MELT 2015 Registration

MELT Registration Open

2015 MELT Registration has been open for a week. So far over 250 educators have registered and some sessions will start to close due to large numbers.  Register today to ensure you get into the sessions you want.  Registration will close next Friday, December 19, at 3:00 p.m.

MELT Brochure

MELT Registration

MELT Information

Date: January 19, 2015

Time: 8:40-2:00

Location: Lac qui Parle Valley High School

MELT Reminders a la Mary Brown

1.  If you have a student teacher in January, please have them register by December 19, 2014 and select the district where they will be doing their student teaching.  Direct them to the MRVED website (www.mrved.com) and they can click on the MELT Registration article and it will take them to the brochure and the registration link.  If they are unable to do this by December 19, please have them contact me directly at mbrown@mrved.net or 320-269-9297.

2.  If you are presenting at the MELT, please register for your own session.  If you have already registered and haven't done this, no worries, I will register you for your own session.  Do not reregister.

3.  If you have selected to eat the catered meal, please pay your district the $5 by January 10, 2015.

4.  Lastly, if you did not receive a confirmation email at the completion of your registration, it is because you have entered your email incorrectly.  I have had about a half dozen emails come back to me because of that. I have corrected your emails in the registration but I'm not sure the program resends a confirmation.  

MRVED Business

Best Practice Meeting Updates

Social Studies

The Social Studies teachers convened at the MRVED on Friday, December 5th for their annual best practice meeting.  The day started with Brandon sharing some of his latest finds and providing updates to the group.  Then the group spent the next hour in a live webinar with the Minnesota Historical Society on using primary documents in the classroom.  The webinar was excellent and the teachers came away with something they could use in their classroom.  The conversation over lunch was amazing as usual.  The group then came back and networked and shared a variety of resources and ideas.  The day ended with an activity on identifying academic vocabulary.  Thanks again for a great day!

Upcoming Meetings
December 15, 2014  District Assessment Coordinators (DACs)
December 16, 2014  FACS (off site)
December 17, 2014  Superintendents' Council
December 18, 2014  Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
December 19, 2014  Principals' Council

Repair Kit for Grading - Fix 12

Fix 12: Don't include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement, or use "I" for incomplete or insufficient evidence.

The case for the zero can be a highly debated issue in schools.  We often hear, "the student didn't turn the assignment in, therefore it is a zero".  Or, "putting a zero in the grade book creates a sense of urgency."  The problem with the zero, however, is that research has shown it can actually have counterproductive effects on student motivation and it involves inappropriate mathematics.

For instance, the typical grading scale would be:

• A=100-90
• B=89-80
• C=79-70
• D=69-60
• F=59 and below

There are 11 points in the A range, and 10 in the B,C,&D ranges, and 60 points in the F range.  Douglas Reeves points out this exact flaw in grading in his article The Case Against the Zero.  The answer to this flawed system is a 5-point scale instead of the 100 point scale.  This will accurately and evenly weight the zero against all other grades.

Another fix is to not give students a zero for work not turned in, but rather an "I" for incomplete.  The theory is outlined in the book Power of ICU by Danny Hill and Dr. Jayson Nave.  Giving students incomplete grades and making them do the work may be a little more of a hassle, but in the end will more accurately reflect the grade the student has received.

Technology Tip - Unite For Literacy

Unite For Literacy
Unite for Literacy is a neat website that is great for beginning readers.  Unite for Literacy has a variety of easy to read books that the user can read or have read to them.  The books are not "big name" books, but helps new readers hear and see the words.  This website could be a great individual reading station in your classroom.  The kids can put the headphones on and read away!

MRVED Business

Best Practice Meeting Updates
English Language Arts
The English Language Arts educators gathered at the MRVED on Tuesday December 2nd for their annual best practice meeting.  The room was filled with 34 teachers ranging from Kindergarten to 12th grade teachers.  The morning started with Brandon sharing some of the latest and greatest web tools for the classroom, which transitioned nicely into a session on the SAMR model.  The group had the opportunity to talk about creating a lesson through the SAMR model.  The morning ended with aligning their standards and curriculum K-12.  After lunch they finished their curriculum work and met in networking groups.  The group did an excellent job of networking, sharing many new resources for the classroom.  The day ended with a grading practice activity.  Overall it was another great day with almost every teacher bringing something new back to the classroom.

World Language
The World Language teachers attended their annual best practice meeting on Thursday, December 4th.  The day started with networking and discussing issues related to World Languages.  After that, the group had the opportunity to spend the rest of the day with their Minnesota Department of Education specialist Ursula Lentz.  The teachers had the opportunity to hear and learn from her.  Ms. Lentz has a wealth of knowledge in the realm of World Languages and it was a great day for everyone.

Best Practice Meetings
December 10, 2014  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
December 12, 2014   Title III Teachers
December 15, 2014  District Assessment Coordinators (DAC)
December 16, 2014  FACS
December 17, 2014  Superintendents' Council
December 18, 2014  Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
December 19, 2014  Principals' Council (starting at 11:30 a.m.)

Repair Kit for Grading - Fix 11

The past 10 weeks we have been focusing on Ken O'Connor's 15 Fixes for Broken Grades.  I highly suggest reading through the whole book, it will change the way you approach grading in your classroom.  It's a very quick read, and well worth the time!

Fixes 1-6: Fixes for practices that distort achievement
Fixes 7-10: Fixes for low-quality or poorly organized evidence

1. Don't include student behaviors in grades; include only achievement.
2. Don't reduce marks on "work" submitted late; provide support for the learner.
3. Don't give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.
4. Don't punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.
5. Don't consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.
6. Don't include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.
7. Don't organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goal.
8. Don't assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.
9. Don't assign grades based on student's achievement compared to other students; compare each student's performance to preset standards.
10. Don't rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.

Fixes 11 & 12 deal with fixes for inappropriate grade calculation

Fix 11: Don't rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.

In a truly standards-based reporting environment this fix would be irrelevant.  The student either Exceeds, Meets, Partially Meets, or Does Not Meet the standard.  Unfortunately many teachers are not ready to take the full plunge into the world of standards-based reporting, so we are stuck with giving scores and calculating grades.

Using the mean, or averaging the scores, can be a flawed system.  For example:

A student has the following scores on assignments:

 91, 92, 91, 93, 92, 92, 64, 94, 93, 92

You would probably say this is an "A" student.  They have done "A" work for the majority of the quarter.  However, it averages out to an 89.  Think about if that score of 64 was never turned in and it was a 0.  What would that do to the average?  This is where professional judgement would come into play.  If this student deserves the grade of an "A", then that is what they should get.  You could also drop the lowest and highest score to get a better determinate of the average.

The next time you average out scores, think about how averaging is an inaccurate way to determine grades.