Pat - this is such a true article - but can it fit anywhere in our classrooms? As an avid reader I have to admit that some of the BEST stuff I've read is just from the heart of an author. I like this - how can I use without making people angry ?? :)
Danielle,
That's precisely the question I want everyone thinking about. We truly focus so much of our energies on getting the format down and getting the "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed, and for many of the students we teach, that is completely necessary; however, as we begin to look at the next phase of what we'd like to do in the district which includes more than just being "proficient" on some state test, can we blend some of the thinking in this post into what we are doing.
And as for making people angry, my advice is that you don't get the results you really want without making a few people angry along the way. Not that you try to, but when you know that what you are doing will make your students better, you just go with it.
Pat - I'd love to share this post with the kids or incorporate parts of it. I have to say that the best writing that the kids have done is usually the writing they do when we're in class and they just write. One of the hardest parts of teaching English is having to read 130 well constructed essays that follow the rubric but are so dry and boring that I have to restrain myself from stabbing my eyes out with my pen. It all goes back to the fact that in our H.S. the kids can write a great 5 paragraph essay or write persuasively but they have NO VOICE and I feel that the stress on structure and grammar could be why they have no voice. Interesting - we should discuss this a bit at our next Connections meeting!
This is the kind of idea I had when I said we were going to go with the portfolio idea. We need to be able to let our students tell the story of their learning.
This is what I am really leaning towards: students telling the story of their work. Can we accomplish that?
A portfolio is not the pile of student work that accumulates over
a semester or year. Rather, a portfolio contains a purposefully selected
subset of student work. "Purposefully" selecting student work
means deciding what type of story you want the portfolio to tell.
1. Growth Portfolios
a. to show growth or change over time
b. to help develop process skills such as self-evaluation and goal-setting
c. to identify strengths and weaknesses
d. to track the development of one more products/performances
2. Showcase Portfolios
a. to showcase end-of-year/semester accomplishments
b. to prepare a sample of best work for employment or college admission
c. to showcase student perceptions of favorite, best or most important
work
d. to communicate a student's current aptitudes to future teachers
3. Evaluation Portfolios
a. to document achievement for grading purposes
b. to document progress towards standards
c. to place students appropriately
Teachers, home-schoolers, service-learning providers—find rich educational opportunities and cross-cultural lessons, stories, activities, videos, and much more.
If you are looking to bring speakers to your classroom, the Peace Corps, as part of their responsibilities, offer educational outreach to schools. You can contact them through this website to set something up.