UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Podcast 4

As noted in the previous post, podcast #4 is ready to go. This podcast revolves around the issue of grading with emphasis on zeros. We take a look at an article by Douglas Reeves, an article by the wonderful Rick Wormeli and an article from the Principals’ Partnership.These take a look at the effect of zeros. Dr. Reeves states “Most state standards in mathematics require that fifth-grade students understand the principles of ratios — for example, A is to B as 4 is to 3; D is to F as 1 is to zero. Yet the persistence of the zero on a 100-point scale indicates that many people with advanced degrees, including those with more background in mathematics than the typical teacher, have not applied the ratio standard to their own professional practices.” This is a very powerful statement.

There is a lot to consider in terms of grading. The one thing that educators really need to do is to understand how grades are determined and figured. We need to understand the realities of how grades are earned. Even more importantly, students need to understand how grades are determined and figured.

Also in this podcast, we take a look at a couple of way to address tardiness and homework. Specifically, we look at a couple of ways to get homework turned in (see post below)

Next week, we’ll take a deeper look at homework and common assessments. If you have questions you’d like answered, contact us.

There is a difference with this podcast. This one is an enhanced podcast. The difference means that you have clickable links (if you’re listening using iTunes), album art, and chapters (which allow you to skip to a particular part of the podcast easily). The tradeoff is that it is harder to sync to non-iPod players. We can easily provide a link to an mp3 version, which should play on anything that plays mp3’s if need be. If you’d like an mp3 version, just let us know.

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

Homework Solutions and the Power of Zero

This week on the broadcast we mentioned some homework solutions. We’re going to do a podcast on homework and common assessment in a future podcast. Homework seems to be the primary issue in the “Zero Tolerance Policy.” Finding ways to get homework in or mitigate the experience. Barbara De Santis has a creative solution that engages student responsibility. She gives her students a “pink slip” on which they write their name, assignment, and date. They also have a place to write down their “excuse” or check off the standard ones. (Didn’t see “Dog ate it” though.) Here’s the link to “The Pink Slip“. If you’d like to see the layout you can click here. I like Harry Wong’s statement at the bottom of the page, “Call it sharing; call it stealing; call it research; call it collaboration, call it collegial learning. Our ears, eyes, and mind must always be alert for what others are doing and how it is working for them.” In that spirit, share with us what you’re doing in your classroom.

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Podcast is posted

It looks like we have our technical issues licked. That’s right, if you subscribe via iTunes, you’ll be able to grab both shows so far. This would also automatically download the freshest podcasts as they are posted. You can preview each episode in iTunes as well. We are happy as a well, let’s just say that we are happy. Now we can get on to important middle school stuff.
One of my first adventures will be working with our Advisory programs. This year we are going to use some of the ideas from the Adventure Education program. What an exciting time!

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Show Notes #2

 Today’s news story:Test Scores show early prep key

Here’s what I found most interesting about the story:

  • “The effective way to raise ACT scores is to strengthen the rigor of the curriculum,” Drew said.
  • Summer reading — reading during summer vacation
    has been expected of older students for a long time, but Drew said the
    summer reading requirement was extended to second grade recently.

  • “The summer reading program isn’t enrichment, it is required. The
    students are scored for their projects associated with the books,” Drew
    said.

  • “Vocabulary books are used starting in the second grade. These vocabulary books correlate to other subject areas.”

The first point seems obvious and we say it often enough. But do we really implement it?
The second point is the one that fascinates me the most. It really talks about several different things. All of these things are quite beautiful. First of all, there is the presumption that students will work “independently”. Second, this assumes that parents will play an active role in the education of their child. Thirdly, there is a spiraling effect in place. Students are expected to just learn stuff and then move on.
The third point is equally interesting. It’s really easy to forget about the basics when teachers are told to teach to higher level critical thinking skills. And that is what we need to do. However, that doesn’t preclude the teaching of basics. Teachers do feel time pressures. That can lead to “skipping the basics” to get to the teaching of higher skills. However, what really needs to happen is that teachers need to fully utilize their time. Certainly teachers can’t take all of their teaching time on basic skills but need to incorporate them into the lessons.
 Email us here:middleschooleducators@gmail.com

You can download the show directly here: http://www.divshare.com/download/1745883-708

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Attitude

I was thinking back to a story that I had heard quite a long time ago. For some reason, the story has stuck with me. (Stories are really terrific ways to learn things as all middle school educators know). Anyway, the story is the story of Jerry. It’s a story about attitude that puts some things in perspective. Here’s a link to the story. It is an extremely short story, but worth your time. I hope that you enjoy it. Anyone who reads the story will certainly remember the part about the doctors.

Anyone else have a similar story about attitude?

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Webinar

I had the opportunity to participate in a webinar through ASCD today. The topic was the “whole child”. This is a natural tenet for middle school educators, but it is interesting to see ASCD take on the issue. (You can check out the ASCD project through this link.) There were several interesting things about the webinar. There were about a dozen participants. We ranged geographically from California to New York. Our occupations ranged from State level administrators to Superintendents to Principals. It was an interesting way to discuss and share amongst people that wouldn’t have gotten together at all. It certainly was a different experience than a normal conference.
We had the opportunity to look over some of the documents and give feedback. The crux of the conversation formed around involving the community into the development of children. Part of this was focused around lobbying politicians, but most of it was very hands on about getting individuals in the community involved. This is something that is always easy in theory, but harder in practice. With everything else that is going on in school right now, this is one more “ball to throw into the air”. However, it is very important that we remember that kids are more than test scores. Please don’t misconstrue that statement. Academics is extremely important. Test scores are crucial. All kids need to achieve to high scores. However, schooling should also be about even more than that. Not at the expense of academics, but in addition.

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

First Podcast Ready

Well, after months of planning on the hows, we’ve finally finished out first podcast. We had a good time. I’m sure that some of the segments will change over time, but we’d really appreciate some feedback. Take a listen and let us know what you think.

You can subscribe via iTunes, you can download it directly from here.

Our next podcast will be published at the end of August. We’ll go to weekly podcasts after that. We have some exciting guests lined up. Give it a listen and let us know what you’d like to hear for the future episodes.

UncategorizedBy Troy Patterson

Summer Time and the Reading is Easy

Well, it’s summer. A time for rejuvenation. A time for reading. Up first for me was “Results Now” by Mike Schmoker. A very good read. It really re-energizes and points out that it’s time for the isolation of teaching (education) to end. And I guess that is a big part of our premise here. This is one more attempt to break down the barriers of isolation and provide for some meaningful discussion amongst educators.

Results Now focuses on leadership and the governance of schools. However, the underlying issue is that the only way to improve the results that a school will see is to focus on the teaching and learning in each and every classroom. Mr. Schmoker makes an impassioned case that what must matter is what is happening in the classroom. To that end, the most important thing that can happen is for teachers to truly talk to each other. Not talk as in “Hey, hows ya doin?”, but talk as in comparing tests results from the students sitting in front of the teachers. This is a huge culture shift. Are teachers ready to start having their students take the same test as the kids down the hall and then comparing the results? Even more important, do we have any choice? Is there a moral imperative to do so?