Grading Practices- My Mindset

Over the past week I have read numerous blog posts regarding perspectives on grading procedures, along with several articles on the topic from Educational Leadership’s newest issue, Effective Grading Practices.    I have thoroughly enjoyed the candor expressed within each intentional word spoken about the topic. 

In Ann and I’s world of Multiage, we have naturally changed our own perspective as the year has moved forward.  In our building/district, we are in year three of Standards-Based Grading.  Even though we have been focused on scoring student progress as a 4,3,2,or 1 rather than letter grades of A,B,C,D, or F for several years now, truly understanding Standards-Based Grading sinks in over time.  It is a process you have to become accustomed to since a shift of thinking is required.  You must focus on their progress towards a standard and record where their progress is at each grading period, rather than their effort and graded work averaged over a chunk of time.  This transition, though, has been a very comfortable process for me.  I like how it is black or white in nature; a student either has it or doesn’t.  Simple.

And this year Ann and I have really been able to take it to a new level.  Our students have the ownership of “Meeting Standard” or “Not-meeting Standard”.  (Again, they either have it or they don’t- very simple for them to understand.)  We are very open with the students about the standards they are to learn, introducing them within our Target Walls, but also providing students with their own Mini-target walls that are building blocks based on their individual needs, not their grade level.  Standards-Based Grading allows for the flexibility to move at the student’s pace, based on the student’s individual needs.  It’s what I love about it the most- it allows for “no ceiling, no floor” during the learning process.

The way that we have instilled our grading practices are non-threatening in nature.  Students are not working for an extrinsic motivator, nor competing against their peers.  They have specific goals, work towards them, “meet standard”, move on to the next building block, and set new goals.  Then they repeat the cycle  while understanding that they MUST continue rehearsing, reflecting, and synthesizing their knowledge base as learning continues in order for long-term retention to take effect.  They understand the true learning process.  It isn’t about a grade, or a meeting standard mark, but building their own intellect- because that’s the real purpose, right?

So filling out report cards can seem tedious in a process that is built in this manner.  (Our students could have filled them out on their own, had we let them, because they already know these facts about their journey. Every day is about their own personal progress.)   Formal report cards are an extra step, but it does allow for a documented trail of learning:  where the student has been, where they are now, and where they are going.  Tracking learning is something to treasure- one should have a way to appreciate their hard work and courageous effort. 

Regardless of which stance you take concerning grading, please remember that any type of grade labels a student.  They should not be blindsided by the marks on their formal report card.  Formative assessment along the way should have involved the students to allow them to clearly understand themselves as learners and where they are on their own continuum.  The feedback they receive is essential to their growth.

The questions we should continuously be reflecting on often, through our own learning journey regarding this issue, are:  How often do I provide my students with feedback?  Is my brain doing the work during the correcting process, or is theirs?  Do my students have specific information about their own learning profile?  Do they set their goals, or do I do it for them?  Do they choose their path each day, or do I make those decisions?

Ann and I allow our students to teach us every day, and because of this mindset we have grown exponentially with the use of daily formative assessment and student self-assessment.  In the end it isn’t about the final grade, but the learning path you walk together.

~Celina

Bulbs to Blooms

     I finally took the time this weekend to plant a bag of spring blooming tulips.  Yes, in this part of the country tulip bulbs are supposed to be planted between September and October, and yes it is now nearly December.  I was laughing to myself, thinking back to the fact that September was the start of a new classroom and teaching assignment and I was a little busy!
     And yet even then I was planting "bulbs" so to speak within my classroom and my own professional development, and gathering the "blooms" of other bulbs that were planted over the summer.  Bulbs like how to effectively run a multiage literacy program, ways to look at our curriculum as a continuum of learning rather than discreet grade levels (students, then standards, then curriculum and resources) and implementing Celina's Masterful Math Method.  Within our classroom bulbs of empathy, community and appreciation for uniqueness were planted this fall, and now we are seeing the blooms of students who are excited to come to school, who feel recognized and appreciated for their gifts and who are pushing themselves, their classmates and us to even greater insights. 
      So as we approach these last 3 school weeks of 2011, with the ensuing December distractions of concerts, potential snow days, indoor recesses and holiday mayhem, I am thinking instead of all the bulbs that we can plant.  What are the blooms that I want to see in January?  What are the bulbs that will get our students thinking and processing now in order to see those blooms in 2012.  Let's roll up our sleeves and plant away! ~ Ann

Gratitude Post #2: Letter to My Friends

Dear Devri and Ann,
As I reflect over this holiday break, I continue to think of all the ways you 2 support me. Your friendship means the world to me, and I will forever be thankful for the way you unconditionally offer daily doses of love. I enjoy talking with you about any topic, feel grateful to walk down the path of motherhood together, and appreciate the genuine humor we share.

