Standards Based Assessment Exit Interviews

I currently grade on a Mastery Based grading system. I really like it because it allows students to reap the benefits of time spent relearning material and also allows me to see what they are struggling with and what I can spend more time going over with them.

Their current "Mastery Tests" at the end of a unit are essay based. They are usually asked to define terms by explaining their relationship and significance to larger historical events and write essays that synthesize the information from a particular unit into a well crafted written piece. Only once they demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts of the unit and the ability to synthesize, rework, and produce information do they "master" the assessment.

In order to master an entire unit they must, in addition to the Mastery Test, complete all of the work associated with it. This includes watching lecture videos, filling in two-column notes, answering section review questions, creating flashcards, completing Critical Reading's of articles and finally completing their in class work which is an in class project each week based around an essential question they receive. Its a lot, but manageable. 

I have been struggling to find a way where I could give students another opportunity to demonstrate mastery that did add on to their current workload. I have also been looking for more effective ways to use my one on one time with them. Currently I can assist them with in class projects, or if they struggled with a particular concept and come to me, I can sit and go over it. I wanted a way however to suss out those that were too shy to tell me they weren't "getting it." Additionally under our new evaluation systems they are interested in seeing how we use data to assess and react to student learning. I've been wanting to do this for a while and this will be a good push.

I decided to create "exit interviews" for each unit. Currently a student must present me all of the coursework for the unit when they have mastered all of it, and I sign off that it is done and mastered and it goes into the books. I've decided to change this a bit and make it another chance to assess mastery.

I made a simple checklist (adapted from Frank Noschese's great examplehat I found through Brian Bennett ...yay for the power of networking!) that included all of the state standards for the course. The first column had the standard the second column had a simple "Mastered?" This year I'm starting with just "yes" or "no." I'm sure in the future I can find ways to show "working towards mastery" but for now I wanted to keep it simple. At an "exit interview" students will bring all of their work, notes, quizzes, tests, projects, flashcards, critical readings, etc. One by one I will go through the standards, they can either orally demonstrate mastery, or they may show me in some of the work they have done where they can demonstrate mastery of the concept.

I plan on making these "interviews" as comfortable and informal as possible. "No" answers under the Mastery column may be changed at any time, a student can bring me something that demonstrates a mastery of that standard and I will change it. This won't take away from what they've done, rather it will be one more chance for them to show master, for many of my students answering orally is preferable to writing. I am not lifting the required writing of the course, merely giving them another opportunity to clarify their thoughts.

While this will be time consuming and initially difficult to set up I think it will allow me to track where students are more closely and get a better sense of who is mastering things quickly and could be more challenged and who is still struggling. However I think it will be worth the time in the end. I will have a calendar where students may sign up for the exit interviews. They may sign up during class time (only 1-2 per class I want to make sure I'm still available for the class at large), during our SSR (a silent reading period...a post for another day), or before or after school. 

After they've received "Yes" on everything for the unit, they will have truly mastered it, and I have decided to print out "mastery" certificates for the units. After all, it is still seventh grade, and everyone likes to be recognized for their efforts!

 Here is an example of a checklist for our Early Man unit, taken from the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks: 

Standard	Mastered
7.1 Describe the great climatic and environmental changes that shaped the earth and eventually permitted the growth of human life. (H)
7.2 Identify sites in Africa where archaeologists have found evidence of the origins of modern human beings and describe what the archaeologists found. (G, H)
7.3 Describe the characteristics of the hunter-gatherer societies of the Paleolithic Age (their use of tools and fire, basic hunting weapons, beads and other jewelry).
7.4 Explain the importance of the invention of metallurgy and agriculture (the growing of crops and the domestication of animals).
7.5 Describe how the invention of agriculture related to settlement, population growth, and the emergence of civilization. (H)
7.6 Identify the characteristics of civilizations. (H, G, E) A.  the presence of geographic boundaries and political institutions
B.  an economy that produces food surpluses
C.  a concentration of population in distinct areas or cities
D.  the existence of social classes
E.  developed systems of religion, learning, art, and architecture
F.  a system of record keeping

So as an example for checkpoint 7.1, they could tell me orally, show me an essay they had written on a test where they already did this (everything will have been graded at the interview), or show me a project that they created in class dealing with that standard. 

