Adventures in Wonderland

Stacey Daniel has this really cool idea for students to show their mastery of a concept. It’s called Teach the Topic (T3). A very brief summary is that a student creates a presentation that teaches (or reinforces understanding of) a particular concept or skill. It’s awesome!  I feel very strongly that a student who can teach a skill to another student can easily demonstrate understanding.

So – on to my spin. I had a break through, a convergence of sorts where my continual reflection on how to better differentiate my teaching by scaffolding the students who need help and extending the knowledge of the students who already understand the concept finally came together.

It looks like this:
Pre-assess understanding of a concept through  OAS and other activities that assess the application of skills.   Depending on the score, the students fall into 3 categories: Reteach: direct instruction, online & book resources; Practice: online & book resources; and T3: creating one or two of the following tools about the skill/concept – Teaching, Practice, Assessment.

So where does the interdisciplinary come in? This type of method is compatible with any content area and perhaps can be used to do a T3 for cross disciplinary skills and concepts.

Too much too soon? Too little too late? Only time will tell.

KB: What can I say. You are like my other half. I can’t imagine having the courage, the confidence, or the preparation to do half of the stuff in my classroom that I’ve done if it weren’t for you.

Ben: Our conversations about assessment in a standards-based classroom has left me feeling like there is hope for me afterall. As an “idea-person” I really value the opportunity to work out questions & problems before implementing in the classroom.

MM: Your perspective has helped me to realize the need for fair and consistent guidelines in my classroom.

I relish the opportunity to explore my leadership skills as a team leader. In one of my first major mess-ups, I tried to push a field trip. In my eagerness to get things done, I offended a few of my colleagues. It was totally unintentional, I swear.

To be honest, I was not impressed by their professionalism as a whole, as each chose to dump on me in the school hallway (fortunately with few witnesses), and reamed me so bad I ended up in tears. How does that happen? Both not only made me feel totally incompetent, but refused to accept any apology.

Time has passed, and it seems that both colleagues have moved on (thankfully) but I’m left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. If I were someone else, I may be tempted to throw in the towel, but such is not the case. I will continue to work harder than before and hope for the best.

Using one story from the anthology, Seventh Grade by Gary Soto, and our first Read Aloud novel, The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, we’ve reviewed the following six reading strategies: Purpose, Connecting, Visualizing, Questioning, Predicting, and Evaluating.

Each strategy has been reviewed and then practiced by the student on sticky notes, in the hopes that they will begin to use these strategies regularly and independently.

In order to assess the students’ comfort level using the six strategies, I’ve asked students to define two of the strategies in their own words and cite examples from their own work over the course of the first two weeks to show their understanding. I was originally going to ask them about all six, but 1. I thought that it would be difficult for students to feel they’ve mastered every one, and 2. I thought it would intimidate some of the students who consider themselves non-readers.

My hope is that the students will choose the two that they are comfortable with (have mastered), and that will give me a better idea of which strategies should be selected individually for more intense focus. It seems like a great way to differentiate instruction.

There are two other strategies I’m interested in reviewing, monitoring & fixing it up, but I feel the need to wait to make sure each of the students has good handle on the first six before I move on to others.

Sadly, the elements in the R&RAC GPS do not directly relate to the practice of reading strategies, so I’m having a hard time finding an appropriate measure of their strategy usage skills. I’m sure something will come to me.

I ended the week on a very postive note after a truly inspiring day with my students in the computer lab. See the EdTech blog for details.

I am still really wrestling with grading in the standards-based classroom. I’ve developed rubrics for the various elements I am assessing in each unit, but I haven’t found a way to make them easily accessible and user friendly. I’m hoping my collaboration with Ben Skillman and Cheryl Nahmias will be fruitful. As it stands now, the only grades I have in IGP are their Outside Reading, Daily Language, and the Reading Strategies Assessment that I’ll have after class on Monday. I suppose that’s great for the parents, but it isn’t really utilizing the rubrics I’ve spent so much time creating.

This will be an ongoing problem…I only hope I can resolve it in a timely manner.

Wow! Who knew this week was going to be so fabulous. Of course one always hopes, but the truth is, it’s anybody’s guess how things will go.

So far, I think communication in the school is good. The entire seventh grade has been switched over to the new email system. That was relatively effortless. I’m so impressed by the amount of cooperation and collaboration evident throughout the school. It feels like everyone is hopeful that the new administration will finally give some focus to all of our energy & hard work.

I feel like I’m finally coming into my own professionally, like I have something to offer other teachers instead of just learning from them. It’s a good feeling. Between the Standards-Based Learning, Technology Grant, & Team Leader, I’ve got my hands full, but not in an overwhelming way.

I’m excited that this will be a year of tremendous professional growth for me.

I was afraid that the name of my blog was a bit too cliche, but the truth of the matter is that I often feel like I’m in wonderland. I love teaching, and I love learning. To be able to mesh the two together is fantastic! This is a journey of discovery…

And I choose to see how far the rabbit hole really goes.