Dots and Have Nots

Before this learning activity even took place, I made it my goal to try to reach one of my students as best I could from the beginning of the trimester.  For privacy's sake let's call him/her "Voltron". Now, "Voltron" was known for being a tough student to work with and I had never had the opportunity to have "Voltron" in my class, but I was ready for the challenge.  From the get-go I immediately made it a point to say, "Hi", "Hello",  "Hey, howya?" or some sort of greeting (not necessarily one that started with the letter "H" to "Voltron".  I was pleased that with a gesture so small I had already cracked the tough outer shell that "Voltron" had placed around him or herself.  "Voltron" is in a small class, so that provided me with a unique opportunity to get as much one-on-one conversation in as possible.  This also provided positive results.  "Voltron" is not a very strong math student, but I believe that he/she has shown improvement this trimester and I hope that the positive connections we have made has had a contribution to that success.

L.E.A.P.!

Cultivate Love

I believe that I show my students on a daily basis that I do love what I do by imparting as much excitement into my on persona as possible everyday.  Even if we are not doing something that particularly exciting I like to at least do something to get my kids excited for the day.

With that said, I am not perfect at doing this.  There are plenty of days where I am sure that it shows that I am not fully committed to what we are doing that day and that can very easily rub off on to my students and lead to a rough day for everyone.


Generate Energy

With my standards-based grading course it has been very important that I try to generate as much energy as possible.  In that class I am working with students that have struggled with math in the past so their own energy on the topic is pretty low.  I have worked hard this trimester to build up as much good-will with these students as I can by maintaining a positive attitude at all times, even when the going gets tough.

My goal is to keep this up for next trimester with all of my classes, even those that are filled with students that have had a different experience with math.


Inspire Audacity

I hope that I have shown my students in Algebra 2 Concepts that doing things in a different way can be helpful as I ran their course differently than anything else.  The standards-based system was radically different for them than anything else that they've had to work with in their high school career.  I pushed this idea very hard from the beginning that we were doing something different and that it was going to be something that would greatly benefit them in the end.  My hope is that they will take the success that they find in this class and us it as positive motivation for other things they are working on.


Provide Proof

I believe that I prove to my students on a regular basis that I am a fair and capable leader by sharing openly and honestly my experiences.  With my Algebra 2 Concepts students I am very open and honest with them that I am not sure how this standards-based grading program is going to work, but darn it we're going to try and see what happens.  It is a definite OS!M for me not knowing what will happen at the end of the trimester. However, the students have been recording their scores through the trimester and most have seen gains in several learning targets and are seeing the proof that what we are doing is working for them.

Beliefs About Grading: A Reflection

Examine your beliefs about grading.  State your belief, justify why you believe what you believe.  At this point, how well aligned is your grading system with your beliefs, and what are your goals to more closely align them? What specific actions do you need take in order to make this happen?

Well, at this point I don't really know what I believe when it comes to grading.  The reason for that is the ongoing work I am doing with the standards-based grading program that I have implemented in my Algebra 2 Concepts class this fall and the research for the very Masters program for which I am writing this reflection.  Previously, I might have said that grading should provide the students, parents, and anyone else interested with a concise record of a student's level of achievement in a course.  Having an A or B or whatever would be enough to tell everyone that they're a strong, mediocre, or struggling study in a particular field. Now that I have done some research into standards-based grading I like the fact that in that system a student's grade is not a boiled down single letter, but is a record of everything that the student has worked on, had success with, shown improvement on, or still needs to attend to.  I am struggling a bit with how I will turn the results of a standards-based graded class into a final grade (my school is on a traditional A - F grading system, so my standards-based class needs to be "converted" for final grades.)  The sheer amount of work that it took to get this one class into a standards-based grading system has left me with little energy to try this in my other math classes, though that my change if I believe that is is a model that is better for my students.  Any specific actions that I take will have to wait until I have reached a more firm conclusion as to whether I like using a standards-based grading system.  I will have the other half of this two-trimeter Algebra 2 Course in the spring and am planning (for now, at least) to grade that the same way I graded the first half, in a standards-based system.  Once that is done, I'll be able to make some determinations for the future.

Research Journal Entry #1

I have been pretty pleased so far with the results of implementing a standards-based grading system into my Algebra 2 Concepts class.  Here's what I've discovered so far:

Successes:

• The kids seem to have latched onto the idea well in terms of how it works and what it means for them.  They like the idea that they get the opportunity to show proficiency on a task multiple times.
• Making the master list of learning targets at the beginning of the term has given me what I believe to be more focus as I craft my lesson plans.  Ultimately I have a pretty concise list of goals that I want my students to be able to achieve by the end of the term.  Each time I plan a new lesson it is either directly related to that learning target or a task that will (hopefully) lead to success in that learning target.

