Cartoons to get to Know Someone
When we were first given the syllabus for 665, we had to create a Learning Activity that would be a small part of a larger course in which we would work at using the planning of Understanding By Design. My group spoke right away of what we wanted to do, and after talking with Melissa, came up with some greater clarification and direction that we wanted to proceed. We all decided that for us, Virt Camp was something although meant to be well designed, lacked design. So, we put our head together to create a new improved vision for Virt Camp or an introductory camp like it. What we soon realized, given our LA was that our focus and G7’s focus were very similar. We both valued getting to know people in our groups before we opened up to them. They created a really fun activity that I can see using in my own classroom not just with getting to know others.
As students of OMET, we are conducting research in our field of work. Each semester, we are asked ot switch learning circles in which we learn, support, and challenge one another’s research work. The challenge in switching LC’s so much is that you have to relearn someone else’s project and how far they have come. In order to make that process simpler and more clear, G7 developed a cartoon acitivty where I would create a toon of my AR without captions, then in our LC we would exchange toons and another of my LC members would add the captions to go with my AR work. The three toon programs we could use were ToonDoo (web-based), BitStrips (web-based) or ComicLife (download free trial software). We were also asked to read an article about building trust in online learning circles.
It was fun to see the hard work some put into their toons and as usual how others would not contribute. This was a fun activity and was nice to see a bridge between our 665 class and 638. I thought their activity was very effective as did Margaret because she is adding this as an activity to assist in our LC work.
The followed their activity with a survey for us to complete looking at the connections between this activity in their essential questions and learning goals. I think it did an effective job and is something I am going to use in my own classrooms.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Real World Economics
Saving for the Future...
After working on the large activity of learning a foreign language, I was worried about how big in scope each groups’ Learning activity would be. Luckily, the following group created a very meaningful and relevant activity for us to learn about real world economics.
Their group assigned each student a profession and a salary. We all had the common background that we were all single and no children. We were then to figure out a savings plan for ourselves in light of our current US economic situation considering rent, insurance, utilities, grocery, etc…. This assignment was interesting in many ways because we all had ot step out of our lives and consider what it would be like to be another individual earning either more or less than we do now. The activity asked for us to learn Budgetpulse and create charts that demonstrated what we would spend and what we would save. We used these charts for a discussion that followed.
I enjoyed this activity a lot and thought the relevancy for today’s adults and youth was quite meaningful. We could all learn, especially with the numerous software applications available, to budget appropriately and learn the power of saving. Additionally, the follow up questions that were asked created a nice discussion for us to examine our current practices in spite of what we learned.
Finally, the group concluded with a survey asking about the connections between their essential learnings and the activity itself. I was really impressed with the overall plan of their lesson, the execution, the follow-up discussion and the survey.
After working on the large activity of learning a foreign language, I was worried about how big in scope each groups’ Learning activity would be. Luckily, the following group created a very meaningful and relevant activity for us to learn about real world economics.
Their group assigned each student a profession and a salary. We all had the common background that we were all single and no children. We were then to figure out a savings plan for ourselves in light of our current US economic situation considering rent, insurance, utilities, grocery, etc…. This assignment was interesting in many ways because we all had ot step out of our lives and consider what it would be like to be another individual earning either more or less than we do now. The activity asked for us to learn Budgetpulse and create charts that demonstrated what we would spend and what we would save. We used these charts for a discussion that followed.
I enjoyed this activity a lot and thought the relevancy for today’s adults and youth was quite meaningful. We could all learn, especially with the numerous software applications available, to budget appropriately and learn the power of saving. Additionally, the follow up questions that were asked created a nice discussion for us to examine our current practices in spite of what we learned.
Finally, the group concluded with a survey asking about the connections between their essential learnings and the activity itself. I was really impressed with the overall plan of their lesson, the execution, the follow-up discussion and the survey.
Learning a Foreign Language
The Furious Five had ambitious goals for their learning activity asking the students to learn a foreign language, prepare a travel itinerary, learn a new piece of technology, and write paragraphs in the foreign language about all of this. The developed a wonderful learning cite that would guide us students throughout this journey. I shared the Busuu.com site with our foreign language teacher in order to provide another tool for their tool box to use at school.
Some of the aspects of their LA I really enjoyed were the number of interactive and informative tutorials to assist the learner throughout this adventure. The tutorials working your way through Busuu was helpful and necessary so that time could be concentrated on the assignment itself. Also, I really enjoyed all the mapping their website provided. Whenever you had a question, there was a point of reference that could be found on the website to answer your question.
Challenges included the scope of the assignment. I felt for a one week assignment, this activity was well beyond what you would learn or be able to do in a classroom. The time just to make it through the tutorials, and writing paragraphs was considerable. I am just unsure of how realistic the assignment was.
Overall, I was glad at the variety within the activity. I could take the learning as far as I was interested in pursuing and I think that is essential with a large activity such as this. I wish there was more participation in the discussion boards when I reacted to my participation in order to conduct more of a dialogue. What I was impressed by and influenced my approach to my LA was how attentive the leaders were to your answers. I took away their attentiveness and applied it to my groups LA.
Some of the aspects of their LA I really enjoyed were the number of interactive and informative tutorials to assist the learner throughout this adventure. The tutorials working your way through Busuu was helpful and necessary so that time could be concentrated on the assignment itself. Also, I really enjoyed all the mapping their website provided. Whenever you had a question, there was a point of reference that could be found on the website to answer your question.
Challenges included the scope of the assignment. I felt for a one week assignment, this activity was well beyond what you would learn or be able to do in a classroom. The time just to make it through the tutorials, and writing paragraphs was considerable. I am just unsure of how realistic the assignment was.
Overall, I was glad at the variety within the activity. I could take the learning as far as I was interested in pursuing and I think that is essential with a large activity such as this. I wish there was more participation in the discussion boards when I reacted to my participation in order to conduct more of a dialogue. What I was impressed by and influenced my approach to my LA was how attentive the leaders were to your answers. I took away their attentiveness and applied it to my groups LA.
LA reflection Type A: Redoing Virt Camp
When we were first given the syllabus for 665, we had to create a Learning Activity that would be a small part of a larger course in which we would work at using the planning of Understanding By Design. My group spoke right away of what we wanted to do, and after talking with Melissa, came up with some greater clarification and direction that we wanted to proceed. We all decided that for us, Virt Camp was something although meant to be well designed, lacked design. So, we put our head together to create a new improved vision for Virt Camp or an introductory camp like it. What we soon realized, given our understandings of UbD is that this was going to be a challenge.
We are all opinionated members in Type A and all are outspoken in what we feel, but this has extreme advantages when working with others who understand you and want to do their best work. By meeting several times before Orlando, during and after, we were well organized. We put together a plan for introducing ourselves to one another before we would arrive at Virt Camp in order to have a better understanding of whom each individual is and why they would want to pursue their Masters degree with OMET. We addressed this issue in the broader learning goal of understanding what makes up a community of learners and how to do create a community of learners. Our learning activity can be found here.
I think we introduced the plan well in our initial email that Tanner sent out, and also sought out questions and clarification our group members would need by reintroducing the lesson again at the TI session. This way, we could make sure students understood the essential learnings that would be the focus on the lesson, why we wanted them to create the video, and hopefully, begin building the foundation for a community of learners. We introduced the essential questions first in our lesson design so that students could see the whole then break it down into parts as it would relate back to the whole.
It took some time to get people to participate in this activity as can be expected because three LA’s were all assigned at the same time. However, the videos that were posted were all fun to watch and interesting to see other’s reactions to each others videos. Some were of course higher quality addressing all the questions that were asked for them to put into the video in order to address the essential questions, but overall I think it worked well.
After the videos were posted, we asked the students to react to one another’s videos. This is one area where we were hoping to see not just acknowledgement and praise for each others efforts which could be the basis for building trust in a community of learners, but to also ask for additional clarification and understanding. Some did a good job of this, and others chose not to complete this aspect of the assignment at all. I think we could have put the students in smaller learning circles or taken their LC’s to have them react to one another’s videos in order to assist in reacting to videos. This way at least their would be smaller groups checking in on one another versus us.
As a final reaction from the group, we asked them to complete a survey to see their reflection on the assignment as well as its connection to our essential learnings. The survey results provided clarification on some aspects of the videos. Students who did a good job on their were frustrated by others who had not answered all the questions, and others who produced poorer quality videos expressed the challenge in being limited to 1 minute or of learning a new piece of technology. Some discussed the challenge of this being an opening activity at Virt Camp and would everyone have the expertise to know how to create a video. All of these are good reflection to consider when redesigning this lesson for another class or as Margaret has suggested for use in when we change LC’s.
I think it can’t be emphasized enough the importance of building a foundation to grow from when you are working in cooperative groups. Because we have all gotten to know each other this year, it has helped build that trust. But, could this trust have been established sooner if some of the techniques our group and G7 used? I think so.
Overall, I was happy with the Learning Activity. I wish we could have received some better quality work from all members, increased assistance from one of my Type A members, but regardless, we all completed this activity as a team, and building the foundation of a community of learners.
We are all opinionated members in Type A and all are outspoken in what we feel, but this has extreme advantages when working with others who understand you and want to do their best work. By meeting several times before Orlando, during and after, we were well organized. We put together a plan for introducing ourselves to one another before we would arrive at Virt Camp in order to have a better understanding of whom each individual is and why they would want to pursue their Masters degree with OMET. We addressed this issue in the broader learning goal of understanding what makes up a community of learners and how to do create a community of learners. Our learning activity can be found here.
I think we introduced the plan well in our initial email that Tanner sent out, and also sought out questions and clarification our group members would need by reintroducing the lesson again at the TI session. This way, we could make sure students understood the essential learnings that would be the focus on the lesson, why we wanted them to create the video, and hopefully, begin building the foundation for a community of learners. We introduced the essential questions first in our lesson design so that students could see the whole then break it down into parts as it would relate back to the whole.
It took some time to get people to participate in this activity as can be expected because three LA’s were all assigned at the same time. However, the videos that were posted were all fun to watch and interesting to see other’s reactions to each others videos. Some were of course higher quality addressing all the questions that were asked for them to put into the video in order to address the essential questions, but overall I think it worked well.
After the videos were posted, we asked the students to react to one another’s videos. This is one area where we were hoping to see not just acknowledgement and praise for each others efforts which could be the basis for building trust in a community of learners, but to also ask for additional clarification and understanding. Some did a good job of this, and others chose not to complete this aspect of the assignment at all. I think we could have put the students in smaller learning circles or taken their LC’s to have them react to one another’s videos in order to assist in reacting to videos. This way at least their would be smaller groups checking in on one another versus us.
As a final reaction from the group, we asked them to complete a survey to see their reflection on the assignment as well as its connection to our essential learnings. The survey results provided clarification on some aspects of the videos. Students who did a good job on their were frustrated by others who had not answered all the questions, and others who produced poorer quality videos expressed the challenge in being limited to 1 minute or of learning a new piece of technology. Some discussed the challenge of this being an opening activity at Virt Camp and would everyone have the expertise to know how to create a video. All of these are good reflection to consider when redesigning this lesson for another class or as Margaret has suggested for use in when we change LC’s.
I think it can’t be emphasized enough the importance of building a foundation to grow from when you are working in cooperative groups. Because we have all gotten to know each other this year, it has helped build that trust. But, could this trust have been established sooner if some of the techniques our group and G7 used? I think so.
Overall, I was happy with the Learning Activity. I wish we could have received some better quality work from all members, increased assistance from one of my Type A members, but regardless, we all completed this activity as a team, and building the foundation of a community of learners.
Kids responses to cycle 2 feedback
What was the most effective part of the dual feedback you received?
Understanding what other people have to say(JO)
Where my mistakes and errors were shown to me so I could go back and fix them (BG)
I liked the two opinions expressed in ever feedback (AW)
Getting back two different perspectives of advice (MB)
The feedback was very helpful because most of the time if I didn’t understand something the feedback would help me and it was very detailed (GV)
Getting feedback from two people is very helpful to me. The most effective part of it has been getting information back on ways to improve writing from more than one person. (CW)
That there are mistakes or other opinions that just one person could not find (ML)
I got feedback from two different points of view (FB)
I found it to be interesting to have feedback from two teachers. It was kind of weird at first but it really helped later on. It helped me to revise my papers correctly and accurately (CO)
Most effective part about the dual feedback was that each teacher had different suggestions. And if one missed one mistake that I made the other teacher would catch it. (BS)
The most effective part of the dual feedback that I received was I got to see how two different teachers graded my papers, and what they thought. (AL)
I can always see what I’ve done wrong (MB)
It helped me look at different aspects of my paper in different ways, from different standpoints and it helped me perfect if you will my whole paragraph structure. (NK)
The most effective part was that I had a chance to hear from two teacher and what they thought was good and what was wrong. It was quite overwhelming (JL)
The most effective part of the dual feedback was the fact that if Ruggles missed something Smith could catch it and vice versa (OB)
Having two points of view to listen to and two different sets of advice, because if I didn’t like one idea I could go with a different one (NL)
I got to see what I was good at and what I needed to improve. It also helped me see what the teachers said and if I missed something they would tell me so that I wouldn’t get graded down on it. (BB)
The most effective part of dual feedback is that since two people were looking at the paper there was less of a chance to keep having to redo stuff that was missed the first time. (AS)
The most effective part of the dual feedback has been that my paper was more carefully looked over things that one missed and the other caught. Also I gave me the chance to see the opinions of two completely different people and apply the suggestions to my paper making it even better. (EK)
The most effective part of the dual feedback that I received was just the idea of having two different sets of opinions. You get to see from two different people with two totally separate writing styles what one thought you did good and another teachers opinion of what you did bad. (MI)
Probably the punctuation in my paper (ER)
What could have been improved about the feedback you received? Think about oral feedback, written feedback, and dual feedback.
Oral was ok, written needed to be more clearly, dual was good
More specific on the feedback and examples to help me fix it
I think I would have done better one my paper without two conflicting opinions
Feedback contradicted each other
Dual feedback wasn’t as specific as the oral was
The feedback that I received was very helpful tome. It was all good feedback oral, written and especially dual.
