I feel that the theme testing that we do with Houghton Mifflin does not always test the way the students are taught. My students also do so much better on the paper and pencil testing than that on the computer. I know that assessing is important, but I feel that we are assessing so much that we are losing valuable teaching time. What can we do differently to ease up some of our teaching time? I also am concerned with the time that it takes students to get to one place or another. This also takes up valuable learning time. I have a hard time keeping track of my regular classroom of students because they are going this way and that way all of the time, and yet I am responsible for their learning.
I think that progress monitoring is a very valuable tool to help us see how our students are improving and what needs to be done differently.
Mr. Davenport has so much to do so that we can teach in our classrooms effectively that I don't know how he could do all of what this book is asking of him. This book does offer some great ideas however, if we can figure out how to manage it.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Annual Growth Ch. 7 & 8
Dear Staff,
Here are the questions from Chapter 7 and 8. Please respond.
Chapter 7
Assessing Your Assessment System
How are we using our current assessments? Does everything work together? Are they meeting the needs of our students? Our students are like cars. If we don’t put gas in our cars, they won’t run. We must assess regularly, get the needed feedback, and act upon it or our students won’t be making progress.
Does everything work together? Again we can use the comparison of a car. All systems must work together or the car will not run. Even if just one thing is faulty, then our car is not drivable. So our assessments must work together and be student driven to make a complete program.
Chapter 8
What Our Elementary Principals Are Saying
Chapter 8 discusses administration. On page 91 one of the principals stated "I was hired at the beginning to manage a building. I sat in my office, moved paper, ran schedules, and handled parents. I got good at it." Unfortunately, that is the stereotype that sometimes is associated with administration.
With the No Child Left Behind and state mandated standards the principals are held accountable for their school's performance (they have always been accountable, but now school performance is of utmost importance). Administration is given goals and standards that they must work towards... they have others telling them what they have to do. They are like everyone else in that they may feel overwhelmed and ask themselves "When and how am I going to get all of this done?" They too, stress and worry about time constraints.
The book states that administration has to have a shift in mindset along with the shift in job responsibility. In order to raise reading scores, administration had to get out of the office more, do more instructional leadership, coach teachers, and do more assessment. Administration is expected to compile reports, have data, and show results. Administrtation needs the help of the faculty to accomplish this, but sometimes their message is difficult to accept. On page 94 one administrator said, "There is a real fine line between pushing your staff, leading your staff, keeping the pressure on, and just wearing them out." The book goes on to state that it was not easy for some of the administrators and faculty to shift their mindset and accept new responsibilities. The book states that attitude (positive or negative) can be contagious.
The book made it clear that change is possible, however it is not easy and it takes time. Basically what the chapter is saying is that administration needs the support of the faculty.
Please feel free to comment on chapter 8.
Here are the questions from Chapter 7 and 8. Please respond.
Chapter 7
Assessing Your Assessment System
How are we using our current assessments? Does everything work together? Are they meeting the needs of our students? Our students are like cars. If we don’t put gas in our cars, they won’t run. We must assess regularly, get the needed feedback, and act upon it or our students won’t be making progress.
Does everything work together? Again we can use the comparison of a car. All systems must work together or the car will not run. Even if just one thing is faulty, then our car is not drivable. So our assessments must work together and be student driven to make a complete program.
Chapter 8
What Our Elementary Principals Are Saying
Chapter 8 discusses administration. On page 91 one of the principals stated "I was hired at the beginning to manage a building. I sat in my office, moved paper, ran schedules, and handled parents. I got good at it." Unfortunately, that is the stereotype that sometimes is associated with administration.
With the No Child Left Behind and state mandated standards the principals are held accountable for their school's performance (they have always been accountable, but now school performance is of utmost importance). Administration is given goals and standards that they must work towards... they have others telling them what they have to do. They are like everyone else in that they may feel overwhelmed and ask themselves "When and how am I going to get all of this done?" They too, stress and worry about time constraints.
The book states that administration has to have a shift in mindset along with the shift in job responsibility. In order to raise reading scores, administration had to get out of the office more, do more instructional leadership, coach teachers, and do more assessment. Administration is expected to compile reports, have data, and show results. Administrtation needs the help of the faculty to accomplish this, but sometimes their message is difficult to accept. On page 94 one administrator said, "There is a real fine line between pushing your staff, leading your staff, keeping the pressure on, and just wearing them out." The book goes on to state that it was not easy for some of the administrators and faculty to shift their mindset and accept new responsibilities. The book states that attitude (positive or negative) can be contagious.
The book made it clear that change is possible, however it is not easy and it takes time. Basically what the chapter is saying is that administration needs the support of the faculty.
Please feel free to comment on chapter 8.
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