Struggles:

• As the end of the term approaches (Monday! as of this writing) am an still a bit unsure as to whether the way I have decided to calculate a final grade is right/fair/correct/accurate/etc.  I have combined a few idea from my research to make my final plan, but am still a bit wary as to whether it's the "right" way to go.  Either way, it is the first time that I am teaching this course and any course using this grading system, so I'm not going to be surprised if in the end I look to change my plans.
• Finding a way to let kids know what their current "grade" was at any given time was difficult.  Kids have become accustomed to having their grades posted and available online at any time.  They like being able to look on "the portal" to know their exact grade at that exact moment.  I, on the other hand, have had a hard time finding way to do something that.  Their grade is essentially just a proficiency scale from 0-4 for each learning target.  I have created an Excel spread sheet to record all of their cumulative scores, but have not found a good way to post all of that information.  I got more complaints from kids regarding this that I did parents. Actually, I got no parent complaints throughout the trimester.  

Surprises:

• I had feared that some students would be of the mindset that they wouldn't need to try very hard the first time we quizzed a particular learning target because they would have additional opportunities to try it again.  However, I believe that my students have all put in their best effort on all opportunities to show proficiency on the learning targets.  

Curricular Design Rave!

I really like the Venn diagram that I utilize for the unit that my curricular design revolves around. The students really latch on to it as well as I add a good bit of silliness to the proceedings.  As a portion of the chapter is to determine if a given quadrilateral is a parallelogram (due to the geometric properties it possesses) I talk about the portion of the diagram that includes parallelograms as a special "club" that one allows certain quadrilaterals to enter.  The students really like it, potentially because it reminds them of the cliques that they face day in a day out.

ROL Abstract First Draft

The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of implementing a standards-based grading system into a lower level Algebra 2 course. This research is being conducted because these students have typically struggled being successful in a traditional math class.  The research shows the benefits of allowing students multiple opportunities to display proficiency with a particular task.

Curricular Design Goal for Improvement!

I wrote my curricular design on a unit about polygons and special quadrilaterals such as parallelograms, rectangles, and the like.  Students could write a song to the tune of a nursery rhyme that describes the traits of a special quadrilateral as one of the strategies from Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites was to incorporate music into the learning.

Leadership 9/14

Dusty and I have been Student Council advisors for a number of years now.   We have a great deal of confidence when it comes to what we are doing for activities throughout the year as we have had plenty of experience with it.  Our strength definitely resides in maintaining our sense of purpose as our group knows exactly what it is that we are doing.  Our goal this year is to try to build a more cohesive council by implementing lots of motivational and community building strategies.

Growth Mindset 9/14

Goal:  In what ways will you help your students develop a Growth Mindset?

In one of my classes I am currently having students recorded the daily learning targets each day and rate themselves at the end of the period.  Every Friday we have a quiz on the learning targets from the week and also includes targets from previous weeks.  After the quiz they have to take out the sheet they recorded the targets on and write a reflecting that's at least three sentences and answers the following three questions:

• What did I have success with this week?
• What did I struggle with this week?
• What will I do next week to improve?

I am writing a little comment on each of these reflections and attaching them to their quizzes.  In addition, students are able to retake quizzes for any specific learning target they want to improve their score on.

Relationship Building

As you watch (or listen to) the video, start a BLOG entry.

• What ideas stand out to you?  What Enduring Understanding could you write that incorporates the big ideas of this presentation?
• It is important to recognize that the contributions that others make matter.

• What are you already doing to build relationships with your students?
• I try to make time to have one-on-one meetings with my students after quizzes and tests to go over things that they did well on and things that they need to improve on.  I always try to mention at least one positive comment along with any comments about what they need to improve.
• I like to stand outside of my room before each period to offer my students a "hello" or some sort of greeting/comment before they come in.

• In what ways do you show your students that they matter?
• I like to use students names when I talk to them, especially when recognizing some sort of contribution they made to the classroom learning.  "As Alex mentioned before..." or "Thanks Shawn for helping us out there."

• Thank about some ways that you could go further with relationship-building.  Set a GOAL and blog about the actions you will take to meet your goal.
• I can attend more school functions beyond those that I am involved in (swimming and student council.)  Attending an occasional football game, band or choir concert, or school play can go a long way towards showing students that what they do outside of the classroom matters just as much as what they do inside the classroom.

9/14 ROL Goals

After going through the "Rainbow Review" with Kathy, Kiesha, and Sarah I have established the following goals for my ROL:

• Find ways to inject more opposing views as to the pros and cons of implementing a standards-based grading program.
• I also plan to put in more of what I am actually implementing as at the time that I wrote this current draft I had yet to decide how I was going to use standards-based grading.

