Which Way Does the Staircase Go?

So I know there's been a lot of debate about kids' lack of effort, how apathetic they are and how teachers don't push them enough. Sometimes I find myself thinking "well back in my day, everybody worked hard and teachers pushed us and held us to high expectations and we had to to school walk up hill in the snow both ways!"
Anyway, I read Up the Down Staricase for my multi-genre book and it taught me something. Despite politics and social climates, teenagers thirty years ago were pretty much the same as teenagers twenty years ago were pretty much the same as teens ten years ago were pretty much the same as teens five years ago, ect...Bel Kauffman does a fantastic job of capturing the teenage voice, and what I noticed was that the kids she's writing about sound exactly the same as my kids in field. Keep in mind she wrote this in the sixties. I guess what I'm saying is that despite conventional wisdom, kids aren't progressively getting dumber...what with the hippity-hop music and their nintendos and the myface. They're actually pretty much the same kids they were forty years ago...a hundred years ago...a thousand years ago! (I'm guessing).
I sometimes feel discouraged when I read how horrible some student writings can be. But this isn't a new thing. As Kauffman portrays it, none of her students really had a fantastic grasp of the English language. And as I see it, none of the kids in my Career Comm class do either. I think mainly this reflects on the widening gap between us teachers and the kids. It may not be that they're complete dunces; maybe we've just gotten a little smarter. (ps. did I use that semicolon right?)

i am terrible at posting on the blog

Assessment reminds me of those annoying 12 people at my high school who were vying for valedictorian-ship, as if that was the most important thing they were ever going to accomplish in their entire lives. It made me angry, because I never thought grades were very important. My records from high school and my bachelor's degree are appalling. I really genuinely liked school, though, and I thought most of my subjects were really interesting, and somehow it didn't ever occur to me to worry if I had an A or not, and slavishly study away accordingly. Besides, in the words of my father, "Of course you can get an A if you study. The hard thing is to get an A without studying." Thanks, Bill.

Assessment really scares me, and I'm not really sure how to use it. I always hated testing in English classes, because tests were so frequently multiple choice and true/false, followed by a short answer section. Any idiot could look up the names of the cast of A Streetcar Named Desire and memorize them -- the tests really rewarded the 12 valedictorian wackadoos and didn't do much for people who were awful with names but who genuinely "got" something out of the reading. I feel like most assessment is just a way for the 12 v.w.'s of the school to prove how obsessive they are about their studies and for the kids who don't care to just slide by. However, I don't really want to become one of those "everyone's special" teachers who has no standards. I realize we can't really get by -- the way the system is set up -- without grades. But there must be some medium.

When I was in high school, I thought making a portfolio was really satisfying. I wonder if everyone else just thought it was stupid? It motivated me to not write garbage, becaues when I was a sophomore, I looked back at my crappy freshman work and thought, wow, I can do better than this.

I really think that there must be some way to motivate students to do their best work besides traditional assessment, and I think part of the answer is the quote one of the other poster's used, about making what students learn relevant to their own lives. If you don't feel like what you're learning is important, worth your while, and has something to offer you, then what's the point?

B&B Chapters 6 & 7: Making Assessment Count

A summary of good instruction and assessment comes from a quote in Chapter 6 from B&B:

“ ‘…students become enthusiastic about learning when they feel the subject is relevant to their lives, when they can do real and challenging work, when they have control over what they do, when they feel connected to their schools, and when they do not feel compelled to compete against classmates for A’s and high scores’” (100).

 This passage sums up the ideal environment of a high school classroom. This may not be a reality in most classrooms across the country but I hope it is the goal in all of them. To make information relevant and valuable to students means giving them responsibility. This chapter discusses how portfolios are one example of an assessment that can achieve this. Not only is it an authentic form of assessment, but learners get the opportunity to compile a collection of their writing. This allows for reflection, revision, and creativity. It can also be a personal form of expression, eliminating feelings of competition; each student has created his or her personal best for no one but him or her. Assessments like portfolios are also conducive to creating a cohesive classroom. Before student are willing to open up and share their final product, they must understand and respect one another. I think the writer’s reflection questions in Chapter Six would be helpful in guiding students. They may help them recognize the importance of their own progress.

 In Chapter Seven, I expected to read an outline of how to apply the Six-Trait Model into student writing and that was all. But this chapter also explains how to incorporate it into instruction. I think the first step (Introduce Each Trait by Reading and Discussing Age-Appropriate Literature) is so important. This goes back to establishing relevance in the curriculum—students can see that these are elements that real authors use and they are just standards by which they are being graded. This gives the mini-lessons and assessments some credibility; we’re not doing this for nothing. 

