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the zen of teaching with conviction (or the focus on teaching well. simply)

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the zen of teaching with conviction (or the focus on teaching well. simply)

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so many theories of education have us to-ing and fro-ing. the swing of the pendulum is often wide and brisk. i am most impressed by the underlying suggestion that doing less is more. don't spend time forming and reforming groups, teach to student needs. do not over-classify your students, provide all students with quality instruction. fret not over driving test skills into student, rather teach the tools for learning. rather than getting caught up in wasted hours of generating, giving, grappling with,  and grading homework, model for and allow students to live learning.

Note: It is a pleasure to look back over the past decade in OJUSD and see a trend toward greater freedom and awareness along these lines. Generally.

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I like CBAs (curriculum-based assessments), as well as pre-tests and post-tests. I know some schools (mostly high schools) have a period for tutoring, where they require certain kids to come in and get extra help on certain skills. I wish we could do that. (I'm not sure what the kids do if they are not required to come in for tutoring by any of their teachers... Maybe it's a study hall period or (gasp) a free period... So, not very practical for junior high kids, but I do wish we could make more time for one-on-one instruction and targeted instruction.

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I'm most inspired by the concept of "student ownership of the expectations for learning" (146) brought up under Quality Core Instruction. I just feel that especially in the age group of students we teach, it is imperative that students develop that sense of agency in regards to learning, so that they believe and see that they are the most critical actors in their own education. If students have this sense of ownership, then they'll take more authentic pride in their growth and accomplishments. This also means that students have to know that mistakes are okay, and that it's up to them to ask questions and reconcile those misunderstandings in order to learn. This came up again in the Ability Grouping section, when the authors clarified that student-centered, need-based groups are effective. While they made it clear that more pejorative ability grouping can adversely affect students' mindsets, it seems to me that the difference here is that student-centered groups are temporary. That reaffirms the message that mistakes are part of learning instead of something embarrassing to shy away from. I think that connects these groups to the effectiveness of methods that help students feel ownership over their learning.

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The thing that I was left thinking about after reading ch 5 is the issue of homework. I appreciated how the authors used research of the effect size for elementary HW (0.10!) to make the case for rethinking our homework policy. I've been struggling with the idea of homework for the past couple of years; I truly think that if I'm doing my job in the 6 hours I have students in the classroom, they shouldn't need extra homework. I'd rather them just read and/or do unfinished classwork as homework rather than assign formal homework. But then I feel like I might be doing them a disservice by getting them out of the habit of structured homework and they'll feel overwhelmed the next school year. I've felt in my heart, though, that homework isn't working - the kids who struggle in class don't "get it" at home, and those who were successful in class breeze through it. It's not instructional and often just gives students an opportunity to practice doing things the wrong way again because they don't have anyone to help them - the total opposite of the point of homework in the first place.

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I have always been very interested in Response to Intervention and think that it would have great impact on our students. I was surprised to see it brought up in chapter 5, but not at all surprised to see that it indeed does work. While in college I had a great many discussions with one of my professors and did a lot of research on RTI. I believe that it should be implemented district, or at least site wide. The problem is, I feel, that our district often starts initiative mirroring that of another to look original, but fail to grasp the initial concept, thus not baring the same potential results. RTI should be researched, and if chosen, adopted and implemented exactly as it was intended.

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I found myself being motivated by the concept of pre and post assessments, and then using their formula to calculate effect sizes. Throughout the reading, I was quite intrigued by the concept of effect sizes, and I continued asking myself "where are these numbers coming from?" I was excited this knowledge was passed down in chapter 5. I think this overall concept can be a huge part of my teaching when paired with a from of RTI. I initiated small group teaching last year, but there wasn't a concrete way of knowing if what I was doing was working. Pre and post would give me a start, an end, and a jumping point to a new start (depending on effectiveness).

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I was interested to learn about flexible grouping. As a new teacher I've seen many examples of small groups and the most common pattern I've seen has been; high, medium and low. However, I will be grouping my students by their ability needs. This way when I do small groups I am able to help meet the needs of my students. My instruction can be altered in order to provide need based instruction.

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Several great reminders of different ways to track student progress in chapter 5. I'd like to say I was reminded of the importance of using these assessments to guide my teaching, but truthfully I often see evidence that tells me I need to go back over a concept before moving forward. I have a really hard time being able to do that and keep up with the expected rigor.

“Efforts to raise the rigor of schooling by assigning more homework are misguided and potentially harmful.” (Fisher, Frey, Hattie) I have definitely found this to be true. Something I would like to see implemented anywhere possible is to provide a school day for students that is so enriched they can go home and focus on being kids, getting outside, being with their family, and building life skills. Finding a healthy balance for kids when it comes to gaining academic skills and maintaining a healthy emotional well being has become more and more difficult. We are going to have to figure out how to meet academic demands without dooming a kid to so much homework in the afternoons he/she doesn't have time for anything else.

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I agree with what a lot of you are saying, which is that pre/post assessments are important for us to truly understand how far students have progressed, and pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. I also love the idea of grouping students according to their specific needs and not grouping them according to their overall abilities. Giving students a pre-assessment is essential in developing small groups and determining the specifics needs of each student.

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I like pre and post assessments because they make things concrete and clear in my mind. As a person, I like clear learning intentions, clear success criteria, knowing what "quality" looks like, and knowing where I stand; tell me what to do, how to do it, why it's important,  and what my end goal is, and I'm prepared. I think students benefit from this structure as well. I would like to see our department implement pre and post tests either by unit, quarter, or semester.

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One idea from chapter 5 that I would like to better implement this school year would be ability grouping. In years past, whenever I would group my students based on their ability levels for in-class interventions, I would generally form groups of students that are below grade level, at grade level, and above grade level. However, I really liked the suggestion in this chapter to group students according to specific areas of weakness. Then I could meet with each group and assist them in their specific area of difficulty.

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One thing I know that I'd like to try is the idea of pre and post assessments.  Sometimes I feel like I'm teaching a lesson, because i'm suposed to follow a pacing guide, but it isn't really what the students need.  It was helpful to know that the pre assessment doesn't have to be elaborate nor time consuming.
I am looking forward to the school-wide implementation of MTSS and the intervention strategies for struggling students.

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How can you use the ideas/suggestions here to change your teaching practice?
What, if anything, would you like to see implemented site-wide or district-wide?