Super Summer Stretch featuring John Denver

Time to stretch!  And what better way to stretch than with the late, great John Denver.  Now, I am by no means a devout John Denver fan.  In fact, I know very few John Denver songs.  That's not to say that I don't appreciate the music of Mr. Denver, just to say that I haven't taken the opportunity delve into his extensive catalogue.  In fact, before a few years ago my experience with John Denver only went as far as singing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in elementary school music class.  Seriously.  But a couple of summers ago I heard a cover of the song "Goodbye Again" performed by Youth Lagoon on XM radio.  Youth Lagoon is the moniker of one Trevor Powers from Boise, ID.  If you've never heard of him I strongly recommend you check him out.  So, I decided that I would record my own version of "Goodbye Again" in the comforts of my own kitchen.  It's pretty minimal for a couple of reasons, chiefly among them my lack of time to make the recording (kids!) and the amount of time it's been since I've recorded anything (kids again!)  I've played music for some time and was in a few bands in my high school years.  Below you'll see the inaugural performance of The Forward Approach in Central Park (Ottumwa, Iowa...)  It was a short lived band, but we had a grand time.  Our attire was what we hope would be the new embodiment of "business casual" but, alas, it never caught on.

Below you'll find three items.  First, John Denver's original song, performed live.  Second, the Youth Lagoon Cover I mentioned earlier.  Finally, my version.  It's nothing flashy, but it's something I'm still proud of.

And here is my version of the song.

IDEAL Classroom

Here is a link to my IDEAL classroom plan.

UPDATE!!! 9/14!!!

I have added some rituals to one of my classes.  Each day students do a 5-10 minute warm up on a half sheet of paper.  Students can work together or ask me questions while they are working.  I usually try to speak loud enough when I'm helping students so that anyone nearby can hear me if they have the same question.  At the end of the time (which I count down on a timer on my SmartBoard) one student is randomly selected and has to show his/her warm up sheet to the class (projected on the SmartBoard via iPad) and explain what they did on each problem.  I find that this also helps to build a sense of community as students are working together and celebrating together with the presenter.  I unfortunately didn't have time this year to do any energizers at the beginning of the year.  Maybe sometime soon!!!

Action Research Goals

Goals for Action Research:

1. I need to make a more concrete implementation plan that describes how that data collection fit in with  my research and the timeframe in which my data collection will take place.
2. I need to make another tracking sheet to track student success and progress on life topic skills such as homework completion, attitude/behavior, and working in groups.
3. I need to do some forward thinking to look for any possible issues or potential roadblocks.

I Am Documentary

1.  What are the concepts embedded in the movie I AM?  Document responses on your blog.

• How do human beings impact the world around us.
• Society sends a message of separation.  You should separate yourself from others by showing that you’re better.  
• Stuff doesn’t make you happy
• mo’ money, mo’ problems
• Economy shouldn’t be the most important thing in our lives.  
• Cooperation should be a more important value over competition.
• “Be basis of nature is cooperation and democracy.  It’s in our DNA.”
• Mirrored neuron means that what you see happen your brain actually interprets it as something that you yourself did.
• We have evolved to help one another and be compassionate.

2.  What are the enduring understanding(s) from I AM?

• Humankind is interconnected by more than just a physical presence amongst one another.  We influence each other whether we realize it or not
• Humanity is genetically hardwired to feel compassion for one another.
• You must be willing to find what it is that makes you able to make an impact on the world.

What is YOUR new story?

How will you “wake up” the forces of good within your students and your colleagues?

This year as Student Council advisors Dusty and myself have created the goal of making our council a more unified body.  We have been advisors for the past five years and one of the issues we have faced in the past is a lack of unity within our council.  It is often the case that the seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman have little to no interaction between one another.  Our freshman in particular are often shunted to the side of the work that we do because they do not have experience in the activities we put on.  Our plan is to integrate all grade levels together throughout the year by creating groups that include a few students from each grade.  In doing so we will hopefully create activities that are better planned, more focused, and successful.

ROL Draft Goals

Goals for improving my ROL Rough draft:

1. Continue working on including all sub-topics into my ROL
2. I want to make sure that I focus on how I will be implementing the ideas from my ROL into my own class and not just describing how they work in general.
3. Stay positive!

ROL Goals

Goals for my SBG ROL.

1. Finish!  I have more to write on my subsections, but I believe that I have a solid beginning.
2. Bring in more information on how my research will impact my teaching in the fall.

