My Imagined SBG Makeover

This post is my way of flushing out changes to my SBG approach as I prepare my syllabus for the start of fall classes. Your comments will play a vital part in shaping my plan. Thank-you in advance.

Three years ago my math colleagues and I set out on a book study of Marzano's Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work and agreed that we would do the following:

-Stop counting homework for a grade

-Stop entering effort & participation grades

-Allow retakes for quizzes & tests

-Weight our grades as 80% content skills and 20% process standards

-Use a 0-4 scale to indicate mastery.

You'd think that with those agreements we would be more alike than different. Whatever.

We were suddenly all on our own island, using our own version of Standards Based Grading (SBG). My system was simple, identify learning goals, teach, assess, provide feedback, and allow retakes. Three things became apparent over time. First, when did the LEARNING take place? My emphasis was on regular assessments...and I was darned good at it! Secondly, my students took the "scores" I assigned as judgement against them and figured out how to play the system instead. Third, my scores lost fidelity once I put them in the gradebook. It was just as impossible to fail as it was to average an A. Then a revelation of sorts...I got run over by the SBG Express...repeatedly! It was one heck-of-an experience! I still have questions though.

My most pressing question involves reporting grades. Let me be clear....I get the idea of skills lists. I understand individualized assessments, quality feedback, tracking progress, and self-reflection. I feel like everyone is saying the same thing. One big happy-go-lucky SBG PLN. But then we all go back to our fun-loving classrooms and hammer out our own grade reporting system! Of course some of us don't have to report grades. I hope to join that crowd soon. Until then, let me finish with my rant.

Here is where I am with my SBG plan for next year. My skills list is a work-in-progress. I have my tracking and self-reflection sheets all planned out in my mind. I have my assessment plan neatly brainstormed on my Blackberry. I am dead-in-the-water when it comes to grades! I cannot...no, I will not continue with a dysfunctional practice of averaging scores one quarter at a time! I do not like having to strategically decide when to cut-off grading for a particular set of skills just because the calendar says we need to start over. I don't like the climate it has created. I'm done with students looking only at the score I give them and nothing else. I have not written a letter or percentage grade on a quiz or test in over three years. Apparently that doesn't mean much because they still make assumptions about their ability when they see a score from 0 to 4.

Here is what I am wondering:

• Do I keep my gradebook open all year long (80 skills give-or-take)?
• Should feedback to students include below-approaching-meeting-exceeding standard on skills (no numeric, letter, or percentage grade)?
• Should the number of skills taught to-date increase each quarter (20 first quarter, 40 second, etc.) or should I only worry about a finite number of skills each quarter?
• Should final grades be based on the number of skills students have mastered (ie. 18-20 for an A, 15-17 for a B, etc.) or some other method?
• Is it in my best interests to go back to assigning scores for each skill?

Fortunately my Summer Clubhouse session just ended and I can turn my focus to putting the finishing touches on my plan for when classes start on September 8th. I could use your help...

Cemetery Learning

It started with the arrival of a new book. A seed was planted, just like an article several years ago about math trails. It doesn't take much for me to act on an idea...it usually requires something unique and applicable to math. The cover of the book provided enough intrigue for me to start talking about it with my team members, and I hadn't even cracked the book open yet!

This trip would have been great to take during the school year, but who wants one more thing to do the last month of the school year? Enter Summer Clubhouse, a small invitation-only grant-funded program for socially awkward/at-risk students. They learn a little bit of math, some reading & writing, and a bundle of social skills during a five week stretch of the summer. If I could make this a positive learning experience for the students and staff, then my 120+ students in the fall would surely love it too. I pitched the idea at our planning meeting...guess what they all asked..."What is there to do in a cemetery?" Selling them turned out to be easy...the students, not so easy. Of the 80 students enrolled, only 58 made the trip. For some they couldn't give themselves permission to take the risk. The rest attended for the same reason they come to Clubhouse every day . They love the staff. Most do...even those that tell us they are forced to attend secretly love our program. The connections we make endure for years. I love it.