But truly, I want to thank you for the inspiration you provide me everyday. You are both amazing mothers, dedicated wives, loving daughters, insightful teachers, and thoughtful friends. You teach me how to: appreciate my children for their unique spirits, understand that it's the small things that count in my marriage, enjoy the conversations I have with my parents, see my students' truest potential, and respect the people in my life that offer me their friendship. Some of these lessons you probably never intended to teach me, but your grace and sincerity in situations (and stories) offer simple life-lessons... And I am always listening, ready to learn.

If I could give you both one gift--- one very special present that you could forever and always treasure--- it would be the ability for you to see the true leaders you are for the individuals you inspire on a daily basis. Sometimes your leadership occurs at home and other times at school, but please remember that your roles in both places are extremely important. You make a difference each and every day. Please look into your beautiful souls and value who you were born to be.

Thank you for accepting me for me. You help me stay positive, be myself, and keep my perspective about life. I will forever be thankful for the both of you.

Love,
Celina

Gratitude Post #1: Thankful for our Nerdiness

Ann's post yesterday was perfect! This topic is something we discuss and celebrate daily- we ARE proud nerds and "geek-out" over the new literature we are reading each day. We take this information and apply it within our classroom, and even with our own children at home. Most days our brains are even on the same "wave" of thought (which at this point has stopped freaking us out, and we are just accepting it- it is no longer weird that we have the same thought in the same moments, buy the same book on the same day, or even find out that we had been reading the same blog or article at the same time....).

We know we take personal learning and growth to the next level, but we do it for our own sake because of the success we then see for ourselves as teachers and mothers. It is not for show or attention; we save our jokes/humor for that! :)

Last night I began reading 21st Century Skills, and I became captivated with Howard Gardner's "Five Minds for the Future".  He talks about the Disciplined Mind and how it takes about a decade to learn a discipline well enough to consider yourself an expert.  And that, "an individual needs continually to practice in a disciplined way to remain at the top of his or her game (pg. 12)."  He also talks about how downfalls can arise with having a fixed mindset, or even being an expert at one time but no longer keeping up with the changing times.  I think I connected with his discussion on the Disciplined Mind because it reminded me again of Ann's post... We approach our days with a growth mindset, ready to change our plan as needed and read new literature as relevant to our situation or dilemma. We may have both been in the teaching field for more than a decade, however within these changing times we find the only option is to seek knowledge and apply changes that will better serve the students of this generation.  

And finally a quote that I found yesterday:
Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. -David Frost

Be thankful for who you are, your own passions, and the friends and family who support you. 

~Celina

Nerd Day

Nerd Day is coming to our school, a chance to dress up and have a little fun for students and teachers.  I joked with Celina that we are often thought of as total nerds when it comes to professional learning.  We often spout favorite sites (www.choiceliteracy.com, www.wonderopolis.com), blogs (see sidebar) and books we are reading (the latest being  21st Century Skills Rethinking How Students Learn by Bellanca and Brandt 2010). We find things to share with our students and colleagues continually, and we keep asking for and googling new information.  We are lifelong learners, we are passionate about teaching, we want to do and be the best for the students within our care.  Everyday is an opportunity to connect with kids and open the door of learning with them.  "Imagine what we might learn." "What do you wonder?" and "This is so cool!" are often mantras within our room in an effort to help kids continually expand their thinking. 
We talk a lot about how we are learners within the classroom too.  We thank them for being our teachers and most recently asked the class to give us an assessment based on our performance as their teachers.  What were we doing well?  What did we need to improve on?  What a crack-up!  Some of them want harder homework, more art projects, more time to read or do math.  Some of them are more concerned with getting to recess on time!  What this did for us was to open a dialogue about homework, push us into thinking of even more ways to integrate art into our content areas, and encourage us to streamline our processes to enable more time for their content learning.  It even inspired me to consider buying a watch! 
As I sat down with my last conference yesterday and the student opened his notebook to a highlight of the first trimester, I was reminded that being a NERD is great.  He stopped in the middle of his explanation to flip to the page we had just reflected on, a thought provoking discussion of what a googol is from www.wonderopolis.com (Wonder #411).  His eyes lit up, his voice got louder and he began rapidly explaining to his mom the fascinating idea that if all the matter in the world were turned into paper there would not be enough to write out all the zeros in a googolplex. 
So while some will celebrate Nerd Day next week, some of us will continue to celebrate it EVERY DAY!

