Chapter fourteen of Fair Isn’t Always Equal connects with chapter thirteen, in that it is about report card formats. Chapters thirteen and fourteen both have to do with the final product of assessment; the only difference is that one is what mostly teachers see, and the other is what mostly parents see. The quote at the beginning of the chapter is very telling to me. In it, Linda Starr writes about the different ways teachers and parents perceive report cards. In the teacher’s mind, the report card is a report of how the student is progressing; the learning process is a continuous spectrum, and as long as the student is constantly bettering herself, everything is okay. However, to the parent’s mind, this is not enough. The parent wants to know how their child is doing when compared to everyone else’s children. This doesn’t seem healthy to me. I think there needs to be better communication between educators and parents, so the parents can really know what the teacher is trying to do with grades.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen of Fair Isn’t Always Equal focuses its lens on gradebook formats. It talks about listing assignments by date, category, and objective. The last one it talks about, after all of those, organizes assignments by topics. This is one of the most intriguing things in the book thus far, because it asks the teacher to not only put grades into the book differently but to actually grade assignments differently. Rather than giving one grade for a whole assignment, the instructor looks at different competencies demonstrated by the assignment and records different grades for each one. For instance, in a writing assignment involving research, a separate grade might be recorded for spelling and grammar, organization of ideas, and quality of research, along with other factors, depending on what unit the assignment is a part of. I might not implement this style of grading immediately, but it will be something to consider down the line.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 12
Chapter twelve of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about grading scales. It contains a comparison between several popular and widely-used grading scales, including the letters (A, B, C, etc.), the 100-point scale, and the 4-point scale. The author seems to be on the side of the 4-point scale, along with other scales that are similarly small. The argument is that a smaller grading scale allows the focus to be taken off grades and put where it should be: on learning. I agree with this. The important thing a student should be looking for shouldn’t be the number we decide to attach to their work. What they should care about is the feedback we give them in order to continue their learning. In addition, on a purely functional level, it seems like it’s much easier to be consistent with a 4-point scale.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 11
Chapter eleven of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses six specific issues within grading. These include what grade to record for an incomplete assignment, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. I was particularly interested in the author’s take on the problem of late work. His advice is to first take into account the student’s individual situation as regards turning in work (i.e., does the student do this frequently or is this a somewhat isolated occurrence?), and then to record two grades for the student. When it comes time to use grades for what they’re useful for (That is, to reflect mastery of subject matter), the grade that doesn’t take into account lateness of work will be used.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 9 Abstract & Synthesis
The most common aspect of grading connected with in this chapter seemed to be the part about not grading homework. Almost everybody, in their reflection paragraphs, talked about the part of the chapter. There was a lot of support for the idea that homework is practice, that it shouldn't be used to address new learning, and that it sometimes shouldn't be used at all. This Powerpoint presentation (Converted by Google to HTML for ease of viewing) addresses many of these concerns and questions, and gives additional perspective to the issue. It should be noted that the information at the link clashes sometimes with the information from Fair Isn't Always Equal; this suggests that the treatment of homework is something that teachers should decide for themselves, based on their subject and what they want their classroom culture to be like.
