Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...

No, this isn't a "test post". It's a post about testing, or as we say in the education profession, "assessment." Most teachers I know (perhaps all) don't like assessment. At best, we tolerate it. At worst, we hate it.

I share an office with a teacher who's been teaching for 30 years. She has exclaimed on more than one occasion that she'd like teaching even more if we didn't have to test anyone. Kids have, from time to time, made some sort of comment about how teachers are "out to get them" on tests. I laugh. "Yeah -- because it's so much easier for me to fail you, right?" I say. "Then I get to deal with parent conferences, retests, curves, blah, blah blah..." No, believe me, it would be much easier for most teachers to give easy grades and just get past that whole issue.

Of course, then they might be leaving a mess for the next teacher in line...

Assessment is, of course, part of the job. In public schools, it defines the job. You are measured by the way your students do on the PACT test, for example. I'm so grateful that we, as an independent (private) school, are not held to these standards, but are actually allowed to set our own (hopefully higher). Our headmaster has been quoted in a faculty meeting, in fact, as saying that the way our kids do in the world after high school is our PACT test.

Sometimes I'm approached by a parent who complains that assessment can be terribly arbitrary. While I might not come right out and agree with them, the fact is that their instincts are on the mark. I'm only in my fourth year of teaching now, and it's clear even to me that I can make a test that the whole class will fail, and I can make a test that the whole class will pass. Add a little bit of "curving" (actually "shifting") to that, and, in fact, I can come up with just about any grade distribution I want. What I aim for is one in which the median grade is about a 78, and the spread isn't too outrageous. I try to make it really hard to actually fail my class, and pretty darned hard to maintain a consistent A. . It's relative. I cannot say that I have some absolute scale against which I measure a student's skill or comprehension, beyond the very basic. Often, in fact, I wonder if I couldn't just give my students a grade about two weeks into the year and then get on to teaching without the extra burden of actually testing them. I'd probably be very close most of the time...

Anyway....

I'll leave you with this. I had my students complete a writing assignment recently where they were asked to "explain what math is." One student didn't finish the assignment, and simply wrote "Math is". I complemented him on his insight.

Favorite Class

A victory! I had a student tell me today that my class (Algebra III and Trig) was her favorite class, and she "hates math." Woo Hoo!

Of course, two hours later she dropped my class due to a scheduling conflict...

Music in the classroom

Well, I must say that playing music in my classroom seems to have added a new dimension to the whole math experience. I got the idea mostly from an old book called "Superlearning" that I recently read on the suggestion of a friend. I hooked up some speakers to my laptop (which I now have in my classroom rather than my office), and dialed in an internet "ambient" music station named "Groove Salad". I had quite a few students remark that they really liked it. It's relaxing, fills empty space sometimes, and adds a little bounce to discussions.

First Day Tomorrow

In my first three years of teaching, I always had grand plans of being incredibly well prepared for the beginning of the school year, and each year I had big ideas about things I wanted to do during the year. Each time, reality set in quickly.

My first year was all about survival. Just getting through each day.

My second year was tough. I had survived my first year, and had it in my mind to actually try and do my job reasonably well that year. All in all, I tried really hard but didn't get as good at it as I'd hoped.

My third year, I finally did a few things right.

Now, in my fourth year, I no longer have any grand ideas about being incredibly prepared for the first few weeks of school, and my high-level strategy or "theme" for the year has become one of simplifying, not the opposite.

So, I sit before you now and proclaim my goals for the year:
- Do less
- Assign very little homework
- Do more hands-on work.
- Get kids to write about math -- even blog about it.
- Get into the computer lab as much as possible.
- Never teach in a bad mood

On a more spiritual level, if you will, I plan to read something inspirational every day. Even before every class, if possible. The Artisan's Prayer is one example. I need to get myself present, so that the kids have a chance of following. I don't ever want to teach while in a bad mood.

That's it. I'm teaching Algebra 2 and Trigonometry, Finite Math, Algebra 3 and Trigonometry, and AP Statistics. The Algebra 2 class is new to me, and the Finite Math class is new to the school. Stat will be pretty much exactly like I've taught before (though I want to add an experiential thing for each chapter), and the Algebra 3 class is something I've done before, but will change with the addition of the new Finite Math. So essentially I'm teaching about 3 NEW classes this year. Pretty heavy load.

That, and running the chess club and trying to get an Aikido program going. Oboy, here we go...

On writing about math

Today was a teacher in-service day for the upper school (grades 9-12). It was really great to see everyone together again. I felt at home. The agenda was full of discussions about various topics, the details of which I won't bore you with writing here

One of the highlights of the day was a long discussion about the content and format of research papers. Yeah, I know. THAT was a highlight?! Yes.

You see, I'd really like to add regular writing assignments to my curriculum this year. Perhaps in all my classes. I think it's really important to be able to write about mathematics. I want to get kids to see that math is just another way of communicating. It's another language. Short research papers might be just the ticket.

I'd also like to find ways to use blogs, but I'm not sure how. One idea would be to have students blog about their "distilled thought" for a period of time. They could use their notes. The idea would be to either summarize a body of work in the class, or pick a highlight and expand on it, or pick something related and expand on it. The mechanics of using the internet for this would make it cumbersome to enter equations in mathematical notation -- a bit of a problem at first glance. But this could perhaps be a benefit, too. It frees the students from having to worry about those nasty equations, and it forces them to think "in English".

Ready, Set....

Oh, what the heck. I've got a few minutes to myself (like, 15), so what else would I do with my time? Of course! Start a new blog!

The school year is about to begin. I should have done this my first year teaching, but oh well... Looking forward to writing about my experiences here.