Shackleton

As you watch the video, make note of the ways you notice Ernest Shackleton demonstrating leadership.  

What concepts (qualities) of leadership do you notice?

• Persistence!
• Had the respect of his crew.
• Didn't show disappointment when they got stuck in the ice, just told his crew that they needed to wait until spring.
• Kept everyone busy and equal to keep up morale.
• Had comfortable living quarters built for the crew.
• "Strength lies in unity."
• Didn't dwell on past failures, but moved on toward the future.
• Optimism.
• Set off on his own with a small group to go for help for the rest of the crew.

What might these concepts (qualities) look like for you in your classroom? With your colleagues?

• Even when times get tough it is important for a leader to stay persistent and continue to push through.
• Keeping everyone in good spirits will help everyone to accomplish their goals.
• Not dwelling on past failures well help to keep everyone in good spirits and keep everyone focusing on the future and what the goal really is.  

Critical Friends

Read the article “Through the Lens of a Critical Friend” by Costa and Kallick.

Find your Critical Friend and discuss the following and document you insights on your personal blog:

What is your understanding of the role of a critical friend?

Someone who is willing to listen to your ideas and and provide you with another perspective in which to view them and give feedback to improve your work.

What value could you gain from a critical friend?

Critical friends can help to you to see any potential pitfalls that may arise as you work through a particular idea.  A different perspective is also allows you to see get some clarity on aspects that you maybe didn't think about.

Share your reaction and questions pertaining to the six-step process for critical friends.

In step three the learner sets the outcomes for the conference and is in control of the feedback, but I think that there should be an opportunity for the Critical Friend to also bring up other ideas that he or she noticed without fear of venturing outside of the bounds of the conversation.

What key character traits would an individual need to possess to be an effective and desirable critical friend?

A critical friend would need to have good listening skills and the ability to be objective.  They would also need to be able to be good an rephrasing and summarizing ideas to make sure that they are properly understanding the learners objective.

Which traits do you feel will be the most challenging for you personally?

The process seems potentially time consuming, even though the author says it can take 20 minutes or less to complete.  I don't know if that time commitment is realistic and it seems so difficult to find time to do much of anything without adding another time commitment into the mix.  

Next,  generate questions based on the scenarios below.  Be sure to record your questions on your personal blog.

Your critical friend has just shared that he/she did not go into the depth you would have expected on a critical reflective practices piece assigned the previous month.  What kind of questions could you pose that would help push him/her to the next level?

I could continue to ask questions about what they think the consequences of certain actions might be.  That might cause the learner to look deeper.  "Is there another way to look at this?"  "Am I missing anything?"  What would be the consequences of this?"

You’ve asked your students to pair up and critique each other’s writing/assignment.  What kind of questions do you hope they would ask each other?

• Why did you decide to answer in this way?
• What influenced you to write this essay?
• What were you thinking about when you wrote this work?

Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites

Where might you add one of the "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites" instructional strategies?

• I can incorporate movement very easily by doing something as simple as breaking a worksheet into parts and posting those parts around the room.  Students would need to move from section to section completing the work/questions from each part.
• Cooperative learning can be accomplished by grouping students together during a review day and assigning each group a portion of the unit to condense and describe to the whole class.
• Humor can be used by making funny insights during a lesson to keeps students' attention and enhance engagement.
• Although we did not have one of the groups in our community share this strategy, graphic organizers works great with a unit involving the properties of different special quadrilaterals.
• Music is used in Algebra 2 to sing the quadratic formula to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel".
• Roleplaying could be implemented where one student plays the "teacher" and grades another students work giving him/her pointers on how to improve and complements on what he/she did correctly.

Standards Based Grading ROL - DRAFT 8-16

Here is a link to a PDF of my standards-based grading draft ROL.

Standards-Based Grading - Data Collection

Here is a link to one of my data collection tools I will be using this fall for my Standards-Based grading implementation in my Algebra 2 Concepts class.  The tracking sheet shows all of the learning targets I laid out for the course and a place to input scores and observations for those targets.

Here is a link to a daily goal setting sheet.

Curricular Design

Here is a link to a PDF of my curricular design.

Implementation Plan - GPDE 5211G

A Balanced Approach to Assessment - Implementation Plan

1. Pre-assessment
2. Six Formative Assessments
3. Performance Based Summative Assessment
4. Plan for Differentiating your unit.

Throughout the unit my plan is to put students in to pairs or small groups so that they can work together and check each others work and provide each other with some peer assessment and peer feedback.  In doing so my hope is that my students' performance summative assessment will be of higher quality.  At this point in the trimester I will have had my students for a number of weeks so I should be at least somewhat familiar with their abilities.  This way when assign students into pairs and groups I can put lower-level students with some higher- to mid-level students.  In addition, if necessary I could decrease the number of required figures that students need to put in their design plan while still requiring them to find the areas of those figures.

