Rubrics

Hello everyone! This week has brought yet another milestone for us as we registered for student teaching and applied to graduate! It's so close, I really can't believe how fast this semester is flying.

This week, I want to talk a little bit about rubrics. As college students, rubrics are especially important to us. They tell us exactly what the professor expects of our work, and if we follow the rubric then we have a good idea of what kind of grade we will make. On the flip side, rubrics are also important to us as future educators. It allows us to communicate our expectations to our students, eliminating the excuse "well, I didn't know what to do" or "I didn't know you wanted us to do that."

This week, I overheard another teacher complaining because she assigned a project to her students a week ago and many of them did not create a project that was up to her expectations. She told her students that while they did in-fact complete the project, she expected more from them. My immediate thought was, did she give them some kind of rubric? I later found out that she did not.  As teachers, we absolutely have certain expectations and standards that we want our students to live up to. However, if we don't communicate that to our students in a clear manner, then its nearly impossible for them to succeed.

I know many of you are planning to teach at the elementary level and may think that's a little to early to introduce rubrics to your students. I've included a link to a resource that may change your mind on this and give you some ideas for using rubrics in elementary school. I also really like the idea of using rubrics for classroom management. Here is a link for a rubric that describes a teacher's expectations for attitude and effort. Finally, here is one more link that can help you get started with creating rubrics. While rubrics are usually displayed in a table format, don't be afraid to get creative with your rubrics and make them more "pleasing to the eye," especially for elementary or middle school students. The most important thing to remember when creating rubrics is that they clearly communicate the expectations of the teacher.

My personal opinion is that it's never to early to introduce rubrics to your students. At the elementary level, they don't have to be elaborate or excessively detailed. They can be simple "checkbrics," or checklists. Students know if they check off everything on the list, they (probably) made a 100. As the students move up in grade level, the rubrics can get more detailed and formal. This not only helps them succeed in class and on projects/assignments, but also prepares them for high school and college later on.  Clearly, rubrics are a great tool to assist teachers with facilitating learning (NCTCS 4).

Thats all I have for this week. I hope everyone has a great week next week and a happy Halloween!

End of October, Say What!?

Hey guys!
It's been a few weeks since we've blogged and a lot has happened! About two weeks ago I was able to teach two lessons in my clinical. I was super nervous, but I think it went well. To help with my refection of the lessons, after my second lesson I had the students answer a few questions:
1. Did you learn anything form Miss. Ramsey? If so, what?
2. What did you like about Miss. Ramsey's teaching?
3. What did you not like?
4. How do you feel about Miss. Ramsey teaching you next semester?
5. Leave any other comments for Miss. Ramsey.

I stressed to the students to be honest on these questions and not worry about hurting my feelings. I wanted them to take these questions seriously so I could get a good understanding of how they learn best. I also wanted to know how they genuinely felt about the dynamics of the classroom changing after Christmas break, so that I can do what I can to help make the transition easier for everyone involved. I gained a lot of useful information through this short reflection activity. Some of the students admitted that they were nervous about having a student teacher, and they were worried they would not do as well. This was a major wake up call for me. I have been focused on my own achievement next semester, but I hadn't stopped to consider the achievement of my students as well. This really changed my way of thinking about next semester. It's important that my student teaching semester is successful and beneficial to my professional growth, but the connection has now been made that the academic success of my students is included in my success. One cannot happen without the other.

This short reflection was super helpful and provided me with some great information about my students. If you have the opportunity, I would suggest doing this with your students, especially if they are older and can take the reflection seriously. And, of course, this all relates to NCTCS 5: Teachers reflect on their practice.

Also, within the past few weeks, I have begun to move out of the "observation stage" and started working with the students more, particularly during their independent practice time. This past week the students took their quarter one benchmarks. It was interesting to see how this whole process took place. The beginning of the week started with my teacher preparing the students and reviewing the material that would be on the test. She spent class time reviewing and also stayed after school for two days to provide tutoring. On Wednesday they took their test, and some finished up on Thursday. Friday was filled with mixed emotions as I watched some students celebrate their scores as others were disappointed. This, I found out, was one of the highs and lows of being a teacher. You celebrate with the students who did well, while your mind races trying to figure out how to help the other students in the weeks to come.

I am going to relate this to one of the NC Professional Teaching Standards that we don't talk about as much: Standard 6, Teachers Contribute to the Academic Success of Students. A teacher's rating on this standard is measured by a student growth value calculated by the statewide growth model for educator effectiveness. The EOC/EOG assessments, Career and Technical Education Post-Assessments, and Measures of Student Learning provide the student data that is used to calculate the growth value. The student growth value places a teacher into one of the following categories:

• Does not meet expected growth
• Meets expected growth
• Exceeds expected growth

After the benchmarks, my teacher immediately started planning for how she can better reach those students who did not meet the expected growth during the first quarter. As far as how to approach the students, she reflected long and hard. In the end, she decided to not place to much emphasis on the grade. She assured the students that this grade would not impact them the rest of the school year, but she also stressed that some of them needed buckle down and work hard and let her know how she could help them. 

That about catches me up on the hi lights of the past few weeks. Moving forward into the next week, I have obtained a copy of my schools improvement plan and have started to research other information needed to complete LE 5&6 in EDUC 435. I can't believe that we are headed into the last week of October, but it feels good to be marking off those tasks. I hope everyone has a great week! 

Time is Flying

Wow, I can't believe that September is almost over. I have no doubt that October will go just as fast and before we know it, we'll be on Thanksgiving break thinking "only 2 more weeks!" When Dr. Parker told us how fast this semester would go, I honestly didn't believe him. I thought it would be the longest semester so far. But, I am ready to get stuff done and start student teaching! At the begining of the semester I was panicking, but the closer we get to student teaching, the more prepared I feel. I am really starting to fall into place at my clinical experience. I am a quiet and reserved person, so it has been hard for me to take those steps and talk to the faculty and the students and make myself known. I am much more comfortable observing from afar. This past week, I had more opportunities to interact with the students and assist them during independent or group work. I also had a chance to interact with some of them outside of class, like in the hallways or at lunch. Interacting with the other teachers and staff is still a struggle for me. I usually sit back and listen, but I have set a goal for myself to start conversing and adding my input. This should help me with NCTCS 1 and working collaboratively with my colleagues.

This upcoming week, I am teaching the Math 1 class on Monday and Wednesday. I have been working with my CE to plan my lessons and get everything in order. Currently, the class is studying slope and linear equations. My lesson on Monday is a review lesson from their introduction to slope last week. I have planned a game of SLOPE, or BINGO to help them review and practice these concepts a little more before moving on this week. On Wednesday, we will look at creating linear equations from word problems. I am looking forward to this lesson, because it provides me with a great chance to work on that literacy strategy component of edTPA. My CE gave me several ideas for this one, but I am still finalizing my plan. I am trying to come up with the best way possible to facilitate the learning of this concept for my students (NCTCS 4). At the end of my lesson on Wednesday, I want to know what my students liked and didn't like about my teaching to help prepare me for student teaching. So, I have created a quick survey for them complete for me. This will also help me reflect on my practice later (NCTCS 5).

I am really looking forward to getting my feet wet this week and getting a taste of what is to come in only a few short months. Good luck to anyone else teaching this week!