People (and Moments) Worth Appreciating

So many times over the course of the year, I have to stop myself and realize that for every time a kid does not meet the behavioral and/or learning expectations that we have established as a class, there are at least five moments where a kid exceeds them. Kids do great, thoughtful, kind things every day, yet somehow it's tough to not get caught up on the one or two exceptions. 

One of the questions from the survey that I wrote about last week focused on a classmate that students appreciate. For each of my four classes I created a handout that took all of the responses and turned them into "they" statements, emphasizing that these are the kind of behaviors that we should all strive towards. I also took standout statements from each group and had my homeroom help me design a bulletin board on the first day back from break. 

The class discussions that stemmed from looking at all of this data were varied and fascinating. After analyzing the trends from this question and two others (What is something your class does well? What is something that your group needs to work on?) we started talking about the kind of environment that we want to create over the last two months of the year.  Again, the honesty rang true and kids stepped up. Some classes had tense moments as kids confronted - head on - some of the frustrations they have with peers compromising their learning environment. But, in each case, the kids (not me) moved the conversation towards a resolution and discussed their expectations of each other. 

By the end of the week, I hope to have posters with the individual group expectations displayed somewhere in the room. I know that this is certainly not a cure-all, but all of these conversations have helped us decide - as a group - how we assess positive contributions. The kids have supplied the language to use when giving them feedback. Most importantly, they reminded me that for every situation that leaves my hair one step closer to gray, there are five that epitomize why I love working with and learning from 7th graders. 

Survey Says: Instant Data from the Most Important Source

Over the last few Junes, I have ended the year with a student survey that gives me some insight into curriculum units, lesson activities, and other experiences throughout seventh grade. These surveys offer me critical information from the student's point of view and help me to transform my teaching...for the next group of kids. Wait, that doesn't make much sense.

This school year I have been trying to integrate more formative assessment into our classroom and it dawned on me that waiting until the end of the year to get valuable feedback from the kids (a) doesn't benefit my current students at all and (b) doesn't give me the kind of on-the-fly data that can immediately influence my practice. It's a lot like assigning a major writing assignment and waiting until the final draft is published to break out the red pen and go to town. How much learning actually goes on for anyone at that point? 

Instead, I decided to use Google forms to create a survey that allowed kids to rate and discuss important elements of my instruction so far this year. There was a separate survey for each of my four English classes, so some questions could focus on individual group dynamics, specifically targeting attributes that students look for in a supportive peer and group behaviors that we can modify to have a great fourth quarter.  I should stop here and acknowledge that I do have a wonderful group of kids that I am very proud of, but they are no where near perfect. Over the past few years, I've come to rely on activities like this survey to help them express their thoughts about the kind of environment they are learning in with the hopes that it can result in meaningful, student-led changes. 

Seventh graders are such an interesting breed. One minute they're picking their noses, stealing each other's pencils, and whining about their fundamental right to more recess, but in the next moment they are so carefully and accurately analyzing their actions that it makes you truly wonder how they could ever possibly regress to the above-mentioned behaviors. I was most impressed by how honest the kids were. They tackled some serious issues, ranging from distracting side conversations to disrespectful looks or smirks when someone is sharing. 

I was encouraged by how honest they were with me, too. One student noted that "I'm not trying to be rude but there's something that you do where you call on someone and they start speaking and you cut them off and move on. I don't know if it's to save time or if you don't realize but I'm just letting you know. Sorry. Don't hate me, it's not criticizing." How could I hate on this kid!? This is vital feedback that I need to hear and it will definitely be in the back of my mind while facilitating discussions in future lessons. Some students gave great tips on how to improve our weekly free reading log while others lobbied for more group projects. I'm eager to share my findings from this part of the survey and talk to the kids about some of the changes I'd like to institute.

When we return from break I plan on sharing this data with the kids in a variety of formats. For example, I used the iPad app Word Collage to create word clouds for each group's responses to the question "what is something that your group does really well to create a positive learning atmosphere?" On Monday we are going to analyze the clouds and discuss what they tell us about their group. I'm also going to share some of their responses to the question about things that we can improve on (all anonymously) so that kids can hear directly from each other and talk about changes that need to happen. 

At some point in the near future (say, Monday for example) these erudite behavioral specialists will remember that they are 12 and 13 years old. And, let's face it, acknowledging one's behavior is a lot different than modifying it. Still, I'm glad that the kids had an opportunity to share their ideas, opinions, and hopes for the final two months of seventh grade. Often times kids are better at policing themselves than we are and I'm hopeful that the student voices will help kids to consider how they can consistently contribute to the positive atmosphere that - deep down - every student really wants.  

Who knows? It might even lead to a few less noses being picked and pencils being broken, which might lead to more of that coveted recess time! 

Blue Ribbon Presentation 2014: The Most Important Part of Assessment

Hi everyone,

Thank you for joining us today. We hope that you find today's presentation engaging, accessible, and - most importantly - encouraging.

Here is a link to a Google Docs version of our presentation if you'd like to follow along on your device.

This link will direct you to a Google Drive Folder with some of the resources that we use when implementing and managing the logistics of Student Led Conferences.




For more information, please feel free to contact us:

• Jane Costa (7th Grade Social Studies): jane.costa@reading.k12.ma.us
• Brian James (8th Grade English): brian.james@reading.k12.ma.us
• Steve Olivo (8th Grade English): steve.olivo@reading.k12.ma.us
• Andrew Spinali (7th Grade English): andrew.spinali@reading.k12.ma.us