I really want them to reflect on why they are doing what their doing, and really realize how much they know and are learning! 

Do you do any kind of standards based assessment? What do you do to encourage students to reflect on their own work? How do they demonstrate they've mastered something?

Our In Class Archaeological Dig!

I think sometimes in the Flipped Class community we can spend a lot of time discussing the out of school part- the creation of videos, the work that goes with them, and what to do with students who don't always watch them. This is fantastic and helpful, but I think its also important to share what we do during class, since this is the whole point- freeing up this time and realizing what we can do with it.

This week I had two great experiences. The first was a discussion of our "critical reading" article. Students read an article about stolen artifacts and we had an in class discussion surrounding the idea of returning objects to their home country, preservation of artifacts, private owner rights..etc. IT WAS GREAT! Sure it took a few minutes to warm up, but once we got going to students had a lot to say. I got to hear a lot of opinions and spend an entire class period taking an idea and fleshing it out from start to finish- I never had time to do something like this prior to the flip. This was a topic related to Ancient History (which is my core subject that I teach) but tied to the modern world, it was something interesting but not something that we would have had the time to spend on before.

The second thing we did was an in-class archaeological dig. Students were broken into teams. At each table I set up a "mini dig site." A tray with brown sugar, corn meal, or flour filled with artifacts, and an iPad. Students had to map the dig site, divide it up, and excavate and record the artifacts they found in the site. They also had to record "soil conditions." They used the iPad to take pictures of their artifacts and ultimately put them into a presentation. I put all kinds of things in the trays, spoons, paper clips, necklaces, cupcake wrappers. Teams then had to determine what they thought the site was and ultimately present their findings and information to the class in a Powerpoint presentation.

Here are some pictures from our team dig:

How are you using your class time? Do you find more time to do hands on activities? Has flipping your class changed the type of activities you run? 

Of Mice and Men: First Day Hurdles, Week 1 of the Flip, and the Positives of a Negative Twitter Experience

Warning: Lengthy post ahead.  I haven't posted in a while so this post will be three posts lumped into one.

First Day Hurdles

After two days of staff meetings and logistical meetings my version of New Years Day finally arrived: The First Day (with students). The smell of freshly sharpened pencils and new denim filled the air as the kids bustled in for their first day of seventh grade. Homeroom seemed to last forever as we explained all of the paper work that the students would need to bring home that evening (Google Docs would simplify this process so much, but alas thats a discussion for another day).

I was extremely excited about the activity I had planned (see my previous post). I went to the main office to pick up the laptop cart, brought it to my room and plugged it in, and with that lost power in my classroom. Apparently our 1960s era school did not anticipate the toll that computers, ipads, and the like would take on the circuit breakers. Incidentally I also caused the Vice Principal to lose power..oops! So there I was on the first day with no power and an awesome lesson I couldn't implement...what's a teacher to do?

Well we proceeded anyway sans technology, I'll admit the first few classes did not go as I hoped since I didn't have the ipads to do the online portion with them. I have a prep in the middle of the day and was able to print out the materials, so things went MUCH smoother the second half.

In terms of the tape and straw activity, the kids LOVED it and I think they were really able to see how it connected to the flipped class and how the flipped class was going to help them. I will definitely be using this again next year, with a few minor tweaks. One being that in all the excitement I forgot to go over names with my kids (oops sort of a big deal on the first day). I felt a little like a first year teacher again. I guess in a way I am since this is my first fully "flipped" year. A lot of what I'm doing is reminiscent of my first go around.

What I learned from this? Technology is great, iPads are wonderful, but sometimes they fail and don't work, so don't forget to have a paper back up! Incidentally, don't we tell our kids this all the time!?!

Onward and Upward: The First Week

Overall this week wasn't the most exciting for the kids, I went over how to watch the videos at home and did a lot of checking in with their passwords and such. I handed out the coursepacks and went over how to use them. I also lectured in class so they could see how I explain the powerpoint slides that they would be seeing in the video and made sure they knew how to follow along with the notes.

