topham's attic: Fri(day) at last, fri(day) at last, thank god almighty it's fri(day) at last!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Fri(day) at last, fri(day) at last, thank god almighty it's fri(day) at last!

(my apologies to mlk)

over the final weekend before spring break, when the world is finally warming up a tad (though I think snow is expected tomorrow--and what else is new?), and the endless winter shows subtle signs of considering its departure (I saw a crocus this morning!), this is what I'd like you to be doing (when you are not either enjoying nice weather or shoveling one last snowfall):

e3h: read anouilh's antigone; boards are open and waiting... note that we will be discussing this on monday, not having reading workshop

e2h: read Sonny's Blues (84); this and the girl stories are for the boards...

drama: rituals! get your groups together! individually, it's time to start reading chapter four. Read the first several pages of the chapter and do exercises 4.1 and 4.2.

random thought of the day: You just want to have your cake and eat it . . . Too right! What good is a cake if you can't eat it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: is e2h having reading workshop monday?; March 16, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Unknown said...: E2H is having workshop on Monday. I am not sure of the schedule for the rest of the week.; March 16, 2008 at 3:32 PM

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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

Friday, March 14, 2008

Fri(day) at last, fri(day) at last, thank god almighty it's fri(day) at last!

2 comments:

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