Good points Kim. It is the same in our district. I know our Instructional Coach is going through that as we speak. She spends most of her time passing out and collecting test materials, practice test materials, and then district tests. Then carting them back and forth to the district office. It's a thankless job.
Alice -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of kimberlee hannan Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 5:05 PM To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. Subject: Re: [LIT] Grading novels? Just an observation...I find it interesting that districts all over the nation pull their best and brightest out of the classroom to teach other teachers, when you should be in with children Then (usually) they tie your hands and expect you to teach the accepted propaganda, so you can't teach others those things that made you successful in the first place. I know many here that can't get back into the classrooms fast enough. Kim On 3/31/07, Heather Poland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yes, I am also out of the classroom this year. It is difficult to get used > to! > > On 3/31/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Wow ! Impressive, I have a new position this year ...I am out of the > > clasroom an IS ( instructional specialist) I hate it ! I will return to > the > > classroom and I can hardly wait ... Thank you > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 9:39 AM > > Subject: Re: [LIT] Grading novels? > > > > > > For the homework reflections, I required it to be 1 page. They had read > 70 > > or more pages a week and write the reflection that is due the following > > Monday. Last year I wanted only a reflection, no summary, because so > many > > students would just write what the book was about (or what was on the > > back). > > But I wanted to see their thinking. At the beginning of the year, we > > practiced. I showed a model, they did one in class, I looked at it, gave > > feedback. By the end of the year they were writing awesome reflections. > I > > also had a list of sentences starters that I think came from the Fountas > > and > > Pinnell book in case they didn't know how to start. > > > > If they reflected, they got all the points. This year, before I got my > new > > position, I was planning on mid-year expanding the reflection and > > sometimes > > requiring them to write about certain things. For example, if we were > > working on theme, I would require them to reflect on the theme of their > > book, or character development, etc. > > > > For in class, the requirements are much the same. The need to reflect > and > > not summarize, and be thoughtful. Sometimes I would have guiding, open > > ended > > questions they had to answer. > > > > Last year many of my students complained about how much writing they > were > > doing. Then they got to 9th grade and their English teacher had them > write > > letters to me. They all said they were glad I made them write so much > > because they were doing a lot of writing in 9th grade! > > > > On 3/31/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > What are your requirments for the reflections the ones in class and > > > homework? > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected] > > > Sent: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 7:04 PM > > > Subject: Re: [LIT] Grading novels? > > > > > > > > > I had my students use an Interactive Notebook where we would keep > > > everything. So I would read aloud and we would discuss and every time > I > > > read > > > anything they had to write a reflection. When I collected their > > notebooks, > > > they had to have all the assignments we had done to get points. Also, > > > sometimes I would do other assignments. Last year, we read Touching > > Spirit > > > Bear and at the end I made a layered assignment/project where I had > > > requirements for each grade and they chose what they wanted to do. > > Worked > > > well. But this was not the focus of my reading and it came after. > > > > > > For grades in general, I basically had 3 categories: Homework (which > was > > > independent reading w/ a reflection due weekly), Interactive Notebook > - > > > where we kept ALL of our notes, class work, writing, etc. and Essays. > I > > > collected the Interactive Notebooks once or twice a grading period. So > > > that > > > was really the bulk of their grade. > > > > > > On 3/29/07, Barbara Punchak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > Heather, > > > > Please share how you 'gather grades' (or assess) for these > novels. My > > > > district requires a minimum of 9 grades per quarter, but like you, > I'd > > > > rather have students submersed in the reading, rather than "doing > > > > activities." I do use modified lit circles ala Reciprocal > > > Teaching---but > > > > not as often as I'd like. (due to the time element and required > grade > > > > documentation) I'm anxious to hear suggestions from you and > > > > others. Thanks. > > > > Barbara/6th/FL > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > On Behalf Of Heather Poland > > > > It takes me a long time to get through novels because I always stop > > and > > > > discuss. I don't usually do "activities" but we always have > > discussions, > > > > and > > > > they always reflect on what we read that day. So, I usually get > > through > > > 1 > > > > chapter or less depending on the size of the chap. I don't agree > with > > > > tests/quizzes on books. I would rather my students be engaged in > more > > > > authentic tasks, such as rich discussions and reflections. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org > . > > > > > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > - Heather > > > > > > "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of > > > man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments > > > fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; > > > new races build others. But in the world of books are > > > volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet > > > live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were > > > written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men > > > centuries dead." --Clarence Day > > > > > > "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little > > > good evidence exists that there's any educational substance > > > behind the accountability and testing movement." > > > -Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds > > > > > > "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose > > > funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase > > > funding. " > > > -Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate > > > _______________________________________________ > > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's > free > > > from AOL at AOL.com. > > > _______________________________________________ > > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > - Heather > > > > "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of > > man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments > > fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; > > new races build others. But in the world of books are > > volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet > > live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were > > written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men > > centuries dead." --Clarence Day > > > > "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little > > good evidence exists that there's any educational substance > > behind the accountability and testing movement." > > -Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds > > > > "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose > > funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase > > funding. " > > -Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate > > _______________________________________________ > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > > from AOL at AOL.com. > > _______________________________________________ > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > > > -- > - Heather > > "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of > man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments > fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; > new races build others. But in the world of books are > volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet > live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were > written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men > centuries dead." --Clarence Day > > "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little > good evidence exists that there's any educational substance > behind the accountability and testing movement." > -Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds > > "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose > funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase > funding. " > -Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- Kimberlee Hannan Department Chair Sequoia Middle School Fresno, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
