First the turkey was stuffed, and
then we were. Black Friday has come and gone. The Christmas
decorations are in the stores and starting to pop up in the neighborhood.
We find ourselves on the far side of Thanksgiving with exactly four weeks left
in this semester. We must be having fun because time certainly seems to
be flying by.
I want to take a few minutes to
have you think ahead about the next 20 school days and make sure you keep some
things in mind.
- Extended Observations:
If you are a first or second year teacher in the HSE District, you need to
have your extended observation completed before the end of the
semester. Check with your primary evaluator this week if you fit
into this category. If time permits, others of you may also have the
extended observation take place before the holidays.
- End of Course Assessments:
On December 11-14, we will give the End of Course Assessments for English
10 and Algebra I to students who did not pass in previous attempts,
students who transferred in from out of state and still need to take the
Indiana tests, or any student finishing up the second semester of Algebra
I. You will get the specifics on these tests soon, but keep these
dates in mind. These tests are stressful for the student who struggles
to pass the exams and for teachers who have to assist in giving
them. It will also mean some schedule changes as we make adjustments
necessary for testing.
- Final Exams:
This schedule has already been posted, but as a reminder, final exams will
take place on December 19-21. Periods 1 and 2 test on Wednesday,
periods 3 and 4 on Thursday, and periods 5-7 on Friday.
- Class Student Learning
Objectives: You should complete the
summative assessment for your Class SLO before the end of the
semester. In the next few weeks you should take some time to revisit
key concepts and make connections between present learning and past
learning whenever possible in order to have all students ready for this
summative assessment.
I saved Class SLOs for
last in this list because I wanted to end with a few ideas that may help you
prepare students for the summative assessments:
- Cramming vs Chunking:
Research is clear that “cramming” as a form of review is
ineffective. Rather, review should be “chunked” over time.
Consider using bell work or exit tickets on topics taught in August,
September, and October. These are formative assessments to let you
know which skills and content need more review. Handing students a
review worksheet several days before the exam may help some of your stronger
students, but it is of almost no use to a struggling learner.
- Stand-Alone vs Connected: As
much as you can, connect current content with previous learning.
This is good practice and mentioned in the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric in
several places. Students in the “High” bucket seem to know
intuitively what is most important and how to make connections between old
and new learning. Many students in the “Medium” bucket, and most in
the “Low” bucket will not make these intuitive leaps. As you
prepare your students for the summative assessments, consider ways to
highlight key ideas and concepts and to make clear connections.
Concept maps, illustrations, timelines, and analogies help all students,
but are essential to struggling learners.
- One Time vs Over Time:
When teaching a new skill, think of a bar code label with most of the
lines grouped tightly together at the beginning of the label and then
spread out later. This illustrates the formula for practicing a
skill. Have students do lots of practice early, but over time return
to the skill intermittently to embed and strengthen it. We are now
“later” in the semester, so it is a good time to return to key skills that
will be assessed on your final exam.
Keep having fun,
Southeastern. Twenty days will go by quickly. Use them well.
Have a great week.
Phil
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