I'm a first time teacher and am starting in two weeks. I've pretty much OD'd on this site as well as the ECning site (I'd rather be overprepared!) and have been trying to set a few tentative plans in place based on the information and ideas I've found. I don't know if these would actually work in my classroom, but I was hoping I could put them down here to see if any of you could find glaring problems with what I've got so far. ANY input would be appreciated. Tentative classroom schedule for a 50 minute class: Minutes 1-4 = class settling, taking roll, etc. min 5-15 = reading outloud from short story/book 17-27 = kids freewrite in journals about how they relate/don't relate to passage read 28-32 = talk briefly about how kids felt about the passage 33-50 = vocabulary/curriculum-given/long-term-project activity I know it will never be this precise, but as I said - this is just me getting my initial ideas down. As for this next part, I'm not sure how many grades the principal actually wants per six weeks. We'll find out in the next week or so. Basically, this is how I tentatively plan to map out their grades: Every 6 Weeks: 5 Major Tests and 1 Essay will = 60% of their grade Homework, Quizzes, and Participation = 40% of their grade I don't know if that's completely unreasonable, but if it sounds like it is - please tell me! This is all what I've just sort of figured out on my own. Thank you!
Here's my 1st question: what are the kids doing those first 4 minutes? They're a lot easier to "settle" if there's an assignment waiting for them as they walk in. In my class, it's a Do Now problem or problems. What you may want to do is use SAT prep questions from a Barron's book. You can put them up on the projector or run them onto a transparency for an overhead- and you can do it all ahead of time. Then, each day, you pull out 2 or 3 questions for them to tackle as you take attendance, check homework, and do other housekeeping chores. Don't leave a single minute of them waiting for you to be ready. That's an invitation for trouble to begin. Question #2, though I don't teach English: Where's the time for instruction? What you've mapped out sounds great for a creative writing class. But I've seen the lessons my husband preps for English III-- he does a LOT of teaching! You've only planned to "teach" for 17 minutes out of 50.
Five major tests is a lot for six weeks. I'd do major tests when they come up (at the end of a novel, play, or unit of short stories.) I don't think you'll be able to finish five units every six weeks.
Thank you both for pointing these things out! Alice - in my interview with the principal, he spoke a lot about group projects and interaction. He mentioned that he was looking more into transitioning the current staff into more of an interactive, project-based style of teaching (which, of course, would be planned to fit with the current curriculum), so I want there to be a good bit of discussion and teamwork-oriented assignments. The reading/writing time would involve the literature from the current unit, as well. I was told by a few people that the woman who taught the class before me did nothing but hand out vocabulary worksheets and make the class watch movies. Celia - Thank you! I wasn't sure yet WHAT the tests would be on exactly, but it makes sense to only have them at the end of a novel, play, or unit. I'll re-work that part! Do you think the 60% / 40% grade scale is unrealistic? Or still doable?
I think mine broke down more like Classwork: 40, Tests and quizzes: 30, Essays/Journals: 30. But I just did total points, so that's a very rough estimate. Also, check with your school to see if there's a policy on grading. We have to do total points, with homework counting as no more than 10%. That's a district policy. Another factor with doing a test that often is that you will lose 50 minutes of instructional time for each test you give. When you give a little quiz, give a time limit. I know assessment is necessary, but it takes so much instructional time, so I make mine as streamlined as possible.
As an add-on to the assessment discussion, you should incorporate informal assessment (teacher-observed, non-graded) whenever possible. Walk around your class, OBSERVE your students' work, and prescribe correction if necessary. This eliminates lots of needless grading and is some of the most beneficial instruction your students can receive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~Next Point~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let the amount of grades you give be guided by how often you want to see where your kids stand. I would recommend quizzes every 2nd or 3rd day. You can constantly assess if you need to move on, re-teach, slow down, or whatever. Quizzes, in my opinion, should be assigned after you feel your students "have it." It shouldn't be a "Gotcha!"; it should be a "show me what you have learned."
I only do about 3 tests per grading period, and it's not always "tests". As Miss Celia said, with only 50 minutes, 5 tests would be difficult to manage.
I posted at the same time as Unbeknownst, so I didn't see her wonderful response, but I feel the same way about quizzes! I think sometimes they are much more beneficial than full on "tests".
5 unit tests are A LOT. Quiz frequently, weekly or biweekly if possible to see where students are. You don't want to get to the end of a unit and realize you have to reteach a certain topic because students did not get it. My grades for my first trimester will look like this: -3 unit tests -10 or so quizzes (plus a few smaller projects worth the same as a quiz) -The Summer Reading Work (test grade) -Summer Reading Test -Departmental Writing Program (test grade when totaled) -One BIG group project worth a test grade -A research paper -Various smaller classwork/homework assignments, and mini-projects/papers (I generally collect 3-5 assignments per week)
And I KNEW that, too... Sorry, just habit makes me write "her". I'm sure you male teachers get very frustrated with that...
You've got a good model for one type of lesson, but it won't be sustainable for every day. There are lots of ways to put together "read-write-think" (which is basically what you have) without its being repetitive. Don't ask them to write about what they relate to all the time. It's good for a starter to introduce a new piece of literature but you'll need more focus. Ask questions like: - What do you think of ______'s actions? What would you do in that situation? - How does the author use __________ in this passage to present a theme/make a point/etc.? - Compare character 1 to character 2/ character from other text. - Agree or disagree with a quote from the text. (or famous quote that relates to the text, or related poem) You get the idea. PLUS, and I know this from experience, if you just tell them to "freewrite" some of them will take you seriously and write ALL KINDS OF STUFF that may or may not have anything to do with literature and may or may not have you scheduling a meeting with the counselor to talk about so-and-so's pot problem. Don't let them freewrite in a journal that stays in the room unless you're comfortable with the liability issue. (and I know that others will have had no problems with this but this is an issue I've had.) Make them read at home. Whatever you're reading in class should really be re-reading, a passage that you have chosen for a particular reason - focus on narrator, irony, imagery, etc. If you are trying to read a whole short story together it could take 2-3 days, depending on what you want them to do as they read. You don't HAVE to take attendance at the beginning of the period unless you are required to count latenesses for something. I only call roll on the first day, after I get them in the right seats. After that I just do a headcount when I get to it during the class period. Definitely have something for them to do in that time. I like sentence corrections or vocabulary. For 11th grade I give very few "traditional" tests. Instead they write analysis papers or complete projects to show their learning. When I do give tests they are more "big picture" - essay questions, short answer, responses to quotes from the text; more like the tests I took in college. Almost never multiple choice on a work of literature (but for vocabulary sometimes.) That also means they take a while to grade and I agree that 5 major tests is too many for 6 weeks. I think I gave that many last YEAR. I generally prefer to assess in other ways. Be prepared for lessons to run both under time and over time. If the kids get going on a good discussion, don't feel like you have to stop them just because you have something else you want to get done - just move whatever it is to the next day if you think it's important. And, and this is true for any first year teacher who might be reading this - GOOGLE YOURSELF. Because your students will. Lock down your facebook and make yourself unsearchable. Make sure there's nothing out there that you wouldn't want them to see.
