Top Ten Benefits to Being A Teaching Principal #edchat #vted

During the summer, I described my plans to become a teaching principal here, here, here, and here. Back in July, I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I knew teaching again would be a good thing.

Boy, was I right.

Even though the principalship is an extraordinarily busy job, I love spending time each day with the sixth graders. It helps, of course, that they are a great group of kids who are willing to try out new ideas and usually laugh at my bad jokes.



Teaching this year has, so far, come with some benefits other than my spending time with students. Here is my top ten list of benefits to being a teaching principal:

10. Productive time with children.

9. I get to grade papers (no, really).

8. Gets me out of the office.

7. I get first hand knowledge/frustration with outdated report card system. (I've got to talk to the administrations about this).

6. Frees up a teacher for that hour so she can help some kids learn to read.

5. Forces me to practice what I preach (tech infused, SBG*, student choice, relevant, meaningful, etc).

4. It is not all about student discipline (most days).

3. I get to know just how good some paraprofessionals can be.

2. I am seen as more than just "administration."

And, the number one benefit to being a teaching principal...

1. I love to teach!

 

So, there you have it. The top ten benefits to being a teaching principal.

 

P.S. I could not find attribution for the image of the teacher at the top. However, I thought a few points to consider about that image were in order. First, as a teacher, I don't have a desk; I use someone else's classroom. Second, I use Standards Based Grading (*SBG), not letter grades, except on the report card itself, but that is another story. Third, I have five fingers on each hand. Fourth, I have not received an apple from any students this year. Fifth, I have a nose and, often, the same blank stare. Finally, I just recently bought a shirt the same purple, but mine is called French Lilac.

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Time to Put My Money Where My Standards Are #Summerblog12 #SBG

#9 in the Summer 2012 Blogging Challenge, #Summerblog12

Traditional Gradebook

So, I've mentioned that I will be teaching sixth grade social studies this coming school year (Read about it here, here, and here). While I am still preparing to unveil the topics and structure of the class, I am ready to talk briefly about grading.

In the past, I mean the distant past, when I last taught seventh grade social studies, I used a pretty traditional point system for grading. Every assignment was worth points, and students could earn points by getting work in on time, by completing it at all, by following a scoring guide or rubric. Wrapped up in all this was the idea that the grade could show both learning and all sorts of habits (completion, participation, effort, etc.) While I made a big deal about everyone starting off with 100% to encourage a positive start, I took points off for late papers and gave zeros for missed assingments. I rationalized that I gave the students every opportunity to get a good grade.




Now, I've got to practice what I've been preaching since I've left the classroom (I wrote about grading here and here). First to go, the zero. Gone. Not going to give one. Next out is points for every assignment.




Here's how it will work, a new system that I just created. I will call it Standards Based Grading (Full disclosure: I did not create this at all). For this year, I will be using the Vermont Grade Expectations for 5/6 Social Studies and the Common Core State Standards for Reading in Social Studies. I will identify one or more of the standards for every assignment. Then, the PowerTeacher gradebook will allow me to assign a score for each standard used in that assignment. I will report much more about PowerTeacher grade book after I've used it for a while.




Some questions that I still have to answer.

1. Should the term grade be based on an average of standards, the last assessment of that standard or the last three?
2. What do I do about missing work (more about a school wide initiative later)?
3. How will I account for compliance reporting (homework, participation, etc.)?
4. What are the other pitfalls?

So, I plan to go whole hog into Standards Based Grading; putting my money where my mouth is.

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Ancient Egypt to Medieval Florence in 80 Days #Summerblog12

#6 in the Summer 2012 Blogging Challenge, #Summerblog12




A vital part of riding a bicycle is knowing to where you are going. It stands to reason, then, that teaching (see this post for more info on my teaching) will be easier if I know the curriculum (duh!).

Over the past four years, my supervisory union has convened curriculum committees for literacy, math, science, art, music, and physical education. Notice that social studies is not on that list. That is until this spring. Since the committee is just getting started (more on that later), there is no district/SU Social Studies curriculum. Fortunately, one of the teachers in my building was able to find this chart for sixth grade social studies. Written years ago, this outline of the curriculum has only been loosely followed in recent years.

N.b. The standards referred to in the chart are from the Vermont History and Social Sciences GEs (Grade Expectations): Grades 5 – 6.

Please don't get me wrong, I like archaeology, Ancient Egypt, Greece & Rome, and the Middle Ages. The thing is, I'm not sure that these topics are the most important to teach my sixth graders. This is especially true when I think about how little understanding of the world the students have. Will studying early humans and ancient Egyptians really help the children of Wolcott as they prepare to go out in the world?

On the other hand, if I look at the topics only as vehicles to get the students to the enduring understandings and essential questions (or, in my case, the Grade Expectations), it doesn't really matter what topics I choose.

