I will continue to use the Math Exemplars and a few other sources I've tried, but if people have good sources I could look through during the summer, I would love to see them.
Any interest in buying the Science Exemplars?
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Problem Solving
I, like others will continue working on my goal of helping students become better problem solvers. Now my main thrust is to find more of those questions that make a good Exemplar type question. I have been disappointed with many of the questions I've tried or maybe in my choosing of the questions ("What was I thinking?") With such varying abilities in class, it's like I'm Goldilocks, where some questions are too easy, some are too hard, and only a few are just right (challenging enough for many students). I really love listening to their ideas when I hit on a good question. After sharing ideas and thinking, I've had them continue/rewrite/extend their own thinking/explanations, so each student can have some success and practice with the problem.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Differentiated Assessments
It's been just as long since I've posted about my goal, so here's an update on my progress toward developing differentiated assessments in social studies. I've spoken about our Egypt projects which were differentiated by content and product. I fell off the wagon when it came time for our study of ancient India. I gave a standard test for that unit: matching, multiple choice, and essay question.
I tried to get back on track with China. Every student wrote an expository essay, but it was differentiated based on interest. Students chose a topic, such as The Great Wall, Confucius, or gunpowder. Using books from the public library and Internet sources, students formulated a main idea about that topic and selected three supporting details to expand on it. This was difficult for several kids, and I helped those students formulate main and write the introductions of their papers.
You can probably see that I've taken the easiest path to differentiation. It's simple to differentiate content based on student interest. All I had to do was contact the public library, get all the books they had on ancient China, and let the kids go! I provided note taking forms, outlining sheets, and an overall structure for the paper. Students did what I wanted- read nonfiction texts about China and wrote an expository essay. The key was that they went through the process of writing an essay on something they enjoyed reading about. I didn't have to fight with kids during the research sessions in class. They were into their topics and the finished products reflect that.
For ancient Greece, the kids are all working on creating a new kind of cereal based on a character from Greek mythology. Again, the content is differentiated based on student interest. Each student chose a god, goddess, hero, or monster. They are taking a myth containing that character and retelling it on the back of the cereal box. Then they get to have fun coming up with a name for the cereal and a cover design. Students will share their retellings in class to add an oral speaking component. These are due in class on Friday, so we'll see how they turn out. The kids seemed pretty psyched about the idea when I introduced it last week.
This is a goal that I definitely need to continue to develop each year. Differentiating by tapping into students' interests is a low-level form of differentiation because it requires the least amount of teacher preparation. I know their are high-prep ways of differentiating content, processes, and products. I'd like to incorporate some of those high-prep strategies in my social studies curriculum next year.
I tried to get back on track with China. Every student wrote an expository essay, but it was differentiated based on interest. Students chose a topic, such as The Great Wall, Confucius, or gunpowder. Using books from the public library and Internet sources, students formulated a main idea about that topic and selected three supporting details to expand on it. This was difficult for several kids, and I helped those students formulate main and write the introductions of their papers.
You can probably see that I've taken the easiest path to differentiation. It's simple to differentiate content based on student interest. All I had to do was contact the public library, get all the books they had on ancient China, and let the kids go! I provided note taking forms, outlining sheets, and an overall structure for the paper. Students did what I wanted- read nonfiction texts about China and wrote an expository essay. The key was that they went through the process of writing an essay on something they enjoyed reading about. I didn't have to fight with kids during the research sessions in class. They were into their topics and the finished products reflect that.
For ancient Greece, the kids are all working on creating a new kind of cereal based on a character from Greek mythology. Again, the content is differentiated based on student interest. Each student chose a god, goddess, hero, or monster. They are taking a myth containing that character and retelling it on the back of the cereal box. Then they get to have fun coming up with a name for the cereal and a cover design. Students will share their retellings in class to add an oral speaking component. These are due in class on Friday, so we'll see how they turn out. The kids seemed pretty psyched about the idea when I introduced it last week.
This is a goal that I definitely need to continue to develop each year. Differentiating by tapping into students' interests is a low-level form of differentiation because it requires the least amount of teacher preparation. I know their are high-prep ways of differentiating content, processes, and products. I'd like to incorporate some of those high-prep strategies in my social studies curriculum next year.
