I truly believe that feedback is one of the most important ingredients for success. If teachers could give students five minutes of good feedback a day I think it would make a huge difference in student performance. If teachers received five minutes of feedback a day I think it would make a huge difference in our performance. We give students a report card at the end of each quarter and just to be fair I want students to grade me.
What I am going to ask you to do is to reply to this blog. What are five qualities that teachers should be measured on. For example should teachers be measured on content knowledge. When I compile the five categories that students think are the most important I will then make out a report card that you can fill out anonymously.
When I think about my evolution as a teacher, the best suggestions have come from students. From high fives to most improved board 95% of the things that I do were told to me from students. So here is your chance to form my report card. What five things do you think teachers should be judged on?
Friday, October 23, 2015
Thursday, October 22, 2015
The angry man returns
One of my favorite educational bloggers is Grant Wiggins. I check Grant's blogs weekly and have been disappointed that he has not blogged in a while. Finally after three months of no blogging I googled Grant to see if anything happened. To my surprise he had died of a heart attack, which made me sad. Well, I am still alive and kicking but I have not blogged in a long time. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things.
Currently the big push in the county is student centered learning. An expression which nobody truly has clarified for me and one which angers me to my very core. The last faculty meeting we spent 45 minutes visiting class rooms (without students) to determine if they were student centered. Did they have student worked on the board? Were there seats faced in pods? In each class we visited I stated the same thing, the most important part of the class is the teacher not the setup.
My response to this activity was does any student enroll in a class because of the teachers floor plan? Do people sign up for AP Euro because of the teacher or the room arrangement? I think the answer to that is obvious.
So I would now ask, is the four period day student centered? Is it good for students that they now have an extra period? While that extra period opens up many options it does also is give students more work to worry about. It also has made us go to an A/B schedule which means that we can not see our students every day. Do students who struggle benefit by going to class every other day.
The theory of the 85 minute schedule is that I can introduce price discrimination, have students try to figure out the graph and then work out a real life problem. Given 85 minutes periods, this would allow students the chance to really struggle with the problem of figuring out the graph which would be great.
Now the problem, the curriculum is so extensive to cover, that if I took that time and taught one concept a day then we would never reach the Macro part of the course. So instead on a day like today we learned three different graphs. Three entirely different concepts and away we go.
Luckily, I teach some of the smartest kids in the country, and they can adjust to this overload of work. They have the ability to take in multiple concepts and understand them. However, some of my other students can not do that yet (Carol Dweck would love that). They are then forced to try to bring all this information together in a short time which can be often frustrating.
The A/B schedule and the size of classes are something that comes from the county. How can a county that is pushing student centered approach produce large class sizes, give students more work with eight classes and not allow them to visit their teachers each day. If relationships are the key to student success then how can they think it is easier to build relationships seeing people every other day compared to every day.
Does anyone else see the disconnect? Your comments of course are appreciated.
Currently the big push in the county is student centered learning. An expression which nobody truly has clarified for me and one which angers me to my very core. The last faculty meeting we spent 45 minutes visiting class rooms (without students) to determine if they were student centered. Did they have student worked on the board? Were there seats faced in pods? In each class we visited I stated the same thing, the most important part of the class is the teacher not the setup.
My response to this activity was does any student enroll in a class because of the teachers floor plan? Do people sign up for AP Euro because of the teacher or the room arrangement? I think the answer to that is obvious.
So I would now ask, is the four period day student centered? Is it good for students that they now have an extra period? While that extra period opens up many options it does also is give students more work to worry about. It also has made us go to an A/B schedule which means that we can not see our students every day. Do students who struggle benefit by going to class every other day.
The theory of the 85 minute schedule is that I can introduce price discrimination, have students try to figure out the graph and then work out a real life problem. Given 85 minutes periods, this would allow students the chance to really struggle with the problem of figuring out the graph which would be great.
Now the problem, the curriculum is so extensive to cover, that if I took that time and taught one concept a day then we would never reach the Macro part of the course. So instead on a day like today we learned three different graphs. Three entirely different concepts and away we go.
Luckily, I teach some of the smartest kids in the country, and they can adjust to this overload of work. They have the ability to take in multiple concepts and understand them. However, some of my other students can not do that yet (Carol Dweck would love that). They are then forced to try to bring all this information together in a short time which can be often frustrating.
