To grade or not to grade, that is the question...

Reading the article by Peter Elbow, “Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking: Sorting out Three Forms of Judgment”, had me rethinking how I feel about grades and grading. I have always been one of those people who “chased the grade”. I didn’t really focus much on what I was learning or why; I was much more concerned with making my parents and teachers happy, getting into a good college, and with everyone thinking of me as the “smart one”. It was how I defined myself as a person, sad to say.


As an adult, I have completely changed the way that I think about school and grades. It probably has something to do with me being more mature and having a bigger picture of what I feel the purpose of education really is. I have never worked harder than am I now in my current classes, even when a “grade” is not at stake. I read the articles assigned because I want to learn from them, not because I am afraid of what will happen if I don’t. I am working hard because I see a purpose behind what I am doing. I am striving to improve my understanding and to learn to become a better teacher. It is work and learning with a purpose.

How can we instill this ethic in young students whose only focus is on the here and now? Whose concept of working for a better future is not fully defined? How can we instill this in people who are not interested in the specific subject that they are learning, even though it is something that they need to learn so that they have the foundation to continue on to more individualized pursuits?

Elbow spoke of using a system of “H” for Honors, no rank or “S” for satisfactory, and “U” for unsatisfactory. He mentioned his use of a grid system to provide constructive feedback without the need to rank students. He spoke of the evaluating of concrete behaviors that the teacher sees as essential or beneficial to what is being learned, but not over-evaluating, which can distract from the real purpose of the exercise.

I really like the idea of using this system. It gives feedback for those who want to know that they are “okay” and not failing without knowing it, and possibly help them to strive to rethink and learn more and maybe get that “H”. It also gives those with the “U” the opportunity to rethink and relearn and try again until they correct what needs to be corrected.

Those that are getting the “U”s and even the “S”s, are more likely to strive to learn by what they have done, change, revise and grow from the experience. People who get the grade (D or F) are more likely to just give up and decide that they can’t do it, and accept that as a possibility. But what have they learned from that?

It makes me wonder how I would have changed if I had gone to school using a system such as this one. Would I actually remember more, have learned more, and retained more of the subjects that I just forgot about as soon as the class was over?

Tom Lehrer - "S-N (Snore, Sniff, And Sneeze)"

Tom Lehrer - "L-Y"

As I have been reading about Analysis Strategies in Fox, I have been more and more reminded of how much I learned from all those educational cartoons of my childhood. I saw this one recently.




I was wondering if these old cartoons still have a place in today's classroom? Will the kids enjoy them like I did, or roll their jaded eyes because they aren't digitally rendered and computer animated? I am hoping that tools such as Schoolhouse Rock would be timeless, but I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Acronyms

I caught myself using some of the acronyms that my Master Teacher was using when I was with her in September. They were meant to help the students remember certain habits and ideas, but I guess they worked on me, too!

Here are a few of them. If you have anymore, please share!

ABCD -when referring to drawing diagrams in their science journals
A- accurate
B-big
C-colorful
D-detailed

CUPS-what to look for when editting your work
C-Capitals
U-use of grammar
P-punctuation
S-spelling

CAN-this is how you should be able to describe your work
C-complete
A-accurate
N-neat

SLANT-how to participate during discussion
S-sit up
L-listen carefully
A-ask and answer questions
N-nod when appropriate
T-track the person talking (look at)

Three Before Me

I was responding to a blog from someone in our cohort on the idea that students learn more from each other than from the teacher, when I realized that it's something that I should put on my own blog before I forget (which I will)!

I was reading the blog of a kindergarten teacher lately and she mentioned a class rule that is still ringing in my head and I can really see myself using it in the future. "Three before me". In her instance she was referring to the fact that if someone needed to have their shoelace tied or coat zipped, they needed to ask 3 friends for help before coming to her. She said that the "non-tiers" and "non-zippers" were much more likely to pay attention to their friends teaching them how than they would from her!

This is something that I had also observed in another kinder classroom in the past. The teacher had basically told me the same thing, just without the catchy quote (she said they had to ask 2 friends, which doesn't quite have the same ring). This was brought to mind recently as I was stooping to tie the tenth shoe during a day in a classroom where the teacher doesn't have this rule and the kids seem to be making no effort whatsoever to learn how to do it themselves. It's her classroom, her choice of which battles to pick, but when comparing the two situations and their outcomes, I think I'll give the first example a tie, I mean a try.


I can also see how this would be a good rule for older kids, too, when they are working in groups or on projects. Not only are they working on communication skills, they are allowing the "teaching" student to work through their own thoughts well enough so that they are able to explain it. If the student can get through 3 friends without getting an answer that makes sense to them, then I guess I didn't do a good enough job explaining in the first place! Time to revisit!

One Angstrom unit at a time...

While I have enjoyed reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, I am having a difficult time relating most of what she says to how I might teach my future students about writing. Maybe I’m not thinking abstractly enough, I don’t know. Maybe during a second read through I will suddenly have an epiphany and it will all make sense.
Maybe.

Could happen.

Finally, right before the end of this week’s chapters, a quote did stick to me “like Velcro”.

“I was waiting for the kind of solution where God reaches down and touches you with his magic wand and all of a sudden I would be fixed, like a broken toaster oven. Instead, I got better one angstrom unit better, day by day.” (page 127)

I’ve heard something mentioned over and over again as one of the reasons why teachers want to teach; it’s that moment when their students finally GET IT. Sometimes I think that I do want (and wait for) that “AHA!” moment, too. I want to see when someone finally gets it, whatever IT is.


But I think it’s also important to remember that a lot of small moments can eventually lead up to a great thing, a great change. We need to remember that we might not always see when the “GET IT” happens, but we need to remember that it is a journey, not a moment of teleportation (yet another Star Trek reference, I know…sorry). It’s hearing a recording of your son’s voice that was recorded one short year ago, and then he walks in the room and you suddenly realize that his voice has dropped an octave. When did that happen? One tiny Angstrom unit at a time.


And look how far we have come since March? One tiny Angstrom unit at a time.


This all reminds me how important it will be to keep a running record of my student’s learning. Why the measure of what they are learning can never be recorded by a grade on test. And why it is so very important that I make sure that my students SEE how far they have come, and not just take my word for it.