What I learned: Students adapt quickly. I was really worried that students would need a whole week to get used to me and my note style before they started to watch the videos at home, I think all they really needed was a day. Next year I will probably start with the at home videos within the first two days, that way we can get right into the fun stuff "doing" history instead of listening to me talk about it.


My First Negative Twitter Experience

I was participating in a Twitter Chat and I used the word "irregardless" I hadn't even realized that I'd used it. Now, trust me, I am fully aware grammar is one area that I could really improve on (you read my posts so you're aware of this) heck I'm sure this post is filled with errors (I'm not saying this is OK, just that I'm aware it happens). However, I am fully aware that "irregardless" is not a word. I honestly, even now cannot tell you why I used it. I was tired, it was the end of a long day, none of which excuses using a made-up word, but my point is it happened, as these things some times do. I was alerted that I had a new tweet and when I looked someone had replied with a statement that "irregarless is never acceptable for an educator to use." I froze, I realized my mistake, I was mortified and embarrassed. She was right of course, how could I as an educator have made such an error? Would people still take me credibly on Twitter? I pulled the offending statement from the interwebs hoping people hadn't seen it. As silly as it sounds, this woman's tweet sat in the back of my mind the whole next day at work. I began to question myself. I suddenly pictured my tweet getting picked up by some organization as an example of an ill prepared educator. I started to wonder if I could call myself an educator. I couldn't get past those words "is never acceptable." Someone in my profession should know better, should never have made such a mistake. Beyond all that my feelings were hurt, I had been trying to make what I thought was a really positive point on education and this woman zeroed in on my mistake, broadcast it to the universe and really made me feel like I had no business being a teacher. I felt judged it was "never acceptable" for an educator to make that mistake, therefore, I am not an educator, I am a fake.

I realize this may seem very silly to some of you (I can hear you now: for goodness sakes it was JUST a TWEET) but it honestly really really impacted me...and then it hit me....words are powerful...words hurt....we as teachers use words all day every day.

How often do we quickly correct a student's error without looking past it at the point they were trying to make? If this woman via cyberspace that I have never met in person could impact my feelings in such a negative way, imagine what I could do to a 13 year old sitting in my class. If she could cause me to question my abilities within my profession...what could I cause my students to question?

I firmly believe in making mistakes, I believe that you learn from them and that failure can lead to great outcomes if you choose not to accept it. However I also believe there is a way to correct my students without causing them to question themselves. I realized I need to approach how I correct students very carefully and so I came up with following to guide me this year as my students (and I myself) inevitably make mistakes.

1. Absolutes do not encourage improvement. I would never tell a student "it is never acceptable for you to make this mistake." Rather I would tell them that it is acceptable, they are human, they are learning, they are incomplete in the best possible way. Together we will learn how to take mistakes, learn from them, and implement change from them. We will look at why we make mistakes, what preconceived thoughts we have about things, and realize that sometimes, we just make them, and as long as we are willing to fix them, and try our best to not make them again, that's ok.

2. Public correction of a mistake is more about the corrector and less about the learner. It's one thing to realize many students are making the same mistakes and going over them together, but announcing a students mistake in public is going to do little more than embarrass them and make them afraid to make another one. All it will serve is to make the teacher look "all powerful." Socrates was famous for purporting that the first step to becoming wise is admitting that you don't know everything. I'm not saying we should let mistakes go and never point them out, but rather I think it is important to allow students to learn of an error in a comfortable private environment where they are given the opportunity to fix it.

3. Words have power, negative words, positive words, all words. I need to choose them wisely and be aware that constructive criticism while far better than negative criticism can still hurt. It is essential for my students to realize that I am correcting their mistake and not personally attacking them. I believe strongly in the use of positive language with students and will continue to look for the meaning and the message first and foremost before I go about correcting the incidentals. I don't want to miss out on a student's brilliant ideas because I'm stuck on a spelling mistake. Praise the idea first...privately correct the spelling mistake. I need to make sure my words are about empowering my students and not phrases meant to only empower me as a teacher. A private message from this woman pointing out my error would have been welcomed, but I guess I wouldn't have learned as much from that.

