Standard Based Report Cards...

Calling all teachers, admin, etc. If your school uses Standard Base Report Cards, please let me know. I am doing my final 80 hour practicum on this topic and would like to use some examples of schools that use them to further my research. I am focusing my research on grades 1-2 and will be piloting the report cards to go along with their regular report cards. I want parents to be able to understand why their child got an "unsatisfactory" in spelling, math, etc. with the help of this Standard Base Report card. I will be gathering information from the grade level teachers on what they would like and then create a report card to go along with the regular report card that is sent home. I will then survey the parents on what they liked and did not like about the report, was it helpful for you, and so on.

If your school uses this form of grading please leave a comment with your school's website or your email address so I can further discuss with you how your school uses these report cards.

Thank you!

Definition

I taught for three years at a high school in Southern Illinois, before I was forced out by administration. I am a teacher, a crafter, a wife, a lover of history and much more, but these words do not define me. I suffer from a mental illness and that seemed to define who I was to the administration. I have been dealing with my illness for about three years now, some days are better than others.

I say that these words do not define what I am, they only give you a glimpse into what I love in this world. When I started to inform my employer what was going on with my in my last year teaching there, they seemed supportive, but then the ambush came. (By the way, you are in no way obligated to inform your employer that you suffer from a mental illness.!) I was letting them know that I might need to take some time off to get better and they seemed to support that. I should have played my cards closer to my chest thinking back on it, but I felt that I was going to be supported. I was thinking of my students and not being in the classroom for an extended period of time and how that would effect them. I had been suffering major panic attacks from the start of my last year there and they were only getting worse. The day that I was told that I was non-tenured and that the "board likes to get rid of problems before they become bigger." I crumbled and this triggered a panic attack from hell. My husband works at the same school and was brought in. They knew what they were doing. They knew I suffered from panic attacks, they knew that I would panic, they had a sub already lined up...basically I was ambushed and forced to resign because of something I had very little control over. Yes, medication and therapy were helping, but this is not something that just goes away. It stays with you. In my mind, I see my illness as not only mental but physical. Some only see it as an "invisible illness." not realizing that it takes a toll on your physical health as well. Would they have done this to someone who was non-tenured that had cancer? Probably not. Who knows with this school, they might have. (they are by no means a standard to reach towards.)

My point is, putting words on a person that define who or what they are can be damaging. I was defined by what my doctor notes to my employer was getting from me almost on a weekly basis. I was not looked at as someone that engaged her students, had a wonderful relationship with her students, and had an overall great evaluation history. I was defined by two words and those two words only: mental illness.

Once I was gone from the school I had students emailing me asking when I was coming back and that they hated the sub. All I could do was say to them, that it was not my decision that I was not there and they just needed to do well in school. Did the admin think about what it would do to the students. Did they once stop and think about how the students would react when they came in next Monday and the room was stripped of all the wonderful things I had filled it with to make it warm and inviting? NO! They did not think of any of that. They saw me as a liability-even though they were not following the letter of the law at all-but I fought that and eventually that was taken care of. But what it boils down to is, that they did not think how this action would define my students semester or how it would define my confidence in myself.

It has been two years this February that I haven't had my own classroom. I have come to terms with that. I started my Specialist program in the Fall of 2014 and will be completed with the my Specialist Degree this Fall. (then I start my Doctorate in the Spring of 2017) I have come a long way. I know that my purpose is bigger than being at that school. I know that I am not defined by what medical issues I deal with. I do know that I was meant to have an impact on the education system in someway-that has yet to be revealed. I know that I am a great teacher and love my students.

I also know that I have a platform to speak out about my experience and help others have an open dialogue about mental illness...it is not something to afraid, it can be scary, but you CAN live with it and that's just it, you live with it, it is NOT who you ARE! I am a teacher, a student, a wife, a sister, the lady that has a pretty tichel to wear on her head for every outfit, I am a woman that is confident enough to talk about my experience and assure people that I am doing just fine!