What could have improved is completely different thinking and not the same thing twice
Explain what you are saying more
I think that what could be improved is that on the feedback you guys could talk to each other so that you guys don’t put down all of the same corrections on the papers.
I really liked having the oral feedback. It made more sense to me when it was explained in person instead of having the mistake written down and not understanding it.
We needed more time because it was overwhelming to get so much feedback all at once.
On the dual feedback there are a lot of repeated things
I don’t think that anything needs to be changed about feedback. I don’t really see how you can improve anything on feedback, feedback is just comments left by teacher, usually just ideas.
The feedback was a lot to handle all at one and was a lot to fix. I thought it was way too much to fix and it was crazy.
I think the written feedback could have been explained more because I always have questions on the written feedback because either I can’t read it or it is not explained clearly enough. I like the oral feedback better because it is one on one and I can question right then and there. I like the dual feedback as well.
I think that sometimes the written feedback was hard to understand and a lot of times I had to ask about what exactly the writing meant.
Was explaining on why we had to change something in our writing. Oral feedback was good because they could come to our computers and show us what we needed. The written feedback was good because they would circle the things that had to be changed to show what was wrong. The dual feedback was not my favorite because it went by really fast and I didn’t get all my questions answered.
The thing that could have been better about the feedback in general is that it could have been more consistent. It just felt like I fixed all the mistakes on my paper just so that the next time we turned in another draft there was always more in the same place I had just fixed. I think it just needs to be more consistent.
Often I had to fix a part of my paper and then I would get feedback the next day instead of before I fixed it. It would have been more helpful if we didn’t correct the papers until we had the feedback from the day before back. That way we could use the feedback when we were revising our papers.
I think sometimes the feedback can be too harsh. I understand that it is important to criticize what was done wrong, but I think more ideas need to be given how to fix the problems.
I don’t think much could be improved I think Smith and Rugs did a pretty good job at covering everything we need to fix.
Over the course of the A-CW paper, do you think your writing improved? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?
Write a better essay get a better grade
I really do that think I just exercised my previous skills but I did learn about how to put quotes in and to organize a paragraph but my skills did not improve
I do not think my writing improved that much because I didn’t receive writing instruction on how to improve my writing in the future. I only got instructions on how to improve this paper.
My writing improved because I received feedback so I knew exactly what to do to make my paper better. I improved my grammar and structure
I would say that this assignment helped me a lot because I didn’t really know that there was so many steps to writing a paper.
Doing the ACW paper helped me improve my writing in many ways. Before that paper, I did not format papers very well. Now I can format the entire paper
Yes, I think my writing improved lots because before I started I did not know how to right a formal paper
I think my writing improved more because we did a lot of writing
I think that my writing improved. I learned a lot more about attention getter for an opener. So I had a new creative way to start off essays and paragraphs.
I think my writing did improve. All the feedback that was received was very helpful and even more helpful that it was from two teachers
I thought that my writing had improved. I improved in the way I put my writing together, along with learning the correct way to quote people as well as making a point to the paragraph
I think that it has because every time I thought I was done, you would always have more things I could improve upon
I think that with all of the papers we had to write and all of the research we had to do, I think that it made me think of some topics in a more broad spectrum if that makes sense.
My writing improved in the way that I think . I normally do not do papers that make you think a lot and this one was a challenge for me
I think my writing did improve over the course of the paper. I have become better at providing information …
I do think that my writing improved because as the paper progressed because I learned how to use the format better and what I should say when writing my paper.
I believe my writing had improved because I understand how to line up paragraphs better. I have also gotten better at quotes and citations. I am now good at understanding where to put the citations after the quotes.
I think that over the course of the paper I did improve my writing a lot because I learned about some of my common mistakes and because of all of this I could proofread myself better.
I think that my writing improved in terms of structure. We made sure that each paragraph had every part and that they all flowed together. Also we made sure that we all understood how to write each part.
I think that it has improved because from the start I found this assignment very challenging. It was hard to make everything flow and to keep my opinion toned down into a manner that was acceptable for formal writing piece which is challenging when your topic is something you want to change. Through this unit, and even still now I am working on my corrections I am learning more and more about the set up of writing styles.
I think it got a little better however, I do not think I’m an excellent writer.
What essential writing skills did you take away from the unit?
Better topic sentence, thesis, longer paragraphs
None except incorporating quotes and organizing paragraph skills
I learned how to write a 5 paragraph essay and stay on topic
Organization skills and structural skills. I learned how to write a paper in sections and how to write it in a good advanced form.
All the punctuation that I didn’t exactly know how to use
The things that has helped me the most outside of that paper and that unit is knowing how to format papers and more specifically the paragraphs in the paper
I took the skills of not saying I me my or you and also to write a formal paper
I learned the structure of writing a paragraph
I learned a lot about grammar and correction and revision. I now know how to efficiently revise and correct my paper and know the right grammar to use in some situations.
I think I got a lot better at the forms of my paragraphs and how to write them better and relate back to the topic sentence
The essential writing that I got out of the unit was the overall format
The most important writing skills I took away from this assignment would be proofreading
I learned how to keep the reader glued to the paper and really make my paper come to life with elements that are interesting to the reader, and it really make writing easier if you know how to put it all together in some sort of creative way.
I did not really take any essential writing things away from this thing.
An essential writing skill I took away from this unit were stating a position, writing a better thesis and overall writing better paragraphs.
Took away a new format for writing including the format for writing thesis and how to use quotes and research in my paper.
How to put together a perfect paragraph. Now I know how to do lead-ins and my topic sentence better.
I learned a lot more about grammar and things that should be written a lot because I learned about some of my common mistakes and because of this I could proofread myself better.
I learned how to write properly and in a certain format. Now if sometime in the future I need to write a paper like this one I will know how and I will have experience.
Opinionated and persuasive writing skills were taken away in my paper. When writing a formal letter, you do not want your passionate feelings and reasonings to come across rude.
How to form a position paper.
What suggestions for improvement do you have for teaching the A-CW paper next year? What suggestions would you give to students next year in completing A-CW?
Make sure you get it right the first time
Not to do the paper period, (BG)…
I think that you should do more of the paper in class so that students can ask questions when they have them instead of later when they forget them
More work time and the project cut into a shorter amount of time…
It might be hard to find quotes for some of the topics they might choose.
Not to pile so much work on at one time. It is a very challenging paper and should not be rushed too much.
Give more work time to those who need it and let them use their I pods so the classroom stay quiet
Give more time
I would suggest that you expand more on the intro and how to do that. More time for each paragraphs
Improvement for a teacher on the paper would be to go at a little slower rate towards the end of the paper.
Give students more time to finish the paper
I wouldn’t change anything
Just turn it in on time
Do not do the double feedback thing because it is a lot to handle and a lot for a kid to try and fix on his won. Also he needs more work time with the teacher just one on one.
One improvement is to explain the difference between point to the paragraph and make the point. They are so hard to differentiate so it was hard for me to actually think of them and I didn’t actually add one of the two for some paragraphs
Would suggest that you have one on one editing time for papers because that helped me the most when I got one on one time.
The suggestions that I have for the teachers nest year is to give us a better explanation on our mistakes in our writing.
Stay on top of this work
For teaching the paper next year, I think more time should be spent on finding subjects to write about, exploring action plans.
This isn’t something that can really be taught. I think its important that the students pick a topic they are passionate about or else there will be no point in them even doing the job. SO your job as a teacher should be to motivate and inspire the kids maybe by showing them videos about problems throughout the world, read articles, anything.
Just let them know that although they might have the redo policy it’s still in their best interest to get everything in one time so they can be squared away for the due date of the paper.
What kinds of feedback were the most meaningful and relevant? Think about oral feedback, written feedback, and dual feedback.
Dual feedback
Oral, written and dual feedback is best because it gives a variety and two teachers can help you the more the better
Written most relevant
Written feedback- let me know exactly what I needed to do to make my project better and was very specific
Best feedback was the oral kind because I would understand it better
Written feedback was the most helpful. I always knew what was being asked of me because it was written right on the paper.
Oral and dual feedbacks were the most meaningful and relevant
Written feedback
Big errors like missing quotes and stuff
The most meaningful feedback was the oral feedback because I learn better when I hear it
Dual feedback because we got to see not only one but two different ways that people revised the assignment
The most helpful feedback was the oral feedback because I could argue and or show my side of the point instead of the teacher telling me what I did wrong
Like I said before, I think any kind of feedback and ideas and corrections are good for me as a writer.
Do your best speech
Oral feedback I think helps me the most because when I think of a question at that moment I can ask it and won’t forget about it. I think the oral feedback helped me the most and I work better that way. (OB)
Oral feedback because then the teacher can explain exactly what I could do to make my writing better.
Oral feedback- because when we had work time the teacher will be talking around the room for any questions that we might have on the paper and they will help us.
Didn’t answer
Dual feedback was the most meaningful and relevant because I got twice as many corrections and twice as many suggestions to make my paper better.
Written feedback that was more than a sentence explaining that you had a good start and just needed more work. That type of feedback meant the most and was the most useful because it doesn’t insult you and it shows you that you are getting there.
See question 1 response
Over the course of the semester, did you notice a change in Mr. Ruggles’ feedback? Think about oral feedback (1-1), written feedback, and dual feedback. Did his feedback improve over time? What suggestions would you have for his continued improvement in giving feedback?
It did but I can’t read his handwriting
I think didn’t improve, his feedback has always been great
I think that oral feedback from Ruggles was the best and it improved over time
Did not see a difference in the writing feedback I received, but it is ok because the feedback was great.
I am not quite sure but I think the feedback that he gave me was good
His feedback has improved over time. At first I did not always understand what it was he wanted, now I always know what he is asking me to do. He should always try to improve on feedback to keep his feedback getting better and better.
You can’t really change the way you think or feel about how an essay is written
I think it was the same the whole time
Feedback became more informative and helpful overtime.
I think his feedback did improve and got more detailed when he graded my stuff. Suggestions would be to keep doing what he’s doing.
He improved mostly on the written feedback.
I didn’t take into consideration the writing/ feedback of Ruggles. During the course of paper, I was more focused on my writing
I didn’t really get much feedback from him. I struggle with getting my work in on time this year.
He kept giving way too much feedback but in the long run it was helpful.
Mr. Ruggles feedback improved over time because at first it wasn’t really that much help because it wasn’t constructive feedback. Now it is better and it is easy to figure out what you need to fix. A suggestion I have is not to worry about being to mean about something and just write what needs to be fixed.
I didn’t notice any chance because I was more focused on my writing and how I could fix that, than Ruggles feedback. I think that it did not really change that much over time.
At the beginning of the year, he didn’t really help out much because he was new and didn’t really know what to do. Now he knows our class and helps us all the time on our questions that we ask
Both feedbacks were very helpful. I just thought that it was interesting that the two feedbacks were different sometimes. I think that it might be good idea for both to do 1 paper. Ruggles looks over it and makes corrections and then Smith looks at the same paper and just puts down anything else she sees.
I noticed a slight change in Ruggle’s feedback it got nicer and less corrective. I think that the more corrective the feedback the better because it tells the student what they need to do to make it better.
Ruggles feedback was good and very helpful. The beginning of the semester I think he was a little more lenient about the problems he found in the papers. But he has changed in a good way and now is down to the point which in the end helps out the writer the most.
Not really
Over the course of the semester, how helpful was Smith’s feedback? Was the written, oral (1-1), dual feedback the most helpful? What was the least helpful? What suggestions do you have for Smith to help Mr. Ruggles with feedback?
Dual feedback was good
Same as above
Smith’s feedback was the most helpful in written form her oral feedback was the least helpful.
Smith’s feedback was great. She was really specific but a hard time reading her handwriting. Also, to read each others feedback so that they do not make the same corrections or contradict one another’s feedback because it gets confusing and is too much.
Smith’s feedback was very helpful to write the paper and I think that she could help Mr. Ruggles by maybe giving him some feedback on how to do things when he is teaching
Smith’s oral feedback was always the most helpful to me. Whenever we did not understand something, she would explain it to us and help us get started. The least helpful to me was the dual. This eventually got to be the best feedback I got, but at first it was new and got me jumbled. Keep giving Mr. Ruggles your best feedback and showing him things he needs to improve upon also things he is doing well on.
Over the course of the first semester Smith’s feedback was helpful but we didn’t get it very often
It was very helpful. I think Smith should show Ruggles how to explain his feedback
Pretty helpful most of the time. Some of the stuff got a little repetitive but that is ok in some cases because it could be a very obvious problem
Didn’t answer
Smith’s feedback was very helpful the most effective to me was the oral feedback because it helped me from falling behind in my writing. The suggestion that I would have for Smith to help Ruggles would be to keep on doing more of the 1-1 feedback because it helps people improve their writing skills.
Again the oral was more helpful
Same as above
It was helpful but once again a little too much to handle if I was going to read both teachers feedback.
Pretty helpful because I knew what needed to be fixed. Oral feedback is always the best I understand it more this way. Suggestion for Smith is to help Ruggles with feedback is show him how sometimes being what some people may thinking is mean really isn’t it is just being really helpful and makes them do better in the long run.
Smith’s feedback was very helpful because she is good at showing me what I should be doing better with my writing and how I should fix things that I do wrong. She is really good at helping me change what I have wrong.
Smith’s feedback is very helpful. The most helpful was the written feedback this is because she really isn’t our teacher right now but she was in the case of her reading and helping us with our paper. The least helpful was the dual because we didn’t really talk one on one with her. Suggestion- Smith teaching Ruggles how to control a loud and energetic classroom.
Both feedbacks were very helpful. I just thought that it was interesting that the two feedbacks were different sometimes. I think that it might be good idea for both to do 1 paper. Ruggles looks over it and makes corrections and then Smith looks at the same paper and just puts down anything else she sees.
Smith’s feedback was very helpful because it not only said what was wrong but she was willing to help you fix it and give suggestions of another way to write it.
