February's Topic

When was the last time you sat still for most of a 7 hour day?  Was it fun? Sounds rough to me but it's what our students do most days.

This month 3 SISD teachers will share strategies with you to get kids up and moving and learning!

Wednesday, February 10th  we'll learn from Eric McMahan at the elementary school

Wednesday, February 17th we'll learn from Sarah Wilson at the middle school

Wednesday, February 24th we'll learn from Candance Clarke at the high school

via GIPHY

Authentic Audience in the Middle School

Just a quick short note about me then I will get to the point. This is my 7th year teaching at Sunnyvale and my 2nd year as a 5th grade teacher. My husband is Reagan and we have a rowdy 7 year old named Jake.

When the students realize they have an authentic audience and it is not just going to be their teachers or peers seeing their projects, it seems to instill a sense of pride into them, both as a group and as an individual. They want to impress whomever they are creating for and I think most students always want their products to be the best. When they finish with a project, it is not only authentic, but also they are genuinely proud of their work and want to show it off.

Recently my husband had the chance to be the audience for a 5th grade science ELU and he came to school to give the students feedback. They loved when he directly recognized items from their products and asked them specific questions as to how they came up with the ideas. So, not only is it important to launch and ELU with your audience, but also to invite that audience back to review and give feedback on the finished project product.

Authentic Audience in the Elementary School

If Margaret Wise Brown (the author of “The Important Book”) were to write about an authentic audience, I think it would go something like this:

The important thing about an authentic audience is that the audience is meaningful to your students. An authentic audience can increase student engagement and effort in their learning. The audience should be relevant to the material you’re discussing. It is best if the audience can provide timely feedback. But the important thing about an authentic audience is that the audience is meaningful to your students.

            Students are much more likely to put in extra effort if they know they’re preparing for a special or unique audience. Teachers are the same way! Think back to your PDAS days. I know it’s a mood killer, but it will make this point easier to relate too. Think about how much time and effort you put into preparing that one lesson. You gave it your all because you knew your administrator would be basing the majority of your evaluation off of that one lesson. Now think about how much time and effort you put into your lessons on a daily basis. A lot of teachers write lesson plans because we have to and our administrators are going to make sure we have entered them. Likewise, our students tend to do average work because we make it a requirement and it will be for a grade. If we want students to give it their all, we need to provide them with a meaningful audience.

            When considering an audience for your students, it is imperative that the audience is relevant! Would you value teaching feedback from a three star Michelin chef? While I respect Gordon Ramsay’s ability to cook and his British accent, I would not take what he had to say about my teaching to heart. Similarly, students are more likely to apply constructive feedback from someone that’s “in the business” as opposed to the person teaching about “the business.” If we want students to go above and beyond, we need to provide them with a meaningful audience.

            Like with most components of teaching, there’s not a one-size-fits-all audience for our students. In order to pick a meaningful audience, you must first get to know the kids in your class. Once you know what makes them “tick,” you can do a better job in choosing your audience for each assignment. Instead of trying to find a variety of audience members for one assignment, it is my recommendation to provide a variety of audience members throughout the year. If we want the most from our students, we need to provide them with a meaningful audience.

            Unfortunately, it is becoming harder to keep students engaged and to get the most out of them. One way to remedy this challenge is by providing students with an authentic audience that is also meaningful!

Faren DeRieux - I graduated with my Master’s degree from Austin College in 2009. I played college soccer, and I still play in adult leagues! This is my 7^th year to teach (fourth year in Sunnyvale). I have two daughters: Tori (3 years old) and Brianna (10 months old).

Formative Assessment in the High School

In a tested STAAR E.O.C. subject like U.S. History, formative assessments are crucial to meeting individual student needs as well as the needs of an entire class. Over the years I have refined my formative measurements to include numerous methods, and it is an ever-changing process. 

Last year I began using Socrative as a way to introduce unit TEKS to students. I create my unit test beforehand and then select questions for the formative assessments. This successfully introduces students to the TEKS, the topics, and the necessary reading comprehension. In addition, before the summative test, I can open the Socrative for students to review. This year, I began using Kahoot as a quick way to check for understanding over one or two TEKS. Students love Kahoot and it gives instant feedback! I also go "old school" and use graphic organizers or short answer questions after direct teach portions to ensure students apply the knowledge. Recently, I adjusted this approach to use a short answer round robin, where each table had a question and students rotated around to answer the questions. Activities like that give students an opportunity to practice their writing skills for the unit summative writing assessment. The process is a bit different for my dual credit classes, where I use discussion boards to check for understanding over primary documents or important concepts. Dual credit requires some independent learning and a faster pace, so formative assessments focus on the ability to analyze information and to express critical thinking. Formative assessments scaffold instruction, building to a summative assessment, but also scaffold a variety of learning skills. 