This is the first part of an article that provides more general tips on how to implement differentiation in the classroom. It should provide some illumination on the basic implementation of DI, and addresses some of the tips in FIAE. (Part 2, Part 3)
Finally, this brief article discusses differentiation of instruction as it relates to assessment.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 10
Chapter ten of Fair Isn’t Always Equal contains several excellent ideas on how to handle retaking work. The current that runs through most of these suggestions is that teachers should not be like robots. One of the strengths of education as a career is that it’s pretty hard to outsource, and, when it’s done right, can’t be done by a robot. This should be embraced; teachers should know when to be strict and when to be lenient. We have to be able to read the emotions our students are feeling, and know if it’s appropriate to let them redo an assignment or not. This is certainly harder than just having a blanket policy that covers everything, but hey, life is hard. In addition, several excellent strategies exist for ensuring that students don’t take advantage of your redo policy, like having them justify the redo, having them turn in their first attempt along with their redo, and changing the format of the redo. All of these fall under ensuring that students remain accountable for themselves and their work.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 9
Chapter nine of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses more about grading, and links it into the concept of the differentiated classroom. Many of the points have to do with making sure our assessments of students take into account the fact that they are growing as learners at the same time we are teaching them. With this being the case, a student shouldn’t feel discouraged to make up work whenever they aren’t satisfied with how they did. A policy where makeup work receives less credit than work turned in on time may tend to discourage students from making up the work at all, because they won’t believe it will do much good. However, at the same time, if students feel they can just do the work whenever they want, some teachers may find it difficult to motivate their students. I feel it’s part of the work of the teacher to help students understand why it benefits them to complete assignments, even if students weren’t receiving a grade at all.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 8
Chapter eight of Fair Isn’t Always Equal continues to talk about grading, and gets a bit more specific about it. It makes the excellent point that grades can sometimes be detrimental to a student’s learning. I can think of quite a few students I went to school with who saw a bad grade as an indicator that they themselves were subpar. It can be difficult for a student to see the grade as an assessment of the work, rather than an assessment of them as a person. In addition, the chapter talks about grading participation, attendance, and behavior. It seems to suggest that there is a balance to be struck there, and that (as with so many other things in education) the answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.”
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 7
Chapter seven of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses grading. It dispels the notion that grades should be a sort of be-all, end-all of feedback. I feel this is important to my future classroom because my students will earn grades largely through more subjective means. To me, when grading an essay, the grade at the top of the first page will be the least important part. I will strive to make helpful comments throughout, and to then allow students to rewrite their essays. As the chapter points out, grades are not the best forms of feedback. All they really are is a shorthand way for teachers to let students know how they’re doing in a class.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 12
Chapter 12 of Multiple Intelligences talks about various cognitive skills as they relate to MI theory. The chapter discusses memory, problem solving, Bloom’s taxonomy, and what are referred to as “Christopherian encounters.” That last one irked me a little bit. The suggestion is that educators should challenge students’ beliefs about their own ways of thinking by pushing the limits, in the same way that Christopher Columbus challenged the thinking during his day that the earth was flat by sailing around it. The problem is, none of that is true. Columbus’s challenge wasn’t proving the earth to be round; most educated people at that time knew the earth wasn’t flat. Columbus’s claim was that the route to Asia by travelling west from Europe was way shorter than people thought it was. And here’s the thing: He took that leap, but he was ultimately wrong. Luckily for him, he ended up in what are today known as the West Indies (Called that because Columbus, defiant of his own ignorance to the very end, believed he had reached India), because he otherwise may have ended up dead. This seems like a small thing, but it causes me to cast some doubt on the science in the book as a whole. However, I do believe the sentiment expressed is valid: A classroom environment where students are encouraged to develop themselves in many different directions will be richer than a more traditional one.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of Multiple Intelligences is about MI theory as it relates to special education. A lot of what I personally feel about education resonates within this chapter. In a section at the end of the chapter about what will happen when the changes suggested are implemented, the following are cited: That fewer students will be pulled from regular instruction, that special education teachers will find their roles shifting toward being more like consultants, and that the focus will change to address strengths more, increase self-esteem, and increase understanding and appreciation of students. I believe that much of what keeps students in special education classrooms is learned helplessness, and it sounds like these changes, by focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses, will allow students to realize those strengths.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 8
Chapter 8 of Multiple Intelligences discusses classroom management. It says that the classroom requires order. It then goes on to suggest a variety of different ways MI theory can be used in different situations that come up in the classroom. I thought most of the suggestions were incredibly novel, except for a couple of the Naturalist ones. I find it fairly far-fetched that a teacher would be able to bring an animal into the classroom in order to get and keep the attention of students. It seems more likely to me that the live animal would capture the attention, but then students would continue to be distracted by it all period. It’s possible with something like a snake that this wouldn’t happen, but with a bird, forget it. Other than that, though, I liked what the book had to say. I can definitely see myself coming back to this chapter for suggestions on earning the attention of my students and ways to communicate class rules.