Go out and learn something new today!

Updates

I have been updating my TPT store slowly, and creating new lessons to get ready for the next school year. I hope that I will have time to get enough new lesson completed before the end of July. I know teachers have already started looking! Please check the store and tell your history friends about the FB page and my store. Sharing is CARING!!!

How to discuss tragedy with students...

With the wake of the events that took place in Paris last week, I thought to myself; "How would I discuss these events with my students?" Teaching high school you can have a more open conversation about all aspects of an event like this. But how do you tell a younger child why things like this happen? I feel that it is our job as teachers to be sensitive towards discussing these events with all ages. We have a responsibility to talk about them, because this is the world our students live in. They may not be directly impacted, but they have questions and you need to be prepared to answer them. 

I think the best thing that the events allow us to do as teachers is to open up the discussion about stereotypes and race. It allows us to debunk stereotypes about certain religions, ethnic groups, races, etc. The classroom is often the only platform that many students have to discuss these issues. Be the sounding board for them and be honest with your students. I don't hold my feelings back from my students-they can feel that I am genuinely interested in the discussions we are having and want to make them comfortable. Making your students feel safe to openly discuss these events can be a "teachable moment" in your classroom. 

Be honest with your students-if you don't know the answer tell them so, keep the conversation real. 

Substitute

I have not been in the classroom since Feb. of 2014. I have been focused on school and getting my Specialist and Doctorate since then. That is the plan for the next few years! My husband has been super supportive of my choice to go back to school. Boy do I miss having my own classroom and teaching everyday, but this is the path I have chosen and it is for a greater good.
Friday is my first day subbing at one of the schools in the area. I am nervous...just a little bit. I will start my day with little ones-kindergarten to be exact. I will be subbing for the teachers aide, so I won't be completely lost. If you know me, I decided to teacher high school after one observation in a fourth grade class! I don't do little kids. I like to be at least the same height as my students, though most of my students did tower over me. I like little kids, I am just not that comfortable around them...so this should be interesting. After lunch, I will be in a junior high English class. I am happy that they have early dismissal, so I don't have to do two English classes in the afternoon. As a teacher, I would make my sub do as little as possible, so I am hopeful that the English class I am in will be working silently on something, without me having to do too much instruction! Pray for me!!! They don't really scare me, again I taught high school. I will preface my introduction to the class that I am not an English teacher, I am a history teacher, so if I get something wrong be patient with me. It will be ok, I am looking forward to it. I have been in this school working with the curriculum director since last fall to get my hours for class completed so I am familiar with some of the people and I know my way around. It is just a new experience in my life, and I am going to conquer it! I know people that love subbing and would rather do that then teach full time. Ok, the plus is I don't have to make up lesson plans!! So, Friday will be just fine! Wish me luck!

Why I do what I do...

When I decided to become a teacher I never knew that I would love it as much as I do. I had an unfortunate event where I was only able to start my career as a teacher for three years almost two years ago.I loved working with students and getting to know them. The bureaucratic "SH$$" that teachers have to deal with now is ridiculous and unfortunate to say the least. I dealt with administration that were bosses, but not LEADERS. It's kind similar to "you can be a father/mother to someone, but that doesn't make you a PARENT."  As an educator who has been through the ringer and came out still wanting to be in this profession, that says a lot. I care about one thing-the STUDENTS, they are the life force behind what I do and will continue to do with my career path.