Go Raiders!

Kerry Green is the U.S. History teacher (11th Grade) at SHS, and has been with Sunnyvale since the high school opened (formerly known as Mrs. Cookston). She has four sons: J.W. (graduate 2012), Wade (senior), Ryan (sophomore), and Wyatt (8th grade). 

Formative Assessment in the Middle School

Transform your classroom and the educational journey of your students by consistently using formative assessments.  They take many shapes, and teachers must develop their own style.  Formative assessment includes oral language and questions, projects or performance assessments, written components, movement and gesture activities, technology tools, and more.  The practice of using formative assessment allows a teacher to reward students for their competency and skills, and it highlights those students in need of extra help in their learning journey.  The teacher, with feedback, can make decisions about the next instructional step.  

Besides the teacher having valuable data on their students' understanding, formative assessments aid the students by empowering them to take ownership in their learning journey.  They can gauge their own level of understanding and seek further assistance with this knowledge.  Students can increase their capacity for success.  As the students feel a part of their own learning process, it becomes more meaningful and relevant to them.

Great teachers know their students, make adjustments, and empower their students to participate in the educational process.  That creates a truly transformational journey for everyone.

I was born and raised in Dallas, and I graduated from Texas A&M University in 1985.  Two years later, I married my husband, Pete Fitzgerald.  We have three boys, Dale, Curt, and Luke.  After living in College Station for sixteen years, we moved back to this area in order to be closer to family.  I have been in Sunnyvale since 2091, and I feel like this is home.  

Laura Fitzgerald

Formative Assessments in the Elementary School

Formative Assessment (dramatic pause with thoughts of the voice of Edwin Starr) , what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing!  Sing it again, sing it again!  Formative assessment, uh-wooh, what is it good for… okay I’m just joking, absolutely EVERYTHING! Bless my heart for trying to connect E Starr to formative assessments! A teacher can try for cryin’ out loud. Okay honestly for the first 8 years of my 12 years teaching, I had little to no idea what to do with formative assessment. What was this mystical word that principals encouraged me to use and why did I need it?  I grouped this type of thing with my pile of “ geez, another thing I need to grade” category or I convinced myself (you don’t have to twist my arm about it ) I’ll save that for figuring it all out during my summer months when I have all the time in the world.  Cough, yeah right. Data was a check box on my teacher to do list that I rarely looked over twice. Yes, I really did rat myself out.  Seriously folks, I was counting my grades and making sure I had enough, if you know what I mean. Personally my value for formative assessments was nil and I had no use/time for it in my classroom.

About 4 years ago I moved out of Texas to Colorado. There I had twice as many students per teacher and twice as many needs. In the school district I was in, teachers have little resources and tons of students, and have to develop individual learning plans (the two words I don’t like to say too loud, measurable date).  I was in desperate need to find help and find it quick. There was a course that was available to me because I was a new professional to the school, so I signed up.  The class was working through a book called, 7 Strategies of Assessment for Learning.  The evasive formative assessment had followed me all the way to the Rockies. Fine, fine, I catch on quick.  The author, Jan Chappuis, has equipped me to look at what it is and what it isn’t. My first common major mistake was plain ol’ misunderstanding. Formative assessment is not an instrument or an event, but a collection of practices with a common feature: they all lead to some action that improves learning (pg. 4).  In the words of Mrs. Chappuis, this kind of assessment is essentially feedback, it is immediately used to make adjustments so as to form new learning (pg. 4).

The light had come on. A new dawn had come. I was blind but now I see. Yada, yada, needless to say I had a new, deep understanding of formative assessments.  Whereas my old teacher ways had formative assessments in the trunk of my educational car, now my new teacher ways has formative assessments as my passenger. The more I practice this way of teacher feedback, the more time and understanding I have of my students. It’s not just my teacher gut (which by the way all good teachers have) but, now I can prove it with data. This new way for me is empowering and has built me stronger and more effective as an educator.

All good teachers want to improve learning for their students. Formative assessments allow students to self-monitor, close gaps, clear up vague understands, and have targets to focus on when struggling with a variety of contents. This is for all grade levels and all abilities.  

Data is a friend to all teachers.

Karye Boyer is a girl who likes to equip people with the things they need to love life, love learning and to love themselves. She’s been teaching for 11 years in public schools and hopes to one day grow up to be like Gretchen Barnabei. Her family is happy to live back in Texas.  She teaches 4th grade ELA/R and Social Studies. She thinks teaching is fun!

October's Topic

This month's posts on Raider2Raider will all focus on use of formative assessments.

We will learn from Karye Boyer from the elementary school on Wednesday, October 14th.

We will learn from Laura Fitzgerald from the middle school on Wednesday, October 21st.

We will learn from Kerry Green from the high school on Wednesday, October 28th.