The A/B schedule and the size of classes are something that comes from the county. How can a county that is pushing student centered approach produce large class sizes, give students more work with eight classes and not allow them to visit their teachers each day. If relationships are the key to student success then how can they think it is easier to build relationships seeing people every other day compared to every day.
Does anyone else see the disconnect? Your comments of course are appreciated.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Do Incentive work
When you read any introductory economics book they always talk about how incentives work. However, do they work in the school house? When you look at grades are they an incentive that drives student learning? When students are young learning how to read is the grade what drives them? Or are kids just naturally attracted to learning?
Even as students grow older, do grades work for everyone or are they just an incentive for the good students? Then look at the opposite side of the coin that teachers get paid no matter if they do a good or a bad job. Does this impact teacher performance. Interested to hear your thoughts?
Even as students grow older, do grades work for everyone or are they just an incentive for the good students? Then look at the opposite side of the coin that teachers get paid no matter if they do a good or a bad job. Does this impact teacher performance. Interested to hear your thoughts?
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Rising seniors
Here is some thoughts on what juniors can do to prepare themselves for their senior year and the college application process.
1. Think about who you want to write your letter of recommendation. These teachers should know you the best and be able to explain what makes you different than other applicants. The fact that you are a great student will show up in your transcript the letter and your essay should try to demonstrate what characteristics you have that make you different. The more time you give your teacher to write the letter of rec, the better the letter will be.
2. Write your essays over the summer. You have the time to do it and it will take pressure off you during the school year.
3. Visit some colleges if possible. Even if you are visiting a small school like Goucher, city school like Hopkins, or a big school like Maryland. It might give you an idea at least of what type of school you would like to attend. If you are visiting a school that you will apply to, drop off your resume so the school will start a file for you. REMEMBER the schools are also recruiting you.
4. When you are thinking about your safety schools make sure that they are safe in that you will get in and that they are financially affordable for your family.
5. Do not stress out about the college that you will get into. The truth is that you are more important than the college. You will make sure that you get a good education and have a great time at the school that you attend. There are plenty of good schools out there and you will find one that fits your needs.
6. Again in writing your essay, or doing an interview think about what makes you unique. It is not a time for modesty but truthfully a time to shine. Anytime you can show persistence, demonstrate your passion for something outside the classroom, that is what colleges want. They want students who not only shine in the classroom but will make their college a better place.
7. Remember most college admissions people are under 35. You can be cool in your writing.
Hope this helps
1. Think about who you want to write your letter of recommendation. These teachers should know you the best and be able to explain what makes you different than other applicants. The fact that you are a great student will show up in your transcript the letter and your essay should try to demonstrate what characteristics you have that make you different. The more time you give your teacher to write the letter of rec, the better the letter will be.
2. Write your essays over the summer. You have the time to do it and it will take pressure off you during the school year.
3. Visit some colleges if possible. Even if you are visiting a small school like Goucher, city school like Hopkins, or a big school like Maryland. It might give you an idea at least of what type of school you would like to attend. If you are visiting a school that you will apply to, drop off your resume so the school will start a file for you. REMEMBER the schools are also recruiting you.
4. When you are thinking about your safety schools make sure that they are safe in that you will get in and that they are financially affordable for your family.
5. Do not stress out about the college that you will get into. The truth is that you are more important than the college. You will make sure that you get a good education and have a great time at the school that you attend. There are plenty of good schools out there and you will find one that fits your needs.
6. Again in writing your essay, or doing an interview think about what makes you unique. It is not a time for modesty but truthfully a time to shine. Anytime you can show persistence, demonstrate your passion for something outside the classroom, that is what colleges want. They want students who not only shine in the classroom but will make their college a better place.
7. Remember most college admissions people are under 35. You can be cool in your writing.
Hope this helps
Saturday, April 4, 2015
New leadership
We are getting a new principal next year, which of course brings worry to some, excitement to others. What I thought I would ask is if you were the new principal of our school what is the first three things you would change.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
To read or not to read, that is the question
Today a student brought up in class that we should not read the text book next year. She felt that the textbook was complicated, confused her (and other classmates). Her thoughts were that if we did not read the textbook that we could spend more time at home doing practice problems which would allow us to practice and apply what we learned.
This is something that I have tossed around in my mind many times this year. What I worry about is that students will not do the problems if they do not have a grade attached or will copy the problems if they do have a grade attached. Also if we moved away from the text I could do more in class assessments but less formal quizzes. Another negative is that I think it is beneficial to read a difficult college text as to me one of the main proponents of an AP class is to prepare you for college.
