How I Did It... I Think....

I've been reflecting on this past year and all the preparation for the AIMS. Yes, no question I taught to the test - was told to, had no choice. But I think I did some things that other teachers don't - and don't know how to do. It all comes down to study skills. When I put together a quiz of questions from the Galileo system, what also went along with all of that was a very close look at how questions were structured, as well as the type of answers presented.

Example - scientific notation. Questions were of only two types - go from standard notation to scientific notation, and then the reverse. There were enough hints within the question - and the answers - to help kids determine what the correct answer was. So we looked at everything within each of the questions. What I noticed was that kids would ask concept-type questions as we reviewed, so I felt they were getting some of the underlying understanding to the material.

We also drilled - something that has taken me a while to learn to do, after so many years of working with gifted students. Bright mathematics students do not need the practice that other math student do. I had to really amp that up for my kids.

Debriefing of all assessments, including how students did on each question, what was tricky about the questions, how the scores looked, and their own improvements, or lack thereof. I truly don't believe teachers use assessments as best they can - give it, record it, turn it back, maybe make a few comments. We did all the statistical analysis (mean, median, mode, etc), so the kids were reviewing those concepts in the light of their own work.

Last, but probably the most important - I constantly told my students they could do this test. And I was always throwing in tougher questions from the eighth grade AIMS that I knew they could do, so that helped their self-concept about doing well. If I were to do it again, I would include examples from the high school AIMS, since I just went through that. The kids know this stuff, but they need to believe they know it, and they need to know you believe for them.

Keep in mind, at no point was I just telling them they could do this test. It was always coupled with work they had done already and succeeded with. The praise was coupled with their hard work. Too often we just tell kids they can "do it," but we never show them their own proof.

Good teaching, plus a healthy dose of personal support, lots of practice, and never giving up - or letting the kids give up on themselves.

AIMS Scores Are In....

...and I am one happy camper! Aside from the fact that I absolutely HATE teaching to a test, let's take a look at what the scores tell us.

Gee, I am a really good teacher....and even though I despise the test and everything it stands for, right now I could use a little validation on my teaching skills. So....the seventh grade math and reading scores at my middle school, and the eighth grade math scores were the ONLY ONES to see an increase. Let's focus in on math - 51.9 (let's call it 52) percent of our seventh graders met or exceeded the standards for math - a considerably large change overall, keeping in mind that this has been an underperforming school.

Now, about my two classes - my one math class (fondly referred to as my "class from hell") had 59.6 percent (rounded to 60) meet or exceed. Yea me!!!! This class was a challenge all year! I had two students fall far below - one is a language barrier, coupled with the fact she changed schools and was absent a lot. The other was a student who again was absent a lot and did nothing in class - literally nothing. Four of my students who were listing as Approaching the standard were only about 4 points from Meets the standard. One of my special ed students made another HUGE jump to Meets - I'm really proud of her! Two students who are pretty bright blew off math in favor of fooling around this year, and so were listed as Approaching the standard. My ELL students did pretty well all across the board - none in the failing area.

My second class (gee, imagine what I could have done if I had two more math classes and no art to take away my planning...) did even better - a 68.4 percent (68) who met or exceeded that standards, with four of the kids exceeding. Again only two who fell far below, and both of those were only a few points away from Approaching. One student did very well in math class all year, because so much of it was oral, so I think it was a reading issue, since he is a second-language learner. The other person was absent with ditching most of first marking period, and then used every excuse she could think of to be out of class.
Two of my students who failed all year, were absent a lot, and did little if any work made it on the Approaches level - so something stuck with them. My English language learners were all at Approaches or higher.

So I am thrilled. Now the next thing to do is compare my scores to the seventh grade average. 60 and 68 Percent, compared to a 52 percent for the whole grade. Hmmm - guess I really did my job this year. Good thing I was there....

More on how I think I did it later.

Let's Talk....

When you analyze the talk about education in this country, it seems to fall into two categories: teachers whining about what is wrong (witness this blog) and state and federal "leaders" who have never set foot in a classroom to actually teach. We need to change that. If the very fabric of our society is to survive and develop an educational system that will create thinkers and creatives to work on the world's problems, then we need to change the rhetoric.

NO MORE WHINING!! This blog will remain a place to vent our frustrations at what is wrong with the day-to-day job of teaching, BUT...

Welcome to The Education Dreamers - a place to start a national dialogue about REDESIGNING education. Not fixing it. Not throwing more money at it. Not reforming it.

REDESIGNING IT!!

What is it the American people want and believe their education should be?

We need a national dialogue - we need to move our leaders into action on education. It can't be a "throw-away" election issue. It needs to be from the ground up. We need the swell of support and new ideas. Bobby Kennedy said in 1968:

People look at things as they are and say "why?" I look at things as they could be and say "why not?"

Interviews

I got calls today for two interviews. I am continuing to apply for history positions, as I think it is time to get out of math. I need to prepare a couple of lessons to teach, and it so happens when I was cleaning out my classroom files, I found my journal from China, so I am going to do a lesson on primary and secondary sources in world history.

I am kicking around a new idea for a book on education with Michelle. No one listens to the ideas of teachers- we are always considered the whiners. This could be extremely interesting, especially coupled with Eckard Tolle's ideas in The New Earth. We shall see.....