a place for ideas, thoughts, complaints, concerns, questions, observations, compliments
One of the many reasons I often lament the fact that I ended up teaching English instead of Math or Science is the lack of simple common shared assessments. And when our department decided to use common writing prompts to use as a point of discussion when we talk about student achievement, I was ready. However, I have since talked myself into and out of thinking that this schoolwide writing assessment is a good idea.
Don't get me wrong. I want to be able to look at data for my class and compare it to other classes, other teachers' classes, the entire school. I want my students to learn from the data about their weaknesses and strengths. I want to learn from the data about my own weakesses and strengths. I want to be able to go to Teacher A and ask how come his students consistently score 4s in the thesis category while mine are still in the 2s. Great idea right?
What if the common assessment in its current format produces tainted data? The argument here being that each teacher will score the essays with their own bias so the data can't be compared because it won't be accurate. So this writing takes up precious instructional time to give us information that is only as good as the person who scores it. If we are looking for an accurate measure of student performance, then the schoolwide writing assessment is a bad idea.
Or is it? Does data have to be perfectly accurate in order to be useful? Charles Babbage, a famous mathematician from the 1800s, once said "Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all." (See that? There is evidence that I learned something in my Masters' program.) Currently, we have no data. The schoolwide writing assessment will give us some data.
Maybe the argument I have been having with myself about whether or not the schoolwide writing assessment is good or bad is really about how to use the data rather than how accurate that data is. Are we looking for a measure of individual student's writing skills? Are we looking at what students are learning? Or are we looking at what teachers are teaching?
If the purpose of the data we gather from a schoolwide writing assessment is to inform teaching practices then how can it be a bad idea? If we look at the results as simply a place to start asking questions - of ourselves, of our students, of each other, then it is a good idea. I want to learn from other teachers. Period. We have to start somewhere.
As I decide to stay at work, just a little bit longer, Jackson Browne belts out his famous lines about making sure "you got it all set to go before you come for my piano." Though I'm no where near as energetic about staying the long hours past the last bell of the day, the scenario of the road crew cleaning up the stage at the end of another performance resonates more than just a little bit.
At the end of all our days, we think back on how things went, while also realizing that tomorrow "you'll get up and do it again" (must be Jackson Browne allusion day or something). After talking with Jonathan and Laurie earlier today, I'm trying to imagine what this blog is and is not for. This is by no means an exclusive or exhaustive list. Feel free to add to it.
It's For...
This blog can help us create a virtual space to come together for ideas. I talk with Vanessa, Laurie, Jane, Ted, and Matt all the time about what I'm doing in the classroom. I show them handouts several revisions before my students ever see them. I throw ideas at them and gauge my classroom delivery by their reactions. If this area could be another place to post ideas, documents, reflections about what we're doing in our rooms or what we see happening in each other's rooms, we'd have a powerful record on our hands by the end of the year.
Maybe this can even help with lesson planning in the future. If there was a way to "tag" these entries using keywords or even categorize things by lesson, skill, standard, or some other system, our thoughts could be put to use next year as we tackle the same or similar issues.
The reflections we all have on how we can do our jobs even better flash through our heads so quickly. Often, the ideas we get seem so unrealistic that they fade rather quickly in the face of everything sitting in piles on our desks. Sure, maybe the initial idea really is too much work and wouldn't make much sense with the other things you're doing. But that idea may lead to another that's going to make your life much easier and your instruction more effective. Then again, maybe after more reflection, the idea would work if you adjust your expectations a bit. Yeah, that will work just fine! Why didn't I think of that sooner!? That idea may be the
"greatest lost track of all time"; you just needed to sit down and work out the details.
It's Not For...
Complaining about specific people, airing recurring gripes, attacking students, none of those things help us do what we need to do. It's great to have someone who can listen to your complaints and those things that occur to you in the
heat of the moment. We all need to vent our frustration or anger sometimes. This isn't the place for that. That's something you should probably be doing face-to-face. Maybe even with a therapist. Or perhaps a punching bag. Definitely not in a china shop.
Is That All?
What else can we use this place for? What else should we discourage and frown very sternly upon? Those stern frowns are killers.
I'm glad to be aboard. Thanks Todd for setting this up and thanks Todd and Laurie for talking a bit this morning about how what purposes might be served by this blog, and what pitfalls we should be careful to avoid!
