Facing New Challenges

In life, one is often faced with change. Sometimes change is good; sometimes change is bad. Generally, change is a challenge.

It can be difficult to adapt, especially if you are as hardheaded as me. I have always enjoyed writing, but never been one to initiate conversation with others, or offer advice unrequited. That has changed. To me, sharing my opinions with thousands of strangers is unusual and, frankly, uncomfortable, and I know I am not alone.

This blog is the result of one assignment, from one teacher, in one class, but it has become so much more for me. Even if not a single person reads this, I need to know that it was said. I need to know that I put my voice out there, even if it is not heard. If you are facing challenges today, are forced into change that you did not want, instead of pitying yourself, I encourage you to jump in with both feet, for you might find that it is one of the best things that could happen to you.

The Evaluation Process

No one likes feeling like they are being judged. As a teacher, evaluations can seem daunting, especially when they are frequent. “Didn’t someone just come in and observe last week? Why are they here again?” Sometimes, it feels like we, as teachers, are forced to jump through hoops and are constantly being critiqued. However, through evaluation, teachers can receive effective feedback and become more efficient teachers, and isn’t that what we all want? I remember being a seventh grader, sitting in Science, watching a video about sharks. It was probably the 15th National Geographic video we watched all year; I was bored out of my mind and had no love for science. I wish someone would have come in to observe that teacher more, then maybe I would have actually been engaged. But what does effective observation look like? What should the observer be judging us on?

There are currently several different methods of evaluation for teachers, as unique as the school districts who practice them. The one utilized in my district, and likely many other places, is where an administrator comes in periodically to observe the teacher, sometimes with forewarning, sometimes without. The administrator marks what they observe, grading the teacher in a sense, then the two meet and confer about what was noted, what worked well, and what needs to be improved on.

Another method of evaluation that is gaining popularity, but which I have not experienced professionally, is peer evaluation. In this method, teachers evaluate each other and provide feedback and new ideas. I like the idea of this method a lot because it can blend the experience of a seasoned teacher with the innovation of a new teacher.

Overall, there are many different categories a teacher may be evaluated on, and these are generally decided by the higher-ups within a school system. However, in my opinion, the things I should be evaluated on are different from what I am evaluated on in many cases. In my evaluation, the administrators are looking for 85% or higher engagement from my students, for me to be up and moving around, for standards to be posted, for student work to be displayed, and for school rules to be followed.

While these are all generally great things to look for, there are other things that I think are more important. I don’t think a teacher should be marked down for sitting at their desk while students are working; if a teacher can keep their students in line and have them working independently to the point where the teacher does not even have to look at them, I think that is an incredible feat that should be celebrated, not disciplined. Of course, if you are ignoring your class and letting them do whatever they want, that is not okay.

Similarly, if students are using their cell phone to foster their learning, or eating a snack while they focus on a lecture, I do not see why that should reflect negatively on the teacher, just because it is against the school rules. And the students do not care about the standards being posted; if they are in the lesson plan for the teacher and administrator to read, that should be good enough.

Instead of commending teachers for having 85% of their students passively engaged and compliant, we should be commending those who have even 15% actively engaged, asking questions and connecting ideas or taking control of their own learning. There is only so much teachers can do for students who have no interest in learning. I also think there should be a category on “clarity” or something similar. Is the teacher making clear connections between topics, introducing new ideas clearly, and making the most of the class time? If so, their students will do much better than those of a teacher who takes a long time to explain a topic and does it in a confusing way.

All in all, I realize the necessity of evaluation and I feel that there will never be one method that makes everyone happy. However, I would be happier if my school’s evaluation criteria focused on more significant factors, rather than “are the students eating in class?”

Making Use of Pre-Assessment

Many teachers use pretests to determine where different students are at before teaching a topic. Unfortunately, however, few teachers do anything with the results, aside from looking at them and thinking “that’s interesting.” I know I have been guilty of it; I gave my World History classes their Fall Final as a Pre-Test, carefully recorded which answers students had the most trouble with, then proceeded to do nothing with the information. Why? 1) This is my first year teaching, and I am happy to just make it through the day without anyone dying; but, more importantly, 2) the Pre-Assessment I gave them was too general and did not provide enough information for me to accurately differentiate. By giving a pre-test over EVERYTHING in an entire semester, I really learned nothing about my students’ abilities. So, how do we make pre-assessments matter? Well…

1. Narrow Your Focus- Instead of testing a student’s understanding of the course, focus on one standard or unit. Take, for example, my pre-assessment for a unit on World Religions, listed below.
2. Make Questions Deeper- Notice anything about those questions? Well, for one, there are NO multiple choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank questions. Life in not like that. If you want to truly understand the level your students are at, your questions must go deeper. And if they do not know all the answers? That’s okay. That’s why it is a PRE-test.
3. USE THE RESULTS- I cannot stress this enough! The pretest means nothing if it does not guide your instruction! You must use the results to differentiate learning for your students. “But how?” I hear you cry. There are many ways to achieve this and no “right way,” as it will be different for each teacher, but I will list one example. After looking at the results of my pre-assessment, I group students into 3 categories:

• The Top 5

These are the students who really GET it. They understand, not just the content, but how to apply it. How it connects with other topics. How to explain it. These are the students you will want as leaders.