Student Voice

Learning from children’s voices allows us to know

a deeper level of who children are as learners

 and, because we have that knowledge,

to expand and enrich our sense

of what it means to teach.

- Penny Oldfather (1995)

Do you listen to your students?  Do you hear their desires for learning?  Do you know what inspires them?  What are their personal goals? Are you aware of what THEY would like to learn today? Are your plans based on your curriculum map or chapter guidelines, or are they based on the individual needs sitting before you? Have you asked your students to reflect on your growth?

At the end of last year, I opened the floor to my third graders (whom I had been teaching for 2 years) and asked for the honest truth... How had I grown as a teacher?  What did they notice was different from one year to the next?  Well, it's as if I opened a can of worms!  I couldn't type as fast as their ideas were spilling out.... One of my spunkiest student's remark truly changed my mindset, though, as I was still wondering at that point if I had reached him after 2 long years. However, I am so glad I had asked to hear his voice, because in that moment I KNEW I had.  He stated, "You let us learn by our Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles this year, and last year we really didn’t get a lot of learning done because we didn’t know and use Metacognition.  This year you changed a lot and you made us grow more than we did last year. Oh, and I like how you taught us so much so we are able to teach teachers and YOU, because we teach you too!"  And these were his words, verbatim, and trust me I remember because he made sure I typed it correctly during that moment, a moment I will remember forever.  The moment when I let them provide me feedback.  My only regret was that I hadn't asked sooner... 

I wonder what would happen if you asked these questions to your students?  What if you asked them to provide you feedback?  Would it change the course of their learning path? Would it change yours?

~Celina

Our Daily Work is Student Driven...

As Ann and I reflect this weekend, we are continuing to devour literature based on the needs of our students.  Our conferences, thus far, have allowed us to articulate the perspective we have within our Multiage Program, as well as the individualized approach we are using, but also the future path we are projecting to travel through the course of the year.  And I say projecting because the bottom line is our path really is dependent on our students' needs and interests...

Our overarching philosophy continues to be:
STUDENTS first, then STANDARDS, then CURRICULUM/RESOURCES

Throughout conferences so far, students have been sharing personal highlights with their families, and these moments for us are priceless.  Their dialogue was not rehearsed, nor practiced, just purely from the heart.  They spoke of their goals, and each one displayed a unique passion for learning.  And can I say again outloud??-  "...And we are only in November people!!"  :)

Ann and I are thrilled with the milestones we have passed within just a few months; milestones we set for ourselves in developing our program.  What we have found over the course of the past 11 1/2 weeks is that our students (regardless of their academic standing or behavioral record) will rise to ANY occassion set before them, due to the environment we have established with them. We truly spent the first 6 weeks of school building a community: identifying learning styles/intelligences, celebrating uniqueness, exploring emotions, and building relationships.  These areas were discussed and practiced as we built the structure of our community and routines together.  The time spent on these endeavors has truly paid off!

We continue to explore the building blocks within each content area.  Our students prove to us everyday that they want to climb their individual towers, filling in their missing blocks as they go.  They know how to set a goal based on their own standards (individualized target walls), decide what resources they need, devise a plan, and accomplish the task (marking progress on their target walls on the standards-based continuum). They recognize what they know (GOT IT!) and what they don't (NEED IT!) based on their own evidence! It isn't about grades in our classroom community, but what building blocks they need to learn.  And if they have a particular building block, they become an expert within the community (aka "a resource"). 

This philosophy of student-driven learning is not new, but it does take a particular mindset.... to allow the students to be empowered by their learning.... to allow them to grow at them their own pace... to allow them to choose their daily goals/activities/resources... and to teach in a way that meets all learning styles within each whole group episode. We do not claim to be experts (as we are constantly in search of new ideas and strategies to further our own personal growth).  However, we do now how much "letting go" this process/teaching style/philosophy has required.

