topham's attic: if it's tuesday, this must be...

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

if it's tuesday, this must be...

...well, looking around I know it isn't Belgium...

Welcome back from a frigid and rainy four-day weekend during which even I managed to get at least a modicum of rest. Here is the run-down on what's happening in the Wonderful World of Topham this fine overly chilled Tuesday afternoon:

E3H: Today we heard from the booklady, and I have to say that a few of you were a tad rude; if you can't listen to her better then I won't invite her back. And also...if you know she's coming, why aren't more of you ready to take new books?

Enough of that.

Tomorrow is registration for Period 5; Thursday for Period 3. The other day (plus Friday) will be Writing Workshop. We will also have at least two Writing Workshops next week; there should be plenty of time to finish things up.

The deadine for the Portrait Final is today. Email it to e3h@sunspark.com.

E2H: Today we talked about Bernard and Charley and we just started on Howard and the "a man is not a piece of fruit" scene. We'll be discussing it tomorrow; chat about it online tonight. Another place to examine is the final confrontation with Biff and Willy.

Your DOAS scene projects should choose from the following scenes:

Linda/Willy 12-16 (from start through Linda: “Never”)
Happy/Biff 20- 23 (from Happy: “Funny, Biff” to Happy: “Still goddammit I’m lonely”)
Happy/Biff 23-26 (from Biff: “Listen, why don’t you come” to Biff: “lock up the place”)
Willy/Linda 34-37 (from Linda: “Did you sell anything?” to Linda: “idolized by their children the way you are”)
Linda/Biff 53-56 (from Biff: “What is he doing out there” to Linda; “The man is exhausted”)
Linda/Willy 71-75 (From start to Linda: “Be careful”)
Willy/Howard 76-80 (from Howard: “Hello, Willy, Come in” to Howard: “Business is business”)
Willy/Howard 80-84 (from Willy: “God knows, Howard” to Howard: “there’s people outside”)
Willy/Bernard 91-95 (from Bernard: “Hello, Uncle Willy” to Willy: “Goodbye, boy”)
Willy/Charley 95-98 (from Willy: “The Supreme Court!” to Charley: “Jesus”)

I'll need to know your partners and your top three selections ASAP. For a detailed description of the full project, you may check here.

Drama: You will be working toward a graded performance of these monologues during this week. Tomorrow you will continue to work in small groups on character development. Thursday and Friday you will move on to performance issues. Monday the monologues will be performed for grades. Note that there is going to be a new assignment given during the week as well...

random thought of the day: Ever been scared half to death? Well don't do it twice.

Notes to Parents

8/24/14

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another (or your first) year at LFHS.

What you have heard is true. The English teacher has lost her ever-loving mind and is not going to be giving any grades at all in her classes this year. Not. One.

There will be no percentages, no numbers, no scores, no letters, no anything that will count toward anything that will end up being averaged for a final grade. But before you call in the men with the white coats, let me explain:

As I hope you have read in the doc your son or daughter (I have always hated the phrase "your student" when addressed to a parent) should have showed you, there is a wealth of research that indicates that grades--or the need to achieve them--are the single greatest thing that stand in the way of a great education. Studies show that the most influential thing a teacher can do to help a student grow academically is to allow him or her to self-grade. Most teachers would rather climb Mt. Everest dressed only in a swimsuit.

But the thing is: our academic system is severely broken. We say that our goal is to get our students to master Common Core Standards, and that is all well and good. But if that is truly the goal, then why do we care how long it takes them to master them? I'm serious. Think about it this way:

Try to remember back to when you were learning how to ride a bike. Oh, it was scary. You needed all kinds of support at first, lots of help from Daddy or Mommy. Then they let go and you were very, very wobbly. Probably you fell off, maybe several times. It took quite a while before you completely mastered the skill. But when you had...you had it down perfectly for the rest of your life.

Now imagine if you were being graded on that learning experience the way schools grade you. We would not score those first scaffolding attempts with Mommy and Daddy, but then...oh, you failed those quizzes when you fell off. And those wobbly rides? C's at best. Then a bunch of B's probably before you finally settled into 100% forever. But if we graded you right at that point, you'd probably average, oh, 83% or so. Why? You've mastered the skill perfectly. So why do you not get 100% if that is what we say we care about? Why on earth do we care about all those earlier times when you didn't have it down yet?

That will be what we go for here. Students will know what the goals are. They will understand what an "A" student looks like. And they will know when they have mastered an objective. Those who do so earlier than others will become tutors to those who have not yet done it: everyone gains from this and the newly learned skills, instead of being quickly forgotten as things studied for a test usually are, will continue being applied as masters tutor their classmates.

That is an awful lot to imagine will happen because I don't give grades this year, but what the heck: if you don't dream big, you never win big, right? The research is behind this, as is the school administration. I'm happy--well, actually I am excited--to pilot this concept at LFHS. As always, I'm glad to discuss this or anything else with you.

Karen

Feel free to email me any time at ktopham@lfschools.net.

topham's attic

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

if it's tuesday, this must be...

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