November Post

I had the pleasure of attending the NAGC Annual Conference in St. Louis this month and realized how ignored our gifted and talented students are. We are so focused on moving the “u” students to “pp” and the “pp” students to “p” that we forget to make sure our advanced students are growing. We need to make a more conscience effort to differentiate in our classrooms not only for our low performing students, but also for our gifted students. The district coordinator purchased materials from the conference, and I will be posting some of the strategies as we progress through the year.

During the conference I also listened to Howard Gardner speak, which is a moment I will not soon forget since he is one of my intellectual heroes. After his presentation, I met with a few students who attend one of the nation's few Multiple Intelligences schools. I have never met a more well-rounded, self-sufficient group of students. It was clear they felt valued in their school, understood how they learned, and understood the differences people have when learning. These students had all attended a traditional school before attending the MI school, and expressed how they felt they were being crammed into a box in the traditional school. In the MI school, they are able to express their individuality and not be forced to learn in a way that is uncomfortable to them. What a concept!

As I was sitting and listening to these students and teachers speak, the inevitable question about testing was asked, "Are the students in your school held accountable for state testing." The answer is yes, and their test scores are some of the highest in the state. This MI school does not force students to learn in any certain style and does not force students to take benchmark tests throughout the year, yet their test scores are some of the highest in the state. It made me question what we are doing with our students, not just in Adams 14, but across America. Why don't we allow students to learn they way they feel comfortable learning? Why don't we value every type of intelligence and not just linguistic and mathematical intelligences? Why do we test our poverty-stricken students and ELL students more frequently than students who perform well on tests when those testing days could be spent in the classroom? Is it not abuse to continuously not value our students' individual needs?

*sigh*

Interesting Article- 21st Century Education

http://21stcenturyskills.org/documents/P21_pollreport_singlepg.pdf

October Post

As this year progresses, I become more and more concerned about how we are preparing our students for a 21st century workforce. I am seeing the use of technology decrease at ACHS because teachers are having a difficult time adjusting to using technology and still adhering to Teach for Success. That's not to say that teachers aren't using any technology, the problem is they are not teaching students how to create and use technology. I think we, as Global Learners, need to create lessons to model how we can help students learn how to use technology and be innovative while still following the guidelines for Teach for Success and aligning to the curriculum.

Another concern developed this month when the English 2A teachers were told they have to abruptly end their research project. The reasoning was researching and writing a research paper does not prepare students for the district assessment and therefore does not prepare students for CSAP. The amount of time and energy the students and teachers put into the project was dismissed, and we had to have the students create an unfinished portfolio rather than allowing them to synthesize their research and write a paper. You can view the research project on my web page (the link is listed below). You will see that the skills the students were developing with the research project would have absolutely prepared students for any assessment, but more importantly would have taught them how to independently evaluate and synthesize information. What 21st century skill is more important for our students than research?

We need to be careful of the messages we are sending our students. The students' needs should always come first.

On a positive note, I had a successful interactive blog with the English 2A teachers this month and the students really enjoyed the experience. Please review the rubric posted on my web page.

http://sites.google.com/site/sophomoreenglishachs/home

September Post

Wow! Many changes in the district this year and I am desperately trying to keep up with administration's new initiatives. Mary, Todd, and I have done a lot of collaboration so far this year for our English 2A classes. We created a lesson plan allowing students to create their own photo stories as well as write a narrative paper. The expectations for the photo story and the narrative paper are available on my website below.

Upon reflection of the project, I wish we would have had more time for students to share their projects in class. The students worked extremely hard on their photo stories and were so proud of their accomplishments. It would have been a powerful experience to begin the year with students introducing themselves with their photo stories and feeling that sense of pride and success when beginning the school year. However, because of some of the district's new initiatives, we were not able to spend class time doing oral presentations.

As for my website and wiki, both are up and running, but neither are fully functioning yet. The website is more developed than the wiki, I would appreciate feedback on either.

Thanks,
Lisa

http://sites.google.com/site/sophomoreenglishachs/home
https://achsenglish.wikispaces.com/