It isn't either/or
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Monday, February 1, 2010
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What resonates with me is that grades alone do not guarantee success in future learning opportunties that require focus and hard work to succeed. (page 13&14) As a parent that is what we look at "grades" my son got good grades without even trying in high school - Level 1 but once he entered college and he is focusing on his major he is working harder and enjoying working to make the grades - Level 3.
ReplyDeleteA young person must have exposure to a topic or subject before developing a passion to learn about it. (page 15) I do believe that students learn more if they are excited about a subject and it is our job to make that subject exciting.
On page 15, "The third rung on the ladder of academic success describes the lifelong learner: the child who enjoys reading when a book has not been assigned..." I really liked this part for a few reasons. First, it is not easy to achieve this level. Learners need to be challenged, be successful, be challenged some more, then decide to challenge themselves. It is so easy to take the lower level classes as opposed to the Honors or AP classes, or to take short cuts in your work/projects in Elementary, but to truly challenge oneself, that is the ultimate goal. This is the goal I strive for in myself and my students.
ReplyDeletepg 15 No one reaches excellence without hard work and persistence. That is true for advocates as well as learners.
ReplyDeleteI must be a good role model, as an advocate. I need to share my learning and understanding with my team. If someone is offering important training, I need to take advantage of that offering, and try to apply it. By being a life long learner, I am role modeling to children. A teacher who is constantly updating material is much fresher than one using tired worksheets. Personally, I have to throw out some tired material--I don't have to keep file cabinets just in case all the books and computers dry up tomorrow.
Brollins wrote: What resonates with me is that grades alone do not guarantee success in future learning opportunties that require focus and hard work to succeed.
ReplyDeleteShe talked about her son in college. My son is in college as well, and I think back on a specific organizational class he took all through high school, called Executive Functioning. They hated it! However, when I see him organize his materials, I realize how helpful it truly was. I hope I can help my 2nd graders develop organizational skills at the early years of their educational career.
The part of chapter 2 that resonate is on page 15. “Help others realize that academic success must be defined as more than just good grades.” Some GT students are perfectionists that strive for the perfect 100 grade. Others couldn’t care less about grades; they only care about what they can learn. Teachers need flexibility in the curriculum structure and the grading criteria. Structured testing is a very poor method fro evaluating GT students, they just know too much to be measured on this limited scale.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is important to always ask your child "What did you learn in school today?" (pg 15)or some variation of that question. But the most important part of that is to actually LISTEN to what they have to say. It is amazing what you will learn about your child.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe that having good grades alone doesn't equal academic success. I would rather my child make B's while being challenged. I hope that when my kids leave school that they have developed into life long learners. I think that kids learn this at school but also at home.
As a learner myself I have always concentrated on making good grades. I was a perfectionist and wanted high grades but did not mind if they were received through minimal effort (p13). Now that I am a teacher, I realize that kids receive much more satisfaction from hard work. The good grade is a mere added bonus.
ReplyDeleteThe idea/portion that resonates the most for me as a teacher is on page 15 - 'help a child find interests in and outside of school, and encourage those interests.' So many times I think we get bogged down on all the testing requirements and deadlines for grades that we miss many learning enrichment opportunities that could go from the classroom and then into the home just because they were too time consuming. This 'exposure' to learning outside of school can also encourage reluctant learners to look elsewhere for interesting topics thus enhancing their education far better than a preplanned lesson could.
ReplyDeleteIn response to brollins' comment about grades not ensuring future success, I agree 100%. I tell my kids all the time that they not only need to be good students, but also need the skills of organization, cooperation, and team work. We often talk about what employers will look for in an employee and discuss traits that do not always include academics. My dad always told me that we go to school to "Learn how to learn." I believe this to be true and often tell my students the same thing.
ReplyDeleteOn p. 15, the book asks what we can do to facilitate children moving up the ladder of success, and then mentions helping the child find interests in and outside for school and then to encourage those interests. Sometimes with students that are LEP we forget to look at the whole picture rather that just the language barriers One student in particular that I can think of, is the stereotypical goofball. His grades were average, his attitude nonchalant, but his writing is incredible. As we began to do more projects, etc, we found that he had an interest in marketing and art. He was able to come up with the most creative ideas and felt like he was accomplishing something. We were able to give him ideas for future careers
ReplyDeleteI like svankampens comment about listening to the kids. Ask them what they really learned and retained from their day at school. Sometimes the really important material wasn't taught in the classroom or maybe it was a totally off topic conversation that happened in school.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I have been living this chapter. In my efforts to differentiate, I created a menu of choices from which students pick a project to complete following research they had done. I had to meet one-on-one with some of my gifted students who chose simpler tasks and finished them quickly. I realized I needed to be more explicit with them on making good choices that will challenge them to work hard and learn more. One student chose to research an individual that he had already researched earlier in the year, "because I already know so much about him." I nudged him to choose a new person to research, so that he would learn something new and struggle a bit with answering the questions. Luckilly, he was open to this idea.
