Low Test Scores

Yesterday I gave a test over a very short unit on maps to my 8th graders. The 8th grade science standard has only one indicator and is for the most part an introduction to topographic and lithograph maps. When working on my long term plans for the 8th grade I was excited that I would be able to teach the map unit, since I am currently taking SC Maps as one of my Science content classes. As I began to grade the tests I began to feel discouraged by the student's scores. They were for the most part not very good. I really thought that the students would do very well on this test and I did not expect anything but A's.
After I finished grading the test I discussed the low scores with other teachers. The math teacher said she had the same results from the 8th graders but that it was typical. I told her that it was not typical for their science tests. As I began to reflect on why the grades were so low, for what I thought was the easiest test I had given this semester, I came up with the following ideas:
1. The 8th graders were so excited about leaving for a five day trip to Washington, D.C. the day after the test, that they did not properly prepare.
2. The test was given on a Monday and students typically don’t test well after a weekend.
3. The test format was different.
4. The students have “spring fever” and are ready for summer vacation.
5. The topic was covered in a week and maybe it warranted more time.
6. I did not use proper formative assessments to gage the students understanding of material.
7. I made out the test after teaching the lesson plans. (Instead of before teaching)
I believe all of the above ideas may have played a part in why some students performed so poorly on the test. The content is part of a new SC standard and this made planning a little difficult and my cooperating teacher and I agreed that a week should be enough time to cover the material. Perhaps with a different type of formative assessment I could have addressed the lack of understanding earlier in the week. My main formative assessment was done by interacting with the student’s lab groups as they worked though various hands on map activities. I believe that I should have incorporated more formal written assessments to gauge the individual student’s understanding.
I believe another factor that played a role, was the need for me to do the testing of the unit before the students left for their DC trip. Since, the students were leaving for a week and I would be done student teaching by the time they returned I needed to test them before they left. In addition, the maps I wanted to utilize as part of the test were borrowed from the University Center and needed to be returned.
In the end this experience has shown me the importance of long term planning and the need to be flexible. I do feel like that if the circumstance had been different that I would have extended the time spent on the topic. One “after the fact” solution I came up with was to count the grade as a quiz grade instead of a test grade, exacting less of a percentage. After discussing this with my cooperating teacher my reasoning for this she said she would plug the scores into the computer to see how they would affect their overall grade and then decided how to count it.

This worked

This past week I utilized a pre-active teaching strategy that I saw varying examples of online. Before beginning a section on nutrition I had my 7th grade classes list everything they ate during their last three meals and all other food intake in between meals. Next we brainstormed the types of nutrients the body requires, listing them on the board. Then I asked them to try to figure out how many servings per meal and snacks they had of the various nutrients. After they finished I handed out a printout that described serving sizes of various foods. At this time I allowed them to go back and make adjustments in regards to their serving sizes (most had to increase what they had put). Next, they were given an empty food pyramid with the various nutrient types labeled and asked to plug in their data they had come up with. This led into the final discussion using the headings in the book to discuss the six nutrients and their role in proper nutrition.
I believe, by allowing the students to formulate associations between the foods they recently ate and the various types of nutrients the body requires, they will have a cognitive structure to build new ideas off of.

Assessments quick ones that work.

As I think about the various types of assessment I have used this semester the first thing that pops into my mind is free-writes. I have used free-writes for pre-assessments and formative assessments. The most useful were the pre-assessment free-writes that allowed for opinion.
Another quick formative and pre-assessment that has been useful has been section heading discussions. To get an idea where the class and students are on a subject I will simply open my book and ask questions from the bold headings. If the students respond quickly with a good show of hands I know they are getting specific subject matter. If they need to refer to the book then I know who is weak in an area. Sometimes I will use popsicle sticks to pick who will answer.
I have followed suit with my cooperating teacher in regards to unit test. We will test over limited amounts of material, so test end up being about every two weeks. I sometimes will give the students a pretest so they know where they need to focus.
Most days we start class with bell work. The bell work is five questions that cover past material. The students keep a bell work notebook and we talk about the answers. Sometimes I will include a bell question to find out if they understand current material. Bell work is a school wide implemented strategy.