Understanding by Design Chapter 8
Chapter eight of UbD/DI is about how grading works in a differentiated classroom. The authors put forth a set of six principles which should be followed when considering how to grade. These principles include being clear about what students are going to be graded on, determining what students will be graded on by looking at what they should be learning, establishing an environment in which all students can achieve highly, not considering grading to be synonymous with assessment, avoiding weighing equally all work throughout the semester, and focusing on achievement. I agree with all of these principles, and will incorporate them into my classroom. I especially agree with the idea of determining grades rather than calculating them; any given class should be a growing experience for a student, and if they think that not excelling right from the start of the term will make it so they can’t get a good grade overall, they are much more likely to give up completely.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 5 Abstract & Synthesis
Fair Isn't Always Equal introduces the concept of tiering assignments. The goal of this chapter is to communicate the importance of tiering assignments, as well as letting readers know how that process may be accomplished. The book explains that tasks should not be designed at maximum difficulty and then adjusted downward. Instead, tasks should be designed to meet grade-level goals and then adjusted upward to meet student readiness. There are several sections devoted to ways to adjust the content upward, such as manipulating information, applying concepts to other areas, and synthesizing formerly unrelated concepts. It also gives examples of tasks that exemplify this type of design.
It's clear that tiering is important, but how should instructors determine where students are in their learning? Some responses suggest that the best way is to let the students indicate where they are through self-assessment. One of the ways suggested to help this process is allowing students to choose how they will ultimately be assessed. This puts an important part of the learning process into the hands of the students. There are many different ways to ask students which assignments they'd like to complete, including a tic-tac-toe grid, a learning menu, or a cube with a different assignment on each side. Many readers found the examples to be very helpful in their understanding of how to tier assignments.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 14
Chapter 14 of Multiple Intelligences discusses a potential ninth intelligence, that of the existential. It discusses the arguments for and against including existential intelligence as one of the intelligences, and goes over ways it could be integrated into the different subject areas. I have an even harder time going with this one than with the naturalist intelligence, because I question the validity of the “deeper questions” it purports to be about. At the same time, I feel those questions will permeate the curriculum that I will be teaching. The problem is they’re just too big. When a person is developing a thesis statement, the advice they are given is often to narrow it down. In the same way, a question like “Why are we here?” is so large that it’s impossible to answer. It should be broken down into manageable chunks, because trying to work out an answer from that impossibly big question is a worthless endeavor.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 13
Chapter 13 of Multiple Intelligences discusses several areas in which MI theory can be applied, aside from what the book has already talked about. The most valuable section to me was the first, where computer technology is discussed through a lens of multiple intelligences. I feel this might actually be something that has become easier in recent years. The book, despite being published in 2009, doesn’t mention YouTube and the wealth of valuable educational videos on all subjects that can be found there. Disregarding that, though, there’s still an abundance of information on the Internet that can appeal to all intelligences, and I intend to use that information to benefit my students and develop their intelligences.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 7
Chapter 7 of Multiple Intelligences talks about designing a classroom environment to appeal to all of the intelligences. The most interesting part of the chapter to me was the section that went over different “permanent open-ended activity centers” for each of the intelligences. Reading this list and thinking about the average size of the classrooms I’ve been in, it seems like it would be impossible to have one of these for every intelligence and still maintain a reasonable depth for each one. I feel it might make more sense to have each subject area be dedicated to developing several of the intelligences; for instance, we could say that English class focuses on developing Linguistic, Interpersonal, and Naturalist skills, and design the classroom accordingly. I feel like the goal should be to develop all of the student’s intelligences rather than gearing curriculum to appeal to the student’s most developed intelligence.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 6
Chapter 6 of Multiple Intelligences offers more specific advice for strategies to use in order to help students develop all of their intelligences. I found this especially helpful as a tool for trying to better grasp the “naturalist” intelligence. Thus far, it has seemed less like an intelligence that can be developed and more like a subject area that can be studied using other intelligences. However, the suggestions of teaching strategies at the end of this chapter were enlightening. Most interestingly, the author suggests that “ecology” shouldn’t just be an isolated topic, but that it should be integrated into everything that students study. I often find myself connecting things back up to ecology anyway.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 5
Chapter 5 of Multiple Intelligences talks about how to develop a curriculum while keeping MI theory in mind. It has several helpful charts describing ways the different intelligences could be applied to different subjects, and telling what tools and techniques will fit with each intelligence. I like this not only because it will be helpful to my students down the line, but also because it helps me think critically and rigorously about my own curriculum. I can’t think of whole lessons for 1984 that involve all the intelligences, but I can think of discussion questions for each one, and I think that will go a long way to making sure my students are engaged by the book.