ReplyDeleteAfter scoring the project, a parent was questioning a score that was in the low A range saying, "our family doesn't accept low A's, only high ones. What can he do to raise this grade?" I had to defend my idea that his son needed to have more vigorous expectations so that he would feel challenge. I assured the dad that his son was learning more than he would if his report card was filled with 100's.
What resonates with me is the graphic of the ladder. Since I am a visual learner I like the author's use of graphics to help get points across. The fact that I can look at the ladder and know that students move up the rungs of the ladder and pinpointing where specific students are on this ladder. I know that the challenge is to move all of your students to being lifelong learners. So many of our students and parents focus on grades and cannot look past that point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie in that, as mentioned on p. 15 true academic success is the child that becomes the life long learner. It defnitely is easier to stay status quo, to complete the bare minimum but then we will never fufill our greatest potential, see our greatest success.
ReplyDeleteThe road to success is lined with many tempting parking spaces.
Source Unknown
It is our challenge to encourage kids to pass by those parking spaces and continue seeking out knowledge. Our classrooms must not only be models of enthusiasm for learning and the process by which we attain knowledge, but be differentiated to address the interests and abilities of all our learners.
On page 16 the authors present a diagram for moving students up levels of academic success. Children shouldn't be rescued, but given support when lessons are challenging. I appreciate reading the statement that easy work will contribute to self-doubt when the work requires more effort. Scaffold the challenge with appropriate teacher-student conversations sounds like it could have a little preassessment in it and some monitoring and adjusting, as well.
ReplyDeletesanchezh wrote to encourage children to pass up parking spaces to seek out knowledge. I completely agree to model the love for learning, the process to accomplish it and differentiation for students. I would like to mention it would be worthwhile for kids to also see trying different approaches to reach understanding - the struggle. The appreciation for diversity in the classroom is great also, since kids sometimes resent their peers rather than appreciate them, for their differences.
ReplyDeleteSeveral people have mentioned students becoming life-long learners. Isn't it SO rewarding to see students who seem to have a real love for it? Yet, other children hold my attention because they seem to have so many problems to work through before they are willing or able to build synaptic paths that lead to academic and positive social interests. We have to keep walking them along those paths, planting seeds along the way.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the chart on p. 16 which gives three steps to facilitate children moving to the next level of acadmic success. I am very guilty of "rescuing" my students and own children from a challenge. I think that after a certain time passes, you want to move on to the next topic so you help them out. I can see how this is greatly hindering them from their academic growth. I also like how the word challenge was used constantly in this chapter. I need to make more of an effort to ALWAYS challenge my students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with BRollins said...
ReplyDeleteWhat resonates with me is that grades alone do not guarantee success in future learning. This really hit home with me when thinking about TAKS. I despise teaching to the test which is similar to thinking that grades make the student. The learner needs to be ready for the world. Yes the TAKS is a basic assessment of skills but we need to be able to teach in a way that allows for discovery and mastery of skills that will transfer to answering the test. NOT, teaching/reviewing test packets to prepare them for the test.
The top of the ladder really impressed me the most since I teach 5th grade because this type of kid is few and far between nowadays. I have been blessed with about 6 in my class this year who totally love to read and like to share their reading/genres with others which has been very catchy this year. They have been helping me with the reluctant readers by asking them what they like and having some book choices ready to offer when we go to the library. I really feel that being a lifelong learner is critical in this society of constant change. I hope to have a larger majority of readers by the end of the year- S. Gabriel
ReplyDeleteOn page 15 the author states the "top level of the academic success ladder is reached when the focus is no learning and not solely on grades." There was a chapter in the last book study book, "A Love for Learning", that made an argument for flexible grading. This past week I encountered a situation in which a student (underachieving, habitually absent, disinterested in school, always getting called to the office) did not complete both of his menu choices. However, when I graded the part he did complete (8 point choice) it was obvious that he was genuinely engaged and put a lot of thought into his blog responses. So, I called him over and asked him why he did not complete 2 point choice. His response was "Ms. I did have time. I was so into the book." My mental response was " 2 point choice...schmooo point choice. This kid just said he was into a book and his work reflected it. This is a time for flexible grading if ever there was one." I graded his work from a completed point of view and gave him positive feedback about his work, effort, and interest. It seemed that he appreciated the flexibility and the recognition that he really was using his time in class to learn and the quality of the product he turned in reflected such. It seems that sometimes....or most times..... learning is not best measured by completing a predetermined number of tasks in a set amount of time.
