CAROLYN
BEITZEL
Diary #9
Some
Bloom-ing Insights!
I was reflecting with a teacher at lunch the other day about the lack of response my students are giving to their assigned homework. We provide a lot of homework support. We start assignments in class. We have a homework hotline where students can call to find out what assignments are due. They can access a class lesson plan on-line, we have study buddies, and I send home a weekly "missing assignment" letter.
With all this in place, I am still missing more than 45% of the work in my two lowest level classes.
I know the first response is "Well, is the homework meaningful?" I think it is. Most of what I send home is either a continuation of what we are learning in class or an assignment where the students need to apply knowledge they have learned through a writing activity or a connection to the present. I have structured my class so that homework and class work equal 20 percent of their grade, tests and quizzes 30 percent, projects and portfolios 40 percent, and participation 10 percent. By missing so much class and homework these kids are failing social studies. These students are choosing to ignore all of the support mechanisms we've put in place to help them be successful. I did decide to have a weekly Homework Club where attendance for 20 minutes will equal a missing assignment grade. My hope is that at least one assignment can get made up. I have extended our make-up dates at least three times now. I allow late work (with a deduction of points). I'm not sure what else I can do. Too Fast For SomeThis dilemma and my discussion with my fellow teacher led me to several points of enlightenment.
The teacher made a comment about how much she was enjoying teaching her low level class this year. Bells went off in my head! I have been struggling mightily with mine. So I asked her what she was doing differently.
Her response: "I took two steps back." Huh? She explained that she hates the thought that these kids think they are stupid and won't take risks in their learning (flash of insight #1: Me too!!). Before, she had just been "expecting" them to perform at a higher level. She was giving them questions to analyze and information to synthesize, and every time they failed or misbehaved she would resort to yelling. No one was getting anything but frustrated.
She finally figured out that the steps she was taking were too big for some.She still wants them to increase their learning skills, but she realizes she needs to move them forward at a slower pace. She made the comment, "I was trying to move them from knowledge to analysis, expecting them to be able to comprehend and apply along the way." This year, for the first couple of months, she is keeping her class at the knowledge level and slipping in small doses of comprehension. Then she will model the next level – application in a lesson – but not expect them to do it right away. Then a bit later, will include that next level in her mix of expectations. She says it's like making custard, where you have to add one egg at a time. Putting It Together Well, everything she said she was doing when she was miserable is just what I am doing now. Another lightbulb moment here. So I have taken the kids back down that Bloom elevator to the ground floor. We are now reading aloud together with guided questions from me. We answer the questions together, I (or a student) write them on the board and they copy them into their notes. At the end of each section, I give them a little assignment, which incorporates the comprehension of what we have learned. We have a quiz for each section and a test for each chapter. The unit assessment includes a portfolio of all work and an analyzing question. For example, we just completed a review unit on the American Colonies where one of the things we learned was how children went to school. The assessment question "How do New England schools compare to public schools today" was started in class. I asked them to make a T-chart with the title "School Comparison." We labeled the left side of the chart "Colonial New England" and the right side "Public Schools Today." We then listed the factual information from the text on the left side. I asked them to then think about comparisons between colonial times and our schools today.
Discussing the known information, writing it out in a comparison chart, and then completing the activity as a class helped all learners to "get" the concept of linking the past to the present.
Last month
I would have given the same assignment but would not have taken the time
to complete it as a class. I would have expected them to be able to write
a couple of paragraphs, because "we learned it in class." Actually, we
didn't. That's the biggest insight of all.