I thought about tweeting back to this woman and telling her that she'd hurt my feelings, telling her that I hoped she would never correct her students publicly like that, but finally I realized that I need to get it together and grow up. I'm an adult, I've been avoiding Twitter, I've been ridiculous. I made a mistake, I fixed it, and now I'm returning to probably make more...but that's why life long learning is so great! In the long run this woman did me a great favor, reminding me of the power our words have.

Ok way too long of a post. So as you can see I've learned a lot these last two weeks. How are things going in your first few weeks? How do you handle things like technology and power failures? Have you had any negative experiences on social networking sites? What are some ways you help students realize their mistakes without making them feel poorly about themselves?

Virtual Syllabus and First Day Activities

I'm one of the lucky ones who do not go back until after labor day. It gives me an entire extra week of Summer, but to be honest I really consider this the last true day. Next week I'll be in my classroom every day setting up, printing my coursepacks and putting everything together. I'm so excited for my first full year as a flipped class.

I have spent the summer creating videos and setting up Schoology, pick a day on the calendar and I can tell you what video lectures are that week and what projects the kids are doing in school. I have it all planned out...except for the first day.

I have a confession, I have never ever "planned" my first day. I have always just done a quick introduction: state your name and your favorite kitchen appliance (thought I was "changing up" the typical first day intros...oh how wrong I was). I then handed out the Syllabus, read it with the kids, usually run out of time before we finish reading it and send them on their way.....ew. How boring for a 7th grader, I as an adult would not want to do that 8 times in one day, I cannot fathom 13 year old me being any more enthused. If I really reflect on it, this first day style really did a disservice to the type of class I run, student centered, project based, and enthusiastic. In short it projected the opposite view.

Since this entire year is going to be flipped, and going to be different, I decided the first day needed to start differently. I wanted to convey that this year would be different, and why the flipped class would benefit them, so this is my (tentative) plan for the first day:

Students enter room and sit in groups. Each group will have the following on it: an ipad, string, tape, glue, and a pile of straws. Each group also has a supply draw next to it with things like whiteboards, markers, and scrap paper that they can utilize throughout the year. 

Students will be instructed to use whatever they have at their group's station to construct a tower with the straws. They will have 5 minutes, at the end the group with the tallest tower will get an A, second tallest a B, etc. They may not undo anything as they work, they can only add to what they've done. The catch: they cannot talk...at all.

After the five minutes I will explain that this grade does not count, and that I want to discuss with students what things would have made them more successful and helped them to communicate, I'm hoping for (and will gently nudge) answers such as:

background knowledge

plan in place

the ability to talk

use of phones

ability to look up examples and ideas

the ability to redo and fix mistakes

etc.

I want them to understand that in my class its OK to fail at first, many groups will have failed at this task. However its not OK to accept failure.

I'm then going to use this is as a segway to talk about the Flipped Class and how they will be encouraged to communicate, question, research, do and redo during class. How it will help them meet success and fix failed first attempts. We will discuss ways technology will help us to do this, and how having a background from the video lectures will help us to create a plan for our projects.

Finally we will use the ipads to flip through a virtual copy of the syllabus:

http://snack.to/fu52z8a3

I created it to look more like a magazine, and less like a boring document. Students will receive a paper copy in the front of their coursepacks. I like that students can "flip" through it.

Before leaving they will receive instructions for signing onto Schoology and their Parent FAQ letter (which basically an adult version of their virtual syllabus). They will be asked to watch an Intro Video and Web Resource Video for homework that night.

I'm not sure if this will work or by the end of the day I'll be back to reading the syllabus, but its worth a try. 

What are you doing with your classes on the first day? Have you found ways to get away from the "reading of the syllabus" routine?

#flipclass chat

So I've known about the #flipclass chat for a while, but have been too overwhelmed to jump in. After a few weeks of lurking, I finally joined tonight. Wow. I didn't even contribute much, maybe five tweets at most, and yet I found the conversations stimulating, invigorating, and reenergizing as I come into the homestretch of Summer.

