topham's attic: four days plus an hour!

Friday, November 5, 2010

four days plus an hour!

Yes indeed! You not only get all the benefits of a four-day weekend, but this is "Fall Back!" weekend as well, the end of Daylight Savings Time, so you actually get an extra hour of weekend to enjoy!

When it rains, it pours!

CW: We are very officially in Q2 Workshop Mode: while there may be a few more prompts, for the most part you are going to find that most of the day are dedicated to your individual progress on the pieces you are choosing as your portfolio works. Reminder: T/F are WG days, so come prepared.

E3H: If by chance you have not received the Asher emails, and I did discover that I missed a few, you'll receive them this weekend. One revision on that essay is a freebie. Note to those whose parents I met early yesterday: The printouts from the gradebook program make it appear as if your "Hunger Artist" essay is missing even though you did it. I figured that out about two hours into the conferences, but earlier I had mentioned this to several parents. Please show them this to prove that you are correct in asserting that you actually did your work.

Fantasias are due Wednesday.
Writing Workshop is Monday. I apologize that I will not have a revised and updated conference schedule online this weekend; I forgot to send myself the file from school to post. I'll take care of it next week. (Try to remember if you have one scheduled though. This is a B week.)
The final cut-off for "What Is Art?" essay revisions will be Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. That is the last day on which I will accept revisions on that essay. Until then, you may do as many as you'd like.

E2CP: It was great meeting with so many parents last night! I hope that you all will enjoy the long weekend, though of course there is some work to be done:

Huck Finn chapters 9-16 by Tuesday.
Writing Workshop pieces for Monday. Remember that this means an x.0 draft with 3-4 printed copies so you can share in writing groups.
Out Town/Harold & Maude essays sent to me ASAP this weekend.

Enjoy, everyone!

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, November 5, 2010

four days plus an hour!

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