Smith’s feedback was good and helpful. She was always down to the point to tell you exactly what you did excellent and what was done horrible which sometimes you really do need especially with big assignments like this. You want to be told about your problems as early as possible so you are not making them worse as you continue to go on with the assignments. The types of oral feedback that were the most helpful was one on one conference. I would maybe even suggest having a sign-up for this one time throughout the middle of the project.
I think both teachers did a good job letting people know what they needed to improve.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
LC week 10
I spent the better part of Saturday composing my cycle two report (otherwise known as part 2 of my cycle one)according to some discussions that I had with MR and with my LC. We had decided before to show the iteration of my AR work by splitting up my cycle one into smaller sections. I was taking the idea that because of the No D policy that lead to the multiple revision policy which lead to students creating their own rubric. In essence, my cycle one report would be a rather large document generating smaller subsections that each dealt with the topics.
However, as MR left feedback about my report, she thinks it would be better to go back and do it the way I had started it which was all within the same report. Oh well! Nothing like a good rewrite to refocus and solidify your ideas.
Basically, the structure I will follow is that the report will be an overall focus of the iterations that took place as a result of instituting the No D policy. I will then break down the report into subsections only in the data analysis so that the data can be examined separately to see its effects upon the class and me as the teacher.
Also, in the reflection section of my report, I could break it up into various sections if I felt it worked well for my paper. I can see this being beneficial for a focused reflection, but sense each part of the cycle leads into one another, I feel like I often come away with the same reflections and questions about the process as a whole.
Impressively enough and I have to remember to pass this along to my students, MR commented about what great reflections my kids write. I was really proud of them hearing this compliment and hadn’t thought before about how good they are at reflecting. I have done reflections so much in my class and give my kids that class time to do them, so I hadn’t thought about how well done they are until she pointed this out. It really made me feel good, and I am excited to share the news with my students.
We also had a great conversation in our LC about writing as a reflective process and how important it is to write over and over again. Yet, in schools, we do not teach writing this way. We are so focused on the one time only assignment. And for me, that was especially my focus until this past year when I gave my students multiple redos. What a change for both me and my students.
Sadly, I learned that we have to change LCs again at the end of this semester. I really am not excited about that. It seems as though each time we start gelling and working together, then we have to move on. And especially, I don’t think it makes sense so close to our presentations because if the LC we are working with really knows our AR work, they could better assist us in making really effective presentations. I am not sure if a new LC with so short a time before our presentations can make that work. I need to trust in the process and last time when I was ambivalent about a new LC, it all worked out. I hope the same can come true again. Wouldn’t it be great if we could pick our own LC?
However, as MR left feedback about my report, she thinks it would be better to go back and do it the way I had started it which was all within the same report. Oh well! Nothing like a good rewrite to refocus and solidify your ideas.
Basically, the structure I will follow is that the report will be an overall focus of the iterations that took place as a result of instituting the No D policy. I will then break down the report into subsections only in the data analysis so that the data can be examined separately to see its effects upon the class and me as the teacher.
Also, in the reflection section of my report, I could break it up into various sections if I felt it worked well for my paper. I can see this being beneficial for a focused reflection, but sense each part of the cycle leads into one another, I feel like I often come away with the same reflections and questions about the process as a whole.
Impressively enough and I have to remember to pass this along to my students, MR commented about what great reflections my kids write. I was really proud of them hearing this compliment and hadn’t thought before about how good they are at reflecting. I have done reflections so much in my class and give my kids that class time to do them, so I hadn’t thought about how well done they are until she pointed this out. It really made me feel good, and I am excited to share the news with my students.
We also had a great conversation in our LC about writing as a reflective process and how important it is to write over and over again. Yet, in schools, we do not teach writing this way. We are so focused on the one time only assignment. And for me, that was especially my focus until this past year when I gave my students multiple redos. What a change for both me and my students.
Sadly, I learned that we have to change LCs again at the end of this semester. I really am not excited about that. It seems as though each time we start gelling and working together, then we have to move on. And especially, I don’t think it makes sense so close to our presentations because if the LC we are working with really knows our AR work, they could better assist us in making really effective presentations. I am not sure if a new LC with so short a time before our presentations can make that work. I need to trust in the process and last time when I was ambivalent about a new LC, it all worked out. I hope the same can come true again. Wouldn’t it be great if we could pick our own LC?
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
LC Week 9
We began by listening to budget cuts from Abrash and my district. We are all feeling the crunch. It is really scary to think about cut backs for all teachers and administrators especially people we know.
I asked the group about spending time going over how they are feeling about their AR and work on cycle 2. Many of us are either feeling overwhelmed or can’t get a handle on where to go.
I talked with Matt, Tanner, and Abrash about the amount of data I had accumulated for what I thought would be my cycle 2 and 3 but unsure of how to write it all up and where to put all my cycle report information. Should I try to incorporate within each of my six week period studies a further analysis of the multiple revision work? Or should I write a “Part 2” of my cycle report to add at the end of my part one which would be the No D policy?
After some discussion and frequent explanations because I wasn’t being clear about what was in my head, we decided to divide cycle one up into the three parts would be the most effective and meaningful way to illustrate and present the results of my multiple revision policy and student generated rubric.
So, that leaves me with a lot of writing and analysis. I really wish there would be time to get this all accomplished. I did a lot of work with the multiple revision policy soliciting feedback from kids, completing a survey and personally interviewing students as well. Now I need to put all that together. Also, I need to think about the aspect with the student generated rubric. How am I going to assess that piece of the AR puzzle? I think the kids reflected on it somewhat, but I haven’t used it this semester with them because of my student teacher and their Change the World paper. Hmm, I just need to do some more thinking and reflecting I guess to pull this all together. Time would be nice too!
I asked the group about spending time going over how they are feeling about their AR and work on cycle 2. Many of us are either feeling overwhelmed or can’t get a handle on where to go.
I talked with Matt, Tanner, and Abrash about the amount of data I had accumulated for what I thought would be my cycle 2 and 3 but unsure of how to write it all up and where to put all my cycle report information. Should I try to incorporate within each of my six week period studies a further analysis of the multiple revision work? Or should I write a “Part 2” of my cycle report to add at the end of my part one which would be the No D policy?
After some discussion and frequent explanations because I wasn’t being clear about what was in my head, we decided to divide cycle one up into the three parts would be the most effective and meaningful way to illustrate and present the results of my multiple revision policy and student generated rubric.
So, that leaves me with a lot of writing and analysis. I really wish there would be time to get this all accomplished. I did a lot of work with the multiple revision policy soliciting feedback from kids, completing a survey and personally interviewing students as well. Now I need to put all that together. Also, I need to think about the aspect with the student generated rubric. How am I going to assess that piece of the AR puzzle? I think the kids reflected on it somewhat, but I haven’t used it this semester with them because of my student teacher and their Change the World paper. Hmm, I just need to do some more thinking and reflecting I guess to pull this all together. Time would be nice too!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Dual Feedback Cycle 3 Round 3
Our last session of cycle three looking at comparing feedback on revisions of papers occurred on February 18. (I know this blog is way behind, but I thought I already completed it until I realized—oops, nope!). Randon and I meet to go over intr0-3rd body paragraphs and our feedback we had given with 8 papers.
This is the third time we have completed this and it is really interesting to see what are the presences, our growth from each other’s feedback and reflection, and what absences we see from one another. We reviewed the papers and looking overall, we noticed that we are pretty similar in catching punctuation and mechanical errors although it seemed that Randon would do really well on the first page or so of the paper, and would fall off after that point. When asked about this, he wasn’t sure why that was happening and also commented that he didn’t see why he needed to keep marking the same mistakes. I talked to him about our job being to help kids edit the papers and show the mistakes so that they can see what mistakes they are making. If we don’t mark it, the kids don’t recognize that it is a mistake they are making.
A few things that we still need to work on in terms of giving feedback. One, we need to give feedback throughout the paper. Even if students are making the same mistakes, it is important to give thorough feedback since we are doing limited in class peer to peer feedback. With the peer to peer work, we need to do a better job training our students on how to give feedback. This could be an extension of this work into next year and their next writing assignment since they have seen Randon and I model feedback and they have reflected on the kinds of feedback they have received from us. Two, we need to work on using the same language as presented to the students. I used language that I used when I taught the kids first semester and Randon used language in his feedback when he taught the class. I think this might have lead to some confusion because I overheard students debriefing with Randon at their final writing conference that they were confused as to some of the terminology (explanation of quote, relate quote to point of paragraph, relate quote to thesis- Anne’s terminology v. Randon’s –quote says, point to the paragraph, make the point). Keeping our language similar would assist the students in their feedback and understanding. Three, we need to work on making sure we are bringing all their points back to the overall point of the essay. I think this was a struggle for Randon having never taught writing before. This is one are consistently where he would focus on details rather than the students making the big argument. Are they actually relating everything back to the thesis?
Randon does a really nice job of leaving a paragraph at the end of their writing discussing things he thinks they need to work on. I have not adapted to his style of feedback because I like giving point by point feedback within the paragraph. I can see both methods combined working well where the student has the point by point corrections within the paragraph and an overall paragraph at the end with further extensions. I can see Randon shifting to this method more of not just a paragraph at the end, but notes within the paragraph as well. Also, he started shifting to asking more questions of his writer and not just pointing out elements that were missing. One thing I learned from Randon is to make sure I am giving positive feedback as well as constructive criticism. Sometimes I get so focused on helping them improve, that I do not always compliment the things they have done consistently well, nice phrasing of sentences, or trying new styles with their writing.
Randon also commented on the process of dual feedback that this really helped to clarify grading and feedback. It helped to see why I give feedback the way I do. Modeling feedback and teaching someone how to give feedback and justification for grades is a lot more difficult than I thought. So many of my grading and feedback strategies have just been developed over time and to think about why I give feedback, how I give feedback and give grades has been a nice reflection. I needed to think while giving feedback and not just give feedback.
Moving forward, I can see one final reflection from the students on this whole process. They are each meeting with Randon to review their final papers and grade. I think when they are done, I want them to reflect on the feedback they have received in that final conference, how well did the feedback throughout the writing process prepare them for their final paper (this would include the 1-1 feedback, Randon circulating the room, dual feedback on their papers, and final conference with Randon). I also want Randon to reflect on the entire process. He has reflected after the first time we compared feedback (intro paragraphs) and after the last time we did this (intro -3rd), but I am anxious and interested to hear about changes he has noticed in himself, in the students about feedback and growing as a learner.
This is the third time we have completed this and it is really interesting to see what are the presences, our growth from each other’s feedback and reflection, and what absences we see from one another. We reviewed the papers and looking overall, we noticed that we are pretty similar in catching punctuation and mechanical errors although it seemed that Randon would do really well on the first page or so of the paper, and would fall off after that point. When asked about this, he wasn’t sure why that was happening and also commented that he didn’t see why he needed to keep marking the same mistakes. I talked to him about our job being to help kids edit the papers and show the mistakes so that they can see what mistakes they are making. If we don’t mark it, the kids don’t recognize that it is a mistake they are making.
A few things that we still need to work on in terms of giving feedback. One, we need to give feedback throughout the paper. Even if students are making the same mistakes, it is important to give thorough feedback since we are doing limited in class peer to peer feedback. With the peer to peer work, we need to do a better job training our students on how to give feedback. This could be an extension of this work into next year and their next writing assignment since they have seen Randon and I model feedback and they have reflected on the kinds of feedback they have received from us. Two, we need to work on using the same language as presented to the students. I used language that I used when I taught the kids first semester and Randon used language in his feedback when he taught the class. I think this might have lead to some confusion because I overheard students debriefing with Randon at their final writing conference that they were confused as to some of the terminology (explanation of quote, relate quote to point of paragraph, relate quote to thesis- Anne’s terminology v. Randon’s –quote says, point to the paragraph, make the point). Keeping our language similar would assist the students in their feedback and understanding. Three, we need to work on making sure we are bringing all their points back to the overall point of the essay. I think this was a struggle for Randon having never taught writing before. This is one are consistently where he would focus on details rather than the students making the big argument. Are they actually relating everything back to the thesis?
Randon does a really nice job of leaving a paragraph at the end of their writing discussing things he thinks they need to work on. I have not adapted to his style of feedback because I like giving point by point feedback within the paragraph. I can see both methods combined working well where the student has the point by point corrections within the paragraph and an overall paragraph at the end with further extensions. I can see Randon shifting to this method more of not just a paragraph at the end, but notes within the paragraph as well. Also, he started shifting to asking more questions of his writer and not just pointing out elements that were missing. One thing I learned from Randon is to make sure I am giving positive feedback as well as constructive criticism. Sometimes I get so focused on helping them improve, that I do not always compliment the things they have done consistently well, nice phrasing of sentences, or trying new styles with their writing.
Randon also commented on the process of dual feedback that this really helped to clarify grading and feedback. It helped to see why I give feedback the way I do. Modeling feedback and teaching someone how to give feedback and justification for grades is a lot more difficult than I thought. So many of my grading and feedback strategies have just been developed over time and to think about why I give feedback, how I give feedback and give grades has been a nice reflection. I needed to think while giving feedback and not just give feedback.
Moving forward, I can see one final reflection from the students on this whole process. They are each meeting with Randon to review their final papers and grade. I think when they are done, I want them to reflect on the feedback they have received in that final conference, how well did the feedback throughout the writing process prepare them for their final paper (this would include the 1-1 feedback, Randon circulating the room, dual feedback on their papers, and final conference with Randon). I also want Randon to reflect on the entire process. He has reflected after the first time we compared feedback (intro paragraphs) and after the last time we did this (intro -3rd), but I am anxious and interested to hear about changes he has noticed in himself, in the students about feedback and growing as a learner.
ED 665: Week 9
From your experience in OMET thus far, what design practice has resonated with you the most? Why?