Understanding by Design Chapter 9
Chapter nine of UbD/DI seems to serve as a sort of summary chapter. The chapter contains an example of a whole unit designed using UbD, and then describes how the lessons in that unit could be differentiated according to the levels of the students. This will be very helpful when I am designing my own unit. Already I found myself going through the lists of conditions and checking off ways I need to improve my unit on 1984. For instance, it really got me thinking about how I can make my lessons engaging. In addition, the section on differentiating instruction got me thinking about the precise mechanics of presenting the lessons.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Understanding by Design Chapter 7
Chapter seven of UbD/DI covers some misconceptions, as well as giving a few more tips about the day-to-day workings of a classroom, and helpful philosophies and techniques for educators. I particularly like the part about “essential questions,” where the authors construct a list of different subject areas and suggest examples of questions that could be considered essential to understanding. I like how open-ended these are. In my classroom, I intend to use the “Socratic seminar” model regularly, and I do enjoy a good open-ended question. They lend themselves perfectly to excellent discussions. I also like that the book suggests “playing devil’s advocate.” If students immediately agree with my point of view during a discussion, some teachers might see that as a victory. However, I would see the discussion as a failure if students hadn’t come to an understanding of both sides of an issue before coming to an educated conclusion on their own.
Understanding by Design Chapter 6
Chapter six of UbD/DI gives a set of core beliefs that connect what is being taught with who is being taught. I agree with each of these ideas. I particularly like how the book suggests that students should know the goals of a unit, and what they’ll need to do to show that they’ve learned the material. Too often, instructors are vague about these sorts of things, leaving students without a handhold. As a teacher, I will strive to never leave my students in the dark. I also like the simile of the teacher as a jazz musician. I believe that improvisation is an important part of instruction. This chapter also has many useful figures in it; I can see myself referring back to these as I begin my teaching career.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 6
Chapter six of Fair Isn’t Always Equal makes its content very narrow, yet very useful. Today’s classrooms are very test-focused, as this is a relatively quick way of getting a read on how well somebody knows material. This chapter gives a number of tips on how to craft effective, fair test questions. This is a chapter that I will keep open next to me as I put together a test, because the things it advocates are clearly and undeniably beneficial and the things it warns against are things that I myself remember disliking when I was in school. For example, I remember very well taking tests where the questions were badly written and didn’t connect well to what we had learned. I will never put my students in a tough spot like that.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 5
Chapter five of Fair Isn’t Always Equal, titled “Tiering Assessments,” is a lengthy chapter that will serve me well in designing my curriculum. Because all instruction should be designed with the assessment of knowledge in mind, the type of assessment I choose is important. If I am going to ask my students to demonstrate their knowledge of Watchmen by categorizing the principal characters into broad archetypes, I have to be sure to have spent time during instruction focusing on the characters, and different examples of character archetypes. As an example of tiering the assessment, in order to make the question more challenging, I might ask students to give me an example of a character in another piece we have read who fits the same archetype as a character in Watchmen. These are important skills for me to have as an educator.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 4
Chapter four of Fair Isn’t Always Equal is fairly straightforward. It talks about “three important types of assessment.” This is one of those chapters that I can easily see myself referring back to as I begin my teaching career. It gives clear, step-by-step instructions on how to design a rubric. When I was in school, my teachers used rubrics for most large assignments. To me, it is important that I know what a teacher wants when they assign something, so I will always afford my students that respect. This section also talks about portfolios and student self-assessments, which I feel are important pieces of assessment because of how flexible they are. Students can use many different techniques to complete a portfolio, and the impetus is really on my to interpret their contributions correctly. In that same way, a self-assessment can give me valuable information on how a student is parsing the class.
