Just the other day I stumbled across a powerful piece on school shootings and how they’ve shaped (American) society emotionally, politically, spiritually, and in terms of our literature. The article, “When Change Doesn’t Happen: School Shootings and the Piles of Novels That Follow” by Maria Eliades brought forth some striking information and perspectives that I thought were necessary to discuss. Continue reading
In a powerful panel hosted by The Heinemann Fellows, authors Sara Ahmed, Sonja Cherry-Paul andCornelius Minor share their perspectives on racism and how to approach the topic in classrooms.
Here are some of the quotes that resonated with me, personally. To view the transcript in its entirety, click here. Continue reading
The role of women is a huge theme in House on Mango Street, even in the early vignettes. Today’s lesson focused on “Marin” and “Alicia Who Is Afraid of Mice” and my eighth graders compared/contrasted the two girls and related their stories to the already existing theme of the degradation of Mexican women. Continue reading
Today I had my eighth graders focus on the idea of friendship–What is friendship? What does friendship mean to us? What defines a solid friendship?–I had my students write their ideas all over the white board in a silent-discussion format and then we talked through them. Continue reading
I wanted to do something fun with my eighth graders today–a discussion/debate between girls and guys that related to House on Mango Street. Continue reading
What is Standards-Based Grading? Well, if you look it up on the internet, this is the definition you’ll see
Standards–based grading measures your student’s mastery of the essential standards for a class, or how well your student understands the material in class. At the beginning of every unit, the teacher will break down the standards for the unit into smaller objectives and criteria using a detailed rubric.
What that means, in my own words, is that students are assessed on whether they are proficient in something–do they understand it, can they complete assignments correctly, are they communicating/doing the skill effectively?
The goal is to remove traditional grades from the education system and have the focus be on learning. Are students learning new skills? Are they proficient in those skills?
Standards-Based Grading offers the opportunity for students to retake assessments and be re-taught lessons. The focus is on improving the student and not moving on without that basic understanding and knowledge. It’s a wonderful idea, in theory.
However, like any great idea, there are some complications. These stem from the idea that success is now measured more subjectively, especially in the Mastery, or highest category. On a scale of 1-4, the problem with a 4 is that it’s not clearly defined. Part of that is because this allows for the students to go above and beyond and be creative without being restricted by requirements on the Mastery section of the rubric. However, without a defined Mastery category, students won’t know what to strive for and both students and parents will be wary of their 3 grades vs. 4 grades.
The idea behind Standards-Based Grading is to ensure all students are given educational opportunities that will make them stronger learners and have them continually working towards goals. With SBG, students will have formative assessments and feedback throughout their entire process; at the end, a final, summative assessment will be scored. This assessment and all activities will match with a power standard for that grade level, and because of the feedback and practice, the final assessment should be something the students feel confident about.
I’m curious about Standards-Based Grading and how I will assess students without measuring their skills against one another and unintentionally comparing.
Hopefully I can continue to learn more about this process, because it really does sound like a wonderful idea, especially at the middle school level where things like class rank and GPA are almost irrelevant.
When I was looking up information on Standards-Based Grading, I found this picture. I think it speaks volumes about the SBG process. Success isn’t easy. It happens through work, through mistakes, through re-dos, and as a continual process. If there’s one positive I’m taking away from SBG is that it allows for opportunities for growth. I’m interested to see how I can reflect and measure that growth as I start making my own assignments and assessments.
Any thoughts, feedback, questions or comments regarding SBG? I’d love to hear them! Comment below!
I was curious about the idea that movement allows for a more productive and engaged community of learners, so I decided to try the idea out with my tenth grade Honors English students. Continue reading
My American Seminar students have read up through chapter 18 in The Scarlet Letter. This point in the novel is filled with important themes, changes, symbols, and relationships, and to make sure my students were noticing and understanding these, I made a group discussion activity for them. Continue reading
Today I started my English 10 class in a very strange way. I sat at a chair in the front of the room, and for the first five minutes, stayed absolutely silent.