Let them learn

A week ago I tested the 8th grade on Earth’s biological diversity and geological history. This past week I decided to continue teaching aspects of this topic, going beyond the state standards. I wanted to give the students an opportunity to work on a team to research and gather data, and then to organize the data and present it to a non partisans committee (myself and cooperating teacher). The unit will end with a round table debate between the two groups.
My approach started with a lesson designed to have the students investigate and discover how to determine the validity of internet sources in regards to research. The rest of the week the students chose to be part of opposing lobby groups representing various natural resources. Chair persons were chosen to lead the lobbies and daily agendas were given to guide the two groups in their preparation for their presentation and end of unit debate.
The lobbies begin presenting their cases tomorrow during class. I originally had some concerns about how well the 8th grade boys would handle this activity. I worried that they would not be able to handle working independently within groups. However at this point I have been very impressed with both the girls and boys classes. They have all taken ownership of this process and have really done an impressive job of working as teams to achieve specific goals set forth.
I did not give the students much information about how to approach this project. I guided them but allowed them to make decisions within their groups. They have been really excited about this activity and have been sharing new information with each other with excitement. I look forward to their group presentation and the final debate.

Badboys

Last week was spent reviewing for an end of unit tests. One of the review games I like to use is a basketball type game that the students ring in and answer a question and then shoot the ball for points. This review has worked great in the past when I’ve used it with the 7th grade girls and boys and the 8th grade girls. Well this week I tried to use it with the 8th grade boys.
A little background: the 8th grade boys have become increasingly unruly with all their teachers in the past few weeks. I had to end the review game after about fifteen minutes because they simply would not behave as a whole. This began a major crack down on the whole class. The rest of the hour I did not allow them to speak. I read the questions for the review and then read the answer. They sat there a little shocked. The last couple days I have begun each class with a lecture about what is expected and the consequences for not doing it. Well see if it works.

Dealing with a not so bad student

This past week has been one of my busiest. I am on my second week of teaching 7th and 8th grade girl’s and boy’s classes for a total of four classes. I have had a few students between all the grades who at one time or another have struggled with doing work in and out of the class. Most of these issues were easily dealt with by communicating with parents using “pink slips” which I will describe in a moment. However, I have an 8th grade boy that is beginning to slack off. He has been an average student but for some reason lately he is showing little interest during class. He also has started missing homework assignments. I quietly tried to encourage him in his work during class and after school I tried to casually talk to him, but it was obvious he didn’t really care to talk to me. I asked other teachers how he was doing and they said he was doing okay in their classes. So for now I am going to keep my eye on him and if he continues to miss assignments I will go beyond the present method of dealing with missing assignments, which is “pink slips”. When a student does not have an assignment they fill out and sign a pink slip that goes in their file, they also receive a sticker that must be signed by a parent that explains the missing assignment. Everyday the student fails to bring in a parent signature they have lunch detention. My next step in dealing with this student will be a student conference followed by a phone call to the parents.

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Classroom mangagement

Within every classroom there is going to probably be issues with behavior. Recently we have been having trouble with excessive talking and interrupting. So in order to address this issue in our science classroom we initiated a “Classroom Interuption Log”. The first time a student is called down they receive a warning. The next is outside lunch privileges are revoked, and so on. For the most part the kids figured out that they could talk until the first warning and then they would behave. After a couple of weeks of implementing this plan the results differed in some classes and grade levels. The classes that got the message the log only has to be pulled out every once in a while to get results. The classes that wanted to push the limit on talking got a speech from me. I basically talked straight to them, telling them that I really didn’t enjoy having to use the log and that I knew they were tired of it. I explained to them that there was really no reason for us to have to keep dealing with this issue and that I knew that were old enough to know better. It has not been an issue for a couple of weeks.

It really worked well.

Last week I started a new unit with the 8th grade, the Earth’s biological history. I knew that this would require a tactful yet challenging approach. My pre-assessment started with some video clips that depicted the leading scientific views of earth’s formation and biological history. At the end of class the students did a free write on what they learned and what they personally thought about the material. The students, the boys and girls classes equally, freely shared their objections to the material. Most revealed a Christian world view that opposed evolutionary thought.
The next day I put a statement on the projector that had two columns, one that agreed with the statement and one that disagreed. At the bottom of the projection I put a conclusion box. I projected the visual on a white board and had a student write the responses in the appropriate columns. The statement was: “I believe that the predominant view of the scientific community in regards to the earth’s biological and geological history should be taught in all schools.” This statement took the students back. Most were ready to disagree right off the bat. After allowing opinions to flow freely until only one column was being filled, I began my interjections of questions. My questions helped lead the students to list reasons why they agreed it should be taught. And then they developed a conclusion that was written in the bottom box. The conclusion that both classes came up with dealt with the agreement it should be taught and the reasons for why.