3 Things I Learned About Action Research Today

1. Action Research is a fluidic, dynamic and does not provide a "right" answer.
2. Coming up with three data collection tools is harder than one might think.
3. It is really great to be able to collaborate and discuss with others as they can help you refine your ideas

How often should a survey be given and to how many people to be effective and informational?

Action Research Group Discussion 7/13/2013

Criteria:

1.  Describe the rationale that led to your research question.

Quality Indicators:

• A description of context and culture related to learning environment such as school, number of students, population, level, etc.

Before I discuss my action research question, I would like to give you an idea of where I am coming from, both figuratively and literally.  The literal first, I am currently teaching high school math at Waconia High School in Waconia, Minnesota.  Waconia is a small, but growing town of about 11,000 residents.  Our district pulls in students from the neighboring towns of New Germany and St. Bonifacius, but many students open enroll from other nearby communities such as Victoria, Chaska, and Cologne.  The demographic mostly middle to upper-middle class with a very low population of students receiving such services as free or reduced lunch.  I have been teaching in this building and district since 2007 when I started as a part-time teacher.

• A rationale for inquiry that states the strategy, concept, problem, and/or need for improvement.

• Connection is made to teaching practice as influenced by the needs of children, curricula, content knowledge, strategies/techniques, beliefs, identity, social justice, etc.

2.  Communicates a question and goals/outcomes for the inquiry.

• The question is broad enough to allow a range of research perspectives but narrow enough to be manageable.
• The question is contextual, relating to your specific circumstances.
• The question includes how or in what ways, impact, and teaching assignment.
• The question is conceptual and related to theory.
• Out comes of the action research process are connected to improving students learning.
• Outcomes are measurable.

3.  Connects the inquiry to the researcher's beliefs and understanding of IDEAL.

• The inquiry is connected to the learner's beliefs about instruction, discipline, environment, assessment, and leadership.
• The action research process is completed collaboratively.
• The inquiry connects to national, state, and local standards.

4.  Describes and creates three data collection tools.  Uses the data collection tools to assess the impact the implementation plan is having on student learning.  Makes changes in the implementation plan based upon needs of students.

• Explains data collection instruments and reasons for their use in relation to IDEAL.  
• Includes a timeline for data collection.
• Data collections tools fit with the question.

5.  Describes the researcher's sequenced plan to integrate the action research into his/her practice.

• Implementation plan is organized, detailed, and logically sequenced.
• The plan is replicable.
• Reflects an understanding of implementation issues or possible road blocks.

6.  Describes the methods used to analyze data.

• Provides a clear description of techniques for analyzing data.
• Selects appropriate process for analyzing data.

7.  Reports analysis of data for key patterns, conclusions, and implications.

• Possible bias is addressed.
• Summarizes and illustrated key findings, themes, and patterns.
• Charts and visuals help to clarify data.
• Data is clearly connected to the question of the inquiry.
• Reporting of data is clear and balanced.
• Addresses the validity and reliability of the data.
• Draws conclusions based upon patterns, relating them to the question being asked, and outcomes expected.

8.  Explains findings in relation to IDEAL, beliefs, and future inquiry.

• Next steps/action research have been identified.
• States how beliefs have been affirmed and amended as a result of action research.
• States limitations experienced in trying to apply strategies and draw conclusions from data that was collected.
• States goals for future practice across IDEAL.

ROL - Standards-Based Grading - Interesting Article

Where to begin!?  In my research I found multiple articles that provided me with some great insight when it comes to Standards-Based Grading (SBG.) One article that I enjoyed quite a bit was Seven Reasons for Standards Based Grading by Patricia L. Scriffiny.  Ms. Scriffiny is a high school math teacher, so that alone was enough to speak directly to me.  As that title leads you to believe, the article outlines seven things that make SBG a successful tactic when it comes to grading students in any class.  It was a thoughtful, and encouraging article to read.  Hopefully I'll be ready to implement by the fall.  Right? Right!

Assessments

Here are the links to my pre-assessment,  formative and summative assessments.

Action Research Question

Here is the current version of my action research question:

How will a standards based grading program impact the success of students in an Algebra 2 concepts class?

Resources to Share!

The Professional Development group on Schoology is a nice place to get ideas from other educators across disciplines.

Summer SMART Goal

My goal for the summer is to try to make a Standards Based Grading program for the Algebra 2 Concepts class that I will be teaching in the fall.