I am not sure what would classify under design practice, but I think what has resonated so far with me has been the work with learning circles in all classes. We began our work with learning circles in Virt Camp, and this quickly transferred into our fall LCs and now we have our LC work in the spring. What has amazed me the most about our work with LCs has been how meaningful it has been. From LCs in our action research project to our LC’s that develop out of group work in our other classes, all have been useful. I was disappointed at first to have a change in our LC from fall because I received so much valuable feedback from my first LC group. They were such a tremendous influence on my AR work and thinking, it was always sad to think about leaving them. But now I can see the transferability of what I learned from them into my new LC group.
Thinking about the design of the classes with using LC’s I can really see the value of the choice. Not only are we all becoming experts, and we all have something to offer to one another, especially when everyone participates, but we are all growing and learning from the experience. Each of us brings a variety of experience and information/ learning to our discussions and assignments. When we open up ourselves to listen to those around us, we all grow and learn from the experience sometimes leaving with affirmations of your understandings, sometimes questioning your understanding, and sometimes leaving with more questions, or new realizations.
I think in this kind of online Masters’ program as well as any learning environment, so much can be gleaned from those around you. The learning becomes infectious, the questioning becomes standard, and we all flourish as a result.
I am not sure what would classify under design practice, but I think what has resonated so far with me has been the work with learning circles in all classes. We began our work with learning circles in Virt Camp, and this quickly transferred into our fall LCs and now we have our LC work in the spring. What has amazed me the most about our work with LCs has been how meaningful it has been. From LCs in our action research project to our LC’s that develop out of group work in our other classes, all have been useful. I was disappointed at first to have a change in our LC from fall because I received so much valuable feedback from my first LC group. They were such a tremendous influence on my AR work and thinking, it was always sad to think about leaving them. But now I can see the transferability of what I learned from them into my new LC group.
Thinking about the design of the classes with using LC’s I can really see the value of the choice. Not only are we all becoming experts, and we all have something to offer to one another, especially when everyone participates, but we are all growing and learning from the experience. Each of us brings a variety of experience and information/ learning to our discussions and assignments. When we open up ourselves to listen to those around us, we all grow and learn from the experience sometimes leaving with affirmations of your understandings, sometimes questioning your understanding, and sometimes leaving with more questions, or new realizations.
I think in this kind of online Masters’ program as well as any learning environment, so much can be gleaned from those around you. The learning becomes infectious, the questioning becomes standard, and we all flourish as a result.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wikified Research Paper- Year 2
In most English classes, inventing new verbs is reserved for confused students. However, in English 9 honors, wikified has become a universal verb penned by none other than the teacher herself. As last year’s classes dipped their feet in Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind, they also embarked on a research paper, however this paper was far from ordinary. A WRP, or wikified research paper, is made on wikispaces.com and allows students to link to resources within their papers, along with embedding various images and videos within their papers. This concept broadens the research paper from words on a piece of paper to a worldwide published work that includes interactive and supplementary elements which help define and support the student’s thesis. The starting points for these research papers is A Whole New Mind, and students may choose any concept from the book, whether it be a rebuttal of one of Pink’s main points, or a closer look into a detailed aspect of one of his arguments. The subjects of these papers range from video gaming to analyzing how empathy relates to medicine; they are as varied as the students who write them. Many students were inspired by this prompt to broaden their ideas beyond text, to include songs, pictures, videos, and interactive websites. In this way, the reader is able to be an active participant in the student’s ‘assignment’ and their work is not only ‘turned in’ to the teacher, but published to the world for others to critique and compliment. This knowledge of worldwide access to their papers has seemingly inspired students to give extra time and care to their papers, because they understand how many people could be reading them in the future. -Hannah L
Linked here are this year and last year’s wikified research papers from Moritz's and my English 9 Honors classes:
Smith 2: http://awnm09smith2.wikispaces.com/
Smith 5: http://awnm09smith5.wikispaces.com/
Last year's WRPs:
Smith 2: http://awnmsmith2.wikispaces.com/
Smith 5: http://awnmsmith5.wikispaces.com/
Mrs. Moritz's class WRP's:
Moritz 3: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNM+Per+3+09
Moritz 4: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNM+Per+4+09
Last year's WRP's:
Moritz 3: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNMMoritz3
Moritz 4: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNMMoritz4
So, we invite you to take a look at this year's WRP's, leave some constructive feedback, and maybe even reflect on the growth from last year's WRP to this year's. Happy reading!
Linked here are this year and last year’s wikified research papers from Moritz's and my English 9 Honors classes:
Smith 2: http://awnm09smith2.wikispaces.com/
Smith 5: http://awnm09smith5.wikispaces.com/
Last year's WRPs:
Smith 2: http://awnmsmith2.wikispaces.com/
Smith 5: http://awnmsmith5.wikispaces.com/
Mrs. Moritz's class WRP's:
Moritz 3: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNM+Per+3+09
Moritz 4: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNM+Per+4+09
Last year's WRP's:
Moritz 3: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNMMoritz3
Moritz 4: http://moritzs.wikispaces.com/AWNMMoritz4
So, we invite you to take a look at this year's WRP's, leave some constructive feedback, and maybe even reflect on the growth from last year's WRP to this year's. Happy reading!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
LC Week 8
Margaret emailed me this in response to an incredibly long email I sent her regarding my AR project:
“This is your action research and you make the decisions. Here is what I think is the important question. When you created the no-D policy did you have the idea of multiple redos and student created rubrics as a part of the process? If not, when did you develop these ideas? Did they both come at the same time or were they in sequence. If, for example, you say I have always done student created rubrics than it shifts to part of the context of the work. But if all these changed, how did they come about? What prompted what?”
I have been feeling really frustrated lately as though I am accumulating so much data on cycles 2 and 3 (or what I had thought would be my 2-3) and wondering what to do with it all. With MR’s earlier comments on my paper (version 3 of the paper), she was seeing it moving in a direction that I was unsure of. I was picturing all my work in three separate but interconnected cycles. She was seeing all this work as under one cycle. At first that was hard to hear, because I felt like I have been doing so much work for it to all fit under one cycle. As we talked more about this though, (this is the glory of having a Skype conversation to talk out ideas versus just reading emails), I can see what she is saying. We talked about this being a spiral effect where one thing leads into the other-the ultimate goal of AR. I think the challenge will be to go through all the data I have on the minor cycles within this larger cycle and add it to my cycle one report. Here is the structure I think I am using now for my cycles:
Two large cycles with sub cycles:
· First cycle: how to change how I assess students: how to solve the problem with students who are failing
o No D lead (wrote about this already)
o Which lead to multiple redo (have data on this- need to add support to cycle one report already)
o Which lead to student rubric ( not sure about this- I have data on this with their reflections)
· Second cycle: change how I give feedback to make it more meaningful and relevant to my students, help Randon become more meaningful in terms of the feedback he gives- help him become a more successful learner.
o What changes in teaching lead to these sub cycles? (think about this)
o Student teacher feedback helping him become a better teacher/ learner
o Which lead to mimicked feedback
o Which led to blind feedback/ dual feedback
o Which lead to one to one sessions in writing
Through all of this I need to remember MR’s words: Everything you do is not your AR, your AR is not every single thing; it is a particular strategy you took, feedback or process you went about.
I am excited to finally be seeing some clarification on where I am going, and the support to finish all this work, now if someone could just give me some time, that would be the best present ever and you would have my undying love and gratitude!
“This is your action research and you make the decisions. Here is what I think is the important question. When you created the no-D policy did you have the idea of multiple redos and student created rubrics as a part of the process? If not, when did you develop these ideas? Did they both come at the same time or were they in sequence. If, for example, you say I have always done student created rubrics than it shifts to part of the context of the work. But if all these changed, how did they come about? What prompted what?”
I have been feeling really frustrated lately as though I am accumulating so much data on cycles 2 and 3 (or what I had thought would be my 2-3) and wondering what to do with it all. With MR’s earlier comments on my paper (version 3 of the paper), she was seeing it moving in a direction that I was unsure of. I was picturing all my work in three separate but interconnected cycles. She was seeing all this work as under one cycle. At first that was hard to hear, because I felt like I have been doing so much work for it to all fit under one cycle. As we talked more about this though, (this is the glory of having a Skype conversation to talk out ideas versus just reading emails), I can see what she is saying. We talked about this being a spiral effect where one thing leads into the other-the ultimate goal of AR. I think the challenge will be to go through all the data I have on the minor cycles within this larger cycle and add it to my cycle one report. Here is the structure I think I am using now for my cycles:
Two large cycles with sub cycles:
· First cycle: how to change how I assess students: how to solve the problem with students who are failing
o No D lead (wrote about this already)
o Which lead to multiple redo (have data on this- need to add support to cycle one report already)
o Which lead to student rubric ( not sure about this- I have data on this with their reflections)
· Second cycle: change how I give feedback to make it more meaningful and relevant to my students, help Randon become more meaningful in terms of the feedback he gives- help him become a more successful learner.
o What changes in teaching lead to these sub cycles? (think about this)
o Student teacher feedback helping him become a better teacher/ learner
o Which lead to mimicked feedback
o Which led to blind feedback/ dual feedback
o Which lead to one to one sessions in writing
Through all of this I need to remember MR’s words: Everything you do is not your AR, your AR is not every single thing; it is a particular strategy you took, feedback or process you went about.
I am excited to finally be seeing some clarification on where I am going, and the support to finish all this work, now if someone could just give me some time, that would be the best present ever and you would have my undying love and gratitude!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
ED 665: Week 8
In your ARP, are your learners engaged in their learning? Why or why not?
In my ARP, my students are engaged in their learning at times. I think one of the challenges with the ARP is that all of first semester it was just me teaching my kids and interacting with them about my AR. But now, I have a student teacher and the transition has been more challenging for my students to be engaged learners. There was a difference between the way I taught and the way my student teacher instructs the class. However, thinking back I know there are times when my students were not engaged learners in my own class. This could be a result of not clear expectations on assignments, kids needing to blow of steam, work completion not done so kids are behind, etc… I do see my students much more engaged this year than the have been for the past couple of years. I think one reason why is that they know they are part of my AR work. I have spoken with them many times that I can’t succeed in this project without them. We are all in this together. This has created buy in and a special bond for me and my students together. A perfect example of this is that I needed some students to interview with me about the cycle three work they have done with the multiple revision policy. I wasn’t sure any student would want to talk with me, but before I knew it, I had 8 kids sign up wanting to interview giving me their feedback personally. Also, the students readily give feedback about each step of the process throughout my AR work. So, in a sense they are engaged, but at times.
In my ARP, my students are engaged in their learning at times. I think one of the challenges with the ARP is that all of first semester it was just me teaching my kids and interacting with them about my AR. But now, I have a student teacher and the transition has been more challenging for my students to be engaged learners. There was a difference between the way I taught and the way my student teacher instructs the class. However, thinking back I know there are times when my students were not engaged learners in my own class. This could be a result of not clear expectations on assignments, kids needing to blow of steam, work completion not done so kids are behind, etc… I do see my students much more engaged this year than the have been for the past couple of years. I think one reason why is that they know they are part of my AR work. I have spoken with them many times that I can’t succeed in this project without them. We are all in this together. This has created buy in and a special bond for me and my students together. A perfect example of this is that I needed some students to interview with me about the cycle three work they have done with the multiple revision policy. I wasn’t sure any student would want to talk with me, but before I knew it, I had 8 kids sign up wanting to interview giving me their feedback personally. Also, the students readily give feedback about each step of the process throughout my AR work. So, in a sense they are engaged, but at times.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Cycle 3 notecards intro-1
Note card reflection 2/11 after the received dual feedback from Randon and I on intro -1. This is the first time the kids are writing such a large paper and this is also the first time Randon has taught writing. My instruction has been limited to mentoring Randon and helping him teaching writing in the class.
The kids had received our feedback on their intro paragraphs before the intro-1st body paragraph reactions. The difference in the feedback this time was that we did it separately on two documents each giving our own feedback without seeing what the other was giving feedback on. The initial time we gave feedback we did it on the same document where I gave the initial feedback and Randon responded afterwards. I reflected about process earlier as did Randon.
Randon created the question below and we had kids respond on a note card in class about their thoughts and reactions to the process.
22 kids responded out of 23 kids. Male to female ration of class 13 males and 10 females.
1. Name
2. On a scale of one to five with five being the highest. How helpful has the double feedback been?
a. 5-6
b. 4-9
c. 3-4
d. 2-1
e. 1-1
f. Nothing- 1
Reflection: I am not sure about their reactions to the feedback. Was the quantity of feedback too overwhelming? Most of the class felt that it was helpful and meaningful but I am wondering for those that are 1-3, what did they need to make it more meaningful? I am glad for a majority of the class the feedback was helpful and really focused them on the right track as far as their writing. They have never written such a large paper before; I am really hoping that having two sets of feedback and two teachers to assist them in the writing process will be incredibly beneficial and work towards making them more successful learners. We should be able to meet all their learning needs here.
3. Are the two sets of feedback overwhelming? Why?
a. No- 12
i. It is helpful to see two points of view
ii. They help me know what to do
iii. I know what I need to work on for both of you
iv. One teacher may catch something that the other teacher missed
v. I know what I did wrong
vi. It gives two points of view of view on what you have done and what you can improve
vii. They are both saying almost the same thing
viii. no
b. A little-3
i. It is a little overwhelming. There are so many things that need to be fixed by the next day
ii. It can be hard fixing one of them
iii. Kind of overwhelming because they are not always the same
c. Yes- 5
i. There is too much
ii. There is so much to change
iii. It is very overwhelming
iv. It is a lot to take in
v. there is so many things to look at
d. Didn’t answer question-2
Reflection: It is good to see that over half the class fins the dual feedback helpful and meaningful. But I still think there has to be a way to meet all kids needs as far as feedback. Maybe next year or on their next writing assignment, I can find out what kind of feedback they would prefer and then we (Randon and I) work towards meeting that need.
