This week, I had the good fortune to meet with a small group of teachers, administrators, curriculum directors, and professional learning facilitators at Erie 2 BOCES. We spent the day discussing grounded theory, how to make learning visible, and how to use the evidence captured from documentation to formulate hunches and theories that serve learners well. This is exciting work that enriches my own practice substantially, and I appreciated meeting others who were interested in…
Over the last few years, some of the teachers that I support have begun assessing learning without interrupting it in order to test kids. Their commitment to documentation is leading to the development of far better interventions. That’s not why I’m blogging about it, though. It seems that steeping ourselves in this kind of learning isn’t merely increasing our expertise, it’s igniting our curiosities and re-energizing us. As we make our own learning transparent to students, our relationships…
I founded the WNY Young Writer’s Studio with two great intentions: First, I longed to create a lasting community where children could choose to write about the things that mattered to them in ways that were deeply rewarding. I envisioned a place where young writers would continue to learn from one another month after month and year after year, far beyond the confines of a workshop or institute. I wanted to created a place where…
I’m not sure if this is possible, but I’m starting to think it could be. I’ve been incredibly inspired by quite a few teachers who have been playing around with some very uncommon assessment approaches based upon the professional learning we’re doing together. Take Michele, for example. She’s a teacher in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda school district, and she provides reading support to special education students. I’ve written about her before, and I remain compelled…
I’ve been facilitating inquiry team meetings and helping teachers make meaning from standardized assessment data in New York State schools for well over a decade now. Experience has uncovered the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to understanding and responding to the information we’re provided. I know that certain protocols inspire the development of far better hunches than others, and establishing clarity about the purpose of the assessments and the limitations of…
Michele Cammarata is a teacher fellow in the WNY Young Writer’s Studio. In an effort to learn more about the writers she serves, Michelle has turned her attention to the greatest experts at her disposal: her students. She’s watching them carefully, snapping photos of their work on her cell phone and tucking these photos into the pages of a sketchbook above, where she weaves her reflections around the margins of their drafts. This sketchbook is…
I’ve been working with the English Department at Starpoint Middle School for ten years, and those who know me well appreciate the high regard that I maintain for this particular group of teachers (and their colleagues at the K-5 level). Very few educators have the opportunity, talent, or tenacity to accomplish what this department has over the last decade, slowly and with very careful intention. I’ve watched them design (and redesign and map) their own curricula, sharpen their…
Standards based grading entered my little corner of the world on the winds of a perfect storm: teachers were acquainting themselves with a new set of challenging standards, they were eager to create a culture of learning after witnessing how our historic fixation on performance was influencing their kids, they recognized inconsistencies in their assessment and grading practices, and their report cards did not align well with their curricula. In short, their grades were meaningless at best and…
When I think back on initial conversations that took place surrounding standards based grading in the schools that I serve, I remember that the same questions kept rising to the surface. Establishing clarity and resolving dilemmas on the spot was critical, but often, issues were raised by representatives of grade levels or buildings, and I knew that the potential for the responses to reach everyone quickly and consistently wasn’t as high as we needed it…
I’ve spent part of this week with a group of elementary teachers who are neck-deep in curriculum design. Prior to our first session, I asked them to talk with their students about the types of learning experiences they value most. These data were captured via survey, which enabled us to organize and share the findings, so that they could influence our next steps. As it turned out, they were very important data to consider. Learners…