• The Lowest 5

These are the students who do not get it at all. They don’t understand what you’re asking them to do, because they’ve never heard of these people and how am I supposed to know how many quarks fit on the head of a pin and WHY DO I CARE?!?! These are the students who are going to need some extra support and scaffolding, and will need to put in additional work to be successful, and that’s okay.

And, of course,

• Everyone else

Because face it, most of your students are not going to know everything, but they will know something. These kids are great because they just need a little boost to get where you want them.

Okay, so now we’ve used the results to group students based off of ability/prior knowledge. How do we take that a step further and use it to shape differentiation in learning? Here’s what I recommend: project based learning with an assessment where students teach each other. I know it is hard to let go of control in the classroom and rely on students to be self sufficient, but it is proven that students learn best by DOING and by teaching others, not by listening to some old hag talk about the Punic wars for 54 minutes. Help your students help themselves. Here’s how:

Mind Map: What to do with results

Looking through that mind map, you’ll see my suggestions for grouping students for a Project-Based Assessment. Rule 1: Don’t let them choose their own groups. They’ll get nothing done and someone will always be left out but, worse, the groups will be an uneven matching of abilities. I select the top five (or six or seven, however many groups you want) students, and they become the group leaders. They are now in charge of everyone else’s success and, generally, they like it. Then you take the lowest five (or six or so) and make them the researchers for the group. Other people can help, of course, but these people are in charge of getting the information. By doing so, they will learn more than if they just present everyone else’s work. Finally, you have everyone else. Since they already have a basic grasp of the content, these are the perfect students to be responsible for teaching everyone else. Under the leadership of the group leader, they will create a visual aid, practice what to say and, ultimately, present the information gathered by the researcher. Through this process, the learning becomes differentiated for each student, and the students are able to learn well because they used the best suited methods.

And there you have it! From a slightly-more-experienced-than-brand-new teacher, here is how you can use Pre-Assessment to modify your teaching according to the needs of each student.

 

World Religions Pre-Assessment

On a separate piece of paper, independently answer these questions to the best of your knowledge. You may not use the book or your notes.

1. What are the five major world religions?
2. Of these, which three trace their roots back to Abraham?
3. Which religion was the first monotheistic religion in human history? Where did it originate?
4. Are there more monotheistic or polytheistic religions in the world, historically?
5. Who are the founders of each religion? What area of the world do they come from? What areas of the world predominately believe them today?
6. What are the core tenants/beliefs of each religion?
7. How do these beliefs impact a society politically? Militaristically? Socially? Economically?
8. Create a Chart illustrating what the three Abrahamic religions have in common and what they believe differently.
9. Create another chart comparing the two religions that originated in India. In what ways are they similar? How are they different?
10. What religion/s are most predominate in Europe? Asia? The Americas? Why do you think these religions thrive in these places, but not elsewhere?
11. Explain how Christianity came to be the predominate religion in Rome. Why is this significant? How did this change the lives of the Romans?
12. In what ways might religious beliefs lead to conflict? List any major wars/militaristic events that occurred as a result of religious fervor.
13. How did religion impact the lives of Medieval Europe? What did they think about the Black Plague? How did religion influence their scientific advancement at the time?

Implications of High Stakes Testing

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since the third grade, but always changed my mind about what I wanted to teach. Not Kindergarten, they’re too small. But Middle School students are smelly and awkward. 3rd grade? No, there standards don’t interest me. Finally, as I approached the end of my High School years, I decided I liked the High School atmosphere and wanted to be a part of that for the rest of my life, but now I had to decide which subject to teach. I immediately discarded Math and Science; my students would fail and I would be no help. I decided I would teach what I like, Spanish and Drama. But, as someone pointed out to me, it is hard to be hired to teach just those things; I really needed to pick a major content area. So then I was faced with the hardest decision of my life: English, or History?

I did well in both of those subjects throughout school, and I actually enjoyed them both. I could see myself teaching The Odyssey just as easily as I could see myself teaching the Civil War. I thought about the teachers I’d had, their personalities and how they fit with their subjects. I thought about the content I would teach in my home state. Then I had a thought that finally made up my mind: History is not on the AIMS test! And my decision was made.