4. Would you rather prefer one teacher feedback? Why?
a. No-13
i. There wouldn’t be enough
ii. I like a lot of advice
iii. It is still good to get double feedback
iv. No
v. This gives me more info on what I need to do
vi. Each person gives slightly different feedback and the more feedback I get the better I can make my paper
vii. I get two sides of my essay
viii. It is fine
ix. I think that having it from two teachers gives you more info
x. I like both points
xi. I prefer both because sometimes there are things missed by one teacher and caught by the other
xii. Prefer double feedback
b. Yes-5
i. Less overwhelming
ii. I would get just what is required of me from Mr. Ruggles
iii. Probably
iv. Not so overwhelming for me
v. Only one teacher is grading the paper not two
c. Doesn’t matter-3
i. Doesn’t matter (2)
ii. If you say different things, it doesn’t matter
d. Didn’t answer-1
Reflection: 3 of the kids that marked that the amount of feedback was overwhelming, marked that they would not prefer only one teacher’s feedback. This is really interesting because I wonder if they think even with the quantity of feedback they know it is valuable and will make them a better writer. They are just not excited about the amount of work associated with dual feedback. I am glad to see so many kids appreciate the dual feedback and see it’s connection to helping them improve their writing. I am just wondering if there is a better format that the feedback needs to happen in so that it is not to overwhelming for some and as satisfactory for others.
5. What is one thing we can do to improve your feedback on these paragraphs and why?
a. Feedback and a half
b. Write in print so I can read it
c. Give us more time
d. Both do it on one sheet
e. It is good feedback
f. One to one things with everybody
g. To improve I am going to fix all the feedback
h. More one on one
i. It is good
j. Edit and help me on the things I need help with
k. Feedback has been very helpful
l. Explain more
m. Explain some things
n. Focus more on format
o. Point out different things and help explain ways to fix it
p. Nada
q. I don’t know
r. More explanation on why the things need to be fixed
s. The second teacher read the first teachers feedback and write new things so there is no repeated feedback
t. Be more specific in your feedback and write everything you think about it
u. elaborate
After these feedback sessions, we started having one to one sessions in the hallways with the kids who are behind or are ahead depending on how Randon wanted to approach the day. The first few times, I went into the hallway to try and catch the kids up, and the other times Randon stayed in the class with the kids that were behind. We collected feedback and goal sheets with this 1-1 time and I need to analyze those results as well. There is so much feedback for me. It is like I am the kid getting all the feedback and trying to find the best way to put it all together.
I know next year with having only one teacher back in the classroom, the feedback piece will be tough to continue. One thing MR and I talked about was how to teach my students to become better editors and I think that is one thing that has taken a back seat this year with Randon and I working on helping him become a better teacher. I know I really want to find a way next year to continue the 1-1 time and maybe that is one way to continue the feedback in a manner that meets those students needs without overwhelming myself or the students.
The kids had received our feedback on their intro paragraphs before the intro-1st body paragraph reactions. The difference in the feedback this time was that we did it separately on two documents each giving our own feedback without seeing what the other was giving feedback on. The initial time we gave feedback we did it on the same document where I gave the initial feedback and Randon responded afterwards. I reflected about process earlier as did Randon.
Randon created the question below and we had kids respond on a note card in class about their thoughts and reactions to the process.
22 kids responded out of 23 kids. Male to female ration of class 13 males and 10 females.
1. Name
2. On a scale of one to five with five being the highest. How helpful has the double feedback been?
a. 5-6
b. 4-9
c. 3-4
d. 2-1
e. 1-1
f. Nothing- 1
Reflection: I am not sure about their reactions to the feedback. Was the quantity of feedback too overwhelming? Most of the class felt that it was helpful and meaningful but I am wondering for those that are 1-3, what did they need to make it more meaningful? I am glad for a majority of the class the feedback was helpful and really focused them on the right track as far as their writing. They have never written such a large paper before; I am really hoping that having two sets of feedback and two teachers to assist them in the writing process will be incredibly beneficial and work towards making them more successful learners. We should be able to meet all their learning needs here.
3. Are the two sets of feedback overwhelming? Why?
a. No- 12
i. It is helpful to see two points of view
ii. They help me know what to do
iii. I know what I need to work on for both of you
iv. One teacher may catch something that the other teacher missed
v. I know what I did wrong
vi. It gives two points of view of view on what you have done and what you can improve
vii. They are both saying almost the same thing
viii. no
b. A little-3
i. It is a little overwhelming. There are so many things that need to be fixed by the next day
ii. It can be hard fixing one of them
iii. Kind of overwhelming because they are not always the same
c. Yes- 5
i. There is too much
ii. There is so much to change
iii. It is very overwhelming
iv. It is a lot to take in
v. there is so many things to look at
d. Didn’t answer question-2
Reflection: It is good to see that over half the class fins the dual feedback helpful and meaningful. But I still think there has to be a way to meet all kids needs as far as feedback. Maybe next year or on their next writing assignment, I can find out what kind of feedback they would prefer and then we (Randon and I) work towards meeting that need.
4. Would you rather prefer one teacher feedback? Why?
a. No-13
i. There wouldn’t be enough
ii. I like a lot of advice
iii. It is still good to get double feedback
iv. No
v. This gives me more info on what I need to do
vi. Each person gives slightly different feedback and the more feedback I get the better I can make my paper
vii. I get two sides of my essay
viii. It is fine
ix. I think that having it from two teachers gives you more info
x. I like both points
xi. I prefer both because sometimes there are things missed by one teacher and caught by the other
xii. Prefer double feedback
b. Yes-5
i. Less overwhelming
ii. I would get just what is required of me from Mr. Ruggles
iii. Probably
iv. Not so overwhelming for me
v. Only one teacher is grading the paper not two
c. Doesn’t matter-3
i. Doesn’t matter (2)
ii. If you say different things, it doesn’t matter
d. Didn’t answer-1
Reflection: 3 of the kids that marked that the amount of feedback was overwhelming, marked that they would not prefer only one teacher’s feedback. This is really interesting because I wonder if they think even with the quantity of feedback they know it is valuable and will make them a better writer. They are just not excited about the amount of work associated with dual feedback. I am glad to see so many kids appreciate the dual feedback and see it’s connection to helping them improve their writing. I am just wondering if there is a better format that the feedback needs to happen in so that it is not to overwhelming for some and as satisfactory for others.
5. What is one thing we can do to improve your feedback on these paragraphs and why?
a. Feedback and a half
b. Write in print so I can read it
c. Give us more time
d. Both do it on one sheet
e. It is good feedback
f. One to one things with everybody
g. To improve I am going to fix all the feedback
h. More one on one
i. It is good
j. Edit and help me on the things I need help with
k. Feedback has been very helpful
l. Explain more
m. Explain some things
n. Focus more on format
o. Point out different things and help explain ways to fix it
p. Nada
q. I don’t know
r. More explanation on why the things need to be fixed
s. The second teacher read the first teachers feedback and write new things so there is no repeated feedback
t. Be more specific in your feedback and write everything you think about it
u. elaborate
After these feedback sessions, we started having one to one sessions in the hallways with the kids who are behind or are ahead depending on how Randon wanted to approach the day. The first few times, I went into the hallway to try and catch the kids up, and the other times Randon stayed in the class with the kids that were behind. We collected feedback and goal sheets with this 1-1 time and I need to analyze those results as well. There is so much feedback for me. It is like I am the kid getting all the feedback and trying to find the best way to put it all together.
I know next year with having only one teacher back in the classroom, the feedback piece will be tough to continue. One thing MR and I talked about was how to teach my students to become better editors and I think that is one thing that has taken a back seat this year with Randon and I working on helping him become a better teacher. I know I really want to find a way next year to continue the 1-1 time and maybe that is one way to continue the feedback in a manner that meets those students needs without overwhelming myself or the students.
Cycle 3 note card reflection intro-3
Note card reflection 2/18/09
Only 11 of the kids had completed the writing up to this point on their change the world position paper to receive the dual feedback Randon and I were giving them, so this data set is limited to those 11 kids out of a class of 23 kids. This was their last editing session where they received feedback from Randon and I. Randon gave his feedback on his set of papers, and I gave feedback on my set and then we compared sets before handing the papers back to the kids. Randon wrote the questions for this reflection of the feedback for the intro -3rd body.
1. Name
2. On a scale of 1-5 with five being the highest, how helpful has the double feedback been?
a. 5-3 respondents
b. 4- 7 respondents
c. 3-1 respondent
d. 2
e. 1
Reflection: I am slightly disappointed that only 11 kids out of the class are up to this point and ready to move along with the paper. The paper is due the next week. What is going to happen if they don’t get the assignment done? Is the multiple revision policy not working in their best interests? I know the writing needs to be a process but I worry about them getting so far behind that it will be daunting to try and catch up. Hopefully our 1-1 days will help them catch up with extra time writing, revising and working with either Randon or myself. I am glad to see such high numbers in regards to the feedback and how helpful it has been. That is really encouraging about the kinds of feedback they are receiving.
3. Are the two sets of feedback overwhelming? Why?
a. Yes- 5
Reasons:
1. They are still a little because it is hard when we have two different thoughts.
2. Because they do not always mesh
3. Because they are
4. There is so much paper
5. It is like pleasing two different people
b. No-6
Reasons:
1. They say almost the same thing
2. They help a lot I think
3. Sometimes confusing because you don’t know what to write if both write something different
4. No
5. They give just enough feedback
6. It is helpful to get both
Reflection: This makes me think that maybe we should do dual feedback for those that really want both perspectives and those who do not, they can submit one paper. I wonder if it would make a difference to have all the feedback on one paper rather than the students submitting two papers with two sets. Randon and I could have alternated between who adds comments first to see if that would make a difference.
4. Would you rather prefer one teacher feedback ? Why?
a. Yes-4
i. Because only one person is grading my paper
ii. Because I feel overwhelmed and need as little as possible
iii. Because then it is not so much information
iv. IDK
b. No-6
i. This way you get double ideas
ii. No
iii. I like the double feedback
iv. Two is perfect
v. It is helpful to get both
vi. Prefer more time
c. Different response and suggestion-2
i. More one to one time
ii. More time
Reflection: The same four responses that were in the yes category of this question were in the yes category of the previous question. I think the reason I see kids struggling with the dual feedback is that there is too much for some kids to handle. Two sets of feedback and, with their struggles in writing, might be too overwhelming. With the kids that responded that they wouldn’t prefer only one teacher’s feedback, I wish there was more expansion on their ideas. Maybe asking them specifically “why” it is more helpful to them and their writing. Can they see a connection between the dual sets of feedback and improving as a writer or as a learner?
5. What is the one thing we can do to improve your feedback on these paragraphs?
a. Put it on one piece of paper
b. Read each other’s feedback so there is not double feedback on the same thing.
c. Help answer our questions and give us work time
d. Be consistent
e. One to one time
f. Write neater, I can’t understand what you are writing.
g. Nothing
h. Look over each others feedback
i. Feedback is very helpful
j. Give examples
Reflection: it is interesting because a few people commented on randon and I looking over each other’s feedback which we do, but they are not seeing some consistency with our feedback. I wonder if our language in our comments is different and that is the reason why? Or is it the amount of feedback and so it seems different in the manner and style in which it is written?
6. Is this more or less helpful in your writing? Why?
a. More-10
i. Helpful because I know my errors
ii. It is still helpful
iii. I think it is more helpful. I just don’t think the specific order our paragraphs have to be in
iv. More helpful because both of you give different ideas
v. It shows what I need to fix
vi. I see all the grammatical errors
vii. More
viii. It gives us more ways to better our writing
ix. It is helping me to see all of my mistakes from 2 different people’s points of view
x. Between the two feedbacks more mistakes are caught
b. Less-1
i. Less helpful because it is hard getting two different thoughts on each sentence
Reflection: Interestingly, on the previous two questions the kids were basically split 50-50 in their responses about the helpfulness of dual feedback, but in this last question resoundingly the kids feel that it is better for their writing. So why the difference? What could bring about the disparity? Is it that they do not like the multitude of responses but value the feedback? So, if we could combine the feedback into one document, would that make a difference?
On our first feedback, we did it this way having only one paper turned into us, and then I did the feedback first. We realized afterwards though we weren’t really looking at feedback between Randon and I because we weren’t aware of his original feedback thoughts. He just followed my thoughts. Now, we sit down with our two sets and compare the two sets seeing what commonalities and disparities we have and then add comments to our paper set before we return it to the students. So , I would think our feedback would be similar since we have gone over the feedback ahead of time.
Only 11 of the kids had completed the writing up to this point on their change the world position paper to receive the dual feedback Randon and I were giving them, so this data set is limited to those 11 kids out of a class of 23 kids. This was their last editing session where they received feedback from Randon and I. Randon gave his feedback on his set of papers, and I gave feedback on my set and then we compared sets before handing the papers back to the kids. Randon wrote the questions for this reflection of the feedback for the intro -3rd body.
1. Name
2. On a scale of 1-5 with five being the highest, how helpful has the double feedback been?
a. 5-3 respondents
b. 4- 7 respondents
c. 3-1 respondent
d. 2
e. 1
Reflection: I am slightly disappointed that only 11 kids out of the class are up to this point and ready to move along with the paper. The paper is due the next week. What is going to happen if they don’t get the assignment done? Is the multiple revision policy not working in their best interests? I know the writing needs to be a process but I worry about them getting so far behind that it will be daunting to try and catch up. Hopefully our 1-1 days will help them catch up with extra time writing, revising and working with either Randon or myself. I am glad to see such high numbers in regards to the feedback and how helpful it has been. That is really encouraging about the kinds of feedback they are receiving.
3. Are the two sets of feedback overwhelming? Why?
a. Yes- 5
Reasons:
1. They are still a little because it is hard when we have two different thoughts.
2. Because they do not always mesh
3. Because they are
4. There is so much paper
5. It is like pleasing two different people
b. No-6
Reasons:
1. They say almost the same thing
2. They help a lot I think
3. Sometimes confusing because you don’t know what to write if both write something different
4. No
5. They give just enough feedback
6. It is helpful to get both
Reflection: This makes me think that maybe we should do dual feedback for those that really want both perspectives and those who do not, they can submit one paper. I wonder if it would make a difference to have all the feedback on one paper rather than the students submitting two papers with two sets. Randon and I could have alternated between who adds comments first to see if that would make a difference.
