Morning, all. Slept in a bit. Tired today. Sorry for the short post.

Yesterday, in our ongoing efforts to face our fears of public speaking, the kids began reading their poems in front of the class. As they read, their peers evaluated them on poise, voice, life, gestures, and speed. They, then provided post-it note feedback, pointing out one “well-done” and one “needs work.” The speakers then collected all the post-its, so they could see and process the peer feedback. They then wrote a short reflection, emphasizing what they learned about themselves as speakers and how they felt about the experience. That was the business end of the deal. My favorite part of the deal was watching some of my otherwise quiet kids emerge through their powerful poems, shining bright like the diamonds they are. All kids do, indeed, have awesome in them. The trick is helping them discover it. So glad this proved to be the trick for some. Looking forward to mining for more brilliant moments today as we continue the poems, as we continue the awesome.

Happy Thursday, all.

Started the final quarter of my fifth year at EWU last night. Hard to believe that I have been teaching classroom management to college kids for half a decade now. Crazy to think that I almost passed up the opportunity, for it has been one of the most-fulfilling experiences of my professional life. It brings me joy every quarter, every year.

As always, our work begins with the fourth “R.” Relationships. I intimate to my college students that any success or failure I have had in the classroom has had everything to do with relationships. I emphasize this over everything else. This morning I stumbled upon the above graphic, and I cannot wait to share it with them next week. It perfectly captures the various and numerous elements that real relationships require. I am going to have my TA’s make a poster of this, so I can hang it in my classroom as a personal reminder and checklist to help guide my relationship building ventures day to day.  I was also thinking it could serve as a survey of sorts for the kids to evaluate how I did at the end of the year. Not only would it allow me to gain some general insight from their feedback, but also it would allow me to get some specific input on the different elements. It would help me determine if my walk matches my talk.

Busy day in 211 today. Performance task corrections and poems. The kids had to compose either a diamante, tanka, or pantoum poem, and today they will it to the class. Happy National Poetry Month.  Pushing kids out of their comfort zones.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Okay. Gonna finally sell out and give in. Finally gonna give my kids the chance to take a look at the interim assessments for the SBA. I shared this with them yesterday as I was once again reviewing with them next week’s testing schedule. And as I was doing so, I looked out on the sea of faces before me, and I found a great deal of discomfiture in their countenance, and though they didn’t say it, I heard it and it reverberated through my being. “Why are you doing this to us, Sy” A greater fraud I have never felt.

In the recent past I have  iterated, “I wish kids recognized that education is not something we do to them but for them.” But alas, these are only shallow, talk-the-talk words when the walk only reinforces what they have suspected all along. They are on a conveyor belt. They are being stamped and tweaked. They are merely products of a system made uniform to fit into the cogs of a yet larger system. And so, I can no longer employ my clever adage. We are not doing it for them. We are doing it to them. And it is unlikely to change any time soon. We will simply continue to tweak–instead of truly reform, and the industrialized machine will continue to belch smoke into an environment long endangered by our stubborn insistence to do as we have done.

The last fifteen years have seen a lot of tweaking, but they have seen little change, little reform. And with each knew emblem affixed to the grill, we find we are really just driving the same old car. Drove the WASL for a number of years. Then we rolled the HSPE into the drive, and the neighbors ooohed and ahhhed at our shiny new vehicle. But it was recalled rather quickly. And we were given the SBA, a sporty new model promising greater horsepower and better mileage. But as I am out on the road right now, and I close my eyes for a second, it is hard to discern if I am actually driving the new, improved model or the old vintage machine with which this all began. Factory sources hint at a new model on the horizon. But there’s been little enthusiasm among consumers. Most have decided that as long as we are stuck on the same old road, the car is of little consequence. Maybe it’s time for a new road.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Though I enjoyed every single minute of the break, and tried to be just Monte Syrie, instead of Mr. Syrie, I missed the kids. I always do. We have a lot to get done in the next 50 days, but we won’t get it all done today. So I won’t act like the world’s on fire. Yes, there’s some urgency to get to a certain point in the curriculum; yes, there’s some urgency with the SBA beginning next week, but those urgent matters are not all that matters. Kids matter. They will be tired from break. They will need some time and support to readjust to their crazy schedules. So we will ease back into it. They will have time to continue working on their speeches, and I will be available to help in whatever way I can. I will also have time to reconnect with them, maybe even “flip a kid or two” while I am at it.

Importantly, I have to remember, too, as they come off of break, they only have a week until the testing madness begins and continues till June.  Glad we didn’t have to throw them into that fire the day after break.

On another note, began a little bit of networking with some other teachers here in Washington and across the nation who are on their own gradeless journeys, and I am excited and energized to learn more about their journeys as I continue mine, hopefully for years to come. Thank you, Aaron Blackwelder for your words of wisdom and encouragement. Our travels brought us together at an opportune time. Thank you.

Happy Monday, all. Glad to be back.

Good morning, all. Really looking forward to the opportunity to rest and recharge next week. Can’t believe that we will be down to 50 days when we return. See you, then.

“The research quite clearly shows that kids who are graded – and have been encouraged to try to improve their grades – tend to lose interest in the learning itself, avoid challenging tasks whenever possible (in order to maximize the chance of getting an A), and think less deeply than kids who aren’t graded,” Kohn explains. “The problem isn’t with how we grade, nor is it limited to students who do especially well or poorly in school; it’s inherent to grading.