On the other, other hand, kids ought to learn about some of this stuff someday. If not now when? (Maybe high school?) There are really cool things to learn about in each of the topics. There are even some great connections to modern life, especially Greece, Rome, and Middle Ages (not so much with ancient Egypt, though).

So, I am still left with the question: What to teach?

Feel free to offer suggestions. I have an idea brewing that I will present in here soon.

 

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10 Top Ideas for Social Studies from the Kids #Summerblog12

#5 in the Summer 2012 Blogging Challenge, #Summerblog12





In a previous post, I mentioned that I would be teaching sixth grade social studies next year. Because we are in the midst of writing district social studies curriculum and there was little guidance in the past, the choice of topics is wide open. Of course, I expect to use the History and Social Sciences GEs (Grade Expectations): Grades 5 – 6, but there is far too much in this to do well in two years, let alone one year. The GEs are created in the style of thematic and understanding/doing standards. There is almost nothing in the GEs that suggests what specific topics should be taught, only specific social studies skills, processes, and connections. I like that style of standards much more than the Massachusetts standards that are only about content. As much as I might like the Vermont GEs, they don't tell me what to teach (or do they? More on this in the near future.)

Since I was encouraged by the fifth grade social studies and 5/6 Language Arts teacher to take a fresh look at what we teach (as long as she has time to gather literature to connect with the social studies), I am taking that fresh look. Since I have been preaching the merits of letting students have choices as a form of autonomy (see my post about Drive), I realized that I better put my money where my mouth is. I decided to go to the kids to see what they want to study in sixth grade.

A few days before the end of the school year, I went to speak with the fifth grade (remember at my small school that the fifth grade is a single class) about their sixth grade social studies curriculum. I asked them a simple question, designed to get a simple response. After a moment to think about what interested them, here are the answers I got with my comments in parentheses:

• Rome (been part of sixth grade recently)

• Middle Ages (been part of sixth grade recently)

• Dark Ages (been part of sixth grade recently)

• Native Americans (covered somewhat in fourth and fifth grades)

• Greek mythology (been part of sixth grade recently)

• The Pilgrims (covered in fifth grade)

• African Americans (hmmm... Could be interesting)

• 1980's (I resisted the urge to suspend the kid who thinks my childhood is as historical as the Dark Ages)

• WWI
  

• WWII (Wars are always neat to study)
  

Well, only some of what the kids mentioned is stuff that I like to teach (does that even matter?). How did the kids' interests line up with the old Wolcott Elementary School 6th Grade Social Studies Map? Hmmm...




What to teach? I needed to take a look at what the map called for and what the retiring teacher had been teaching. Stay tuned for more.

 

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Just like riding a bicycle, right? #Summerblog12

#3 in the Summer 2012 Blogging Challenge (two posts each week)

Do I get training wheels?

They say that once you learn something well, it is like riding a bicycle: you can get back on anytime and have no real trouble. In my experience, this seems to be true so far in life. I go years between bike rides with no problem. I return to the mountains and hike 10 mile and 2500' as if I did it last week.

This fall I will test out this theory in a big, scary way. I will return to classroom for the first time sine June 2003! I am not leaving the principalship, I am merely (!) adding teaching to my duties. I am going to teach 6th Grade Social Studies at Wolcott Elementary School. Doing this will free up the 5/6 LA/SS teacher to do some intense intervention work with struggling readers, and it will let me be a teaching principal.

The way I figure it, teaching is like riding a bicycle; I should have no problem getting back in the classroom after nine years. I learned tons in my eight years teaching. Since then, I have learned tons more about teaching and education in general. I know that kids need engaging curriculum, choices to help motivate, high expectations, authentic assessments to show what they a really learning, great options for sharing their work, true standards-based grading, and a technology infused experience since it really is the 21st Century.

Of course, in 2003, Powerpoint was exciting classroom technology. I used Microsoft Publisher, too. I even made my own page of links so that the students wouldn't have to spend time searching irrelevant sites (other lessons covered a little of how to judge sites).

In 2003, I think that I'd heard of standards-based grading. I gave zeros, though. I figured that if the kids wanted to, they would do the work. It was their responsibility to be "enrolled" as Ben Zander would say. I taught, they learned. Or did they?

Back then, I had high expectations, for most kids. Were my goals high enough for all kids? Did I even set reasonable expectations for kids? Oy.

I'd planned on posting student work to my website (I really did have one), but district policy forbade any interaction of student and Internet other than searching. Oh.

So, as I prepare my class to begin in the fall, I will have no problem right? I will just get back on the bicycle of teaching and ride away, right?

After all, teaching is just like riding a bicycle, right?

Right?





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