topham's attic: caught in a slow-time bubble

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

caught in a slow-time bubble

Hi, all:

Third day of school. It feels as if we should have reached the weekend by now, doesn't it? I think that it always seems to take forever to reach the end of the first week of school. It's some sort of adjunct tot he Theory of Relativity: the first week of school causes time to slow down.

Anyway...

E2CP: Today in class we discussed the use of the website for awhile and then moved on to the topic of Nature as we had been discussing it. Tonight's assignment is to read a part of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on Nature (link here: the Emerson essay). You only need to read Part 1: Nature. As you read it, annotate it by responding with at least five issues you have with it (things that need explaining, things you disagree with, etc.) and five things Emerson says that are suggestive of your own involvement of nature. These annotations need not be very long--a couple or three sentences each will suffice.

E3H: Today we discussed the annotated art quotes. I did not collect them because I am not sure our discussions are finished, but rest assured that I will. Be sure that you have them tomorrow and Friday. Your assignment is to bring in a work of art.

CW: Today we discussed the Walk in the Here and Now pieces and I read Jori Richman's from last year as an example of where this kind of piece can take you with revision. Discovering that most of the class has never done a Frozen Moment piece, I assigned one as a second prompt: freeze in time a single fascinating moment from your summer and describe it in great detail. Try not to overindulge in the use of adjectives; nouns and verbs are best for description.

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

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

caught in a slow-time bubble

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