It is finally Winter Break. And, to all of my teacher friends, we made it. Those of you that aren't first year teachers, you know how difficult that first semester is.
This semester was filled with challenges that I couldn't have gotten through without the help of my friends and family.
My Parents - for getting constant help and support, every day.
My Sister - for always ending up on my side.
Meg - for our dinner dates and vent sessions every time they were needed.
Veronica - for letting me come visit, just to get out of the house, even if I didn't stay long.
Courtney - for our lunch/dinner dates when we could squeeze them in.
Taylor - for our dinner dates and best friend chats catching up on life outside the classroom.
Vickie - for always knowing when it was time for a break and making sure I was staying above water.
Sterling - for allowing me to be at 5th Q. But way more importantly, the Grader, what a lifesaver!
Madison - for starting our career together, and helping each other make sure we have it all under control!
Sam - for little bits of encouragement just when I needed it.
My Co-workers - for all of the support in my first semester. I wouldn't want to have gone through it without the daily support and help from you!
My Ohio Family - for the best Thanksgiving Break yet. It was the perfect break before winter. I'm glad I got to see everyone and we had a blast at the wedding reception.
This list should be much longer, to everyone that has helped me through my first semester teaching, thank you. Please know that your help doesn't go unnoticed.
I'm looking forward to an even busier second semester as I start my Master's Degree and coach Club Volleyball!
- Shelby
12.23.2013
12.05.2013
Smarter, not Harder
This will be quick, I just have to share!
Yesterday, I decided it was time to give my kids a formative (quiz) in each of my classes. I don't enjoy giving formatives, because of the paper trail they create. They are "data" so they should go in the students' folders, but they aren't always assessing multiple objectives...so should they be tied to a standard score in PowerSchool? (I know some of you don't know exactly what this means... it is okay!)
In Algebra, the students were asked to graph an equation using a table of values. The equation given to them needed to be re-arranged to get y by itself so that it would be easier in the table to solve. Once they had the x and y values, they had to graph the points and draw the line connecting the points on the line. As the students were working first hour, I decided that the students needed to know right away if they got it correctly or not. I was walking around and grabbed a roster for that class and gave each student a checkmark or a zero on my roster. (They either got the whole thing, or they didn't.) Once everyone was done, we discussed what the expected answers were on each part. When I gave the formative in second hour, I then input the scores from first hour. Same thing third hour for the scores in second hour and the third hour scores I entered on my planning period.
In Geometry, I gave a 9 question quiz for bellwork. It only assessed one Level 3 objective. I didn't feel like this should go in as a score out of 3, even though there was level 2 information on it. As soon as the kids were done working, I had them trade papers with someone they would be okay with checking their answers. We checked over the formative and I had them write their scores out of 9 at the top of the paper. I then passed out notes and we started taking notes. As the students were recalling previous vocabulary and answering questions about topics that were previously learned, I walked around and wrote down the students' scores. At the beginning of 7th Hour, I was able to type these in to PowerSchool while they were taking the formative.
So, here's the "Ah, ha!" moment...I have an iPad, with PowerTeacher on it. I pulled up PowerTeacher on my iPad and while we were recalling previous concepts in 7th hour, I was able to walk around the room and type in each student's score right then. I did the same thing in 8th hour and about 3 minutes after I passed out notes, all of the formative scores had been entered for the day.
The best part, the students kept the formative (most of them recycled it, but that was their choice). I don't have stacks of formatives to enter in PowerSchool. And, I don't have stacks of papers to hand back to the kids.
I hope this makes your life as easy as it made mine yesterday!
-Shelby
Yesterday, I decided it was time to give my kids a formative (quiz) in each of my classes. I don't enjoy giving formatives, because of the paper trail they create. They are "data" so they should go in the students' folders, but they aren't always assessing multiple objectives...so should they be tied to a standard score in PowerSchool? (I know some of you don't know exactly what this means... it is okay!)
In Algebra, the students were asked to graph an equation using a table of values. The equation given to them needed to be re-arranged to get y by itself so that it would be easier in the table to solve. Once they had the x and y values, they had to graph the points and draw the line connecting the points on the line. As the students were working first hour, I decided that the students needed to know right away if they got it correctly or not. I was walking around and grabbed a roster for that class and gave each student a checkmark or a zero on my roster. (They either got the whole thing, or they didn't.) Once everyone was done, we discussed what the expected answers were on each part. When I gave the formative in second hour, I then input the scores from first hour. Same thing third hour for the scores in second hour and the third hour scores I entered on my planning period.
In Geometry, I gave a 9 question quiz for bellwork. It only assessed one Level 3 objective. I didn't feel like this should go in as a score out of 3, even though there was level 2 information on it. As soon as the kids were done working, I had them trade papers with someone they would be okay with checking their answers. We checked over the formative and I had them write their scores out of 9 at the top of the paper. I then passed out notes and we started taking notes. As the students were recalling previous vocabulary and answering questions about topics that were previously learned, I walked around and wrote down the students' scores. At the beginning of 7th Hour, I was able to type these in to PowerSchool while they were taking the formative.
So, here's the "Ah, ha!" moment...I have an iPad, with PowerTeacher on it. I pulled up PowerTeacher on my iPad and while we were recalling previous concepts in 7th hour, I was able to walk around the room and type in each student's score right then. I did the same thing in 8th hour and about 3 minutes after I passed out notes, all of the formative scores had been entered for the day.
The best part, the students kept the formative (most of them recycled it, but that was their choice). I don't have stacks of formatives to enter in PowerSchool. And, I don't have stacks of papers to hand back to the kids.
I hope this makes your life as easy as it made mine yesterday!
-Shelby
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