The sign read "Not Your Ordinary Garage Sale," and what I witnessed yesterday cannot be measured by a test score. A student who attends Cache High School planned, implemented, and carried out a garage sale to raise money for a charity. This charity helps children in other countries who need life-saving surgeries. She started planning in November, assigned everyone a job, and with the help of volunteers from the church, collected items for the sale. Other students from Cache were in charge of the games children would play while their parents shopped. The items in the sale were not marked; customers donated what they thought the items were worth. In six hours, a student with an idea helped raise $6,400.
We need to take a step back and reflect on what students should know and what they can do with that knowledge. This project is college & career readiness in action, unlike sitting in front a computer screen taking a test. I saw work ethic, determination, and responsibility that cannot be measured by a test score. What I observed justifies the path I want all my students to take next year; get up and do something with what they have learned.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Let's Stop Pretending!
Let's stop pretending!
It's always been done that way!
An excuse used by some everyday
Get up and learn something new
to help students in your classroom.
Curriculum is going in the right direction.
Teaching 1800's style is a predilection.
Focus on the interests of students and don't forget
to connect to real-world concepts.
Tests are the only answers to show
what our students know.
Write, discuss, and read
show more growth than choosing A, B, C, or D.
That every student fits in a perfect box.
They are individuals with different directions to walk.
Show them the paths that they can take
and the decisions they may have to make.
.
"1, 2, 3, 1,2,3, 3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3,3,"
Let's stop pretending!
Sunday, April 5, 2015
"The Haters are Just Going to Hate, Hate, Hate!"
In Taylor Swift's song, "Shake It Off!," She sings, "The Haters are going to hate, hate, hate!" Well, they sure don't let a week go by without hating on teachers or education in Oklahoma so that they can push their agendas. Here's a sampling of comments from this week.
1. Teachers get paid enough money because they only work 9 months. My salary has been stagnate for almost ten years. In those ten years, I received two Master's Degrees; salary basically the same. I want to work on a Doctoral Degree in Curriculum, but I don't want the debt. My son is a senior next year, and his college education comes first. Teaching is a 24/7, 12 month career. I spend my weekends and the summers either working on new ideas for curriculum, collaborating with colleagues, going to conferences, and reading books about new ideas. I even wrote a book called The Pass Survival Guide, and I just finished a book called The Ye Olde Literary Shoppe's Grammar and Writing Guide that I will use in my classes next year. By the way, you can access this book for free on iTunes. Also, teachers in other states have summer breaks and get paid more money, so a comparison to other states does not make sense.
2. Using the ACT for testing would cause curriculum to be less rigorous than the EOI tests. I was appalled at this suggestion that the ACT preparation would cause curriculum to be less rigorous. The ACT score is what colleges look at when evaluating a future student. I have a student who is writing her persuasive essay in favor of replacing the EOI tests with the ACT test. I showed her this article from The Daily Oklahoman that implied that the ACT would not be good enough because other states do not use it. Why do we always play follow the leader? We need to the be the leader in education and teach like there is no box that a student should fit. The ACT means more to students than the EOI; they understand why that test is needed in high school. The reading and English sections are upper level and have more rigor. What's the problem? The EOI tests are not used to show what students know; they are used to punish schools and teachers. There has to be way to keep teachers
in their place. That's the real problem. At the high school level, it's time to start mirroring college courses; start by using the ACT. Instead of looking at what has more rigor, we need to look at what has more value.
"The Haters are just going to hate, hate, hate! But just "Shake It Off!"
1. Teachers get paid enough money because they only work 9 months. My salary has been stagnate for almost ten years. In those ten years, I received two Master's Degrees; salary basically the same. I want to work on a Doctoral Degree in Curriculum, but I don't want the debt. My son is a senior next year, and his college education comes first. Teaching is a 24/7, 12 month career. I spend my weekends and the summers either working on new ideas for curriculum, collaborating with colleagues, going to conferences, and reading books about new ideas. I even wrote a book called The Pass Survival Guide, and I just finished a book called The Ye Olde Literary Shoppe's Grammar and Writing Guide that I will use in my classes next year. By the way, you can access this book for free on iTunes. Also, teachers in other states have summer breaks and get paid more money, so a comparison to other states does not make sense.
2. Using the ACT for testing would cause curriculum to be less rigorous than the EOI tests. I was appalled at this suggestion that the ACT preparation would cause curriculum to be less rigorous. The ACT score is what colleges look at when evaluating a future student. I have a student who is writing her persuasive essay in favor of replacing the EOI tests with the ACT test. I showed her this article from The Daily Oklahoman that implied that the ACT would not be good enough because other states do not use it. Why do we always play follow the leader? We need to the be the leader in education and teach like there is no box that a student should fit. The ACT means more to students than the EOI; they understand why that test is needed in high school. The reading and English sections are upper level and have more rigor. What's the problem? The EOI tests are not used to show what students know; they are used to punish schools and teachers. There has to be way to keep teachers
in their place. That's the real problem. At the high school level, it's time to start mirroring college courses; start by using the ACT. Instead of looking at what has more rigor, we need to look at what has more value.
"The Haters are just going to hate, hate, hate! But just "Shake It Off!"
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