Teaching is the best. I love seeing students stretch their brains, share their ideas, get things right after getting things wrong, ask questions and pursue further understanding. I love to be a part of the process of growth. It's hard work and it's exciting work!
Throughout the learning process, students produce a large amount of work to show learning. Some of this you will see and some of this you will not. The majority of what we do in class is formative, which essentially means practice, and informs my next steps for instruction. Descriptive feedback is given to students for this work through private conversation, written comments, and group discussions. The idea is that this feedback will address individual student progress and clarify how a student may improve, extend, or enhance learning. For written feedback, students are given time in class to reflect on their work, ask questions, and assess their own learning. I do not assign grades to work that is formative. It is not a final judgment of student learning, and a grade does not do anything to move a student forward in his/her learning. It is part of the learning process. Once a grade is on the paper, students tend to shut down and disregard the feedback designed to help them achieve the specified learning targets. I work very hard to stress to students that learning, rather than "good grades," is my goal for each of them. I explain that I am not just in the business of collecting grades for my grade book. Of course, some work will be graded! Graded assignments/projects/tests will be used to hold students accountable for their learning and gauge where students are relative to our content standards. These summative assessments will be given after instruction and practice. Grades will be posted in Progress Book which I typically update weekly. Some students love to post graded work on their personal bulletin board, so check with your child if a test, project, or other graded assignment does not make its way home. Curious about your child's learning this week? Here are a few conversation starters! Tell me about your small group work about energy. For which part were you the "expert?" (Renewable energy/Nonrenewable energy/Saving energy/etc.) Where are you in the process of your "annoying" paragraph? What is your topic and your what are your supporting details? Tell me about the theme of Stone Fox. How do you determine the theme of a story? Why won't Mrs. Walther let you use texting language on your class blog? How close were you to hypothesizing the inner workings of Mrs. Walther's Magic tube?
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