ReplyDeleteRE: Sara Russo I agree with you regarding unintentional habits when teaching LEP students. It is so easy to get wrapped in trying to give them all they need to acquire English that we neglect teaching the "whole child".
ReplyDeleteI think academic success is accomplished from the teacher's perspective when we encourage and insist that our students stretch beyond their intellectual comfort zones and expand their learning experiences. (p. 15). Academic success is accomplished from the student’s perspective when they become boldly confident in their own ability to think independently and be an effective problem solver in the school setting and in real life (p. 13).
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, students feel more rewarded and motivated by getting to do interesting and engaging learning activities than by grades.
I really like s. gabriel’s plan of having avid readers share their enthusiasm for books with others who are not as excited about reading. It’s great for the book lovers because they get to talk about their favorites and spread their excitement to others. It’s also great for the reluctant readers to be included in conversations about literature with their peers.
ReplyDeleteWanda said...
ReplyDeletepg.15 I agree with S. Hardie that too much emphasis is put on the high stakes TAKS testing and the discovery of learning and mastery of skills is limited. Teachers feel the pressure to focus and concentrate on interventions and strategies that target high risk students. As a resource educator I would like all students to engage in educational activities that are interesting and revelant to impact their everyday lives and follow their own individual path to success and grades are a part of that process.
What resonates most with me from Chapter 2 is the statement that academic proficiency is the lowest stage of academic success, and it "may please the parent who doesn't see past the good grade to think about what the student doesn't learn when he isn't challenged" (page 13). I can't help but correlate this to high-stakes standardized testing that tests to the norm. As a teacher, I often wonder why so much emphasis is placed on this make-or-break assessment, when there are many other indicators of academic achievement (responsibility, perseverance, and a social ethic). If we are to create life-long learners, we need to look beyond a "Pass/Fail" label, and determine ways to tap into other facets of learning.
ReplyDeleteI like the graphic of a ladder on page fourteen. Many of our students can achieve the first level, good grades, with relatively little effort. Unfortunately, this can lead to the misconception that a person has ‘arrived,’ and nothing else needs to be done. You can get into the college of your choice, and basically, your life will be smooth sailing from here on. This isn’t true for very many people. I think academic success comes from learning to be a lifelong learner, a person who is interested in the world around them and is always on the lookout for some new challenge, whether it be in the personal or professional realm. I think, too, that people must learn to balance academic giftedness with the social skills to make it in the world. There is not much that is sadder in the world than someone who is brilliant but has no common sense.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm dealing with my own underachieving gifted learner (my son). So the part that hit home for me is the quote on page 16 about reversing or not reversing underachievement. It's a little scary that the patterns that my son is setting in 7th grade may be with him for the rest of his life. I have stressed to him, his teachers and my husband that his grades are not the most important thing to me. How he gets the grades and what he gets out of them is more critical to his education. That goes back to the quote on pp. 13-14 "Grades alone do not guarantee success in future learning opportunities..." I want to make sure that my students are pushed to learn what they need to, whether it is the same thing as their classmates or not. Differentiation is the key to making them all successful. And teachers can make it happen.
ReplyDeletein response to Rebecca J, I agree that the grades need to be de-emphasized and other critical attributes to a person should be emphasized. Good point! And something else for us to think about!
