I finished up a two-day professional development yesterday on interdisciplinary teaming. Day 1 was incredible. Our team worked hard to develop it's name, logo, common themes, etc. Each activity edified, each story intrigued, and everyone seemed to leave excited for the future. Then there was day two. We were barraged with personal stories that left one wondering what the point was, we felt coerced into completing tasks that offered no deeper application, and we were held captive with nothing to do for two hours in order to receive our payment for the previous six hours. I love how the facilitator of Day 1 presented her information. I respect the facilitator of Day 2, but it just wasn't her best teaching moment. I guess, the whole point of this story is that "actions speak louder than words". In order for me to NOT fall into the same trap as Day 2 facilitator I need to be aware of the ratio of actions/words that I require of my students. I do NOT want my students coming home and telling their parents that they were held captive by their teacher...unless it's because I'm teaching something that is truly captivating.
So, I might have bitten off something bigger than I can chew. I decided to start this year with "standards based grading". What is that you ask? Or isn't that what you complained about so much last year? (Okay, maybe I didn't complain on this blog...but if you'd been around when I finished reading some books for school, or happen to be my friend on Good Reads, you'd know that I haven't been a fan.) Well, standards based grading is grading students entirely on the standards that you teach. Sounds simplify enough, I know...but it isn't. This means that a grade can NOT be lowered because of absences or tardies. Late work and extra credit aren't allowed either. I read 2 books last spring on Standards Based Grading and hated everything about it.
So, why do it this year? Well, my principal gave me a new book for summer reading and the approach is completely different. Instead of "everything you've ever done for grading is WRONG" like in one of the spring time books, this book is "tweak a few things and you're there." So, I tweaked. This year instead of having categories for tests, homework, participation, etc for my grades, the categories will be Number Sense, Proportional Relationships, Executive Functioning Skills, etc. I will still give the same homework and tests as before, I'll just group them differently. I don't know if it's truly Standard Based Grading, but that's what I'm doing. So, here goes. Wish me luck! (I'm sure there will be more posts in the future on how it works/doesn't work.)