Multiple Intelligences Chapter 10
Chapter ten of Multiple Intelligences discusses assessment in a slightly different way than the other books have. It talks specifically about assessment with regards to multiple intelligences. One of the more helpful parts to me is that chart that shows how activities geared toward a certain intelligence can then be assessed using a different intelligence, or that same intelligence. For example, if an instructor wanted to have students observe nature and then be assessed in an interpersonal way, they could observe nature, then share with a friend. The only part of the chart that seemed a bit off to me was the assessment for the naturalist intelligence. How would doing an ecology project assess whether or not a student benefited from reading a book, or playing a cooperative game? Stuff like that makes me suspect that the naturalist intelligence might not stand up to the same scrutiny of the other ones.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 3
Chapter three of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks very broadly and at length about assessments. Assessments are an important part of teaching. We can use all the fancy teaching methods we want, but if we don’t assess students appropriately, we can’t know that what we have been doing has been working. The most useful pieces of information to me in this chapter were the descriptions of the three different types of assessments: Pre-assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments. In my six days watching Mr. Ryder’s methods, I have seen many examples of assessments, and I’m sure I will see many more. For example, there has been a vocabulary quiz. I believe this is a formative assessment, or a summative assessment. The time scale might be too short for it to be the latter, but it is testing material at the end of a section of learning. From here on out, I believe I will pay attention to what types various assessments fall into.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 2
Chapter two of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about the concept of mastery. I particularly like the quote from Piaget: “Real comprehension of a notion or theory … implies the reinvention of this theory by the student. … True understanding manifests itself by spontaneous applications” (12). I agree with this. I feel like, when a student truly understands a concept, the best way they can show me that they have achieved this is by telling me not just that the concept is true, but why it is true. When I am a teacher, I will have my students demonstrate their knowledge in such a way that I can be sure they know why what they say is true is true. This can’t be the only criteria for understanding, though; I will feel more comfortable if my students can demonstrate to me that they understand how everything I have taught them fits together, as well. I feel that synthesis is important.
Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 1
Chapter one of Fair Isn’t Always Equal serves to cement the concept of differentiated instruction in the reader’s head. It tells what it is, and gives examples. I like this, because it lets me see what differentiated instruction is all about not just in the context of my field experience, but also in other contexts. Reading this chapter helped me to understand that differentiated instruction doesn’t necessarily mean making something easier for a student; it just means adjusting the type of instruction so that it supplies a cognitively effective piece of learning. It doesn’t mean making work easier – it means making learning easier. This impacts my classroom immensely. Mr. Ryder has been giving me examples of differentiating instruction by being careful to always put across material in several different ways, and by always being receptive when a student approaches him when they have problems understanding. I will take these practices into account when I am in a classroom of my own.
Understanding by Design Chapter 5
Chapter five of UBD/DI deals with having students demonstrate understanding, connecting this chapter with chapter three of Fair Isn’t Always Equal. This chapter establishes neatly laid out principles of effective assessment. These include things like having many assessments over the course of the learning, matching assessments to goals established while putting together the lesson plans, tuning assessments to the purpose they will ultimately serve, and giving students options as to how they will show that they learned. I can feel this focus on assessments shaping how I will ultimately teach. I wouldn’t say that it’s showing me what’s really important in teaching, but it is definitely giving me ideas about how to show others that I understand what’s really important in teaching.