Upcoming Meetings
September 24, 2014 Superintendents' Council
September 25, 2014 Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
September 26, 2014 Community Ed (Sanford Education Center)
September 26, 2014 Principals' Council (9 a.m. start)
September 30, 2014 Agriculture
October 2, 2014 Music
October 7, 2014 Science
October 9, 2014 Art
Communication Briefings - Can or may?
Many people use them interchangeably; others favor "can" over "may" in an effort to sound less stilted or formal. But do "can" and "may" really mean the same thing? No.
"Can" means physically able to. Example: "Can you lift 20 pounds?" In contrast, "may" means permitted to. Example: "May I stop by your office?"
Friday, September 19, 2014
Repair Kit for Grading - Fix 2
Fix 2 is a subset of fix 1. Fix 1 was to not include student behaviors in grades. Fix 2 is; "Don't reduce marks on "work" submitted late; provide support for the learner".
Fix 2 might be a tough one to swallow for some. This fix requires a change in thinking for the teacher. Many times grades are used as extrinsic motivation. Some recent research on extrinsic motivation by Daniel Pink shows that extrinsic motivation may not necessarily lead to better results. It may, in fact, have the opposite affect on the desired behavior. Again, by adding or subtracting points on assignments for being late or on-time the teacher distorts the grade on achievement.
The flip-side of this argument is that when an adult is late on a bill, they are normally penalized. This is true, but are we replicating the real world, or trying to prepare our students for the real world? There are some things in life that you can turn in late without penalty, and there are some things you will get penalized for being late on. If we are preparing our students for the real world, we should teach them how responsible adults deal with being late. If I am going to be late on a bill, the responsible thing to do would be to call the person you owe and negotiate a new reasonable date.
A teacher could also include timeliness as part of the behavior grade mentioned in fix 1. As teachers, we should also be helping our students develop the skills needed for life after school. By continually punishing for being late, we are doing nothing but punishing the student. We should be setting up supports for the student. Just like if a person cannot continually pay a bill on time, there usually are supports there to assist the person in paying the bill. The old adage, "if I don't pay my electricity bill, the power company flips the switch". This is true, but they don't flip the switch after one day of being late. If asked, they will work with the person who is struggling to pay. Treat students the same way, support them, don't punish them!
Overall, punishing distorts the achievement grade. Always ask yourself, "Does this grade accurately show what the student knows and is able to do?"
MCIS Workshop Offered at the MRVED
MCIS Workshop
When: October 15, 2014
Time: 8:00-3:30
Location: Minnesota Valley Area Learning Center
Cost: Free
Lunch: On Your Own
What: Minnesota Career Information System website training.
The Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS) is an Internet-based system that combines a wealth of career, educational and labor market information into one comprehensive, easy-to-use exploration tool. With MCIS, students and clients can:
Registration Link
Questions can be directed to:
Deb Parkos
Phone: 651/582-8321 or 800/599-6247
debbie.parkos@state.mn.us
When: October 15, 2014
Time: 8:00-3:30
Location: Minnesota Valley Area Learning Center
Cost: Free
Lunch: On Your Own
What: Minnesota Career Information System website training.
The Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS) is an Internet-based system that combines a wealth of career, educational and labor market information into one comprehensive, easy-to-use exploration tool. With MCIS, students and clients can:
- Learn about over 520 occupations
- Develop a personal portfolio
- Research colleges, universities, and career schools
- Find scholarships and financial aid
- Improve job search skills and create a resume
Registration Link
Questions can be directed to:
Deb Parkos
Phone: 651/582-8321 or 800/599-6247
debbie.parkos@state.mn.us
Tech Tip - ThingLink
Check out the 73+ Interesting Ways to Use ThingLink in the Classroom from Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
Check out my example!
Friday, September 12, 2014
MRVED Business
Upcoming Meetings
September 19 Title III Teachers
September 24 Superintendents' Council
September 25 Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
September 26 Community Ed (9-11 a.m.)
September 26 Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start)
September 30 Agriculture
NOTE: FACS meeting originally scheduled for November 18 has been rescheduled to December 16.
Communication Briefings
Don't embarrass yourself with poorly written emails and texts
In the day of autocorrect mishaps and the overuse of Reply All, it's important to consider your electronic messages and their recipients carefully. Consider these items before sending a message:
Emails
September 19 Title III Teachers
September 24 Superintendents' Council
September 25 Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
September 26 Community Ed (9-11 a.m.)
