topham's attic: cinco de mayo

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

cinco de mayo

¡Hola!

It's the fifth of May and that means partying! (Or studying...if you have AP exams... ) Don't stay up all night now. And if you do need to pull an all-nighter, don't drink too much margarita flavored coffee.

E3H: I'll try to get the Shakespeare stuff online tonight if possible. Basics:

Choral chant involves 3-4 people and a snippet of the Bard you make your own. We will have in-class work time for this tomorrow and the rest of the week.
ESC papers: let's get those first drafts in!
Monologue project: one brief monologue/soliloquy for presentation and analysis.

E2H: Persuasive speech topics! Start working on them, and remember that they must be actionable by a high school sophomore.

Catcher essay topic:
Holden wants to be “the catcher in the rye and all” and stop the children from falling over “some crazy cliff,” though by the end he does come to realize the impossibility of that task. Without simply rehashing what we said in class, discuss why Holden is afraid to grow up.
Remember that it is your choice of approach for this essay that will make yours stand out.
Essay is due on Thursday.

Drama:

Moebius scenes are in progress. I need to know where/when by the end of the week.
Project play scripts are in your possession: start working on memorizing and character development issues.
Julia, with assistance from Jenny, will be Student Directing the AIDS play.
AIDS play cast: don't forget to change the names!

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

j: cinco de mayo
music: andes de bolivia--hector mireles

--kt

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, May 5, 2009

cinco de mayo

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