Now I thought what we could do instead of reading is have small video clips of each major concept that is covered in a chapter. Students would be required to watch those clips and do problems at home that demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge. We can then extend the conversation in class and help clarify all the problems. Now the truth is that I can do the same as above with the reading
So as you can tell, I am conflicted in the search for what is best for students. I would like to hear your thoughts about what is best not easiest.
This is something that I have tossed around in my mind many times this year. What I worry about is that students will not do the problems if they do not have a grade attached or will copy the problems if they do have a grade attached. Also if we moved away from the text I could do more in class assessments but less formal quizzes. Another negative is that I think it is beneficial to read a difficult college text as to me one of the main proponents of an AP class is to prepare you for college.
Now I thought what we could do instead of reading is have small video clips of each major concept that is covered in a chapter. Students would be required to watch those clips and do problems at home that demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge. We can then extend the conversation in class and help clarify all the problems. Now the truth is that I can do the same as above with the reading
So as you can tell, I am conflicted in the search for what is best for students. I would like to hear your thoughts about what is best not easiest.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Cheating
A couple of days ago an issue involving cheating came up in another teachers classroom. I brought up the situation in one of my classes and was amazed that everyone in the class had cheated on a test during the course of the year. While I realize that their maybe a gray area in cheating (discuss later) but I did not think cheating on a test was something that every student in a class participated in.
Cheating to me is gaining or allowing someone to gain an unfair advantage. So to me if you give someone questions on a test, or you allow someone to copy your homework in my opinion that is cheating. Now I understand that is a gray area in students minds but that is an argument for debate.
Each year our school newspaper, which I have tremendous respect for, prints an article about how cheating has increased in our high school. As a teacher in the building I always feel like a failure when this comes out. How can we as teachers do such a bad job in setting both an environment and tone that would discourage cheating? Why does this not infuriate both teachers and students as it does not send a good message out about the school we are part of?
Today, a student justified cheating because they did not think the teacher gave them a just amount of time to prepare for the test. That is not a reason to cheat but a reason to talk to the teacher about the course load. Most of us as teachers will try our best to work around situations and put the student in the best position to be successful.
I was asked today, "Did I every cheat in high school" I do not remember cheating but the truth is that school was not that important to me. There was not the pressure to get into high stakes college, nor the fight for scholarship dollars.
When I was in business my ethics were challenged often. I remember one day when our comptroller told me that one of our suppliers made a 10,000 dollar mistake in our favor. He asked me what to do. My reply was immediate, "You should not even have to ask me, get on the phone and fix it right away with the supplier".
I just think we should do the right thing. If I was not a good enough business man to make money without taking advantages of some ones mistakes than I did not deserve to run a company. As a student if you are not prepared you should take the consequences. We all make mistakes and we should use our mistakes to learn from and become better.
Really want to hear your thoughts about this topic. I do not want to judge but learn from you.
Cheating to me is gaining or allowing someone to gain an unfair advantage. So to me if you give someone questions on a test, or you allow someone to copy your homework in my opinion that is cheating. Now I understand that is a gray area in students minds but that is an argument for debate.
Each year our school newspaper, which I have tremendous respect for, prints an article about how cheating has increased in our high school. As a teacher in the building I always feel like a failure when this comes out. How can we as teachers do such a bad job in setting both an environment and tone that would discourage cheating? Why does this not infuriate both teachers and students as it does not send a good message out about the school we are part of?
Today, a student justified cheating because they did not think the teacher gave them a just amount of time to prepare for the test. That is not a reason to cheat but a reason to talk to the teacher about the course load. Most of us as teachers will try our best to work around situations and put the student in the best position to be successful.
I was asked today, "Did I every cheat in high school" I do not remember cheating but the truth is that school was not that important to me. There was not the pressure to get into high stakes college, nor the fight for scholarship dollars.
When I was in business my ethics were challenged often. I remember one day when our comptroller told me that one of our suppliers made a 10,000 dollar mistake in our favor. He asked me what to do. My reply was immediate, "You should not even have to ask me, get on the phone and fix it right away with the supplier".
I just think we should do the right thing. If I was not a good enough business man to make money without taking advantages of some ones mistakes than I did not deserve to run a company. As a student if you are not prepared you should take the consequences. We all make mistakes and we should use our mistakes to learn from and become better.
Really want to hear your thoughts about this topic. I do not want to judge but learn from you.
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