Maybe it's just me....

I always seem to struggle with the actual application of the material we read.  I agree with the main ideas it offers but remain skeptical of the success of it's actual application.  I think that at future English teachers our material offers for more practical forms of assessment.  It's kind of hard to make a multiple choice test out of writing styles.  And in theory, portfolios do seem like a good way to show progression of students.  But I also wonder if it's much different than students turning in multiple drafts of a paper.  Maybe it was just me, but when I had to do portfolios, i picked the work i got the lowest grades on, adapted it to the teacher's the corrections/suggestions and turned it back in.  I didn't take any time to consider my progress, i only wanted a better grade.  Even if my teacher noticed an improvement in my work, i didn't know or even care.  So i guess the problem i always struggle with is, how do you make your students care about the work? Especially with students who don't want to be there in the first place?

The Tight Rope That is Assessment

As of right now, I'm undecided as to how I want to use assessment in my classroom. Ideally, I would want to be able to trust that my students want to do their work and that they put a sincere effort into whatever they are currently working on. Obviously, this will be difficult to judge. I know for a fact that some of my high school teachers though that I had put hours of work in to a project, when in fact, I "borrowed" ideas from her examples and put it together the night before. I mean, there's no way for a teacher to truly be able to tell.

From my field, I've become pretty disappointed as to how much motivation is present in local students. It seems like assessment is different for every student because teachers assume that each student needs to be able to bend certain expectations. Now don't get me wrong, I agree that no two students are the same and that certain students require special needs, but there is a fine line between those two students. I have little doubt in my mind that students know what they can get away with at Hickman and take advantage of their teachers' expectations. It's as if the bar is constantly being lowered and the tight rope is gradually getting wider. With this being said, students are not being properly prepared for the real world. Alright, now I feel like I'm ranting so I'm going to knock that gibber jabber off.

One idea that stuck with me from these chapters was the idea of creating a student portfolio. I had to do this for a creative writing class my senior year and I really enjoyed it. I still look at it every so often and find new ideas. It's nice to be able to look back on how far you've come as a student. As for assessing these student portfolios....that's tricky. I would grade them based off whether or not the student completed the assignments that were supposed to be included and how much time on revision was spent on each piece. Along with that, I would ask the students what grade they felt and why they felt that way. The "why" would be the key part to that question.

I just hope I can have an optimistic, creative, and comfortable relationship with my students. To know that they aren't taking advantage of me and that there is a mutual respect between my students and I. I'm going to put my butt on the line for them so I will expect the same out of them. word.

Assessment

I find assessment really interesting. In math, science, and social studies it is so objective, but in the English classroom that is not the case. I do not think we are, as future teachers, aware yet of the intense amount of grading we are going to be going through every night. It is not simply going to be right or wrong, but we are going to have to justify to the student's why they achieved the grades they did. This is intimidating! And what if we have two students of completely different levels in our classroom? Do we grade one harder than the other? What if they compare papers? After reading these two chapters I still do not have an answer. I like the idea of the Six- Trait Model because it gives students very descriptive guidelines in which they should follow and also give the teacher the same guidelines on which to score. I almost feel like students should be evaluated by their writing before going into high school and put into a classroom with students who are at the same level they are. But, of course, that idea is completely unrealistic. Most schools do not have the room, funding, or teachers to support a program like that. However, I do think the idea of a portfolio is a great one and should be used as a final grade in the classroom. The teacher can evaluate the improvement of the students and then give them a final grade based upon the effort they made to improve. In this way, students who do struggle with English can be rewarded even if their writing is poor.

B&B 6-7

I had never heard of the six trait model before reading this chapter but it seems like a really good way for students to learn what makes a good paper. Chapter 7 also had some good ideas for hands on activities that are non-tradtional and fun for the students as well as instructive, such as making a brocure of their hometown or analyzing greeting cards. On Wednesday in my class at Hickman everyone brought in song lyrics to analyze using critical approaches, such as feminist, Marxist, historical, etc. and the activity was a huge success. It was fun both for us as teachers and for the students and a good change of pace, and also prepared them to apply those critical approaches to more literary works, which they will be doing in the near future. I always enjoyed activities like this when I was in high school and hope I am creative and forward thinking enough to come up with fun activities like this when I teach. Another nice thing about the six trait model is it provides is it provides a uniform way for grading student's work, so that everyone understands why they got the grade they got and eliminates the issue of fairness or inequality. It would be nice, even, if all English teachers could get on board using the same rubric for writing workshop so students are not confused from class to class. It gives students all the specific elements they need for a good paper and all they have to do is apply them.