And just as we were searching and reading today, both of us became absorbed within the words of one teacher's blog... many of you may have already read his powerful statements and thought provoking dialogue.  http://stumpteacher.blogspot.com/ Thank you to Mr. Stumpenhorst! (And another thank you to Mrs. Ripp http://mrspripp.blogspot.com/ for nominating him on your blog, which allowed us to easily connect to his!) We are new to the daily following of blogs, but are really enjoying reading other educators' reflections about their daily work with students.  For Ann and I, finding Josh's words (as well as the numerous comments left by other educators on this path) was a full-circle moment for us....
***And Josh, we are at Phase 4 in general... thank you for putting this journey (mindset) into words! Ideas for moving to Phase 5???

~Celina

Taking time to reflect

We are halfway through conferences.  I love the way that first trimester conferences fall around a weekend.  It has given me that halfway point to reflect on what I have learned from my students and their families so far, ideas and areas I want to pursue that will both help and inspire my students based on their interests and needs.  Plus I am reminded that I too am still learning, that I too have areas in which to grow.


This fall we worked through a science kit around the topic of Variables -- something that is normally just for 5th graders in our district.  Having taught the kit for the last two years I was made aware that this concept should be used throughout science in all grades, so this year I wanted to teach it to our entire multiage group.  This turned out to be an epiphany in itself.  The majority of third graders readily took to the idea of what controlled, changed and measured variables are, and could quite easily identify them in a situation.  So many of the fifth graders could not.  Which left me wondering if this was a developmental thing. Were my third graders more open to the idea? I love a good mystery, and here I am with one that I will use to transform how I teach science and how my students can teach each other.  More to come . . . . 


One of my very quiet students shared her reflections about how our multiage classroom is going so far, and it was wonderful to hear her insights and thoughts on the process.  She has been inspired by our work with building blocks and learning partners to push herself into new levels.  She is a strong reader and writer, and through the conference shared even more of her interests with reading nonfiction, something she was choosing to read at home. She shared her thoughts on a presentation given by other classmates to our school board and hinted at her own desire to try something like that.  I was delighted to learn more about this very shy student, then to see her yesterday morning and recognize a change in her as well.  She was more confident, more happy to have been recognized for her interests and her intellect.  She is coming out of her shell a little more.  Everyday I am reminded of the uniqueness and special qualities of these amazing little beings!  Again, more to come . . . ~Ann

Truly Knowing Our Students

Our conferences begin today. Usually I am in a tiff, flitting about in chaos. Yesterday, though, marked a day of change.  A new mindset and philosophy has resulted in a different approach, as we are floating around in a bubble no one can pop (using a twist from one of my favorite metaphors from Ann)! Yesterday was the best time I have ever had stuffing report card folders- as we worked we read aloud their letters to their parents. Truly priceless! {...and then we un-stuffed the letters so we could make copies of them because they were truly amazing ... we want to be able to reshare them with students at the end of the year, plus use them for inspiration as we move forward}


We feel like we know our students this year even better than we ever have before.  And truly it's because each child has their own individualized program in reading, writing, math, and science (and soon social studies).  Our new program has opened new doors for us.  We know where each child is on each content area continuum, yet we are also able to teach several whole group lessons a day with all of these amazing brains working together.  And really these are not "traditional lessons", but conversations that are beginning to be driven by the students (and we are only in November!!).  They are sharing the strategies that are working for them and how they have approached the topic/activity for their own learning/ intelligence style.  The metaphors, quotes, and dialogue that are being shared are WOWING us each and everyday. We need more wall space for all the great thinking!!!


This year we are excited to have our conference conversations about the individual child, rather than the point we are at within the curriculum, or how their child's performance matched up to the curriculum's sequence or expectations.  In addition, we are prepared to share with parents the "building blocks" that are missing (and need to be filled) in order to move on to particular state standard expectations at the child's personal grade level.  We have specific academic prescriptions for each child and we are so excited to share them!!


~Celina

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

"Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after." Ann Morrow Lindbergh


Today and everyday I was reminded that I am blessed and lucky to work where I do, and with the people I do.   I am inspired everyday to push myself into new and more challenging roles, and there is a support system and belief in my abilities that allows me to try it at my own pace.  I grow at my own speed, and yet know that I am much further along than I could ever have been alone.  That I grow faster from the company that I keep and the ideas I am inspired to undertake.

And to think, a year ago I was in a far different place, until one good conversation, one share of an interesting article, one connection about my own child opened up a whole new world.  Thanking my lucky stars today and everyday.  ~Ann