Checking In
Forgive me, bloggers. It has been over 6 months since my last post! It's not that I haven't thought about posting... It's not that I haven't been working on my goal (looking critically at different ways I can give feedback on student writing)... It's just that I've been feeling rather disheartened all year, and haven't really had the gumption to write. But it's been 6 months, so I figured I'd better write something!
When I last wrote, I had been experimenting with giving students written responses in bullet points, focusing on what is working. Since then, I have gone to a checklist with three columns: "Excellent," "You're on the right track," and "Needs improvement," and I modify the specifics of the criterion depending on the assignment. (I have also used a similar checklist with questions like "does the writer..." and "yes" or "not yet" as the possibilities.) This lets me focus on issues of content, organization, style, mechanics, etc. At the bottom of the checklist, I try to write a few sentences that respond to what the student has said, and not how they have said it. (For example, on their "This I Believe" essays, I wrote a few sentences in response to the belief itself, or the personal anecdote they told to illustrate the belief. Instead of assessing their writing, I reacted as a reader.)
As far as teacher-friendliness, this system is working pretty well. It's efficient, and helps me focus on the elements of an assignment for which I most want to hold students accountable. I like that the categories are consistent and on a continuum, and that I can change the specific criterion. What I am still struggling with, as I have been all year, is how to assign a number (or letter) grade to their writing. Actually, that's not true... I have no problem giving a point value to each category ("Excellent" = 3, "Needs improvement" = 1, etc.) The problem is that the kids only notice the grade and ignore the written comments and the checklist. No matter how hard I try to stress the content of the feedback, they are only interested in the grade. I have, at times, left the grade off, and just recorded it in teacherease. This only serves to postpone their grade-focused response until the end of the day when they jump on a computer to see their "real" grade.
I have also had a few unpleasant instances of students who are so mad about their grade that they don't/can't pay attention to the actual feedback I have given them. This feels like a missed educational opportunity. Instead of being a writing teacher, I become the enemy who has failed them. That's incredibly frustrating.
So perhaps you can see why I haven't posted too much this year... I haven't seen the progress that I had hoped for when I set this goal. I still think it's a worthy goal, and maybe one I can continue to work on next year. When I have the answer, I will be very happy to share it!
Tamar
When I last wrote, I had been experimenting with giving students written responses in bullet points, focusing on what is working. Since then, I have gone to a checklist with three columns: "Excellent," "You're on the right track," and "Needs improvement," and I modify the specifics of the criterion depending on the assignment. (I have also used a similar checklist with questions like "does the writer..." and "yes" or "not yet" as the possibilities.) This lets me focus on issues of content, organization, style, mechanics, etc. At the bottom of the checklist, I try to write a few sentences that respond to what the student has said, and not how they have said it. (For example, on their "This I Believe" essays, I wrote a few sentences in response to the belief itself, or the personal anecdote they told to illustrate the belief. Instead of assessing their writing, I reacted as a reader.)
As far as teacher-friendliness, this system is working pretty well. It's efficient, and helps me focus on the elements of an assignment for which I most want to hold students accountable. I like that the categories are consistent and on a continuum, and that I can change the specific criterion. What I am still struggling with, as I have been all year, is how to assign a number (or letter) grade to their writing. Actually, that's not true... I have no problem giving a point value to each category ("Excellent" = 3, "Needs improvement" = 1, etc.) The problem is that the kids only notice the grade and ignore the written comments and the checklist. No matter how hard I try to stress the content of the feedback, they are only interested in the grade. I have, at times, left the grade off, and just recorded it in teacherease. This only serves to postpone their grade-focused response until the end of the day when they jump on a computer to see their "real" grade.
I have also had a few unpleasant instances of students who are so mad about their grade that they don't/can't pay attention to the actual feedback I have given them. This feels like a missed educational opportunity. Instead of being a writing teacher, I become the enemy who has failed them. That's incredibly frustrating.
So perhaps you can see why I haven't posted too much this year... I haven't seen the progress that I had hoped for when I set this goal. I still think it's a worthy goal, and maybe one I can continue to work on next year. When I have the answer, I will be very happy to share it!
Tamar
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