The First Ten

What happens in the first ten minutes of your class? Grant Wiggins, the speaker I heard today in a workshop on the concept of "essential questions," posed this question as a side-bar to our main topic of conversation.

This may be where we win students or lose them. How many of us begin the class with mundane business, such as checking or going over homework? We all know that the first line of a novel or poem, the first scene of a movie, the lead in a newspaper article -- these can determine whether or not we will continue or check out. My husband and I have a fifteen-minute rule for rented movies. I have a 50- and then a 100-page rule for novels. How many times do we actually judge a book by its cover -- or title? How often to we teach the importance of an opening line in an essay? I even have a 10-minute rule for workshops at conferences -- if it doesn't engage me in that amount of time, I bail.

So why wouldn't we expect our students to react in the same way? What are we doing to engage them (or not) in those first ten?

When You're Weary...

We've had some good discussions lately about the how the students sink into a mire of slacking in the late winter and early spring. I am frustrated with some, who seem to be so wrapped up in themselves that anything that takes them outside themselves is a bother. Other teachers are frustrated with classes or parts of classes who are conducting the equavalent of sit-down strikes. It's hard to face the day-to-day frustrations and also step back and reflect on how we got here, but that's what we need to do.

Today I plan to talk to my students about loving your work, and as students that means loving learning. If you don't find a way to love it, or if you lose your love for it, then it becomes the grind that either drains you of all energy or that you must ultimately rebel against. But it comes down to being a choice -- are you going to love your work? Are you going to keep loving your work when it's hard.

That's where I am anyway. How about everyone else?

Authentic Assessment (Real Tests)

Chris gave an informative and thought-provoking introduction to "Authentic Assessment" at the New Teachers Meeting last night. He made the case for having students do rather than regurgitate. This is sometimes hard to think about because we have traditional ways of testing in-grained in us. Plus, that's the way we learned, so it must be good. Not necessarily. What about all those successful,creative people out there who weren't good in school and who never considered being involved in education because it was so uninspiring? (I think of the obvious ones: Bill Gates, August Wilson.) My impression is that students feel they are being beaten down with the grind, partly because they aren't doing enough. And I don't mean just "studying" (ie., staring at the textbook) or "taking good notes" (ie., copying down whatever the teacher says). Of course, those are both skills that are useful to have, just like it's useful to know about the five-paragraph theme. But they're not our end goals, I think, and they're just plain boring when it comes down to the grind of every-day schooling. Doing is much more exciting, and much more meaningful, and much more lasting as a way of learning and knowing. I think we know this from our own experience, but it is hard to break out of the habits that we -- and the students -- have adopted so completely for school.

I believe the students don't really want to learn only in this old way -- even if they kick and scream when we change things. (They don't love field trips just because they get to leave school, but because they do something.) Change is scary, but it's also exhilerating, challenging, invigorating. It makes us appreciate what matters. It gives us choice about what works.

I would be interested in hearing about anyone's forays into the world of "authentic assessment." What have you tried? When has it worked...or not? What has been the result? I'll admit that I'm already one of the converted. But I respect the healthy skepticism of teachers with other views.

If you want to try out some authentic assessments, you could start with the main web site Chris mentioned:
Authentic Assessment Toolbox (Commended by Merlot)http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edy/toolbox/

Here is some additional food for thought: Much of the recent "brain research" supports the idea of authentic assessment (doing in order to learn). The following web site tracks the brain research in relation to education and learning. It might be a good thing to take a look at:
The Brain Connection
www.brainconnection.com

I'm eager to hear what you think.

The Morning After

The buzz after yesterday's workshops was good. People are thinking about their classes in new ways. I'm very excited. This morning Pat was talking about creating PowerPoints for his poetry recitals and scanning pictures from Texas Highways. Bill and others are interested in Moodle. Let's follow through with the energy we created and see what happens!

I am interested in where the students would like to see us go with technology. Any feedback?

Welcome, Burrs!

If you've found this blog, you have been invited by someone from the Chinquapin community. We hope you will enjoy this resource for celebrating all things Chinquapinian. Today members of Chinquapin's faculty are boldly going where they have not gone before...into the world of technology. What do you think so far?