School Culture

A positive school culture becomes evident in the students. After being at Lxxxx for a number of weeks I have noticed that the students here really seem to be kids. What do I mean by this? Well from I’ve seen last semester and what I have heard from my fellow cohort students it seems that middle grade students these days want to grow up before their time.
The single gender class rooms at Lxxxxxx seem to allow the students to socially develop more freely. In the classroom the boys have more of an opportunity to be boys. For example, at lunch time they go outside and play football on the blacktop and it is really pretty cool to see how they interact and get along. This I believe is not only due to being in single gender but because they also stay with the same group of guys for most of their classes. It’s the same with the girls. The girls as a whole seem to participate in classroom discussions with less apprehension and more openness. The close knit culture of the students at Lxxxxx, where leadership is an important part of their education, helps create a positive classroom environment where students often encourage each other with positive comments and praise.

Equal Work but less useless work

After a couple weeks in the classroom I have really noticed some more differences between Lxxxxx and Bxxxx. I vividly remember comments of teachers at Bxxxxx, frustrated with the amount of extra paper work and the never ending staff meetings that cut into their planning periods. On more than one occasion I remember hearing teachers say that all the extra work was really taking away from their time to plan for classroom instruction. Lxxxxxx, being a small charter school does not have this issue. There is no “red-tape” paper work or excess meetings. On Fridays the students have a shortened class schedule and are released at 1:30pm at which time there is a staff meeting. This meeting is spent mostly discussing student issues and strategies for effectively addressing these issues. The rest of the afternoon is spent by the teachers trying to plan for the next week. Currently my teacher has six periods made up of two 6th, two 7th, and two 8th grade classes, of which I will eventually take over the 7th and 8th grade classes. With six one hour periods there is currently no planning period so other than Friday afternoons preparation takes place before and after school hours.
In addition to the lack of daily planning periods the teachers are expected to be apart of regular interviewing sessions with new applicants for admission. So in the end the teachers and principal at Langston are probably currently spending more time at work then those at my previous school. The difference is the attitude of the teachers. Lxxxxxx has created a school culture that is place the teachers want to be. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with most of the teachers and the resounding theme is that they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. They do look forward to having a planning period in the future when the school moves to a larger facility and hires more teachers.

Parents make a difference.

This semester I am a student teacher at Lxxxx Charter School. Lxxxx for the most part operates with gender specific classrooms, except for a few high school level classes. I am working with the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science classes and my cooperating teacher seems very eager and happy to have me in the classroom. She sees this as an opportunity for us to learn from each other.
During my first week I am overwhelmed with how enjoyable being apart of Lxxxx already is. The most noticeable differences are the teachers and parents as well as the principal. The teachers and staff have enthusiastically welcomed me with open arms and encouragement. They really seem to know every student in the school in depth (about 120 students total). The parents seem to be very actively involved in the school as well as their children’s education. My first parent teacher conference was this past week. At Bxxx xxxxx, my practicum school, I attended a number of conferences and all of them dealt with students discipline or failing grades. The conference I attended last week was with a parent and her 7th grade daughter. It was the most enjoyable conference I have been apart of so far. The student was not failing and is actually a pleasure to have in the classroom. The basis for the meeting was because of a somewhat low score on a recent test. My cooperating teacher gave very positive feedback and encouragement as well as some things that would help with her preparations for class. It was obvious my teacher had a close relationship already established with the student and parent, and it really helped make communication very open and easy.

Parental support is key!

The creation of a positive learning environment starts at home. When a teacher has the student’s parents backing them up in the classroom as well as the principal then being able to create an positive learning environment is much easier. This was recently demonstrated to me by my cooperating teacher. In dealing with a student that was making a silly noise at the start of the administration of a unit test (during which time no talking is allowed at the risk of receiving a zero) my cooperating teacher stepped into the hall with the student and immediately got his father on the phone. The student then freely told his father what he had done and why it was wrong and then handed the phone to the teacher. The teacher let the student go back into the classroom and asked the parent if they would discipline them at home so she could let the student finish taking the test for full credit. The father was more than happy to oblige.
Last year the kids that were difficult to handle too often had parents that were in states of disbelief about their child’s behavior at school. And if they weren’t in disbelief they simply weren’t able or willing to correct behavior at home.

The Student Teaching Experience.

To blog or not to blog. I have evidently lost or cannot locate my original blog. So my posting begin are here.
I truly enjoy being in the classroom teaching. I have had the oportunity to student teach in two very different educational settings. The first was a IB public Middle School. The current one is a charter Middle School. I really enjoyed the students in both settings. However, the charter setting seems to promote a more positive culture for learning. Smaller class sizes, gender specific groupings, and a parent commitment that is refreshing, all lend to an enjoyable teaching experience where discipline issues are no longer and learning in the classroom is on the forefront of what takes place.