Before beginning our opinion writing unit, I want to know what students know about opinion writing. This information will allow me to adequately pace my lessons and differentiate, so that all my students’ needs are met. The writing pre assessment would be an on-demand where they are asked to write an opinion piece on a topic they care about. Here is the pre-assessment:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PxvpYXYNRXkF3qo7DrgGeQpHVbmKMZlTlR1_qnV5y90/edit?usp=sharing Based on the writing pre-assessment, my students may fall within three groups: need more knowledge about meaning of opinion (versus narrative or biography); need help organizing and elaborating; and those who write clearly and with organization, thus need help refining/varying their use of linking words and information (4th grade standards). Group 1 Students will spend more time identifying an opinion and reasons, so that they can later on develop their own. A strong understanding of these concepts is important for their ability to conceive their own. They will also need more modeling and guided practice for each writing skill. For example, they will take a Quizlet of each skill to show that they can identify the skill in others’ writings, before they can develop their own and apply it to their writing. Group 2 This group understands what opinion writing entails, but need support with organizing their writing and elaborating with appropriate facts and details. This group will be given graphic organizers through google classroom to help organize their reasons. Personal word walls would also be given to help them elaborate. In addition to word walls, student will receive bubble maps to help them make connections between their reasons, descriptors, and their opinion. Group 3 This group can write an opinion piece with the major components, so they will need help incorporating more complex sentences and reasons to their writing. To help them, I would provide them with links to recorded read alouds of various anchor texts. These texts serve as mentor texts- each text serving a different purpose. Some texts they hear will have examples of complex sentences and elaboration. While other texts may introduce them to ways of organizing like cause and effect or compare and contrast. After listening to a mentor text, students will apply their learning to their own writing. Formative Assessments Exit Tickets: Students will write one thing they learned that lesson and a skill they want to learn/try or need help with. Tracker: A blow up sized rubric for opinion writing will be in the room and students will place a sticker corresponding to where they currently are in their writing. Conferencing: Teacher will check-in with students one on one during the writing workshop to gauge progress. Teacher will observe, give feedback, teach a teaching point, model teaching point, do a guided practice, and let student apply independently. My mind map: https://www.lucidchart.com/invitations/accept/08f80ab9-9cff-4973-b29a-65fd309f6699
0 Comments
High stakes testing refers to state and district level standardized tests students must take to show grade-level proficiency. These tests are tied to school, teacher, and student consequences (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). Standardized tests in schools have existed for many years, but the No Child Left Behind law reignited the conversation about high stakes testing (Kamenetz, 2015). In this blog, I interviewed my sister- a special education biology teacher in Los Angeles- about her experience with high stakes testing. I compare her high stakes testing experience with mine as a third grade teacher in Washington, D.C.. My sister works at a title 1 high school in the Los Angeles area, where she teaches 9th grade biology in an inclusive setting. The state of California requires certain grades to take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessment yearly. These assessments are common core aligned and administered online (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, n.d.). Ninth grade is not required to take the SBAC. The state uses the assessment to see how schools are performing in relation to other districts, but hold no consequences for teachers or students. The school uses it to figure out professional development. One assessment my sister finds helpful is their benchmark assessments. Every grade level and content area uses district benchmarks to evaluate students’ progress toward the content and standards.The benchmarks are created by a team of teachers in the subject areas. This is done every quarter and there are four quarters in a school year. Again, these benchmarks are not high stakes. The results are used to re-teach or make modifications to their curriculum and supports offered to students. Sometimes, patterns in groups of students appear when analyzing the benchmark data. Analyzing data has led to improved supports for students receiving special education and English Language Learners. The low stakes dissuades teachers in her school from teaching to a test or teach a certain style with the solely focus of answering certain types of questions correctly. The low stakes also allows teachers to gauge student interest and attend to those interests, because they are not rigid in their pacing. This leads students to more likely to recall and use information in meaningful ways. I’ve taught third grade for the past 4 school years, which is the first year students begin taking state standardized tests. It was not until my second year in third grade that we began testing. We take the PARCC assessment for state purposes as well as the ANET assessments as benchmarks for the school. These tests are not tied to any teacher pay or retention system, which makes them less high stakes. As a teacher, I do not feel pressure to teach to the test nor do I feel it to be excessive; this is partly due to how my school uses assessment data. My school uses the assessment scores as tools for curriculum and teacher improvement. The PARCC assessment is used to inform teachers of their students’ ability, therefore allowing them to anticipate differentiation strategies and curriculum changes to fill gaps in knowledge.The ANET scores are used ensure students are mastering the content, if not, teachers re-teach certain content or make shifts in our practice. Additionally, my school is focused on racial equity among student experiences. We use the assessments to track our progress in ensuring our students from historically marginalized groups are succeeding. The one way the PARCC is a high stakes assessment is that the state charter school board uses the results to rate schools from tier 1 (the highest) to tier 3 (lowest). A few years of low ratings can be cause to revoke a schools charter. Luckily, my school does not place any pressure on teachers because of this. My sister and I have similar experiences with high-stakes assessment in that our schools do not place any consequences or pressure. The assessments are used for learning purposes. I’m unsure if there are district or school consequences for chronic low performance in California, but this does not seem to impact how teachers do their work. This fact is the same for me in the District. References Kamenetez, A. (2015, January 22). The Past, Present And Future Of High-Stakes Testing. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/01/22/377438689/the-past-present-and-future-of-high-stakes-testing Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. (n.d.) What is Smarter Balanced? Retrieved from http://www.smarterbalanced.org The Glossary of Education Reform. (2014). High-Stakes Test. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/high-stakes-testing/ I experience cognitive flow when I am running or biking long distances, whether it be in the gym or outdoors. I generally do these workouts to stay fit, but also as a way to destress. I found my joy for long distance exercises as I did conditioning for my rowing, which I was involved in as an undergraduate student. I would join my sister’s cross country team on their runs. Overtime, I got hooked on the challenge of running hills and gaining speed, as well as the health and physical benefits. The benefits of this activity are all intrinsic, in that I don’t receive an award from anyone for completing a run or bike. I’m motivated to complete a run or bike because I enjoy it. This intrinsic motivation or enjoyment is a critical component of cognitive flow (Edutopia, 2012). I enjoy the activity, so I continue partaking in it and am focused. The focus that I have during the activity is part of cognitive flow as well (Phillips, 2013). I forget about time, myself, and am not distracted. As I’m running, I only think of time in relation to how fast I am going. I don’t think about the time in terms of what I am doing after the run or bike. I also am only thinking about the run or bike. I’m thinking of every step or rotation, my breathing, the road or hill in front of me. The other runners, bikers, or pedestrians don’t distract me. I can pass them by without losing focus. All these components (not tracking time, not thinking of myself, not easily distracted) are indicators of flow (Phillips, 2013). While partaking in the run or bike, I’m constantly getting feedback and creating new goals from them. The feedback can be the rate of my breathing or the soreness of legs and I change my strategy based on these. The goals and constant feedback are other important parts of cognitive flow (Edutopia, 2012). In all, my running and biking is challenging and enjoyable which makes it a prime activity for cognitive flow.
References: Edutopia. (2012). Mihaly csikszentmihalyi: Motivating People to Learn. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn Phillips, E. (2013). Go With the Flow: Engagement and Concentration are Key. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/go-with-the-flow-engagement-and-concentration-are-key-201307266516 |
AuthorDon't judge me for these blog entries. I find these topics important, but teaching and going to school is hard. Archives
February 2018
Categories |