Over at my other site, I started to put together some podcasts, a feature that I call "Two Teachers On Teaching" (TTOT for short). Before I went full throttle into my home improvement project, I sat down with Rushton (the one TTOT podcast that's online) and Laurie (still sitting on my computer, waiting to be edited). Through talking with Michele today, I see another application of this idea.
Michele came up with the idea that we should get together by grade level and discuss the novels we teach, a kind of book talk. Jane, Michele, and I sat down for a while and talked about The Scarlet Letter; we had scheduled a book talk for Hamlet, but it never happened. Now that Michele is back, so is the idea for book talks. What if a few things changed for this version of the book talks?
What if I set a digital voice recorder up in the room to record the whole thing? Without getting too Big Brother on people, we'd be in a position to listen to that book talk just before we are about to teach the novel we discussed. We'd be in a position to carry on the conversation we started at the book talk. An idea mentioned during the talk might have sounded like a good one at the time but, now that we're actually teaching the novel, the idea doesn't pan out so well. Since the talk is recorded and available, we could redirect questions at colleagues through email or side conversations at the lunch table. If the talk is good enough (or just edited well enough), we could make it available to other teachers or even other students.
So many good thoughts get lost in the shuffle of the day. I talked with Michele, Vanessa, Laurie, Julie, and Bjorn for a total of about 2 hours. I will probably forget much of what was said. I don't suggest that every conversation be recorded (*that* would be getting too Big Brother), but even just a blog entry like this after the conversation would help keep the ideas alive.
That's really what I'm concerned about: keeping ideas alive.
What if we recorded all of our ideas here? What if this became the place to make a note about what went well today and what went poorly? What if all of our complaints about the year were recorded here? What if this became a place to have long, after-hours pedagogical and personal conversations about our classrooms, campus, district, and state in the comfort of our homes whenever time presented itself?
Throughout the year, we all have lots of ideas flitting in and out of our heads. Some ideas come to fruition in our classrooms and we're either relieved or upset at the results. Other ideas just simmer in the back of our mind, stagnant or on the verge of being forgotten. Between us all, we have an incredible wealth of resources and would make one hell of a teacher with our combined expertise.
Now can be the time to get serious about thinking about your teaching. Here is a platform where you can be obliged to your colleagues to put forth an idea or two for consideration. While presenting very little stress, having an audience to write to could put you into a better position to reflect on improving your teaching.
If you care to join this experiment in group teacher blogging, email me and I'll add you to the list of contributors. Even if you are afraid of that committment (what's wrong with you?), check in from time to time and leave comments for the rest of us to ponder.
What if we had time to look back on a year's worth of reflections? How much better would our teaching be the year after?
We all have friends across campus that inspire us, motivate us to do better, and help us transform emerging ideas into fully-developed lesson plans. I had an idea about another way to collaberate with other teachers, rather than just taking the across campus stroll after hours. Oddly enough, this idea occured to me while watching Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, a mildly entertaining movie that should move no one to intellectual pursuits. I'm actually a bit worried about myself.
While reading other education blogs out there on the internet, I've "met" some interesting people, some educators that I'd like to philosophize with, some educators that I'd like to share ideas with. These tech-savvy educators remind me of colleagues with whom I share lots of time and energy discussing teaching approaches, frustrations, and general pedagogy. These blogging teachers remind me of friends I have down the hall, around the corner, or just across campus from my classroom. I'd like to talk with them but cannot afford the telephone bill, so I suggest this electronic alternative.
Why not just use email, you ask? Because blogs are so much more fun! And, quite frankly, I would like the dialogue I keep with these educators to be public. Anything that mirrors a struggling teacher's experience is reassuring since they know their experience is not in isolation. We all struggle; let's keep that struggling out in the open where it can breathe.
More immediate friends of mine may find this interesting and may even find their way onto this site as contributors. Virtual friends may do the same. Either way, this will be a spot to bang educational heads together and see what happens.
Did something happen to you today that you want to share? A funny story, a stressful encounter, or maybe a touching anecdote? Is there a succesful lesson plan you want to share? Do you have an idea for something that you want to develop a bit more? Battling with an issue that you just can't seem to resolve? Dealing with bureaucracy and you need some advice? Just come out of a trying situation and you have words of wisdom to share with the rest of us in case we are in a similar circumstance? These are all terrific topics for a post here.
Consider this blog an extention of your friends across campus. Visit as often as you like; the door is always open and you don't have to be home for another hour.