September 26 Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start)
September 30 Agriculture
NOTE: FACS meeting originally scheduled for November 18 has been rescheduled to December 16.
Communication Briefings
Don't embarrass yourself with poorly written emails and texts
In the day of autocorrect mishaps and the overuse of Reply All, it's important to consider your electronic messages and their recipients carefully. Consider these items before sending a message:
Emails
- Write, then edit. Did you carefully review the content to make sure your points are clear?
- Check professionalism. Is your email as professional as a paper memo you would write?
- Use Cc's appropriately. Is your email addressed to the proper people, and do the Cc'ed people need to be included?
- Assess your confidence. Is your email written well enough that you would let anyone read it?
- Know your recipient. Is your relationship casual enough for texting?
- Check for clarity. Is your message short and clear?
- Beware of autocorrect. Have you ensured that autocorrect didn't inappropriately change your words?
- Consider the topic. Is your subject matter light enough for a text?
Repair Kit for Grading Series - Fix 1
The first 15 weeks of the MRVED update is going to feature a series on the book A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades by Ken O'Connor. This is an excellent and quick read for any teacher. O'Connor really makes one think about what you are grading and how you are grading your students. The best part of the whole book is he offers practical ideas that can be implemented into the classroom tomorrow. These posts will only be an overview of the fix. I highly suggest this book, and it would make for a great PLC book study.
The book is broken into chapters:
Before diving into the fixes, we must first come to agreement on the purpose of a grade. As defined by Ken O'Connor as to the purpose of grades, he states "I Believe that primary purpose to be communication about achievement, with achievement being defined as a performance measured against accepted published standards and learning outcomes." (O'Connor, 7)
Fix 1: Don't include student behavior in grades; include only achievement
This fix is the first one for a reason. It is one of the biggest problems with grades today. If a grade is used to communicate what a student knows and is able to do based upon a certain standard or benchmark, then the grade should accurately reflect that. Adding or subtracting points based upon behavior severely distorts the grade, thus not showing exactly what the student knows and is able to do.
Behavior can go both ways; a teacher could have a student that knows everything, but misbehaves in class, therefore reflecting in a lower grade. Or, a teacher could have a student that might not know everything, but tries hard, thus reflecting in a higher grade.
O'Connor is clear in that he is not saying that certain behaviors are not important to learning. Many students who exhibit desirable behavior will achieve and many students who do not exhibit the desirable behaviors do not achieve. But the grade for achievement should not reflect these behaviors.
In a truly standards-based environment, this fix is easy, (the student either knows it, partially knows it, or does not know it at all). The easiest way to fix this is to have a separate grade for behavior. I encourage you to try this quick grading fix for a quarter.
The book is broken into chapters:
- Chapter 1: Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement (Fixes 1-6)
- Chapter 2: Fixes for Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence (Fixes 7-10)
- Chapter 3: Fixes for Inappropriate Grade Calculation (Fixes 11-12)
- Chapter 4: Fixes to Support Learning (Fixes 13-15)
Before diving into the fixes, we must first come to agreement on the purpose of a grade. As defined by Ken O'Connor as to the purpose of grades, he states "I Believe that primary purpose to be communication about achievement, with achievement being defined as a performance measured against accepted published standards and learning outcomes." (O'Connor, 7)Fix 1: Don't include student behavior in grades; include only achievement
This fix is the first one for a reason. It is one of the biggest problems with grades today. If a grade is used to communicate what a student knows and is able to do based upon a certain standard or benchmark, then the grade should accurately reflect that. Adding or subtracting points based upon behavior severely distorts the grade, thus not showing exactly what the student knows and is able to do.
Behavior can go both ways; a teacher could have a student that knows everything, but misbehaves in class, therefore reflecting in a lower grade. Or, a teacher could have a student that might not know everything, but tries hard, thus reflecting in a higher grade.
O'Connor is clear in that he is not saying that certain behaviors are not important to learning. Many students who exhibit desirable behavior will achieve and many students who do not exhibit the desirable behaviors do not achieve. But the grade for achievement should not reflect these behaviors.
In a truly standards-based environment, this fix is easy, (the student either knows it, partially knows it, or does not know it at all). The easiest way to fix this is to have a separate grade for behavior. I encourage you to try this quick grading fix for a quarter.
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