Prepping for 2007/2008

Since my post, The “S” Word, I have gotten myself together and have begun to prep in earnest for the upcoming school year. I read several posts by Repairman on his blog, RepairKit about grades and grading. Those posts not only prompted me to reflect on the subject of grading, but also forced me to re-evaluate how I grade and why. As a result, I have arrived at the following goals for the upcoming school year with respect to grading.

~Eliminating the use of zeros for uncompleted homework and when factoring the term grade. Per my reading, zeros are harshly punitive, represent an extreme, and do not measure real learning. I happen to agree with those conclusions. Instead, I plan to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy regarding homework. For example, when students don’t complete homework, they will be asked to join me at lunch or after school in order to do so. This holds the student accountable for the work, and gets at the root of the problem for why work is not being completed. Assigning a zero does neither of these things. There are many reasons why students don’t do their homework, and it’s rarely because they didn’t want to do it.

~Assigning grades to work which indicate what a student knows and is able to do with the language, and using these grades as the basis for the term grade. Work which is designed to allow the student to acquire, develop and refine skills, such as homework and classroom activities, will be assessed and commented upon, but will not be factored into the term grade.Furthermore, my colleague, Exhausted Intern, over at Not Enough Hours, has inspired me to align my units and lesson plans more closely to the National Foreign Language Standards. Teaching at an independent school, the National Standards are merely guidelines, and are not used to create curriculum. However, the rebel trailblazer that I am, I am going to use them to create my curriculum, and see where it takes me. I am excited about the enhanced learning opportunities and greater skill development teaching and assessing using the National Standards it will bring for my students.

The aforementioned are the big ones. Other things include streamlining my classroom expectations, and including my students more in discussions re: grades and classroom management. It feels good to get a much earlier start on curriculum prep. Last summer, I was distracted by an out-of-town five-day workshop. The workshop was rewarding and transformative, but it took me away from my prep nonetheless. Furthermore, I attended a full-day workshop which derailed all of the planning I had done prior to such a degree that it had me questioning my approach to teaching language. It’s a long, scary story, and causes me to shudder every time I think about it, but I will say this: A conversation with a trusted colleague helped me to regain my confidence and got me back on track. Praise God for colleagues!

My goal is to have the first trimester planned for my Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 courses, which breaks down to to three units per course. However, the hardest part is accomplished: Dipping my big toe into the cold, icy pool of planning for the new year. Now comes the part where I am wading waist-high in the pool! Weeee!