Now, I know how awful that sounds. “She only picked history so that she could be lazy and not teach all the standards.” I swear, it’s not like that. It’s just that, when I think of the stress that comes with High-stakes assessment at the end of the year, for both students and teachers, I know that I would not do well under that pressure and I would only make it worse. High-stakes tests are called so for a reason; the students’ success on these exams have lasting implications for the student, their teacher, and the school at large (concepts), and this is something I definitely don’t want to fail at. And I think back to my own High School days, and how often we spent English or Math classes doing benchmark testing in the Library, and I realize that I want to avoid that. As a History teacher, I see it in the school I work in. English classes have been doing Benchmark testing the past two weeks, while I have been teaching students about Rome. That’s two extra weeks of instruction I got to participate in while my colleagues were monitoring tests. And I applaud those teachers, who are able to cover all their content in 3/4 of the time and still be prepared for that high-stakes end of the year exam, but it deeply saddens me that they even have to.

There has been talk recently of adding a History section to the AZMerit test, which replaced the AIMS a few years back as standardized testing. While I see the argument for doing so, I genuinely hope it does not pass. Because when it does, that is one more exam my students have to stress over, one more test they have to pass to graduate. Students are under a lot of stress due to high-stakes testing as it is, the world over. Suicide among teens is skyrocketing in America, Korea, and India (MacAskill), with youths killing themselves over exam scores or the pressure to succeed in academic life. The American Psychological Association even states that “high-stakes decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score, because a single test can only provide a “snapshot” of student achievement and may not accurately reflect an entire year’s worth of student progress and achievement” (American Educational Research Association), so why does the education system continue to act as if end of the year assessments are accurately reflecting on student learning? For the students who are just barely surviving as it is, adding another test for them to stress over could push them over the edge. For me, doing so means that either:

A) The exam will focus on the key information of History (Old, White Dudes) and I will have less time to teach my students about Mansa Musa, and the Tokugawa Shogunate, and Emperor Qianlung’s sassy letter to the British, and the Aztec culture, and all the other interesting pieces of history that allow my students to experience a culture different from their own.

Or, B) The Exam will focus on all the standards of World History and I will have 3-4 less weeks in the year to teach all of the content, so my students will receive only a shallow instruction of each.

I do not want to see either of these things happen. And that is not to say that I do not have to worry about testing at all. In my school, all World History classes have to take the same final. I get a say in what is on that final, but ultimately, I am held accountable for whether my students learn the content or not. My school is also a Cambridge international school, so half of my students are in Cambridge World History and will take the Cambridge Examination at the end of the year. While I will not necessarily be fired if my students do not perform well, I will likely have to redo my training, my lessons will be closely monitored, and my administrators may intervene in my lesson planning, leading me to have little control over my classroom. It may also be tied to my prospects of a raise (though, realistically, I would not get much of a raise anyway). This is another reason I am glad that I teach history; the AZMerit scores are also considered for English, Science, and Math teachers’ raises, but as the AZMerit does not impact their course grade, many students do not care and do not try hard on it. In other schools, how students perform on high-stakes assessment are directly linked to whether teachers will have a job next year or not, because most schools receive federal funding for performing well (which is quite backwards, as a system. Let’s help those who are already fine and leave the struggling schools to crash and burn). This seems to follow educational triage, the idea that more attention is placed on students who are just barely passing, in order to improve the school’s image overall, and students who are doing really well or really poorly are left behind (Kamenetz).

Really, the system of high stakes testing is flawed in itself. Albert Einstein once said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will go it’s whole life believing it is stupid,” and this is exactly what we are doing to our students. We have automated learning as if education is the same as factory work, and each student can learn simply by thinking within the box, and by doing so we are limiting their potential and destroying their creativity. A better method would be to have a “standardized” project-based assessment for each standard, where students can demonstrate what they have learned and make it applicable to their own lives, but I doubt I will see that change within my life. Hopefully, my grandchildren will not be tested by filling in the bubbles.

Citations:

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education (1999). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Concepts, L. (2014, August 18). High-Stakes Test Definition. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://edglossary.org/high-stakes-testing/

Kamenetz, A. (2015, January 22). The Past, Present And Future Of High-Stakes Testing. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/01/22/377438689/the-past-present-and-future-of-high-stakes-testing

MacAskill, A., & Ashreena, T. (2014, December 10). In modernising India, suicide is on the rise among young. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://in.reuters.com/article/india-suicide-idINKBN0JO2A420141211

Multiculturalism!

As anyone in the field of education knows, the push for multicultural curriculum and inclusion of all students has been growing over the past few years, which is fantastic! Though it can be difficult in some cases to find ways to be inclusive in all your lessons, it is important as educators to try. Everyone likes to be included; if students never see themselves represented in the lessons they learn, they are less likely to connect with the information; they will not care and are less likely to remember it.