As I'm heading into my first full year flip, and reflect on my 1/2 year flip this past Spring, I realize the one thing that was more valuable to me than any resource in my classroom....the resources out there...out in cyber space...the people out there...out in cyber space.

I came across the idea of a flipped class by accident. I was looking for ways to integrate technology into my classroom, and happened upon an article about it. Which led me to another article....and another...and another....and all of a sudden it was 4am and I couldn't sleep because I knew I had stumbled on to something amazing.

Next came the blogs, teachers, from all corners of the country...all corners of the globe....sharing how they were incorporating the flip. Disseminating information, sharing resources, all for the betterment of the students. Twitter and the #flipclass chat is yet another extension of this.

I think this is what I have come to love about the flip class more than anything else- the community of educators it has put me in touch with. People that I would never have the pleasure to interact with in my daily life otherwise, have become my mentors, my collaborators, my teachers, and my global colleagues.

Teachers get a lot of bad press these days. We're lazy. We only work until the bell rings. We only care about raises and money. We're not in it for the kids, we're in it for the paycheck. How dare we call ourselves "professionals." The attacks go on and on.

I would challenge people that hold those beliefs to do a simple search of "flipped class" on Google. Check out some blogs. Lurk on Monday nights for the #flipcclass chat. What they will see is enthusiastic and engaged professionals who are connecting with others purely to share ideas and help better their students' experiences in their classrooms.

They are not prompted to do this from a boss, or by a contract. This is not part of what they get paid to do. This reaching out to others, this evolving and learning as a global community, is done purely in the name of education and doing what's best for the kids.

In history class I often talk about "grass roots" movements. We discuss the role they have played from the dawn of time forward, and how a few individuals really can incite change. We discuss how their agendas vary from awareness to policy change. To me the flipped class truly is a grass roots movement. Creating an awareness that the institution needs changing, and providing a pragmatic way to do it. Its not about the videos, its not about the newest "trend" in education. Its about doing right by the kids, and creating a classroom that inspires learning, and prepares them for the world we live in. Its about changing the way we teach, and the way we as teachers learn. Its about rethinking our craft and recreating ourselves as needed.

You don't have to flip your class to do this, great teachers do it every day with no flip involved. If you do want to flip though....if you do think this might just be the thing you were looking for...the thing that keeps you up until 4am too excited to sleep...with too many ideas floating through your head...

...join the conversation. Mondays 8pm EST  #flipclass.

Coursepack Video

I made this video to explain the different parts of the "coursepack" to students. It is very straightforward, nothing special. I'm posting it here just to show what I have my students doing at home during the videos and in addition to them. I wanted to make sure they weren't just watching the lecture videos but were responding to them. I also wanted a way to check their progress.

I think I'm going to make a video of myself watching actually doing the activities in the Coursepack, but this is what I have at the moment.

FAQ by Parents Video

This is a rough draft of a FAQ video for parents. I wanted to play around with the new "screen in" feature of Screencast-o-matic. I definitely need to rewrite some parts, and I think I will split it into two videos, one on what a flipped class is and a separate video on what mastery based grading is. I think in this I just skim over the grading too quickly. Having played around with the isight screen in feature I can see that I need to adjust my camera angle and lighting.

I think overall I probably won't use this feature for student lectures, I think it could distract them from looking at the actual slide. However, I think for introductory purposes it is a nice feature so parents can get a feel for who their student's teacher is. I also think I will use it for the first few student videos. I was reading up on student "trust" levels. Despite the fact that we are having students listen to videos via their computers it is really important that they buy into the idea that it is "their teacher" disseminating information. That is why I make my own videos, despite the fact that there are far more professional looking ones out there. I need students to trust me as their teacher. I wish there was a way to turn the screen in feature on and off, for example have it on to introduce the video and then turn it off for the lecture. Has anyone figured out how to do this?

Anyway here it is, again, rough draft:

Parents will receive an explanatory letter the first night of school and a link to this video. I have a separate blog for parents that I update each Friday so I'll house it there.

Has anyone found a better screen cast software? Right now I'm limited to using free software. I've toyed around with the idea of using iMovies but I like the ability to open websites within the screen.