• SPECIFIC - The program will need to fit the Algebra 2 standards
• MEASURABLE - I can easily see if my program matches the standards
• ATTAINABLE - I (hope) that I can achieve this goal as it will only be for one class
• REALISTIC - I will have time throughout the summer to continue working on this program
• TIMELY - I will be teaching this class in the fall, so I will need this ready by September.

Mini-ROL

Here is a link to my Mini-ROL.

Action Research Analysis Draft

Here is a link to the draft of my action research analysis.

Teacher Top Ten

Here are the top ten things I (probably) learned about myself as a result of the 2012-2013 school year.

1. The stress level in ones life is directly proportional to the number of children that person has.
2. Just because you've taught the same class more than once doesn't mean you have to teach it the same way every time.
3. Sometimes a class with more students in it is easier to teach than a class with fewer students.
4. Sometimes a class with fewer students in it is easier to teach than a class with more students.
5. Personal days are necessary.
6. Sick children are unnecessary.
7. Anyone that purchases a Casio graphing calculator should be required to read, and memorize, the manual before coming to me with questions.
8. The teacher-appreciation breakfast is my favorite Student Council activity of the year, but I already knew that before this year.
9. I'm glad I'm only a one-season coach, as I've seen many of my colleagues try to juggle coaching all three seasons and I just don't think I could do it.
10. Enrolling in a Masters program was an excellent decision.

Growth Mindset

Blog about a time when you adopted a growth mindset (maybe you chose it, or maybe it chose you) in order to turn a failure or difficulty into a learning experience.  In other words – when did you have to meet a challenge head on?

What did you learn from the experience?  If you could change something about the experience, would you?  What would you change or do differently if a similar situation were to arise?

Once instance in which I adopted a growth mindset was when I made the decision to enroll in the St. Mary's University M.Ed program.  I had been teaching since 2006, spending one year in a district, then getting cut, and finding a new position at a different district in 2007, where I still teach.  I didn't have any clue as to how one might find a suitable masters program.  What school should I select?  What program might be best for me, as there seem to be a myriad of choices flooding my email inbox?  I was firmly placed in a fixed mindset state because I felt as if there wasn't a way that I could move on from where I was..  It didn't help when my wife and I had two children within 18 months of each other.  The requirements of parenthood, teaching, and coaching left me in a position when I didn't think I would have the time, energy, or mental fortitude to find, let alone successfully complete, a masters program.

But then, something happened.  A colleague of mine started the program I am currently in at St. Mary's University.  Through his encouragement I came to realize that completing the program with my current life schedule might be difficult at times, but certainly not impossible.  Now that I have been in the program for a few months I am feeling even better about my decision.  I know that this course will have its fair share of requirements for my time and energy, but I have quickly come to realize that this process will be good for me and my career.  One occasion that exemplified this fact was when we as a group attended the spring conference of the students that are a year ahead of us in the program.  It was inspiring to hear from those learners what they gained from the program and it gave me some excitement for what the future holds for me.

Presently, as I am still going through the program, I do not have anything that I would change about the experience.  I have truly enjoyed the conversations and discussions I have had with our groups members and facilitators and I'm looking forward to continue to grow as an educator and an individual.

Growth Mindset

According to Carol Dweck, what is a “growth mindset” and why is it important? Do you agree with what Dweck is saying? To support your opinion you may use examples from your own experiences, your observations of others, and any of your reading.

You cannot believe that you are special, else you set yourself up for failure.  

Some people see intelligence as something fixed.  

Growth mindset is a way of thinking that you can grow and succeed regardless of how you start.  

Those that think they can change their own intelligence increased their success.  

Mindset is critical.

Have to realize that you are not chained to your current capabilities.  Must be willing to change how you perform.

Fixed mindset worry about how they are judged.

Growth mindset focus on how they are learning.

people with a fixed mindset give up more easily, withdraw, lose interest.  Is observed as a lack of motivation.

Growth mindset sees a failure as an opportunity to grow.  

How often do we praise kids for being smart or great at something?  This puts kids into a fixed mindset.  "if we win because we are a winner, then when we lose it must make us a loser"

How to instill a growth mindset
   Recognize that the growth mindset is supported by science.
   Learn and teach others about how to develop our abilities
   Listen for your fixed mindset voice, and when you hear it talk back with a growth mindset voice.  If you hear "I can't do it...." add "...yet."


Growth Mindset Prezi.

My Top Ten For 2012-2013

The top ten thing that I learned about myself over the past school year.

Backward Design

What are the features, examples and non-examples of UBD?

Stage 1: Enduring Understandings

Stage 2: Assessments

Stage 3: Instruction

Example:  Have a proactive, long-term goal.  Make it more likely that you are more goal focused.  Prepares you to think short term/long term.  Keep long term goals in view.  