4. Would you rather prefer one teacher feedback ? Why?
a. Yes-4
i. Because only one person is grading my paper
ii. Because I feel overwhelmed and need as little as possible
iii. Because then it is not so much information
iv. IDK
b. No-6
i. This way you get double ideas
ii. No
iii. I like the double feedback
iv. Two is perfect
v. It is helpful to get both
vi. Prefer more time
c. Different response and suggestion-2
i. More one to one time
ii. More time
Reflection: The same four responses that were in the yes category of this question were in the yes category of the previous question. I think the reason I see kids struggling with the dual feedback is that there is too much for some kids to handle. Two sets of feedback and, with their struggles in writing, might be too overwhelming. With the kids that responded that they wouldn’t prefer only one teacher’s feedback, I wish there was more expansion on their ideas. Maybe asking them specifically “why” it is more helpful to them and their writing. Can they see a connection between the dual sets of feedback and improving as a writer or as a learner?
5. What is the one thing we can do to improve your feedback on these paragraphs?
a. Put it on one piece of paper
b. Read each other’s feedback so there is not double feedback on the same thing.
c. Help answer our questions and give us work time
d. Be consistent
e. One to one time
f. Write neater, I can’t understand what you are writing.
g. Nothing
h. Look over each others feedback
i. Feedback is very helpful
j. Give examples
Reflection: it is interesting because a few people commented on randon and I looking over each other’s feedback which we do, but they are not seeing some consistency with our feedback. I wonder if our language in our comments is different and that is the reason why? Or is it the amount of feedback and so it seems different in the manner and style in which it is written?
6. Is this more or less helpful in your writing? Why?
a. More-10
i. Helpful because I know my errors
ii. It is still helpful
iii. I think it is more helpful. I just don’t think the specific order our paragraphs have to be in
iv. More helpful because both of you give different ideas
v. It shows what I need to fix
vi. I see all the grammatical errors
vii. More
viii. It gives us more ways to better our writing
ix. It is helping me to see all of my mistakes from 2 different people’s points of view
x. Between the two feedbacks more mistakes are caught
b. Less-1
i. Less helpful because it is hard getting two different thoughts on each sentence
Reflection: Interestingly, on the previous two questions the kids were basically split 50-50 in their responses about the helpfulness of dual feedback, but in this last question resoundingly the kids feel that it is better for their writing. So why the difference? What could bring about the disparity? Is it that they do not like the multitude of responses but value the feedback? So, if we could combine the feedback into one document, would that make a difference?
On our first feedback, we did it this way having only one paper turned into us, and then I did the feedback first. We realized afterwards though we weren’t really looking at feedback between Randon and I because we weren’t aware of his original feedback thoughts. He just followed my thoughts. Now, we sit down with our two sets and compare the two sets seeing what commonalities and disparities we have and then add comments to our paper set before we return it to the students. So , I would think our feedback would be similar since we have gone over the feedback ahead of time.
Reflections on student teaching and mentoring
Randon, the student teacher Kristin Leclaire and I have this semester, has made it through the half way point. He surely deserves a party after putting up with the two of us! I wanted to take some time to reflect on the process of being a mentor and the growth and changes I have seen in Randon. Randon already spent some time reflecting on his half way point.
I remember meeting Randon at NCTE when Kristin and I were presenting about some of the changes we had made in our classroom here at AHS. Randon attended both this session and one that I did with Karl Fisch. His excitement and interest in what we were implementing was infectious. It was so good to hear him talk about the passion he had for learning and his willingness to jump right in and try new things.
Kristin and I sent Randon a care package of AHS supplies after our visit, in hopes to get him mentally prepared for the quest he was about to undertake. Lesson plan books, books to teach, AHS apparel, and other knick-knacks were all sent away to Minnesota.
He arrived a little early for student teaching giving KK and I time to introduce Randon to our friends so that he knew some people and didn’t have to solely rely on KK and myself. We thought this was one of the most important aspects of him being our student teacher is that we wanted him to go out and visit with a number of teachers here at AHS. We still encourage him to do this because it seems for too often in education, teaching gets in the way of learning and reflecting. We get so caught up in the day to day survival that we often forget time to seek out others and learn from them. We wanted to instill this in Randon from day one.
Interestingly, when we asked others to give Randon a tip about student teaching with KK and I, most would laugh or chuckle, and say “Good Luck.” Others commented “Don’t let them down” or “Change the world.”” Take advantage of having these two as cooperative teachers.
Randon really began teaching from day one. Looking back, it was interesting to see how nervous he was. Was I that nervous on my first day? I think of the challenges he faced taking over our classrooms. These are students we have taught since the first day of the school year, some of these students picked us as teachers not knowing there was going to be a student teacher taking over the classroom, and mostly keeping up with the pace and expectations that AHS has. It was no easy challenge.
After the first lesson, and at the end of his first day, Randon and I started our afternoon debriefing sessions. I am not sure I ever took the time to really think about how these sessions were going to go. I didn’t really take notes as he was teaching, I more just sat back and listened. I guess similar to what KK wrote about, I was sitting in the back of the classroom seeing what learning looked like through the eyes of a student. I wish more teachers had this opportunity to sit back and observe as to what it is like being a student in their own classroom. I know there are teachers who leave the room when they have a student teacher, but I have truly enjoyed the time to reflect and mentor. And so I began with the same question which I continue to use today, “So, what did you think?” always ending our session with “what’s your takeaway?” Most of our sessions are more reflective than anything else. I guess I never wanted to be the answerer of his questions, but give him the space and time to reflect and seek out his own answers. I wanted to have him figure out why something didn’t go as intended and praise himself (intrinsic motivation) when something really went beyond his expectations.
It took awhile but Randon is getting there. We don’t seem to have as much time for our afternoon sessions as my other students have writing conferences and Randon is coaching soccer, but I still look forward to hearing him talk about the day. What did he take away? What went well? What would he do differently?
I want to make sure though that Randon realizes how much he has changed as a teacher and as a learner.
Think back Randon to that first day, or even that first week. Think about how you approached your first class and your first student interactions. Do you remember the students high fiving you in the hallway? Are you still as passionate to see them now as they were to see you? Do you remember taking over my English Literature classes when I had to leave and you taught all my classes? Do you remember embracing that challenge and walking away successful and learning from the experience? Do you remember planning your first unit? Do you remember teaching the kids to write thesis statements and structure to their paragraphs? They will always remember it was you who taught them; hold onto that memory? Do you remember the passion and fire with which you began your student teaching? Do you remember how tough it is at times to hold onto that? Do you remember the kids trying to figure out who you are and what they would learn from you? Do you remember when I told you that you were born to be a teacher and that you are a natural? Don’t ever forget that. Do you remember how we talked about brick walls? I will never forget your crayon lesson to me. Do you remember the worst day you have had in teaching? Do you remember the best day? I would hope your best days always outweigh your worst days.
Randon- I have told you many times I am not one who gives out false praise, so this comes from my heart. You are on a great journey. Do not forget to ever stop learning and being a learner in your own classroom. When we think we know it all in teaching, we are failing our students and ourselves. Remain passionate about learning, reflecting, and teaching. There are many days where I watch you do great things and I see the possibilities of your future. Do not forget to reflect upon the good and bad always growing from the opportunities. Most of all, remember even though you will one day be done student teaching, Kristin and I are always here. We will always be here to mentor, to advise and mostly to support your growth. We are so proud of all you have done and all you continue to do. Remember that it is ok to make mistakes and to learn from them. Being open to change and possibilities is what will make you a great teacher.
You have changed me as a teacher because of the opportunity to sit back and reflect, to learn what it is like to be a student in my own classroom. You have given me the opportunity to grow and reflect as a mentor. You have helped me get through this tough time of balancing teaching, grad school, and my family. Thank you, Randon. Thank you for all that you have done. I couldn’t do all this without you.
Now, I couldn’t leave this reflection without a challenge going forward: Never forget your passion. Never forget why you got into teaching. Never forget that you are always a learner- you have as much to learn from the students as they have to learn from you. And never forget to change the world.
I remember meeting Randon at NCTE when Kristin and I were presenting about some of the changes we had made in our classroom here at AHS. Randon attended both this session and one that I did with Karl Fisch. His excitement and interest in what we were implementing was infectious. It was so good to hear him talk about the passion he had for learning and his willingness to jump right in and try new things.
Kristin and I sent Randon a care package of AHS supplies after our visit, in hopes to get him mentally prepared for the quest he was about to undertake. Lesson plan books, books to teach, AHS apparel, and other knick-knacks were all sent away to Minnesota.
He arrived a little early for student teaching giving KK and I time to introduce Randon to our friends so that he knew some people and didn’t have to solely rely on KK and myself. We thought this was one of the most important aspects of him being our student teacher is that we wanted him to go out and visit with a number of teachers here at AHS. We still encourage him to do this because it seems for too often in education, teaching gets in the way of learning and reflecting. We get so caught up in the day to day survival that we often forget time to seek out others and learn from them. We wanted to instill this in Randon from day one.
Interestingly, when we asked others to give Randon a tip about student teaching with KK and I, most would laugh or chuckle, and say “Good Luck.” Others commented “Don’t let them down” or “Change the world.”” Take advantage of having these two as cooperative teachers.
Randon really began teaching from day one. Looking back, it was interesting to see how nervous he was. Was I that nervous on my first day? I think of the challenges he faced taking over our classrooms. These are students we have taught since the first day of the school year, some of these students picked us as teachers not knowing there was going to be a student teacher taking over the classroom, and mostly keeping up with the pace and expectations that AHS has. It was no easy challenge.
After the first lesson, and at the end of his first day, Randon and I started our afternoon debriefing sessions. I am not sure I ever took the time to really think about how these sessions were going to go. I didn’t really take notes as he was teaching, I more just sat back and listened. I guess similar to what KK wrote about, I was sitting in the back of the classroom seeing what learning looked like through the eyes of a student. I wish more teachers had this opportunity to sit back and observe as to what it is like being a student in their own classroom. I know there are teachers who leave the room when they have a student teacher, but I have truly enjoyed the time to reflect and mentor. And so I began with the same question which I continue to use today, “So, what did you think?” always ending our session with “what’s your takeaway?” Most of our sessions are more reflective than anything else. I guess I never wanted to be the answerer of his questions, but give him the space and time to reflect and seek out his own answers. I wanted to have him figure out why something didn’t go as intended and praise himself (intrinsic motivation) when something really went beyond his expectations.
It took awhile but Randon is getting there. We don’t seem to have as much time for our afternoon sessions as my other students have writing conferences and Randon is coaching soccer, but I still look forward to hearing him talk about the day. What did he take away? What went well? What would he do differently?
I want to make sure though that Randon realizes how much he has changed as a teacher and as a learner.
Think back Randon to that first day, or even that first week. Think about how you approached your first class and your first student interactions. Do you remember the students high fiving you in the hallway? Are you still as passionate to see them now as they were to see you? Do you remember taking over my English Literature classes when I had to leave and you taught all my classes? Do you remember embracing that challenge and walking away successful and learning from the experience? Do you remember planning your first unit? Do you remember teaching the kids to write thesis statements and structure to their paragraphs? They will always remember it was you who taught them; hold onto that memory? Do you remember the passion and fire with which you began your student teaching? Do you remember how tough it is at times to hold onto that? Do you remember the kids trying to figure out who you are and what they would learn from you? Do you remember when I told you that you were born to be a teacher and that you are a natural? Don’t ever forget that. Do you remember how we talked about brick walls? I will never forget your crayon lesson to me. Do you remember the worst day you have had in teaching? Do you remember the best day? I would hope your best days always outweigh your worst days.
Randon- I have told you many times I am not one who gives out false praise, so this comes from my heart. You are on a great journey. Do not forget to ever stop learning and being a learner in your own classroom. When we think we know it all in teaching, we are failing our students and ourselves. Remain passionate about learning, reflecting, and teaching. There are many days where I watch you do great things and I see the possibilities of your future. Do not forget to reflect upon the good and bad always growing from the opportunities. Most of all, remember even though you will one day be done student teaching, Kristin and I are always here. We will always be here to mentor, to advise and mostly to support your growth. We are so proud of all you have done and all you continue to do. Remember that it is ok to make mistakes and to learn from them. Being open to change and possibilities is what will make you a great teacher.
You have changed me as a teacher because of the opportunity to sit back and reflect, to learn what it is like to be a student in my own classroom. You have given me the opportunity to grow and reflect as a mentor. You have helped me get through this tough time of balancing teaching, grad school, and my family. Thank you, Randon. Thank you for all that you have done. I couldn’t do all this without you.
Now, I couldn’t leave this reflection without a challenge going forward: Never forget your passion. Never forget why you got into teaching. Never forget that you are always a learner- you have as much to learn from the students as they have to learn from you. And never forget to change the world.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
AR cycle 2 interviews - the last of them
This blog is the third in my set of three interviews I completed as a result of the multiple revision policy for my AR project. The first two interviews were with one pair of girls and a set of three boys. Now, this interview was with two boys who have been in my class all year long. I wanted them to elaborate upon the survey questions the class had responded to the week before. I asked them only to elaborate on certain questions as I did with the other two interviews. I asked them to explain more about questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 14. Then I left time at the end for them to let me know about anything else they wanted to speak about.
The students who participated in the interview were not selected but were instead self chosen. They told me that they wanted to be interviewed.
1. Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?
The first student said that the ability to redo assignments has been beneficial to him most of the time. He often has to redo assignments that he has not put the most time into. When he does redo and assignment, it helps him bump up the grade. The other student in the interview agreed to what the first students said. He also acknowledged that it was good to have the extra time to complete the work.
2. Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?
The first student indicated that he thought so. He said it let him have an advantage by having a redo. Now he has been getting mediocre to good grades where before that was not the case. The other student agreed.
3. On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?
The first student indicated that sometimes he took advantage of the assignment and redo because he didn’t do the work 100% the first time. Knowing that you can redo the work, sometimes the incentive isn’t there to do it right. When you are able to redo the work, you do not always do it 100%. The other student commented that it depends on the amount of help he gets. If he is getting help from the student teacher or the teacher, which most of the time he is getting help and on serious papers, then he does.
6. Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?
The first student said that the feedback on each assignment helps. It shows me how and what I am doing wrong. Feedback always helps me improve my grade. The second student agreed.
Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?
The first student said that a lot of people can take advantage because you have so many times to redo. If there was only one time, you would probably put the most you could into the work. With the redo, you keep improving, which helps learning but people can take advantage. The second student indicated that most people know they have extra time so they do not do the homework that night. But they also want to get it done so things do not build up.
The first student also had the suggestion that to redo the revision policy, maybe the student must first turn in the assignment on the day it was due, and then they can redo the assignment since they turned it in on the original due date. I asked them to clarify what that meant. He clarified that that might mean some students rush to get the work done, but it could also take away some of the flaws he believed of the redo policy.
Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?
One of the students indicated that his effort has not declined when doing an assignment because he thinks about all the free time he could be having rather than redoing work, If he sees flaws in his work, he thinks about fixing those. The other student indicated that there could be times when others rush their work and that could show their effort has declined.
Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it?
The first student indicated that when he first started redoing work, he didn’t really utilize the policy very much. He did the assignment and got an OK grade. As he progressed, he would add a little more to the assignment and his grade would improve. PLNs are an example. The other student indicated that his grade last semester supported his view. He realized this semester that it is better to do everything when it is due so things don’t pile up. He is trying not to have the build up of work which led to bad grades.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?
One of the students rated himself an 8-9. He gave the example of writing this position paper because he has been behind but the policy gives him the chance to get in the work in and grades on his paper. The other student rated himself a 6-7. He gave the reasoning behind his ranking that being able to redo doesn’t enhance knowledge. Adding sentences doesn’t add to knowledge it just makes you more aware of what the teacher wants. That is not learning.
14. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing?
One of the students rated himself as a10. He indicated that he is getting a lot of work night after night. A non-redo policy the kids wouldn’t learn or do the work. With redo the kids can redo their work the following night. The other student rated himself at an 8-9. No explanation followed.
The students who participated in the interview were not selected but were instead self chosen. They told me that they wanted to be interviewed.
1. Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?
The first student said that the ability to redo assignments has been beneficial to him most of the time. He often has to redo assignments that he has not put the most time into. When he does redo and assignment, it helps him bump up the grade. The other student in the interview agreed to what the first students said. He also acknowledged that it was good to have the extra time to complete the work.
2. Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?
The first student indicated that he thought so. He said it let him have an advantage by having a redo. Now he has been getting mediocre to good grades where before that was not the case. The other student agreed.
3. On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?
The first student indicated that sometimes he took advantage of the assignment and redo because he didn’t do the work 100% the first time. Knowing that you can redo the work, sometimes the incentive isn’t there to do it right. When you are able to redo the work, you do not always do it 100%. The other student commented that it depends on the amount of help he gets. If he is getting help from the student teacher or the teacher, which most of the time he is getting help and on serious papers, then he does.
6. Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?
The first student said that the feedback on each assignment helps. It shows me how and what I am doing wrong. Feedback always helps me improve my grade. The second student agreed.
Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?
The first student said that a lot of people can take advantage because you have so many times to redo. If there was only one time, you would probably put the most you could into the work. With the redo, you keep improving, which helps learning but people can take advantage. The second student indicated that most people know they have extra time so they do not do the homework that night. But they also want to get it done so things do not build up.
The first student also had the suggestion that to redo the revision policy, maybe the student must first turn in the assignment on the day it was due, and then they can redo the assignment since they turned it in on the original due date. I asked them to clarify what that meant. He clarified that that might mean some students rush to get the work done, but it could also take away some of the flaws he believed of the redo policy.
Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?
One of the students indicated that his effort has not declined when doing an assignment because he thinks about all the free time he could be having rather than redoing work, If he sees flaws in his work, he thinks about fixing those. The other student indicated that there could be times when others rush their work and that could show their effort has declined.
Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it?
The first student indicated that when he first started redoing work, he didn’t really utilize the policy very much. He did the assignment and got an OK grade. As he progressed, he would add a little more to the assignment and his grade would improve. PLNs are an example. The other student indicated that his grade last semester supported his view. He realized this semester that it is better to do everything when it is due so things don’t pile up. He is trying not to have the build up of work which led to bad grades.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?
One of the students rated himself an 8-9. He gave the example of writing this position paper because he has been behind but the policy gives him the chance to get in the work in and grades on his paper. The other student rated himself a 6-7. He gave the reasoning behind his ranking that being able to redo doesn’t enhance knowledge. Adding sentences doesn’t add to knowledge it just makes you more aware of what the teacher wants. That is not learning.
14. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing?
One of the students rated himself as a10. He indicated that he is getting a lot of work night after night. A non-redo policy the kids wouldn’t learn or do the work. With redo the kids can redo their work the following night. The other student rated himself at an 8-9. No explanation followed.
Cycle 2 Interviews continued...
Last week I interviewed two other sets of kids about their reactions to our work in cycle two with the multiple redo policy. As I previously blogged about, I already interviewed a pair of girls earlier in the week. One bit of clarification, all the students I have interviewed I have had for the entire school year. I also am sharing these students with a student teacher who is implementing this policy as well and has done so since the beginning of the semester when he took over this class.
I am going to split up the two groups’ responses into two separate blog posts for the sake of consistency as well as readability. I will have another blog follow this one where there was a pair of two boys. This blog is about an interview conducted with three boys who have been in my class all year long.
1. Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?
One of the students indicated that it always has been beneficial. He explained that it seems on assignment that the initial time he completes an assignment he does something incorrectly on the assignment. But with the redo policy, he is about to redo the work and receive a better grade. Another student commented that when he forgets to do the work, or it is last minute, and “bombs” the assignment, he still has time and the ability to show his best work. The final student felt that it has always been beneficial. There are times when he has not always done his best, or had other things on his mind, and it helps knowing he can redo his work.
2. Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?
The first student commented that most of the time it has a positive change to his thinking. When an assignment is returned to him with corrections, he is able to redo it, and receive a better grade. He also continued that he knew if he was stuck on an assignment, he could finish it, turn it in, and the teacher would help him learn how to do it correctly. The next student commented that he would turn in something on time, or he can take the time to turn in his best work. Getting the feedback helped him as a learner. The final student indicated that he needed feedback to be a better learner. The feedback helped him focus on his thinking rather than on the assignment.
3. On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?
The first student said that he does not do some of the assignment correctly the first time. Things like grammar errors or unsure of the assignment are part of the problem. Then the redo helps showing him what he needs to fix. The second student agreed with the first. When he turns in his work, it might not be the best work, but the feedback helps tell him the best parts of the work and what should “shine.” The final student reflected that at the beginning of the year when we were studying Chris McCandless and Into the Wild, he didn’t do the work right, but then focused on getting into “the groove” and although there are still mistakes, he has a better format to follow learning from it.
6. Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?
The first student said that the feedback always helped. Some teachers just give back an assignment and it is not very good. But in this class, the teacher shows us what isn’t right and we can fix it. It is more than just knowing what is wrong. The second student agreed in said that teachers give you a bad grade in other classes and you just say “ok”, but in English we can redo and we become more confident because of that. The final student commented that it is nice to know you did it right, and how good you did in your writing. It is also good to know what to do better.
Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?
The first student replied with “not really” on taking the redo policy for granted. He said he tries to do all assignments because he knows next year he will not have the same opportunity. The second student indicated that the policy gave him confidence; even if he procrastinates, he can redo it. He doesn’t take it for granted. The final student talked about the fact there are not redos in other classes. The work is harder in this class and so it is good to have redos.
Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?
The first student commented that sometimes his effort declined. Instead of spending the time being stuck on an assignment, he knew he had the redo and would wait to get feedback to change his assignment so that it was better. The second student commented that it was annoying to redo work. You put forth the effort so that you would not have to redo. It teaches you to do your work. The final student said it depends on what the assignment was. If it was a PLN (personal learning network entry) or a paper, the bigger projects mattered where the smaller ones were just assignments.
Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it?
The first student said yes at the beginning of the semester. Then at the end of the first six weeks, all the redos are due. He had 4-5 redos and in one work he realized that it was hard to redo all of those. So, he tried hard so not to have as many redos. The second student commented again that it does get annoying redoing your work, so it is better to try hard all the time. The final student indicated that knowing you can redo the work makes he try harder because you would rather be doing other things than redoing your work.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?
The first student said he ranked himself on a scale of 9-10 because first semester he learned the structure of the paragraph. The teacher would explain it in class, and he was not doing it correctly for homework. So instead of doing it wrong all the time, he would revise with the explanations and feedback. The second student also commented that he would rate himself as a 9-10. If you aren’t able to redo, you do not learn anything. If he redo it, it teaches you the material. The final student commented about it being a “learning experience”. It teaches you to try harder because of the feedback. Since he knew what he did wrong, he could always try harder. He rated himself an 8-9.
14. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing?
The first student commented that he would rank himself a 10 since all English is writing. This takes more thinking than with other subjects. With the redos, the first time, he does not always use the best words, or structure, but with the redos, he learns from his mistakes. The second student said he felt the same way as the first student. The final student said that it all connects with feedback. If you did get an assignment back, but you didn’t get a second chance, you don’t learn anything.
The all agreed at the end of the interview that the multiple revision policy should be in place for all English classes. I told them I would work on that.
I am going to split up the two groups’ responses into two separate blog posts for the sake of consistency as well as readability. I will have another blog follow this one where there was a pair of two boys. This blog is about an interview conducted with three boys who have been in my class all year long.
1. Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?
One of the students indicated that it always has been beneficial. He explained that it seems on assignment that the initial time he completes an assignment he does something incorrectly on the assignment. But with the redo policy, he is about to redo the work and receive a better grade. Another student commented that when he forgets to do the work, or it is last minute, and “bombs” the assignment, he still has time and the ability to show his best work. The final student felt that it has always been beneficial. There are times when he has not always done his best, or had other things on his mind, and it helps knowing he can redo his work.
2. Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?
The first student commented that most of the time it has a positive change to his thinking. When an assignment is returned to him with corrections, he is able to redo it, and receive a better grade. He also continued that he knew if he was stuck on an assignment, he could finish it, turn it in, and the teacher would help him learn how to do it correctly. The next student commented that he would turn in something on time, or he can take the time to turn in his best work. Getting the feedback helped him as a learner. The final student indicated that he needed feedback to be a better learner. The feedback helped him focus on his thinking rather than on the assignment.
3. On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?
The first student said that he does not do some of the assignment correctly the first time. Things like grammar errors or unsure of the assignment are part of the problem. Then the redo helps showing him what he needs to fix. The second student agreed with the first. When he turns in his work, it might not be the best work, but the feedback helps tell him the best parts of the work and what should “shine.” The final student reflected that at the beginning of the year when we were studying Chris McCandless and Into the Wild, he didn’t do the work right, but then focused on getting into “the groove” and although there are still mistakes, he has a better format to follow learning from it.
6. Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?
The first student said that the feedback always helped. Some teachers just give back an assignment and it is not very good. But in this class, the teacher shows us what isn’t right and we can fix it. It is more than just knowing what is wrong. The second student agreed in said that teachers give you a bad grade in other classes and you just say “ok”, but in English we can redo and we become more confident because of that. The final student commented that it is nice to know you did it right, and how good you did in your writing. It is also good to know what to do better.
Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?
The first student replied with “not really” on taking the redo policy for granted. He said he tries to do all assignments because he knows next year he will not have the same opportunity. The second student indicated that the policy gave him confidence; even if he procrastinates, he can redo it. He doesn’t take it for granted. The final student talked about the fact there are not redos in other classes. The work is harder in this class and so it is good to have redos.
Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?
The first student commented that sometimes his effort declined. Instead of spending the time being stuck on an assignment, he knew he had the redo and would wait to get feedback to change his assignment so that it was better. The second student commented that it was annoying to redo work. You put forth the effort so that you would not have to redo. It teaches you to do your work. The final student said it depends on what the assignment was. If it was a PLN (personal learning network entry) or a paper, the bigger projects mattered where the smaller ones were just assignments.
Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it?
The first student said yes at the beginning of the semester. Then at the end of the first six weeks, all the redos are due. He had 4-5 redos and in one work he realized that it was hard to redo all of those. So, he tried hard so not to have as many redos. The second student commented again that it does get annoying redoing your work, so it is better to try hard all the time. The final student indicated that knowing you can redo the work makes he try harder because you would rather be doing other things than redoing your work.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?
The first student said he ranked himself on a scale of 9-10 because first semester he learned the structure of the paragraph. The teacher would explain it in class, and he was not doing it correctly for homework. So instead of doing it wrong all the time, he would revise with the explanations and feedback. The second student also commented that he would rate himself as a 9-10. If you aren’t able to redo, you do not learn anything. If he redo it, it teaches you the material. The final student commented about it being a “learning experience”. It teaches you to try harder because of the feedback. Since he knew what he did wrong, he could always try harder. He rated himself an 8-9.
14. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing?
The first student commented that he would rank himself a 10 since all English is writing. This takes more thinking than with other subjects. With the redos, the first time, he does not always use the best words, or structure, but with the redos, he learns from his mistakes. The second student said he felt the same way as the first student. The final student said that it all connects with feedback. If you did get an assignment back, but you didn’t get a second chance, you don’t learn anything.
The all agreed at the end of the interview that the multiple revision policy should be in place for all English classes. I told them I would work on that.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
How did I get here?
Randon Ruggles, my student that I share with Kristin Leclaire, and I reflect each day after school about how the day went. We take the time to break down issues, talk about things that went well, and of course, have our takeaways for the day. At the end of the week, we also try and set some goals to focus on for the next week.
Lately, Kristin and I were talking with Randon about classroom management and Randon’s struggles with figuring out his style. It was one of those really interesting conversations that came together as a result of previous conversations. We had talked about my wanting to “save” randon and fix his problems with classroom management, but if I did that, it would be a huge disservice to him as the teacher, to the students to learn about respect, and to me, because then I would be “MOM” stepping in to save the drowning child. He isn’t really drowning but the waters are a little rough!