ReplyDeleteIn response to s. acevedo - Good for you for looking past the part that was missing! Someone is doing something right with this kid that he got "lost" in a book. Not many teachers would take the time to figure out what was going on with this student and you will both reap the benefits of your extra effort. Kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wanda L.'s statement that teachers of high-stakes tests spend large amounts of time applying intervention strategies that target at-risk students. This is the case in my classroom, but I refuse to relegate my entire curriculum to teachinng to "The Test." I simply cannot do that to my students, or to myself. My love of teaching is based on that "discovery of learning" that Wanda mentions. All my students deserve engaging, real-world, inquiry-based lessons that challenge their thinking beyond a basic skills level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with s.hardie that we can get so bogged down in testing and deadlines and administrivia that we forget to look at the whole child and develop their interests out of school. So much of life happens outside of school, but I think sometimes that we all get tunnel vision and forget the enriching activities that happen elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThe idea..."Deep interests and passions motivate young learners and promote lifelong learning," on page 15 resonates with me. I have a current student who struggles with behavior, but is so bright. Her interest in the performing arts seems to be the one thing that I can remind her of when she starts to struggle with her behavior. I try to refocus her by reminding her of how she feels when she performs. It isn't always successful, but it is a positive outlet for her and one I try to encourage.
ReplyDeleteIn repsonse to MCushing, I am also a visual learner and loved the ladder graghic on page 14. I think it will help motivate me to get kids to move up the rungs of that ladder. So often the grade is of such importance to the students and their parents, that they miss the point of working hard and earning a quality grade based on challenging work. They just want the "A"!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading ch.2, what resonates with me the most is just because a student is making good grades doesn’t mean they are achieving academic success. It reminds me that as teacher, it is important to think about the different rungs on the ladder in figure 2.1 when I am assessing my students. I think it is important to work with parents to help create lifelong learners. The bulleted points on p. 15 are great ideas that will help facilitate the idea that success must be defined as more than academic success. As an adult you realize that you have to have an interest and passion in something, as well as perseverance & responsibility in order to succeed. These are great skills that we need to be teaching our children at a young age.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Susana:
ReplyDeleteIn working with many parents with the similar high A expectations, I agree that it is important to teach the parents to look at what their child is learning instead of just the grade on the paper. Parents need to remember to ask their children what they learned at school instead of just what they made on a test. As teachers, we need to help facilate these ideas to the parents. Great work Susana!
You can not tell how successful a teacher is by merely looking at class grades. Every teacher has different academic expectations and rigor in his or her classroom. I like the ladder on page 14 that shows levels of academic success because it places the least amount of importance on getting good grades. The ladder reminds me of Bloom’s Taxonomy that has knowledge at the very bottom of the ladder. As a teacher, I have had brilliant students who failed the class and others who have passed, but did not work as hard as they should have. I teach AP Macroeconomics and have had many students tell me that they thought they were going to hate the class, but are very surprised how interesting the subject is and how it can pertain to their life. I find many of these students take the time to keep up with the news so that they can add to the class discussion.
ReplyDeleteSara Russo- I really appreciate your example. I think it is wonderful that you were able to reach a LEP student like that. I feel that the LEP population is one that often goes between the cracks because many teachers do not feel well equipped to teach this population. I feel these students sometime have lower grades and not allowed to show their true talent in the educational setting. Finding projects and topics that interest learners is key!
ReplyDeleteLike Corrin, I also appreciate what Sara Russo said about getting to know a student's interests in order to reach out to them. A few years back I had a math-phobic student in my class that was fanatical about horses. I started turning everything I worked on with her, especially in problem solving, into something that related to horses (as much as I could, anyway). In doing so I was able to break the barriers of her phobia and help her gain confidence in math like never before. She went on to take Pre-AP math in middle school and did quite well for someone that once held the belief that she "couldn't do math" - a quote from her PARENTS!
ReplyDeleteWhat resonates most with me from Chapter 2 can be found on page 16. Figure 2.2 really speaks to me…I appreciate how it includes the social-emotional aspect—encouraging the young person to find interests both in and out of school. What’s great is that young people can find a group of others who share their same interest (example: band or orchestra), and genuine friendships form. Belonging to a group (drama, band, orchestra, choir, athletics teams, etc.) in which others share your same passion and interests can truly promote lifelong learning.
ReplyDeleteFor a short chapter, Chapter 2 is nonetheless very powerful. What resonates the most to me is the ladder graphic on page 14, as well as the graphic on page 16. I know I have taught students on all 3 levels, but my ultimate goal is to find something to finally hook those on Level 1 and 2 to help them progress towards the ultimate goal of Level 3. I, too, apprecaite the fact that the graphic on page 16 is not simply focused on grades and academic achievement.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by the graphic on page 16--How Do You Facilitate Children Moving to the Next Level of Academic Success. I have only taught low socio-eco children in Title I schools. Learned helplessness is often apparent. The student thinks if they wait me out I'll do the work for her/him. The second idea, help the child find interests outside of school is also difficult when working with children in poverty. I am really glad that we have had grants in recent years to provide fun after school programs. Finally, it is unusual for me to have parents express concern about the differentiation between a high and low A. Many of my parents think anything above a 70 is fine. I want my students to be lifelong learners and I encourage this with the variety of activities I provide in my classroom, I know that the school is the main source of stimulation for these children including many of my GT kids.