As a history teacher, whitewashing is a struggle to combat. Though Old, white men make up only one portion of the world, they make up over 80% of World History Curriculum. When i think back to my own history experience in High School, I never learned about Mansa Musa (or Africa in general) and the only Asian history I remember was feudal Japan (because we compared it to feudal Europe). I don’t want my students to have that same experience. However, it can be difficult to adapt to this new mindset of multiculturalism. Fortunately, there are many factors that contribute to one’s culture.

Age

Race/Ethnicity

Language

Religion

Hobbies/skills

Political ideologies

and more combine to make up each person’s culture.

Even when studying the countless old white men of history, the lessons can be multicultural by finding parallels to Hinduism, identifying with past republicans/democrats, or realizing that teenagers in an ancient culture played a game very similar to the soccer that you play after school.

Like the world that these students will become a part of, the world is not black and white. Cultural diversity is important to understand and celebrate because the students who are racist today may work for someone of a different race in the future. The holier-than-thou Christians may undergo surgery by a devout Muslim or Hindu. Accepting others despite their differences is how the human race will grow and prosper. This process begins in school, where children of all different backgrounds come together to learn. Even in a society like my community, which is about 95% white and of those people, the vast majority are Republican Christians, I can encourage multiculturalism by incorporating it into my lessons.

I will know my work is successful when I can say the word “Muslim” in my lesson and no ones follows it with “terrorist.” When I say “republican” and they think of Rome, not just Donald Trump. When I say “African” and the first thought that comes to mind is not of a skin color, but of a Golden city, or Pyramids, or a unique disease that only kills horses. When I can randomize my class for a project and know that they will all work together and be successful, regardless of who I put them with, then “multicultural” will become the new “normal,” and it will simply be one world culture.

Modifying Lessons

One of the hardest aspects of teaching would have to be connecting every lesson with every student, every day. Each student as an individual has unique needs, strengths and weaknesses, and specific learning styles. Adding to the mix students with special needs and English language learners and teaching begins to feel an awful lot like a circus balancing act. But that is part of what makes teaching so great; having a personal connection to each of your students and making each lesson mean something to them, making it easier for them to understand, can be so rewarding.

To this end, teachers strive for differentiation. There are several groups of students for whom you may have to differentiate. High academic performers/ low academic performers, ELL students, students with ADHD, and students with impaired hearing are just a handful of many categories of unique students who may require differentiation. Within these groups there are general guidelines (extra visuals for ELL and hearing impaired students, kinesthetic activities for students with ADHD, etc), but you will find that no strategy will meet every student’s needs and multiple strategies may be necessary for the success of some.

Part of this process in modification, requiring great flexibility and observance on the teacher’s part. When you see that some of your students are struggling with a concept and others understand it so well that they are bored, the teacher must accommodate these needs. For students who are not grasping the material, it must be revisited in a new way. If it was delivered in an auditory fashion the first time, perhaps a visual method will work the second time, or a kinesthetic method the third time. For example, if I am teaching about Roman organization of government, I can give a lecture on the information. For the students who are still confused, I can have them read the information. For students who are still confused, I can have them role play in the place of Roman leaders. One thing to consider when making these modifications is that it might not be the learning strategy that the student is struggling with. The teacher should be sure to explain topics multiple ways, using step-by-step directions and simple vocabulary, regardless of which method of instruction in used. On the other end of the spectrum, some students will have a prior knowledge of a subject or catch on quick, and will need modifications to the lesson to challenge them and keep them from getting in trouble. So, to modify the same lesson for these students, it should be made more challenging, relevant, or engaging. The teacher could give these students a set of Roman laws and situations coming to the consulate, to judge according to the established laws.

In my World History class, I have a student with Asperger’s, so I constantly think of how to modify my lessons for this student’s success. General suggestions for Asperger’s are to have a consistent, structured routine and let the student know in advance if any changes are going to be made to that routine, give verbal directions and use literal language, and pause in between directions to check for understanding. To modify the above lesson for this student, I would make sure to follow the class routine, which I would post on the board for them to reference. I would not use sarcasm or idioms in my instruction and break directions down into manageable chunks. As social communication can be difficult for some students with Asperger’s, I would make sure to pair this student up with others who have a kind nature and are likely to be compassionate when completing group work.