So, after some time talking through the various ways he can deal with classroom management, I turned to KK and asked her, “How did we get here?” I feel like I am dispensing all this advice to Randon and am unsure of how I even came to know what I know. I mean wasn’t I once a student teacher? I remember good days at Discovery Middle School with Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Rosenburger (two of my ninth grade teachers). Wasn’t I once trying to figure out how to plan a lesson, or a novel, or a unit, or a whole semester? Wasn’t there a time when I was sitting up late at night grading papers and wondering what feedback kids need and how do I give feedback, what kind of feedback should I give, how much should I give, etc…Wasn’t there a time when I was teaching, coaching, and trying to have a life all at the same time? How did I figure out all of this?
I really enjoy the conversations Randon and I have after school because it does give me the time to reflect about how things are going for him, what issues and challenges I can help him with, and help him realize how much he has grown and changed since he has been student teaching here. The questioning with him of his choices is one of my favorite things. I really enjoy listening to the change in him. At the beginning of the year, the focus was so much on me and my interpretations of what he did, and now, I can see him fixing mistakes, recognizing growth before I even have to say anything. It is like watching your students change over the course of the school year. You first watch them flounder in these unknown waters of learning, and gradually they learn to tread water, then they learn a few strokes, and before you know it, they are competing with the best of them in the long distance race of learning and growing. Randon has come so far, I just wish he would recognize it. Maybe I need to do a better mentoring job of helping him see it.
I also enjoy it because I am able to reflect on my own teaching journey and remembering all the lessons I learned from my various screw-ups, bad choices, too much placed on my plate, and lack of sleep. Yes, Randon, even I have made bad choices! I am definitely not perfect and I am sure that many can tell you of things I did in my first years of teaching that left others with an uncertainty about me and teaching. But no matter what happened, I survived. I learned from those mistakes; I took them as opportunities to grow and change. After all, that has to be how I got here: mistakes, bad choices, great days, long hours, reflection, life jackets, laughing, teasing, learning, relearning, changing, adapting, connections, relationships, tears, coaching, playing, reading, writing, revising, and the support of those around me encouraging me to succeed and see all that I had done.
Lately, Kristin and I were talking with Randon about classroom management and Randon’s struggles with figuring out his style. It was one of those really interesting conversations that came together as a result of previous conversations. We had talked about my wanting to “save” randon and fix his problems with classroom management, but if I did that, it would be a huge disservice to him as the teacher, to the students to learn about respect, and to me, because then I would be “MOM” stepping in to save the drowning child. He isn’t really drowning but the waters are a little rough!
So, after some time talking through the various ways he can deal with classroom management, I turned to KK and asked her, “How did we get here?” I feel like I am dispensing all this advice to Randon and am unsure of how I even came to know what I know. I mean wasn’t I once a student teacher? I remember good days at Discovery Middle School with Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Rosenburger (two of my ninth grade teachers). Wasn’t I once trying to figure out how to plan a lesson, or a novel, or a unit, or a whole semester? Wasn’t there a time when I was sitting up late at night grading papers and wondering what feedback kids need and how do I give feedback, what kind of feedback should I give, how much should I give, etc…Wasn’t there a time when I was teaching, coaching, and trying to have a life all at the same time? How did I figure out all of this?
I really enjoy the conversations Randon and I have after school because it does give me the time to reflect about how things are going for him, what issues and challenges I can help him with, and help him realize how much he has grown and changed since he has been student teaching here. The questioning with him of his choices is one of my favorite things. I really enjoy listening to the change in him. At the beginning of the year, the focus was so much on me and my interpretations of what he did, and now, I can see him fixing mistakes, recognizing growth before I even have to say anything. It is like watching your students change over the course of the school year. You first watch them flounder in these unknown waters of learning, and gradually they learn to tread water, then they learn a few strokes, and before you know it, they are competing with the best of them in the long distance race of learning and growing. Randon has come so far, I just wish he would recognize it. Maybe I need to do a better mentoring job of helping him see it.
I also enjoy it because I am able to reflect on my own teaching journey and remembering all the lessons I learned from my various screw-ups, bad choices, too much placed on my plate, and lack of sleep. Yes, Randon, even I have made bad choices! I am definitely not perfect and I am sure that many can tell you of things I did in my first years of teaching that left others with an uncertainty about me and teaching. But no matter what happened, I survived. I learned from those mistakes; I took them as opportunities to grow and change. After all, that has to be how I got here: mistakes, bad choices, great days, long hours, reflection, life jackets, laughing, teasing, learning, relearning, changing, adapting, connections, relationships, tears, coaching, playing, reading, writing, revising, and the support of those around me encouraging me to succeed and see all that I had done.
Cycle 2 Interview 2/17
I completed the first set of interviews with two students who volunteered to expand on the survey results from cycle 2’s focus of the multiple revision policy. I have a group of boys I will be interviewing on Thursday as well. I told the girls that I wanted to use the questions from the survey as a basis for our discussion but I wanted to expand on their answers asking “why” they answered as they did. The interview took place after school on February 17, 2009.
For question one “Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?” , the students responded that it was beneficial because they were able to redo mistakes they had made. One student also responded that it made her want to improve as a writer.
For question two, “Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?” one student reacted that it made her look at assignments not as a have to as she had previously in classes, but she now looked at the assignments as a want to. She saw that she could do better each time she worked on an assignment. The other student commented that she was not as stressed about homework because she could redo the work and that she could learn about what to do and not do going forward on other assignments.
Question three, “On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?”. The students both commented that they try to do the assignment correctly the first time, but that they needed further direction or corrections and thus redid the work. Additionally, one student commented that there were times when she turned in the work just to get feedback to do better work the next time. She saw it as a chance to improve and that when she was stressed about homework, it gave her a break being able to redo an assignment. So sometimes she would not turn in the best work the first time in because of how stressed she was.
Question six, "Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?”. I added an additional question onto this question asking about the dual feedback they are receiving from Mr. Ruggles, the student teacher, and myself. One student remarked that the dual feedback was overwhelming. She felt like she was trying to please two teachers and do what two teachers wanted. With one set of feedback, it would be much easier. The other student responded that she did not mind the dual sets of feedback. She said she honestly liked all the feedback because she did not feel lost in her writing. The feedback gave her simple changes to improver her grade and the positive feedback was encouraging.
Question seven “Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?" . One student reacted that she did take the policy for granted. Stress played a big role in this. She knew that she did not have to get the assignment done on time and that she would still receive credit. But then she would get stressed by the redos because it eventually had to be done. She commented that the multiple revision is a privilege and she took it for granted. It is a good as a back up or safety net when she can’t get the work done but you end up cheating yourself when you rely on it all the time. The other student agreed that it could be used as a backup and that sometimes she takes it for granted. If she is busy and has a lot of homework, then she uses it.
Question nine “Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?”. Both students commented that their effort did not decline because they realized that the work just leads to more work when assignments are not done correctly. All of it just builds on another. And their answers for question 10, “Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it” supported that with their responses echoing the same idea that if they didn’t do their best work the first time around, the work would compound with new assignments and then redos all at once.
Question eleven, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?”. At first one of the students wanted me to define what a student was to them. I put the question back on her asking her to tell me what a student was. Although she didn’t define what a student was, she did answer the question saying that she improved as a student by learning more from her mistakes. When she would mess up, she would learn not to repeat that mistake a second time. The other student commented that she improved as a writer with the feedback she was receiving. She learned techniques of getting work done. She learned a lot about the process of redoing work. She commented about how stressful it can be when there is so much to redo, but she learned skills that will help her throughout life. She even remarked that this privilege is not ever given to students. I asked her if she would want other teachers to give multiple redos and she said it should be a piece of advice given to all teachers at AHS. The other student then commented that some students would take the policy for granted, but a majority would use it. One solution is that it could be given to only some students especially students with ADD or that need more understanding.
From this question, they traversed into talking about grades and learning. One student commented that this class wasn’t as strict as others. The students in this class are not as stressed and they feel lucky to be in here. One of the students went on to talk about how this class focused not on a grade, but on writing. She continued that she felt she was benefitting more in this class and benefiting from learning from one another. She had trouble expressing exactly where she was going with this comment, and I did not want to lead her on, but I think the sentiment is there that she is feeling a change and inspired by that change.
Question fourteen, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing”. One of the students reacted that her writing has improved a lot. That things that were once weaknesses (spelling, punctuation, grammar) now those are things she has improved on. She knows what to do, how to do it, and fix the mistakes. The other student remarked that she noticed a change right away. The redo policy allowed for her to complete her work where as before she would complete an assignment just to get through it, rushing her work, and didn’t put herself into her world. The redo helped her learn structure and that she could take her time so that she could express what she really thought.
At the end of the interview, I asked if they had any final thoughts. One of the students commented that the redo policy was one of the best things. She remarked that she has problems staying on task, and this policy helped her with that. She also commented that this policy was a privilege and that all teachers should have this. The students and teacher benefit by having the knowledge not the focus on the grade. The students are changing their focus from trying for a grade, to trying for the benefits of knowledge. The other student added that she didn’t care about her grade in this class as she did in her others, she was too busy learning. The also both echoed that this class is hard and challenging but with the multiple revision policy, they felt they could take risks with their writing instead of just shooting for a grade.
One students quote at the end: “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
For question one “Has the ability to redo assignments multiple times been beneficial to you?” , the students responded that it was beneficial because they were able to redo mistakes they had made. One student also responded that it made her want to improve as a writer.
For question two, “Has the ability to redo assignments had a positive change to your thinking about learning and being a successful learner?” one student reacted that it made her look at assignments not as a have to as she had previously in classes, but she now looked at the assignments as a want to. She saw that she could do better each time she worked on an assignment. The other student commented that she was not as stressed about homework because she could redo the work and that she could learn about what to do and not do going forward on other assignments.
Question three, “On average, do you do an assignment correctly the first time the assignment is assigned?”. The students both commented that they try to do the assignment correctly the first time, but that they needed further direction or corrections and thus redid the work. Additionally, one student commented that there were times when she turned in the work just to get feedback to do better work the next time. She saw it as a chance to improve and that when she was stressed about homework, it gave her a break being able to redo an assignment. So sometimes she would not turn in the best work the first time in because of how stressed she was.
Question six, "Thinking about the feedback you receive on assignments, did it help you succeed as a learner?”. I added an additional question onto this question asking about the dual feedback they are receiving from Mr. Ruggles, the student teacher, and myself. One student remarked that the dual feedback was overwhelming. She felt like she was trying to please two teachers and do what two teachers wanted. With one set of feedback, it would be much easier. The other student responded that she did not mind the dual sets of feedback. She said she honestly liked all the feedback because she did not feel lost in her writing. The feedback gave her simple changes to improver her grade and the positive feedback was encouraging.
Question seven “Do you take the multiple redo policy for granted?" . One student reacted that she did take the policy for granted. Stress played a big role in this. She knew that she did not have to get the assignment done on time and that she would still receive credit. But then she would get stressed by the redos because it eventually had to be done. She commented that the multiple revision is a privilege and she took it for granted. It is a good as a back up or safety net when she can’t get the work done but you end up cheating yourself when you rely on it all the time. The other student agreed that it could be used as a backup and that sometimes she takes it for granted. If she is busy and has a lot of homework, then she uses it.
Question nine “Knowing that you have multiple opportunities to redo your work, has your effort declined on those assignments?”. Both students commented that their effort did not decline because they realized that the work just leads to more work when assignments are not done correctly. All of it just builds on another. And their answers for question 10, “Throughout the semester, do you try to perform harder at first so not to have to redo it” supported that with their responses echoing the same idea that if they didn’t do their best work the first time around, the work would compound with new assignments and then redos all at once.
Question eleven, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the greatest improvement, how have you improved as a student as a result of the multiple redo policy?”. At first one of the students wanted me to define what a student was to them. I put the question back on her asking her to tell me what a student was. Although she didn’t define what a student was, she did answer the question saying that she improved as a student by learning more from her mistakes. When she would mess up, she would learn not to repeat that mistake a second time. The other student commented that she improved as a writer with the feedback she was receiving. She learned techniques of getting work done. She learned a lot about the process of redoing work. She commented about how stressful it can be when there is so much to redo, but she learned skills that will help her throughout life. She even remarked that this privilege is not ever given to students. I asked her if she would want other teachers to give multiple redos and she said it should be a piece of advice given to all teachers at AHS. The other student then commented that some students would take the policy for granted, but a majority would use it. One solution is that it could be given to only some students especially students with ADD or that need more understanding.
From this question, they traversed into talking about grades and learning. One student commented that this class wasn’t as strict as others. The students in this class are not as stressed and they feel lucky to be in here. One of the students went on to talk about how this class focused not on a grade, but on writing. She continued that she felt she was benefitting more in this class and benefiting from learning from one another. She had trouble expressing exactly where she was going with this comment, and I did not want to lead her on, but I think the sentiment is there that she is feeling a change and inspired by that change.
Question fourteen, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being greatest improvement, how would you rank the redo policy vs. a non-redo policy in terms of it actually improving writing”. One of the students reacted that her writing has improved a lot. That things that were once weaknesses (spelling, punctuation, grammar) now those are things she has improved on. She knows what to do, how to do it, and fix the mistakes. The other student remarked that she noticed a change right away. The redo policy allowed for her to complete her work where as before she would complete an assignment just to get through it, rushing her work, and didn’t put herself into her world. The redo helped her learn structure and that she could take her time so that she could express what she really thought.
At the end of the interview, I asked if they had any final thoughts. One of the students commented that the redo policy was one of the best things. She remarked that she has problems staying on task, and this policy helped her with that. She also commented that this policy was a privilege and that all teachers should have this. The students and teacher benefit by having the knowledge not the focus on the grade. The students are changing their focus from trying for a grade, to trying for the benefits of knowledge. The other student added that she didn’t care about her grade in this class as she did in her others, she was too busy learning. The also both echoed that this class is hard and challenging but with the multiple revision policy, they felt they could take risks with their writing instead of just shooting for a grade.
One students quote at the end: “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
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