THE SKINNY

The idea is simple. Create a multi-disciplinary learning experience out of a trip to a local cemetery. The math is plentiful, collect headstone data (analyze it later), a self-guided GPS tour, estimation (involving trees), and more. The social studies component can be amazing. The science can be too (perhaps I can focus on those components with a fall post). For our trip we set up four rotations, a math-activity group, the GPS tour, a guided tour with cemetery administrators, and a community service group (making birdhouses). The trip, however, isn't about the work. It wasn't intended to be. The intent was to take them away from the classroom and interact with them on neutral ground. Connect with them. Give them a unique experience.

THE RESULTS

To say this was a good trip would be an understatement. It was humbling, enlightening, and engaging...and that was my impression before we debriefed. Our students were appropriate, like the girls that replaced flower pots that had been knocked over by the grounds crew. They were respectful, like the young man that accidentally stepped on a headstone, jumped off and apologize to the deceased. Mostly, they were thoughtful. They asked great questions of the administrators. They expressed frustration with the poor upkeep and graffiti in the old cemetery. They expressed sadness about the part of the cemetery dubbed "Babyland." They thought of others on this day. It was heartwarming and it was beautiful. In their written reflections they continued to surprise. Some responses were typical, "I thought it was going to be creepy but it's not." Others more sincere, "I used to think it'd be just a huge field with a bunch of headstones, but now I know it's way more than that." Others were clearly still processing, "I learned to respect not just yourself."

This is why I love to take risks like going to the cemetery. It's the same reason I love Summer Clubhouse. By having faith in students they reward us. During our program we take students that are shy, awkward, or generally lacking good role models and provide the safety and support for them to take appropriate risks. We naively think we offer them a valuable service, but we get the rewards. In the fall, when we are reacquainted with them, the rewards begin anew. September can't come fast enough!

Taking the Plunge!

So I'm taking the plunge and making a commitment to write. Blogging was never on my radar until I jumped head-on into the world of Twitter, Ning, & Facebook. I owe this phase of my professional career to my PLN! Thank-you for suggesting that I give myself permission to blog.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Ron King. I am a former Army Brat that would love to eventually teach in a system (DoDDS) I spent so much time growing up in. I think I have a lot to offer students that have to repeatedly move from base to base or be without a parent for extended periods of time. The Army life is unforgiving and can be rough on the family. This fall I will enter my 13th year of teaching. I started out at Mann Middle School in Lakewood, Washington teaching PE and pre-algebra. After two more years teaching a math/science block, which I absolutely loved, I accepted a job teaching eighth grade math at Chinook Middle School in Lacey, Washington. While I enjoyed my time, nothing can replace what I've learned over the last 24 months. In this time I shifted my focus away from teaching math to kids to teaching middle school students. I traded my NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) membership for one in the NMSA (National Middle School Association) and aside from having dual membership, I would recommend it to anyone. As a matter of fact, I think I have. I push my colleagues every year to attend the local affiliate conference, WAMLE, and pester the district until they send me to the national conference. Once they do, I suspect I'll set my sights on them sending me to ISTE! I know, fat chance...

As for this blog, I plan to focus on the math we learn in class, Standards Based Grading (SBG), student leadership, and the ever changing educational landscape. I have a great deal to learn in the SBG vein despite a book study and three years of SBG practice. I like what I've read from some of the SBG trailblazers (see blogroll) and I'll have fun this year tweaking my skills list, assessment practices, and deciding if I'd like to help push our district off it's grade-happy foundation. My inspiration, however, comes from a group of student leaders. They have no real job description. Aside from leading our Veteran's Day & Martin Luther King Jr. observances, they lead me. They inspire me because they understand the idea of service to others and live it...they have to, they nominated themselves for the challenge. They have big plans this year and I happy just be along for the ride!

I hope you find value in the topics I write about and I look forward to learning from your feedback.