Collaborating with PTP Cohort (1st Meeting)

I feel like the PTP process has "officially" begun. The reflection time was definitely beneficial, but I felt like I was spinning my wheels. Sitting down with the other teachers in my cohort was really refreshing. It is really great that we're all AP teachers because I think we share a unique point of view. We're often working with students who are compliant--ready to work--but they need technology to increase the rigor. Lisa also noted that as AP teachers, we work with content that is very "teacher-driven" by design. Students are expected to listen to lectures, but we also know they need more than that, they have to interact with the material in a meaningful way. 

This is where I am really excited to work with my cohort. I know that together we can come up with some really innovative ideas. One thing we discussed is how to break up the traditional "direct instruction" and make it more student centered. I loved the idea of using polls and debate questions. I think this can be particularly useful as I begin teaching the non-fiction text, Nickel and Dimed. I think students are eager to share their opinion and I can use technology to have students debate in a meaningful way. I can also give them immediate feedback on how to better establish arguments and synthesize material.

I am sure the book will be somewhat controversial, but it brings up a lot of great social issues--from hiring practices to what is considered a 'livable' wage. I want students to appreciate the book for its rhetorical strategies, even if they disagree with the message. This will be particularly difficult with some students who have already voice their opinions about issues such as minimum wage. Technology will enable me to have students make concise arguments while also engaging using a piece of text that they may disagree with. My goal is for students to use resources, even if they appear on the surface to go against their arguments.

Upcoming Meeting and Data

I am really looking forward to the first cohort meeting that will happen this week. I am particularly excited because I really want to start collaborating about ways to increase technology and rigor in my AP classroom. As we get closer to December, I am starting to worry about how I can maintain a foot in the classroom, while also being at home with my newborn. Obviously, the little one gets the majority of my attention, but I don't want my classroom to suffer. I know that I have a substitute who is coming in and will continue to guide the students and keep them on track, but really I have to be sure that they have meaningful lessons that will help prepare them for their AP exam in May. I also have a goal of retaining students in the AP English program--which means I need to invest them enough to push them to take the next level of AP English.

As for my Seniors, I also want to collaborate with others about increasing the rigor and expectations of that class. In my one-on-one meetings with April, we've talked about how my senior class seems to want to take the road of least resistance. I can understand that mentality, but I can also see how devastating that will be for them next year. The option of having different types of assessment helped, but I need to figure out a way to make learning more individualized because they are relying on each other too much, and some are not putting in needed effort. I am worried that this is going to lead to me being even more frustrated and giving up on our path all together. This is not an option.

As I sit down to look at the data that I have collected in the past week (using Newsela--a current events site that measures for reading comprehension and inferencing), I realize that students still have a long way to go with their ability to read into a text. Students are so use to the surface level reading being sufficient that they struggle with the basic skill of drawing conclusions. I have got to continue to push them to grow in this area, otherwise they really won't have the basics to be critical thinkers in adulthood.

This is all for now, but I am hopeful that new ideas will be generating by Friday morning and I will see a clear path for investment, technology and rigor in the classroom!

Diversifying Assessment-Round 2

Students are sitting and writing (and explicating) all around me. When I described the quiz to students, they seemed a little more comfortable with the idea of looking at poetry. I imagine many will take my option of answering questions directly, rather than attempting their own explication at this point. As I sit here thinking about my to-do list, I realize I will have to grade these quizzes. I have notes that I've taken on the poem--significant lines, references and meaning--but I realize that may not be enough to effectively assess this work students are turning in. This is a problem. I should have figured out the assessment criteria before giving students the quiz. I am fearful that my expectations will waiver once I see their responses. I need to figure out the answer to the following questions as I continue to look at differentiated instruction:

1. How can I ensure that I am measuring the same skills with different types of assessment?
2. How do I measure those skills so that they can be adequately compiled for data purposes?
3. How do I deliver instruction so that all students get the background information, and practice the skills they need, for the assessment?
4. How do I use technology to effectively integrated differentiated instruction and assessment?

The last question is a question I will need to address with my cohort. I am really struggling with getting the skill and then using technology to apply it. Students have all of these great resources, but I'm not using them as effectively as I should. I feel like my differentiation is still revolving around strategies I used in my old position--when I didn't have any technology. 

As I continue to work through this process, I need to build a toolbox. I need to find resources and strategies that will help me develop assessment and instruction that meets all students needs while promoting growth. 

Diversifying Assessments-Round 1

Currently, the seniors are working on poetry--which many do not like (although they like it more than the looming Shakespeare--for some odd reason). Students have been practicing explication with a variety of poems. Not to put English on a pedestal, by explication is key to the discipline and it is also a really, really hard skill. Students sit down to a poem, for which they have no context and they attempt to find meaning. This requires that students use context clues, implication skills and critical thinking so that they can develop a conclusion about the poem. I started the unit by telling my students about how difficult this is, and how I even struggle with it. We did a "competition" in the class, where each group was given the same poem and they had to explicate it and justify their views. The poem was "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath (one of my favorites--and one that I had to explicate for a senior final in high school). Students grappled for 30 minutes with the poem as I walked around and asked them follow up questions to ensure their analysis worked for the entire poem. It seemed pretty effective, groups that were able to get the meaning were so excited, and even those who didn't catch the meaning were moving in the right track. Perhaps counter-intuative to this PTP group, the best thing about this task was that students couldn't use ANY technology. They put away phones and laptops and their only resource was a dictionary (which is evidently something they thought was extinct...). It was glorious! There was full participation and really close reading.

Part of my goal  this year is to reach my students more effectively through differentiated instruction and assessment. I've always had it engrained that assessment is key for backwards (and efficient/effective) planning, so I am starting with differentiated assessments. My first attempt will be next Monday with my Honors English IV class. I am hoping to offer them choice in their assessment and as a result see more investment and higher scores.

To continue building this skill, students were again divided into groups (this time it was their choice). Students were given different poems based on skill-level, with my two highest achieving groups getting two very difficult poems. Students are creating a presentation based on their explication of the poem and they will share with the class. They have a clear rubric and I've been assisting them. I'm excited to see what they come up with, though a little nervous with my small group that believes no explication can be wrong because it is their "opinion."

Anywho, these two tasks are building to an assessment. The assessment will be on Monday. Students will once again have no access to technology. I have defined some of the more difficult language and mythological/cultural references made in the poem to assist their reading. They will still be able to use a dictionary if they so choose. As I was observing their work, I noticed that some students are still struggling with this really difficult skill, so I wanted to modify the assessment. They still need the same skill, they still need to be able to demonstrate close reading, but I needed a way to scaffold their thinking. I have tweeked the assessment to give students choice. Students can write a traditional explication (mini-essay) or they can answer 5 questions, which forces students to look at very specific aspects of the text and figure out how they contribute to a larger meaning. I am hoping this will build student confidence because our next unit is Shakespeare.