Resources to help a student with Asperger’s:

-check for understanding of directions or content with a visual cue (thumbs-up or similar)

-have structured routine in the classroom, posted where student can see it, and begin each lesson by going over the routine for the day and the expectations

-For group work, pair student with others who are empathetic and explicitly inform student of their role in the group

-Use graphic organizers to break down abstract ideas into concrete information

References:

Packer, L. E. (n.d.). Classroom Tips for Students with Asperger’s Disorder. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://www.schoolbehavior.com/disorders/aspergers-nld/classroom-tips-for-students-with-asperger%E2%80%99s-disorder/

Students with Asperger Syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://www.keene.edu/office/disabilitysvs/resources/faculty/aspergers/

Assessing Understanding of World Religions

As part of a unit, a teacher must assess each student to determine whether or not the student has mastered the necessary content. These assessments can be formal or informal, and usually a teacher will conduct informal assessments throughout the unit to determine if any adjustments need to be made to the lessons.

For my unit on The 5 Major Religions, I have a designated performance based summative assessment (because multiple choice tests are so last year) and formative assessment.

In addition to asking probing questions to judge depth of knowledge, I utilize the following assessments. The first is a day long rotational set of small group activities which can be completed individually or cooperatively. The second is a project based group research/presentation. It is collaborative and performance based by nature.

Formative Assessment: Small groups (5-7 kids, 8-10 minute groups). Group 1: matching puzzles- name of religion to mono/polytheistic. (Objective 3), Group 2: Take maps illustrating the spread of religions and put them in chronological order (Objective 2), Group 3: Communicate with partners to fill out two-sided comparison chart for religions, competing against other groups to fill out all key information quickly (Objective 5), Group 4: write and act out a short skit where each member of the group represents one of the religions and present the key information from a first person perspective (Objective 4). Group 5: Group discussion about impact of world religions for 1-2 miutes. Each person then takes a writing prompt from a basket (“Christianity is outlawed in Rome in the year 120 and replaced with Hinduism. Describe how this would affect three different member of  Roman society” or “Mohammed is born 500 years earlier. How does this affect the development of Islam?”) and write an opening paragraph to this prompt, then pass to the person on your left. Continue the story from the person on your right until time runs out. (Objective 1).

As the teacher monitors each group, they can see the students’ progress toward each objective and decide which concepts need to be explained or practiced further.
Summative Assessment: Objective one encompasses the other objectives, as this is almost exactly how the standard is worded. For this assessment, students will complete Project Based Learning in the form of a group presentation. Students will collaborate in class to cover the information on each objective. The project will encompass a visual element (poster, powerpoint, video, etc), and audio element (most will narrate or orally deliver information), and a written element (an analytical essay). For the written element, each group member will submit their own reflection on a different religion, but they will have time to communicate their ideas before presenting. In order to earn full credit for the project, all the information must be covered and the student must avoid redundancy. If the visual element compares multiple religions, than the audio and written elements should not. For example, a group who submits a poster illustrating the spread of ideas, talks about the core beliefs of each religion and compares them, but writes about the historical significance of one religion and whether it was monotheistic or polytheistic will earn a much higher grade than a group who presents a video describing the core beliefs of the religions, talks about the core beliefs of the religions, and writes about the core beliefs of a religion, as that group is not fully meeting the standard.

This project based assessment calls for deeper understanding and application of the content, as well as higher level thinking skills. Collaborative in nature, this project helps students practice real world communication and presentation skills. The teacher can gauge each student’s understanding based off of their fluency in discussing the information and the presentation of key concepts.

Though students may not always enjoy it, assessment is a key aspect of a teacher’s unit. Without it, the teacher has no direction and the students may not truly understand.

The standard which these assessments are based off of is Arizona State High School History Standard Concept 2 PO2. The summative and formative assessments described above are of my own conception; no research was consulted for this project, and therefore no citations are necessary.

Reflections on Backwards Mapping

As part of the certification program which I am currently enrolled in, we took a new approach in lesson planning. Backwards mapping is an effective way to lesson plan based off of standards; it is practical, efficient, and easy, with a little bit of practice. Fortunately for me, backwards mapping is the preferred method of lesson planning at my school, so I had many resources and experts available for reference in my first go-through. Backwards mapping is the process of beginning with the end result (the standard to be met) and working back to the lessons that lead to this standard, as well as considering how students will demonstrate their achievement (“Taking Center Stage”). Utilizing the method includes developing proper assessments to ensure that the standard is being met.

One aspect of backwards mapping that was not entirely familiar to me was the idea of unpacking a standard. I was a bit confused when this was first explained to me, but after practicing it a few times, I see the merit of it and definitely plan to continue this method with each of the standards I have to teach. When unpacking the standard, you break it down into the bid ideas that students will need to know, as well as the actions students must take. From this point, you can plan specific activities to foster student progress in the desired attributes. Michael Schrimp, in his blog posts, discusses the merits of unpacking a standard, particularly how they apply to the Common Core standards. (Schrimp) His insight was interesting to me, even though I do not have the Common Core standards, because he places a great emphasis on the increasing complexity of the standards and how the students seem to have less support as they progress, which holds true for AZ state standards, as well. For me, this experience was eye-opening because I realized how many assignments I have planned for a standard that do not truly express what the standard asks for. In example, a standard that says to “analyze,” an activity that I have planned which describes or lists the information does not meet the standard, which calls for a more in-depth task: analyzing.

