students use other study tools instead of flashcards - it depends on what is being assessed).


3. Bring in a note signed by mom/dad/guardian stating that the child prepared at least 60 minutes for this retake.

Why do I do this? Am I simply creating busy work? No. If I didn't have a policy like this in place with high school students, my suspicion would be that students would simply not prepare effectively the first time so that they could get a sneak-peak at the test and know in their head that a retake could be immediately taken. In addition, the 1-1 time with the student truly eliminates "stabs-in-the-dark" by students. We have a chance to process the test and synthesize what is being asked in each question. It is my belief that the child ends up with a much deeper knowledge of the content in the end.

At the end of the day I can sleep at night knowing that I am giving every child every opportunity to demonstrate their competencies in our subject area. The child determines the grade they want in the class, not me. I don't give grades - children earn them.

I don't submit today's blog entry as gospel. My pedagogy continues to evolve over time and I know these policies will grow and change as well. I throw this out to all who read this: What are your thoughts? What are your classroom policies on retakes/re-submissions? Is there a better way? I'm open to all - so please post your comments/questions.