AGAPE!

When you Google "AGAPE", this definition is the first to come up:

a·gape
əˈgāp/
adjective

1. (of the mouth) wide open, esp. with surprise or wonder.
"Downes listened, mouth agape with incredulity"


Not exactly the definition I was looking for, but I think we can go with it for now. You see, AGAPE is a word that, in the Greek, refers to unconditional love. In Christianity, it refers to the unconditional love that Jesus displayed when he died on a Roman cross for the very people who demanded his death. Unconditional love. Let's see how this translates to the world of education.

In education, AGAPE can be described as an acronym: Association, Generativity, Adaptation, Presence, and Engagement. These five qualities together can create an environment where students are invited in, welcomed, and given a chance to learn. It’s the image of how unconditional love and caring plays out in the classroom.

In my classroom, these five principles have guided and changed my interactions on a fairly regular basis. Association refers to creating a community in which students feel welcome. While this has always been a goal of mine, I have learned how important it is to learning. Without it properly in place, other learning structures become difficult to implement.

Generativity refers to creating a mindset that we are not alone in what we do. We need to consider the future. I read an article that describes the mindset of Japanese families. From a young age, children are told about their obligation to their families. This creates a tight-knit, hard-working family unit. Our American culture may find it hard to accept, but we all have an obligation to future and past generations to care for them and to want to make life, including our education better. In the classroom, this translates to a shorter time frame – caring about the next class that walks in the door by taking care of class supplies and cleaning up after ourselves.

Adaptation is a quality that I, personally, feel has not changed much for me. One of my strengths has always been to try and meet students where their needs are and to be flexible in my teaching strategies.

Presence is also a strength that I now see in myself. I also have become aware that there are times when maybe my presence is not as strong as it needs to be. My eyes are open to how students may view me if I take a moment to sit at my desk or seem disengaged. Obviously I can’t be 100% there for 100% of my students 100% of the time, but awareness can spark change and cause one to be proactive.

The final part of AGAPE is Engagement. This is when I wish I taught something like Social Studies or English. It is Waaaaaaaaaaay easier to find ways to engage students when you have a subject that is even remotely relatable to students’ personal lives. Math,…ok,…I try, I really do. I think the best way I engage my students is not through my content, but through side conversations about work, families, or hobbies. I engage my students by inviting them to stay after school for extra help…candy helps this, too. I’m still searching for ways to engage students in meaningful ways. This is probably the area that I need to focus more on.

I can’t help but relate Agape to my own personal life. I think about unconditional love, both in my faith life, and in my own love for my children. I express that love in a much different way for them. But as for my students, A-G-A-P-E is definitely how I express agape for them.

Hitting the Fan...

My first trimester of Standards Based grading is done.  Time to tweak.  Time to take into account all the stuff that was great about SBG and all the crap that, if left to itself, will inevitably hit the fan.  I used two very different methods of SBG in my classrooms.  For my honors kids, I used a very strict YES/NO method of grading - all or nothing for each target.  For my regular level kids, not a whole lot changed.  They still got a percent grade, but for each test they got a grade for each learning target instead of one big grade.  Both methods had things that were good and things that were bad.

I liked the flexibility with the percent grading in the regular classes.  It allowed me to give a kid an 80%, which is still a good grade.  What was bad about it was that when a kid got less than that, like say a 60%, the system allowed him or her to "settle" for a less than stellar grade.  What I loved about the stricter grading method was that it forced kids to retake a target if they missed more than one.  BUT, it also FORCED kids to be complacent about missing that one problem.  SO here is what I propose...

If we just throw both methods at the fan (the good stuff and the sh*t), what I think will come out of it is this:  a hybrid grading system where kids can earn 100%, 85%, 75%, or 0%.  This will allow me to account for small errors made in arithmetic, but still demonstrating basic comprehension of ALL problems in a section (85%), missing one problem completely (75%) or missing more than one problem (0%).  This will force kids to retake with sub-par grades, encourage kids to retake if it is less than perfect, and separate the kids who REALLY are distinguished in their understanding by awarding them with 100%.  This may or may not work well - I will have to test the theory out first.

The other really important thing to consider is why I want to make these changes.  Is it because the kids are complaining that it is unfair and too much work and they never got their A?  Or is it because I truly think this will benefit kids?  I don't want to give in to their complaining.  Honestly, they don't seem to realize that a grade should represent how much they know  - not how many bathroom passes they turned in for extra credit or how hard they worked on their homework.  If we want to grade work ethic, make it its own standard or learning target.

Grades should reflect student knowledge.  That is all.  If we start to fall back into our old ways, we are perpetuating a system where students who are "good at school" get the grades.  We need to encourage student responsibility and make them realize that they are responsible to learn.

So to finish this off, sometimes we need to let it all hit the fan.  Then we can see what we like and don't like about what we are doing and find the best in all of the mess.

Problems problems everywhere...

What do you do when kids don't opt to retake a learning target?  In my honors classes, the kids are real go-getters.  They are self-driven (for the most part) and when they have a chance to bring their grade up and retake a target, they do.  In my regular level Statistics class, though, I have kids that are settling for the D.  Ok, it is their right to settle for less than perfect.  I get it.  But the problem arises when kids are settling for an F...

