topham's attic: Another beautiful Thursday

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Another beautiful Thursday

This is the icon next to the weather for the next several days at weather.com.

75 This is the number most frequently found next to the icon.

I LIKE IT!!!!!!

CW: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's time to explore the magical, mystical world of...DIALOGUE!!! Your HW tonight, having spent today discussing this formidable skill, is to spend some time eavesdropping on conversations until you find an interesting one that lasts a couple of minutes at least. Then write it down as you heard it first and follow it up by revising it into the kind of conversation you might like it to be if it were included in a story. Want some guidance? Of course you do! You'll find it at this link right here.

E3H: Today we discussed Asher Lev and important aspects of his life and world in the opening chapters. We decided that among them are the following (this list may not be completely comprehensive):

art
family
religion/culture
mythic ancestor
russia/siberia/travel
home
atonement
innocence or lack thereof

As you continue reading--and your reading assignment for next Wednesday is to get as far into the book as possible, finishing it if you can--look for places where Potok reveals Asher's struggles in these areas. Go to the boards at least a few times over those days and join in discussions (using text support) about the artist's ongoing internal conflicts.

Tomorrow, remember, is a Reading Workshop. Tuesday is a Writing Workshop.

E2CP: Today we talked about the importance of books. We also discussed Grover's Corners and why Wilder allowed it to be left to our imaginations. HW for the weekend: Take a 20-30 minute walk in your own neighborhood. Force your mind to stay in the here and now; when you drift into thoughts about last night or this evening or next week, bring yourself back to what is happening now. Notice everything. When you get home, spend half an hour writing about what you witnessed and felt, especially noting anything that you discovered for the first time. This is due by Tuesday; email it to me.

Also due by Tuesday: Act One of Our Town. (You might want to read the whole thing if you can, since we will be moving more briskly next week and the reading assignments will therefore be longer.)

Enjoy the lovely weather.

and, of course...kitties!!!

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

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Another beautiful Thursday

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