In the state I live in, the evaluation process is putting a lot of emphasis on student growth, and that makes sense, but the way the state is going about it by testing students to death. Teachers are worn out, stressed, and overworked, worried that if they are not able to show growth among their students, they move down the ladder. If you add it up, students in this state are subjected to about six weeks of state mandated testing! Think of all the instructional time lost because of this, plus add in PD, holidays, in-services that also take away from the face time you have with your students.  The evaluation process in this state is a great model. Danielson has been around for sometime and has come up with a great way to evaluate teachers in several domains. It is clear cut and not subjective at all, the administrator just has to record what they see and hear during the lesson and their walk through. But there seems to be a disconnect with some schools when it comes to this model. They want to make it "specific" to their school, which in my mind leaves room for subjectivity. Why recreate the wheel, when Danielson has already done it for you. It is fine to add to the evaluation expectations as a whole as long as the teachers are aware of what the administrator is looking for as evidence. The school I was at, to this point is basically trying to recreate the wheel, making it difficult for teachers to know what to expect. When asked questions about the process, the answer depends on which administrator you talk to. It should be consistent across the board. As an educator that is working on my Specialist in Curriculum Instruction and Design, I see many problems. (But that is a whole different rant, I will save for later.)

I have thrown myself into a Specialist in Curriculum Instruction and Design/Ed.d program over the last year and half because I see a need for me to advocate in the education profession. I want to help teachers and schools have a say in what is going on in their schools, regarding curriculum and the evaluation process. The state bought into PARRC as one of its tests to show student growth. This is a hot topic in most states that adopted it last year. For me, there is no need to subject students to another test that won't even be able to show student growth for at least several years, because there are so many problems with the test itself. Politicians need to stay out of education. They purchased this test before even knowing what the test would actually be able to show. There were no benchmarks set, so how can you show growth, when there is no goal for the student to reach? Do you see the frustration that comes with teaching? I know it is different for everyone that teaches, and varies from state to state, but I think we have lost the purpose of teaching. It is not to teach to a test, or just to prepare students for college. Not everyone is or will go to college for one reason or another. A test does not mean that as a teacher you have failed because your student did not score high enough. The test does not show that your student that came to you in August and had no interest in learning about the government and was failing your class by the first quarter, turned around and raised their test score to a C from a D. Those tests do not show that the student that has confidence issues, is now full of confidence because you told them they could do it. It boils down to the fact that these tests but all the accountability on the teachers and forces them to remove the most vital part of their job-getting to know their students and their strengths. If you are more focused on teaching to a test and you are worried about cramming information into their heads, you are missing out on the best part of teaching. I love getting to know what my students lives are like, I love seeing them outside of school, I love getting to know what they are passionate about. That is what drives me to continue to educating myself to better meet the needs of my future students and co-workers.

I did not get into this profession for money or the summers off, since you never really stop working even through the summer. I got into this profession because I am passionate about it and know that I can make a difference. I keep in contact with several of my former students through social media, and it is always nice to see how they are doing as they get older. Just last night I had one student, from my first year of teaching, send me a message thanking me for always believing in him. That is why I do what I do.

Be kind.

Choose your own ADVENTURE...

As a history teacher I love telling stories. My day is made up of telling stories about China, Western Europe, the Industrial Revolution, etc. I have learned that in order  for my students to be excited about what they are learning, I have to be excited about what I am teaching. I have to draw them into the story and make them want to know what happens at the end. How does one do this? Here is one of my favorite ways to draw them into history:

Let's say I am doing a lesson on the start of the Greek Civilization. 

1. I would tell my students the who, what, when and where.

2. I would highlight several main points of the development of the civilization and have the students read the text and other supplemental readings to gain content of the topic.

3. Here is the fun part...let the student choose how the story ends. Allow them to tell you how they think history would play out if one event did or didn't happen.  This is something that is beneficial to both the student and you as the teacher.

*You can assess if the student has grasped the main objective of the content you have presented them.

*The student is able to use higher level thinking skills and analyze the events you discussed in class and come to a conclusion about how history would be shaped if a particular event happened or didn't.

You could do this with almost any major event in history. Students, if given the chance, will do amazing things. This is an activity that would allow the student that loves to write excel, but would also allow students that struggle with writing a chance to write something that is a little less formal than an essay for class. Students of all learning levels love this activity, they are able to use their imagination and once again you as the teacher have been able to draw them into the wonderful world that is HISTORY.