“That’s why the best teachers and schools replace grades (and grade-like reports) with narrative reports – qualitative accounts of student performance – or, better yet, conferences with students and parents.”

http://neatoday.org/2015/08/19/are-letter-grades-failing-our-students/#.WNvLQFQaSAw.twitter

Already facing a tough decision, my coming across articles like the one above will not make it any easier. At present, I am leaning towards swinging the pendulum back to the center, employing a modified standards-based approach next year instead of going gradeless again. But then I read articles like this, especially with comments like the one above, and I pause. I wonder. Am I on to something here? If I do not see it through and continue along the present course, will I miss an opportunity to truly turn it upside down, to provide a better learning experience for my kids? I don’t know. Questions lead to questions. Answers are elusive. Certainty hides. And I am consumed.

The next 51 days will reveal much. I will have some data to help me my in current quandary. I will have the SBA results. I will have formal feedback from the kids in the form of surveys and reflections. But I will also have my own reflections. And, I will also have my guts, my instincts, which I cannot discount for they helped lead me here in the first place. Admittedly,  it has not been a place that all are willing to see or accept, for, in many ways, it runs counter to convention, it smacks of crazy. And I cannot suggest that it is neither conventional nor crazy. It is. But it is not exclusive. Others feel, practice, and share their crazy unconventionality, too. And I cannot ignore that. Can’t. But for all the comfort it brings, it also brings trepidation as I work through the uncertainty of the path ahead. But I’ll find my way. The journey continues. Always does.

Happy Thursday, all.

Had some visitors yesterday. With EWU on spring break this week, some of my students from my education class last quarter asked if they could come in and observe. Of course, I enthusiastically consented. We set a date, and I told them that I would see them then. On Sunday, looking ahead to Tuesday, the day of their visit, I discovered an opportunity. All three visitors, Lauren, Ashley, and Matt, are English majors, so I decided to present a plan to make the observers participants.

Tuesdays are writing days. At present, kids are working through their speeches, and we are to the point in the process where kids need feedback. So, the plan was to conference with kids. My three Eastern kids would see me doing some of my most important work. And that was good. But then I thought, “good” could be better. I will have three additional sets of eyes and ears in the room–English major eyes and ears, so why not put them to work? Why not let them conference with kids? And “why not” turned to will. They will conference with the kids. They did conference with the kids.

We divided the kids among us, and set to engaging them in conversations about their speeches. But before the call for action, I set the stage.

Learning Target: I can engage in a meaningful conversation about my writing.

Indicators of an “engaged conversation.”

• Time goes by quickly
• Lots of talking
• Laughter and animation
• Clarifying questions–from both sides
• Focus on SOAPSTone
• Organic elements

I, then,  addressed the elephant in the room, asking the kids what the biggest challenge to our having engaged conversations would be, and they quickly pointed to the fact that they didn’t know my college students. So, we acknowledged that that might get in the way a bit. I also told them that we would debrief at the end, reflecting on and evaluating the experience.

And then we got under way. For a solid 40 minutes there was a productive buzz in the room, the noise of engagement. It was music. At the end, this was affirmed as both high school and college kids offered their critiques of the experience, pointing to the “indicators” as evidence. Importantly, we were all a little surprised at how “easy” the conversations were, how real the conversations were. Many remarked that the conversations did not feel contrived or artificial; they felt natural, comfortable. Turned out to be a great experience for all. My high school kids all got feedback. My college kids all got an invaluable experience. And I got some much needed help. Makes me wish I had extra eyes and ears all the time.

Happy Wednesday, all.

https://blog.newsela.com/2017/03/13/jay-mctighe-beware-of-the-test-prep-trap/

Another week. Another decision. To prep or not to prep? With now only nine days of class until the test, I can’t put it off much longer. Time will run out. One would think, then, that such urgency would compel me to get to the test practice (interim assessments). One would think. But it doesn’t. I am going to watch another week go by. No test prep today. Don’t have time. We are in the middle of learning, and I just can’t set it aside. And my gut tells me that’s okay. But I have also found other voices out there that tell me the same.

This morning  I came across an article by education giant Jay McTighe, whose perspective seems to lend credence to my instincts (see link and embedded table). But even with his gut-affirming words, I find myself still shadowed in doubt about such a decision. Always under the microscope as one who teaches at the “testing” grade level, the magnification has intensified this year with Project 180. Will the kids pass the test? And while I agree that we should not  “rely on once-a-year test score reports as the primary metric to determine how well students are learning or what improvements are needed,” it will be a measure that draws attention to my approach. Even more, it is a high-stakes event for my kids, and I want them to do their best–for themselves. All the kids will pass the test eventually; there are many “safeguards” in place to ensure this, but I want them to be done in one. I don’t want them to experience this stress event more than once. And it is such concern that gives rise to my doubt. But its presence does not diminish or jeopardize my core principles about learning, so I stall, resisting the urge to set aside the important for the immediate. No test prep this week.

Looking ahead, and only because Jay gives his “okay,” I will “give students opportunities to become familiar with the test formats (selected- and brief-constructed response; timed writing).” The week after break I will present the format to the kids, so they know before they go. I think I owe them that much.  Still, if I am honest, I feel like I am selling out a bit, compromising my principles, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do.

Happy Tuesday, all. For any who care, this morning with the first view of the blog, we will pass the 28,000 views mark since I began the blog. Thank you for your support.

http://blog.williamferriter.com/2017/03/26/grades-arent-motivating/

Came across this image and article this morning. Found it a considerable comfort on a Monday. There’s a certain comfort in knowing that one is not the only crazy out there. And while some kids have certainly not fully embraced the non-graded 180 classroom, all kids have “done” without grades this year. Many kids have “done” an impressive amount, and I want to believe that they have done it because they found value in it.

Today my kids will continue “doing” as they work through the final stages of their speeches. Speeches. An experience most people–kids and adults–will avoid if possible. As with everything we have done this year, avoidance is possible–always possible; there is no grade. Only opportunity. The kids are choosing to “do.” They are not being “forced” to do. It really is a beautiful thing. I am lucky to be a part of it.

Happy Monday, all.