Non-Example:  Short term goals with no long term planning.

How would you define UBD in six words or less?

Proactive, long-term goal influences instruction.

What do you see as benefits and challenges to this system?

Helps to make it more likely that you'll achieve your instructional goals.

An ever-changing process that takes constant attention.

In what ways has small and large group discourse enhanced your understanding of UBD?

Being able to discuss the UBD plan with members of my same discipline is a great way to get feedback and help clarifying what I'm working towards.

Working together to hone my list of enduring understandings.

What perplexing questions do you have about UBD?

What do you do when there are units that have an extensive list of vocabulary terms necessary for the enduring understandings?

How specific does one need to be when describing the necessary skills?

Are there units that are too big for this process to be successful?

Data Analysis

Essential Questions for Data Analysis:


What are the features of data analysis?

Reviewing data while it's being collected and trying to make sense of what you're      learning

Two Stages Of Data Analysis:
     Description - what did you see, what was happening?
     Sense making - how do the pieces fit together?  Organizing the key events/issues.

What are examples and non-examples of data analysis?
Examples:  Searching for trends and patters in the data.

Non-examples:  Jumping to conclusions without out data to support.  Preconceived notions.


What is your definition of data analysis in six words or less?

Search for patterns in data.

What is your plan for analyzing your raw data?

Organize my data in such a way that I can hopefully find connections and patterns.  I will also make sure that I go into the process with an open mind.
What challenges do you anticipate when analyzing your data?

Fighting the urge to come to conclusions prematurely.

What have you learned about data analysis from small and large group conversations?

This process takes time!

What are some of the questions that you have about data analysis?

Is there one method that is most effective, or do all methods have their own value?

Miniature Review of Literature

Here is a line to a PDF of my Mini-ROL.

Semester 1 Professional Growth

Consider the learning you have done during your first semester as an M.Ed. learner.

1.  Think back (or revisit) the “Principles of Children’s Learning” or “Belief Statements” that you wrote at the beginning of this journey.

 a. What specific principle or belief do you most rely on as you interact with students each day?
 b. In what ways has this helped you reframe anxiety-producing problems into productive, solvable problems (maybe even opportunities)?

Of the five beliefs that I wrote about at the beginning of the semester, the one that I feel I rely on most heavily on a day-to-day basis is the following:  

I believe that the objectives for each lesson should be clearly addressed each day.  

At the start of each day's lesson I address what we hope to accomplish by the end of the period.  It is typically to complete an objective for the day's lesson, such as "Graph and transform quadratic equations" or "Algebraically analyze rational functions." I had always done this as a way to introduce the day's topic, but recently our school's administration has asked that all teachers beging their lessons in such a manner.  

I believe that this action has helped to turn anxiety into productivity in the following three ways.  First, and foremost, it states, in simple terms, what the students should expect out of the day.  They know right away what it is we will be doing for the next 68 minutes.  By introducing the day's topic at the start of the lesson I have already instilled in the mind some sense of what is to come.  Second, it helps me to be more prepared in my daily planning.  The lesson targets for the day allow me to know not just what's going on that day, but what is coming in the future.  I have always felt that the weeks when I have my lesson plans for all my classes for the entire week organized from the beginning tend to go the smoothest.  Lastly, it helps me to make changes and adjust for the future.  By knowing what the lesson objects are for each day, I can easily look back  and determine if anything needs to be adjusted.  Were there too many targets for that day?  Should I change the order in which I teach certain lessons so that the lesson targets flow more seamlessly?  Having my learning targets ready allows me for a greater amount of meaningful reflection.

2.  In what ways has your Semester 1 learning impacted your interactions with colleagues?

The most prominent way in which my Semester 1 learning has impacted my interactions with my colleagues is my ability to share ideas and insights that I have gained throughout the experience.  After the Spring Conferences presentations, I was excited to go back to the members of my department and share some of the ideas involving technology that some of the presenters shared.  Their insight into what worked (and in some cases didn't work) was great to hear, especially the presentation I attended related to a flipped classroom.  It is an idea that I have toyed with for a while, but have yet to really jump into.  It was great to be able to hear the presenter's experiences, triumphs, and challenges so that I could better gauge if it was something I wanted to pursue.  

3.  What new nugget of learning (or insight) has impacted your practice most?  What are you doing differently as a result of this learning?

The insight that has probably impacted my practice the most is the newfound necessity to manage my time in a different way.  I had been a busy person before I enrolled in the Saint Mary's University M.Ed program, what with a full-time job, a coaching position, and two kids under three years old.  The demands of the job alone can be stressful enough what with the time required to plan lessons, create the necessary materials, and grade any homework or assessments.  The demands of the family are just as severe.  Adding the coursework requirements of the M.Ed program have required me to budget my time a little differently as I have an additional amount of work that was previously not there.