The strengths of unpacking a standard include a deeper understanding of the goal to be met, a layout of prior skills necessary to meet the standard (the “Big Ideas”), and a logical procession to lesson planning. If I base a lesson on the standard of “analyze the development and historical significance of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity,” it is easy, at first glance, to assume that covering the basics of each religion meets this standard. In reality, once you unpack the standard and pay it closer attention, it becomes apparent that the standard is not just to know information about the development of each religion, but also their historical significance and how they have impacted cultures throughout the ages. To meet this standard, a specific knowledge base must be established (the aforementioned information), but it calls for a deeper understanding and analysis. To this end, the activities must align with the standard, and the method of assessment must assess the historical significance of each religion, not just the key information, or it does not meet the standard. In this sense, backwards mapping is also a strong approach that lends itself well to meeting the standard.

The weaknesses of unpacking a standard and backwards mapping are few and far between, and up to personal interpretation. In my opinion, the only weakness of these methods is the amount of time it can take to complete. Unpacking a standard takes significantly more time than just reading through it, but the results are well worth the effort.

These two processes have had a significant impact on how I understand and plan for standards. before unpacking the standard, I believe that my expectations were shallow and minimalistic , focusing on the “what” of a standard, rather than the What, Why and How. After backwards mapping a lesson, I have a greater understanding of the standard, as well as numerous new ideas of how to meet each goal.

References:

Schrimp, M. (2016, April 07). Unpacking standards to improve instruction. Retrieved July 14, 2017, from http://www.kappancommoncore.org/unpacking-standards-to-improve-instruction/

Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII). (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2017, from http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/tcsii/ch1/bkwrdmapng.aspx

Backwards Mapping and the Unit Plan

Once you pick a standard to plan for, you can break it down in a number of ways. Some standards will not cover enough information to plan a whole unit, just a lesson or two, while some will be large enough to plan a unit several weeks long. For my most recent Unit Plan, I have selected the World History PO2 from Concept 2: Early Civilizations: Analyze the development and historical significance of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.

I choose this topic to dive into first because I feel that our world, and namely the United States, is slowly growing more intolerant of religions that differ from one’s own. Doing an in-depth, objective study on the origins and core tenants of the world’s major religions, as well as how they have impacted history, can be an eye-opening experience that breeds tolerance and celebrates diversity. The significance of religion in history cannot be overlooked; the rise and fall of many ancient civilizations is directly connected with the development of their religious beliefs, and this is something I want to explore with my students.

This standard will be addressed in my World History class, which is a Sophomore level class (ages 14-15), and this standard is one of the Arizona state standards.

By the end of the unit, students will be proficient in several areas:

1. Describe the key tenants and beliefs of each of the world’s major religions
2. Track the development of each religion geographically
3. Analyze the historical significance of each religion
4. Compare the religions to each other and connect similarities

There are several methods of assessing whether or not students are meeting these standards. Some of the ones I choose to incorporate are as follows:

1. Group students and give each group one religion to present to the class. Focus for this assessment is on describing the tenants and beliefs of one religion. This is verbal assessment and is a quick way to check for understanding of one religion among a group.
2. Basing questions off of the group presentations, prepare a short pop quiz for all students that covers all religions. Focus for this assessment is on describing the tenants and beliefs of all religions, based off of the previous presentations. This a reading assessment and can check for understanding off all religions.
3. Give each student a map with colored arrows illustrating the spread of religions, have them label the arrows. This visual assessment checks for understanding on the focus of tracking the development of each religion geographically.
4. Put up a short response question connecting the religion with the culture around it (i.e. “write a letter from a travelling Buddhist visiting Rome in AD 169 to his family in India describing how the Roman culture is different from is own and how it has impacted his ability to worship” or “How did the shift to Protestant Christianity impact the common people in Europe after the Reformation?”) This is a written assessment that checks for understanding on the historical significance of each religion on its surrounding culture.

In order to facilitate understanding of this topic, there are a variety of activities one can have the students complete, from the basic “read and summarize the text” and “watch and annotate this video” to much more in-depth, multi-disciplinary assignments. Some of my preferred assignments are listed here:

1. Create a comparison/contrast chart of corresponding religions (Hinduism and Buddhism or Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). This is an artistic activity that also calls on research skills. Hanging this posters around the room can help reiterate the information as they progress through other activities.
2. Draw out a map illustrating the spread of the religions (the same concept testes by labeling said map) on a clear plastic sheet; lay out over various political maps to draw inferences on the significance of religion to these developing nations.
3. Read and analyze primary sources from a variety of nations. Discuss which religion this nation likely follows and how it impacts their culture. What indications can you derive from the text that point toward a Christian society? A Buddhist influence? etc.

