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Alumni Party

I have reached a milestone at my new school.  The first group of students I taught in my IB Environmental Systems and Societies class have graduated and are now now coming back as young alumni.

There's been an influx of students back at school with the holidays approaching.  They look the same (some still a little shell-shocked from their first round of actual college exams), but they are standing up a little straighter.  They ask how the class is going. 

"Good."  I keep the answer simple.  I don't know that these students would appreciate how much their feeedback on the course meant to me, how I've changed the curriculum based on their comments, likes and dislikes.  (Maybe one day I will get one studying education, but not yet)

I ask about their new lives. So far I've heard:

"It's a lot of work but I love it." 
"I'm pretty well prepared after school here."
"I actually do a lot of environmental science stuff.  Your class was really helpful."

(Guess which comment was my favorite?)

It's been so nice to have students come back and visit.  It's important for the younger kids to see the next step, and to be honest, it's important for me as well.

Happy (almost) vacation across the globe! 

Online Grades

This week I had a student approach me tremendously concerned about the latest Biology grades. The conversation went like this:

Student: Ms. Schley! I got an 85 on the last test! It brought my grade down from a 100 percent to an 88 percent.  That is TERRIBLE.

Me: Well, it's not reasonable to expect to keep a 100 percent for the whole trimester. An 88 percent is a great grade--almost an A-.

Student: Gahhhh.  I prefer 100 percent.  Is there any way to get my grade back up to 100 percent even though I failed the test?

Me: You didn't fail the test! You got a B!  It was a hard test.  B is a good grade.

Student: Ewww.  Are we going to be able to do test corrections?  It makes my Parent Connect look terrible.  I hate seeing the grades go down in there.

Me: Of course you can do test corrections.  You can get half the points you missed back. 

Student: Will that bring my grade back up to 100 percent?

Me: (blank stare)  How are you doing in math class?

I have conversations like this all the time at my school.  It makes me wonder--what are we teaching the kids to be concerned with in regard to their grades?  Are online grades really helpful for learning?  Or are we teaching students to be concerned with meaningless metrics and numbers, rushing through work they don't understand to ensure good judgement in some futile online system?  

So much judgement for teenagers comes from the digital realm.  Likes on Facebook and followers on Instagram. Virtual competition in gaming.  Badges on FourSquare. There is even an app to measure and judge how much water you drink every day.  

Should we be teaching students how to make judgements about their achievements on their own, instead of relying on a variety of technological tools to create their reality?  It feels like with every online grade I post, the students get further away from their actual learning and more invested in an algorithm of judgement numbers posted online. 

Use of Assessment

Today I gave my first quiz of the year. I haven't even graded them yet, but already I am discouraged.  Every year, as I watch students get into the routine of going to school, I see assessments cause them so much stress at anxiety.  In some students, it causes them to lose sleep.  In more serious cases, it causes students to lose confidence---believing they are not "smart enough" to comprehend the materials.
I want to have every students feel success in my class--not the stress of conformity.  Later in the year, once they understand the formula of how to study for me and get into the routine of school, the stress decreases, but I always start the year wondering:

Instead of stress DECREASING how can I provide assessments that allow knowledge and creativity to INCREASE?  Where do grades that I assign fit into an authentic overview of a student as a learner?  How can I provide assessments that inspire students, rather than simply judging them?

Teachers--any tricks?  Students--any thoughts?
Please feel free to share below : )

Class Debates

POWER HOUR DEBATE LESSON

This year we have been doing a big debate once a cycle or so.  I have really been enjoying them and feel like we are finally catching a good routine.  Here is the procedure we ended up with by the last section of the current debate ("The Ethics of Genetically Engineered Children"):

1)  A homework writing to get students thinking (in this case based on GATTACA)
2)  20 minutes for document review and to start constructing arguments for both sides.
3)  During those 20 minutes, teacher goes around and checks in with people about what side of the debate they would prefer to be on (no promises, but it worked out pretty even this time).
4)  The debate teams are assigned, along with a panel of 5 judges that sit in the front of the room.
5) Each team presents arguments for 3 minutes, rebuttal for 2 minutes and closing statement for 1 minute.
6) Judges deliberate and announce the winner

A busy hour, but great to fit such an engaging (for some/most) activity into 1 class!  A surprising change (suggested at the last minute by my co-teacher--thanks, Mr. Kimmel) was the difference in flipping the debate teams forward to face the judges, instead of having them face each other. Something I wish I had emphasized more is the importance of taking notes while the other team is talking.

Student Engagement

A large percentage of the Hudson staff just returned from Educon, an excellent conference at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia that focuses on innovation in education. As a first time attendee, I was excited to visit several very inventive sessions around innovation and technology:

Conversation 1: Open Pedagogy/Dr. David Wiley (CoFounder of Lumen Learning)
Dr. Wiley's talk focused on ways to use (and create) open source textbooks in the classroom.  His best piece of advice was to learn how to use Google Advanced Search:

Select the usage rights option "free to use, share or modify, even commercially" then type "your-subject-area textbook" or whatever text you are looking for.  I think this will bring some great online text-based resources into my classroom : )


Conversation 2: Unleashing Student Super Powers/Kristin Swanson & Hadley Ferguson
To be fair, this session moved rooms at the last minute and I thought I was attending a discussion of Common Core standards (something I figured out just now).  Instead of Common Core we discussed student superpowers, completed a role play game and designed a school bus using post its, plastic cups and paper clips.  The takeaway: activities are awesome.  Don't talk at kids, let them DO it.

Conversation 3: The Right Tool for the Job: Promoting Student Choice/Kim Deveaux (Ethical Culture School)
This session was a good reminder that students can control their own learning through the use of technology.  Ethical Culture Fieldston School does an amazing job with online portfolios that track student mastery.  A little bit chic-chic private school, but an amazing job.

Conversation 4: Preventing the Zombie Apocalypse: Engaging All Learners/Gerald Aungst (Cheltenham)
The best thing we did in this session was make a foldable.  I remembered how much I LOVE foldables. I want to bring them back into the classroom ASAP. The one we did was a 4-section foldable with a definition, a section to agree, a section to disagree and a section to state your final word that I think could be really helpful in a debate protocol.

Miss, this is the BEST LAB EVER

The squid dissection rocks.  It is project-based, student-centered, hands-on, engaging and can be easily replaced or supplemented with an online alternative.  The students deepen their understanding of body systems and how different organs are connected to maintain homeostasis.  More importantly, I believe they feel in this lab more than any other lab in the year that they are Scientists--using important tools to conduct important work.  And its true!! The day is always an absolute pleasure (as long as the air freshener doesn't run out).  Check out some pictures below.  Students, feel free to comment with your favorite part of the lab!!