Part of the difference is in how I am grading.  I honors, the kids either get the target or they fail the target.  In Stats, I am giving them percentage on each target.  But I have astonishing amount of kids who could do better but simply choose not to.

While I have no suggestions to offer, I wanted to throw this out there as a problem that I am encountering...perhaps I will be back to offer some helpful insights IF I figure this out...

Back it On Up!

So it's been a great journey with this Standards Based Grading business.  So far, I think I love it.  My students might think otherwise, but that's a different story.  Only time will really tell how we all feel!  All SBG business aside, I want to take a moment to talk about designing lessons - specifically with Backwards Design in mind.

Backwards Design forces us to think about the big picture.  What do we want our students to know and be able to do?  Well gee, last time I checked, that's kind of the point behind SBG...I know, I know, I said let's put it aside, but really, they are related.

The best part about Backwards Design (BWD) is that it makes us think about the end result.  In math, it is really easy to think about it - we want our kids to be able to solve a certain problem.  OK.  Great.  But in other content areas, it's not so cut and dry (which is why I teach math - let's hear it for the left brain!).  So when you social studies people are teaching about the Civil War, what is it that you want your kids to learn? Or when you read To Kill a Mockingbird, what do you focus on?  What is the point behind the art project that you make your kids turn in that's worth 10,000 points?  BWD makes it so that we are thinking about the end result...which translates into our Learning Targets (the basis of our SBG!).

This is why I love BWD.  It makes it all so cut and dry.  Of course, this works for me, the left brained person.  And it works for all of your left-brained students.  For all the people who claim to be in their "right mind", you still have the freedom and flexibility to be creative - as long as you show an understanding of the big picture in your end-product.

Lights, Camera, Action RESEARCH Abstract!

How will using Standards-Based Grading impact student achievement and engagement?

This year I used Standards-Based Grading in all of my math classes.  I compared two methods of SBG and how they impacted student achievement and engagement.  One method was more rigorous and I used it in my Honors Trigonometry classes.  The other was less strict in terms of grading and I used it in my Probability and Statistics class.

I collected data through parent and student surveys, having a co-worker observe my class several times, and by comparing grades and test scores throughout the term.

Some of the challenges I encountered along the way included communication with students and parents about the new grading system.  While I sent home emails, many parents do not check or read their emails.  Many simply do not have an updated email address in the system.  Another challenge I faced was finding time for students to complete retakes within the specified window.

Overall, I hope my data will show that students did really well.  I am still in the process of collecting it, but so far parent surveys seem very promising and positive.  In general, parents feel that SBG allows students to organize and study better and is forcing students to actually learn instead of focusing on just passing a test.

Checking in with SBG...

I have been in this SBG thing for 2 weeks and I am sold.  I love it.  Right now I am using 2 different methods for SBG-one where it is a straight up yes/no, did you master this learning target system, and the other that assigns a percent to the target and lets students decide to take a retake if they want.  While I am not sold on this second method, I really like the hard core master it or fail method.

In my Honors Trig class, all but 3 students completed every homework assignment - Even though it did not count for a grade.  Part of their motivation came from the requirement of completing homework in order to be eligible t retake learning targets.

I wanted to post my website for anyone who might be interested in checking out what I am doing in my classes.  

www.anoka.k12.mn.us/dorsing 

I plan to post again with an update after I test in my Statisics class takes their first test.  Maybe I won't love it quite as much, but I highly doubt it!

Is Anybody Out There?

Have you ever walked into a room and felt like no one knew you were there?  Like suddenly someone threw Harry Potter's invisibility cloak on you and no one knew you were even listening.  This is what we like to call a lack of PRESENCE.  Chalk it up to an inability to speak up or, in the educational setting, a lack of a community that would foster a sense of presence.  Ok, so what do I mean by that?  

You know that kid in the back of the room who never raises their hand or speaks up.  They might say two words to you when you ask them a question, but that's it.  Maybe they do their work, maybe not.   Maybe you are like me and, ( ok, I might be shooting myself in the foot by admitting this...) you may not notice right away when they are absent.  

Part of creating a culture that subscribes to the LaSallian principles of AGAPE ( Association, Generativity, Adaptation, Presence, and Engagement) is creating an environment where students feel like they are a part of something.  Specifically, they need to feel a part of the classroom community.  With specific regard to Presence, students need to feel like they have a presence it he classroom.

Let me also take a moment to be realistic here...there are always some students who have a little too much presence in your classes.  By no means do I mean that you want to have 30 of those wonderfully enthusiastic and excited students in your classroom just ready to explode from their desks.  Those students are special in their own way...but true Presence means that all students feel like they are a valued member of your class the way they are.  Students feel welcomed and valued by you, the teach, and the other students in the class.  They should never feel like they are invisible.

Presence not only refers to how the students feel in your class, but also how you carry yourself as a teacher.  I hope that none of you reading this are the teachers who teach and then sit at the desk to grade papers.  If so, you have no presence.  Plain and simple.  Teachers with presence are out in the trenches working with students so that they know you are always there and approachable.  

So to sum it up, presence is making your kids feel like they are not just in the room,  but a part of something with a voice.  It is also making sure students know that you are there for them.