Keeping all this information in mind, one can begin to plan out a unit that is engaging for all learners. Utilizing a variety of sources for information will help prevent bias. Providing individual assignments, as well as group work, will foster both time management and collaboration skills. choosing multiple avenues for learning will promote engagement from all students, as some will be artistically inclined while others will prefer to read and analyze a text. Whatever the avenue of learning, it is important for the teacher to guide instruction and direct students to reflect on what they have learned prior to assessments.

Managing Student Behavior

One of the most common teacher struggles is finding an effective way to manage student behavior. There are several approaches to this, from redirecting behavior to modeling proper behavior, and punishing misbehavior or reward correct behavior. Whatever method a teacher chooses, the rules and expectations must be made clear to the students, or else they cannot be expected to follow them. Including students in the formation of rules and procedures can help make them more inclined to follow the rules, as they understand the importance of them. Personally, I have jumped on the clip chart bandwagon, and am attempting to bring it into the High School realm.

For those who don’t know, clip charts have been creeping into elementary classrooms over the past few years, and have become quite popular. They generally look something like this:

The basic use of a clip chart is to monitor behavior. Students move their clip up when directed by the teacher as a result of positive behavior, or down as a result of negative behavior. Although it varies according to teacher, the student generally receives some kind of reward for clipping all the way up, and some kind of punishment for clipping all the way down. For example, my Kindergarten students would get to pick a prize out of the prize box when at the top, and would lose five minutes of recess if at the bottom. For my High School students, clipping up to the top may mean earning a privilege (such as listening to music in class) and clipping down to the bottom may mean extra work or a phone call home. Another change between my elementary clip chart and my High School clip chart is when it is reset. For the younger students whom I had all day, the clip chart was reset daily. However, I only have my High School students for about 50 minutes a day, which is not enough time to earn any kind of reward, even for the most diligent students. To compensate for this, my high school clip chart is reset weekly, and the students who end the week by clipping to the top more than once enjoy doughnuts or another treat, courtesy of me.

So, how do I utilize the clip chart in my day-to-day teaching? First and foremost, I have established classroom rules and expectations with my students from day one, and several class rules are posted on the walls for students to see. They know what is expected of them, and they are expected to follow the rules. However, I understand that even the best of us have off days, and it would not be fair for me to clip down students constantly for every minor infraction, so my first response to misbehavior is a verbal warning, reminding the student of our classroom expectations. For example, I might say “Susan, this is a classroom of tolerance. If I hear you insulting your classmates again, you are going to clip down.” This identifies the negative behavior, reestablishes our rules, and warns the student of what will happen if the behavior continues. I take a similar approach to positive behavior; verbal praise is given before the opportunity to clip up.  might say, as I walk around the classroom, “James, you are working very hard today. I appreciate your effort,” or “Susan, thank you for choosing your words more carefully. I appreciate your kindness” (I think it is important to recognize when a student turns their behavior around). If the positive behavior continues or is extraordinary, the student will clip up. I.e. “Karen, you have been contributing a lot to our discussion today, you may go clip up. I appreciate your participation,” or “Mark, thank you for helping Joe pick up his papers. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m sure Joe appreciates the extra hand. Go clip up.” In this way, the student is being honored for their behavior in front of their peers, which will hopefully encourage others to follow suit.

At some point, a student can clip no higher or no lower. When this happens, they usually say to me “I am already at the bottom, I can’t clip down/ I am already at the top, I can’t clip up.” When this happens, they receive their consequence or reward, respectively, and reset their clip in the middle. For behavior that is especially damaging, such as violence, the consequence may be immediate, such as leaving the room, or harsh, such as detention or suspension. For a series of minor infractions and insubordination, the student is more likely to bring extra work onto them. It sounds like this:

“I see you can’t clip any lower. Reset your clip and come get this paper. It is a description of the policies of ancient Rome. Take it home and complete it by __________, and bring it back, signed by a parent or guardian. If they ask why, you can tell them about the behavior that earned you this extra assignment, and they are free to call me if they have any questions. If you do not return it by ___________, it goes into the grade book as a zero, and you will have the chance to finish it in after school detention. Please work on making better decisions. If this behavior continues, you will be taking a trip to the office.”

This admonition serves to redirect the student’s behavior and reminds them that their actions have real consequences. Infractions that might lead to a clip down would be: talking over others, not completing work, being rude or disrespectful to peers, defiance and insubordination. Actions that would warrant immediate consequences, and would supersede the clip chart entirely include: violence, harassment, bullying, vandalism or destruction of school property, or possession of dangerous items.