ReplyDeleteI too really enjoyed S Gabriel's use of her engaged students as a resource to stimulate the others. It reminded me that the community of learners we create is a fundamental part of our instruction.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I agree with Katie C about the third rung of the ladder on p. 14. I have mostly taught younger children who are still very active and curious. My goal is to find things that interest them The first year I taught kindergarten I had one boy who was not interested in school. He did tell me he wanted to learn to drive-his kinder learning goal. So I bought vehicle counters and books on cars. He started learning to count and learned the color words from the books. It sounds simple but it took finding something he liked to get him started.
ReplyDeleteI agree with PatriceT about getting tunnel vision due to the high stakes testing, as we are entering the testing season I am having to stop myself from sliding into the same ruts of doing the same thing every year. While the tests are important, I think more importantly, our job is, as so many have said, to create a life long learner. We are naturally curious beings, so how do we find what each student is curious about.
ReplyDeleteThe sentence that jumped out at me right away in this chapter was on p. 13 where it says, "When proficiency is the goal in a classroomo or school, it is actually no goal at all for children who are already at the proficient level or even beyond it." Unfortunately, I think criterion reference testing has sometimes created a situation where it is easy for us to let the top students 'coast' without challenging them to meet their best potential. This can result in some of them developing the idea that school really doesn't have much to offer them.
ReplyDeleteI like Michelle's comment on including the social-emotional aspects of learning by developing the child's interests in outside of school activities. I wish that it was possible to include more of those opportunities for kids as part of their school program at the elementary level, rather than having to wait until they get to middle school. For many kids, developing these talents creates the "hook" that binds them to the more academic areas of their school day.
ReplyDeleteThe three bullets on page 15 are fantastic information, but the concept regarding underachievement becoming a part of a child’s academic world and how difficult it is to reverse sent a cold chill up my spine. (page 15 & 16)
ReplyDeleteThere is agreement from me with Michelle’s and Patty’s statements in regards to gifted students connecting with others who share common interests and passions will strengthen their social-emotional learning that assists in creating the pathway for life-long learners.
ReplyDeleteWhat resonated with me was p.14-15 the Levels of Academic Success particularly with the first level completing assignments with little effort. They do just enough to get good grades but are not motivated to go beyond and reach the more challenging aspects of rigorous learning.I concur with jmelancon when she expressed that great ideas must be explored to create a passion for learning to create lifelong learners. It's my role as a teacher to facilitate the student to use and apply the study skills and work ethics to stretch intellect and expand challenging learning lifelong experiences.
ReplyDeleteOur goal as instructors should be to "help others realize academic success must be defined by more than just good grades. Talk to children, parents, colleagues, and decision-makers. Advocate for CONTINUOUS PROGRESS AND EXCELLENCE at various levels." Continuous progress and excellence is so rarely pushed because either teachers are too lazy or do not know how to do this. I have learned so much already from this bookstudy and from other teachers' blogs, which is motivating to step out on a limb and try this whole differentiating business. In the past, I have given different assignments without intention or concrete evidence that a student truly needs this type of alternate assignment. I was ignorant but doing my best to differentiate. I love how this book encourages to challenge each student at their own level, so that each students sees success and excellence at their level.
ReplyDeleteDebrah P.'s response talks about students who have grown up in a low socioeconomic environment and experience "learned helplessness." The diagram on page 16 really gives some great practical advice about how to pull a student out of this mindset: supporting instead of rescuing, helping students to find interests outside the school, and advocating continuous progess and excellence at various levels. I also teach many students with "learned helplessness", and it is quite the challenge to help them out of that.
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to what Debra P. deals with in teaching students with a "learned helplessness". This is a very frustrating mindset the teacher to help a student out of. However, the model on page 16 of ways to help a student dig themselves out of this self-fulfilling prophecy is extremely helpful. Each student has different needs, true, but remembering those three points (1.Don't rescue the child from a challenge. Instead support him/her. 2.Help the child find interests outside of the school as well as in school, interest that motivate and devlop a work ethic 3.Advocate for continuous progress and excellence at various levels of decision-making at your school and in your district page16) is a practical way to help a student. Thanks Debra!
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