4.  What are you still wondering about?

I am excited about what is to come!  The Review of Literature has me a bit nervous, but I am looking forward to the challenge!

Data Collection Analysis

Posted below is a link to a Google Document detailing my three data collection tools.

Here is the link.

Golden Circle

Simon Sinek’s TED talk focused on what he called the Golden Circle of Why, How, What and the importance that businesses work “from the inside out,” meaning that they convince the world that they are buying not what they make, but why they make it.  The same is true for teaching.  I make a concerted effort from the beginning of each school year, and again at the beginning of each trimester, to show students that I am more that just what I do.  Too often it seems that students just see their teachers as a person fulfilling a role.  “That guy’s my English teacher.  She’s my music teacher.  He’s a math teacher, I think.”  To teach “from the inside out,” in my opinion, begins with showing students that you do truly care about their education, their experience, and their overall wellbeing.  I teach from the inside out by injecting as much enthusiasm into everyday as I possible can.  I like to believe that the students are having fun when I’m having fun, so I try to have as much fun as possible, while still tackling the major concepts of the day.  I want the students to believe that the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing as a chosen profession is just happenstance; I am doing what I do because I like it.  It’s enjoyable for me.

        I teach a lot of Geometry.  Like, a whole lot.  Every term I’ve taught at my current school I’ve had at least one section of Geometry.  Geometry, more than any other math course, focuses heavily on logical thinking.  Not just, “Can you solve for x,” but “What is the reason that you’re doing what you doing in the first place and can you justify why you’re doing what you’re doing?”  Heavy stuff, believe me.  Student complaints always increase greatly when we start doing geometric proofs.  If, then statements.  Logical thinking skills.  It’s not surprising for two reasons:  First, it’s different than anything they’ve had to do ever in their scholastic careers and that makes any endeavor more difficult. Second, they’re high schoolers and logical thinking is not their forte.  What I try to do is instead of focusing on what we are doing, is to focus on why we are doing it.  A geometric proof is an exercise in logical thinking and a great way to get students to see connections between seeming disparate ideas.  A geometric proof is an excellent way to help students draw conclusions from given or inferred information, something they will all have to do in their lives outside of high school.  It’s not always successful.  I would say that most of the time, students see geometric proofs as horrific rite of passage that every student must pass through to say to the world, “Hey, I took Geometry and I didn’t die!” But, every once in a while I’m able to convince students that what we are doing is more than just the sum of its parts.

        My communication with my students is (hopefully) evident by my passion for what I am doing.  As previously mentioned, I try to teach everyday with as much enthusiasm as possible.  I do my best, as we all do, to stay in as much contact with parents as possible, especially the parents of students that are struggling more than others.  If parents see that you are communicating with them on a regular basis there is a greater chance that they will see that your passion for teaching is more than just a job with a modest paycheck.  With my colleagues, I try to engage in as my lesson planning conversations as possible.  Our PLC time has given us some time to accomplish that, but not as much as necessary.  I know that I could sit and talk for hours about the best way to teach biconditional statements as definitions to Geometry students, and it’s those conversations that convey to my colleagues that I’m here to do the best job I can because I love what I do.

Action Research Question

How, or in what ways, does homework affect student achievement in the secondary mathematics classroom?

My Profile

Why I love teaching:
I love teaching because it is fun.  It's a great feeling to come to work everyday and know that, for the most part, you are going to have fun.  The other fun part about teaching is the challenge.  You never know from year to year, day to day, even class period to class period, what kind of experience you are going to get.  I am hopeful that my M.Ed. experience will give me new ideas on how to motivate my students, and ways to keep myself motivated as well.

Action Research Interest:
One area I would like to focus on through my M.Ed. experience is how to make homework more meaningful for my students and myself.  I have tried different ways of assigning and assessing homework over the years, but have yet to find a method that I really like, and gives my students and me the feedback I would like.  I am hopeful that over the course of the program I can find a way to assign, assess, and collect homework that is more helpful to my students and more informative for me.

Area of Developing Expertise:
One area that I would like to improve is in finding new ways to connect with my students who struggle with math.  Every term there is always at least one student who has had a poor math experience, perhaps due in part to low math skills.  I would like to find new and different ways to reach those students that I have not tried before.  I know that solving all my students math struggles is a pretty lofty goal, but I would like to at least develop new and different ways to reach those students so that they can see at least some success in a class that maybe they have not had much success with in the past.

My new blog!

This is my new blog!