Behavior that would warrant a clip up might include: compliments toward peers, working hard, following directions, participation, helpfulness toward others, asking insightful questions.

Below is a flowchart, illustrating how I direct student behavior in my class.

Reflections on Classroom Management and Expectations

Observing and comparing how other teachers operate their classes can be beneficial in how you operate your own. Teachers are thieves. We still worksheets and note outlines, organization and behavior modifications, lesson plan templates and classroom decor, and so much more. Arguably, the only thing more beneficial than observing how a teacher operates their class is testing it out yourself. With  that mindset, I’m going to talk about the classroom expectations I observed in a couple of videos.

Video number 1: Roller Coaster Physics

Watch it Here: Video

First impression: wow. This class operates so smoothly, and as a result, these students are performing at a level that seems high than normal to me. They use advanced vocabulary and critical thinking skills, and collaborate better than I do. Which begs the question, why? It is apparent from watching this video that the teacher holds high expectations of her students. She fully expects them to complete the assignment while communicating, collaborating, budgeting, reflecting, recording, and under several constraints. The confidence she has in her students is inspiring in and of itself. Her academic performance expectations are clearly high, and about what one would expect from a STEM classroom. Her behavior expectations must be high to allow for such high academic expectations in such a short period of time. Throughout the video, there is little evidence of misbehavior or anarchy, likely due to her established norms and procedures. In support of high student performance, this teacher’s norms and procedures are collaborative by nature. She begins the lesson with student-led reflection and discussion, uses their individual designs to assess understanding, but ultimately requires each group to come to a design consensus. Her “chime” method of sharing allows students to each share what worked and did not work for them, and allows peers to chime in with suggestions. This atmosphere of teamwork is evident, and helps students succeed.

Video number 2: 3rd Grade Chinese Math

Watch it here:Video

As an American student, the way these students learn math seems incredibly foreign to me. I myself am I musically inclined person, and I feel that the method of chanting information demonstrated in this video would have worked well for me, but that is not how I learned math in third grade. This teacher seems to have about the same academic expectations as most teachers; the standard they are practicing is grade-level appropriate, and several students can be observed not following along with the lesson. the fact that the teacher does not call these students out and bring them back to the lesson makes it seem as though she does not have very high expectations for them. Behavior expectations are a little bit better, but about the same level. This teacher uses group responses to transition, but several students can be heard talking out of turn, and she has to speak to them more than once. To me, this indicates that it is a norm in her classroom to have open discussion, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but that she does not have a designated procedure for handling unnecessary outbursts. There does seem to be a procedure in place for the progression of the lesson, as students know exactly what to say when, though this makes the lesson seem repetitive. All in all, an excellent video, but not too inspiring.

Video number 3: Whole Brain Teaching

Watch it Here: Video

Overall impression: confusing. Unless you are aware of what whole brain teaching is and the various methods they use, I do not recommend watching this video. I did so before researching whole brain teaching and was thoroughly confused. The students seem very engaged, and participation is spectacular, but the methods the teacher uses are not introduced, explained, or obvious, so for someone seeking to emulate her, it will require some effort. For academic expectations, the teacher does seem to have high ones. The students are seen working independently and with a partner more than listening to the teacher talk, indicating a good sense of understanding. However, behaviorally, I would say expectations are low. The class behaves very well and follows the established procedures; however, it seems as if they have little autonomy. These high school students are given more step-by-step directions and review than I generally gave kindergartners, indicating to me that the teacher expects that if she does not walk them through each task, they cannot complete it on their own. They demonstrate a variety of norms and procedures. They have an established procedure to focus on the teacher, which the whole brain learning website describes as an “attention getter.” They have a norm of practicing speed reading, a norm of reading the text with a partner, and a procedure for physically acting out what they are reading or being told to increase understanding. If I had researched Whole Brain Teaching first, this video would have been very interesting, rather than confusing.

As a kindergarten teacher, I would identify best with the whole brain teaching methods. They  involve a lot of music, simplify directions, and help keep busy students on tasks, which would be perfect for young learners. However, as an upcoming High School History teacher, I prefer the methods illustrated in the roller coaster physics video. I really like the idea of connecting the topic to the real-world and encouraging collaboration and communication, and this teacher goes a great job of this. To do this with history, I could group students for research projects and have them put together research proposals, establish a budget, and search for truth as real-world historians do. We could start each lesson with a “chime” activity, or something similar, where the students discuss how their topic connects to what we are learning in class or what is going on in the real world, and allow peers to ask questions or offer further avenues of exploration. As a teacher, who is a thief, I think I’ll steal more from this video than any other.