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the Weekly | 1.17.22
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Agent of Change: Sidney Poitier
Following Poitier's death January 6, much has been written in honor of his work and his life, and the remarkable nature of both. However, a recent CNN article highlighted Poitier's role as an activist for social justice during the Civil Rights Movement, something that may have been overshadowed by the many accolades related to his career. While some in the Black Power movement considered him too 'safe', and he was by no means a radical, Poitier was a staunch supporter of racial progress. He recognized the weight of responsibility associated with his position in the theater and chose roles with consideration of that responsibility. Like many other celebrities at the time, Poitier had participated in the March on Washington in 1963, along with his friend, Harry Belafonte. As the movement heated up, Belafonte had developed a friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was connected with members of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. During Freedom Summer of 1964, Belafonte asked Poitier to travel with him to Mississippi - the front lines of the fight. The purpose of the trip was to deliver much needed cash Belafonte was giving to support civil rights activists in the South. Mississippi was widely seen as an epicenter of violence related to the Civil Rights movement. Belafonte and Poitier made the trip and, indeed, became targets for local KKK members, coming under gunfire as they attempted to make their delivery. While they made it out of Mississippi alive, it likely changed the perspective some had of Poitier playing it too safe!
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Wellness: One Word Challenge
Do you find yourself in an annual pattern of making New Year's resolutions, only to have abandoned them by February 1? Or feel that you should implement the SMART goals you ask your students to do when they start a new school year or semester? How about a strategy for simplifying and focusing your efforts on making something stick?
Jon Gordon, of The Energy Bus, and some of his associates, want you to consider their One Word Challenge. While there's a book about it and some activities to help you find & acknowledge your word (see the link below), the gist is to choose a word that represents your mission for the year - a one-word mission. Clear. Relevant. Focused. Uncluttered.
What's your Word?
For More Info on This Week's Topics
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Chapter 7 of Tom Schimmer's book, Grading from the Inside Out, addresses redefining accountability.
To access eBook, click on link for the 香港六合彩资料 Start Page, choose Gale Group, then Gale eBooks. Find Grading from the Inside Out in the Grading and Assessment section.
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Spotlight On...Feedback
The information included here comes from "7 Key Characteristics of Better Learning Feedback", by Grant Wiggins for TeachThought.
Helpful feedback is...Goal-referenced, transparent, actionable, user-friendly, timely, ongoing, and consistent. Not all feedback is effective. Keeping these characteristics at the forefront will yield greater results. In this week's article, I'll address the first 4 characteristics.
Quality learning feedback is goal-referenced: Feedback is only relevant within the context of an intent (implicit or otherwise) and the consequence of one's actions on that intent. "Any and all feedback refers to a purpose I am presumed to have...Given a desired outcome, feedback is what tells me if I should continue on or change course...Better student achievement may thus depend not on more 'teaching' or feedback only but constant reminders by teachers of the goal against which feedback is given.
Quality learning feedback is transparent and tangible, value-neutral information about what happened: Along with a clear goal, then, there must be "transparent and tangible results related to the goal... We need to know the tangible consequences of our attempts, the most concrete detail possible - goal-related facts from which we can learn." Samples and models of work are very useful in this regard for both students and teachers. "Video games are the purest example of such tangible feedback systems: for every action we take there is a tangible effect. We use that information to either stay on the same course or adjust course. The more information 'fed back' to us, the more we can self-regulate, and self-adjust as needed...[feedback] permits optimal self-regulation in a system with clear goals." As teachers, some of the most impactful feedback can come from watchin a video of ourselves teaching.
Quality learning feedback provides actionable information: "Data and facts you can use to improve on your own...no praise, no blame, no value judgment." Consider the comedian whose jokes don't elicit laughter from the audience. He or she is responding to that feedback by adjusting the jokes or the delivery in order to get the results intended. "Feedback is that concrete, specific, and useful. That is not to say that I know what the feedback means, i.e. why the effect happened or what I should do next, merely that the feedback is clear and concrete." But there must be actionable information provided, not only about what didn't work but also about what went right.
Quality learning feedback is user-friendly: In order to be useful or valuable, the user cannot be overwhelmed by it and must be able to understand it. Strive to avoid being either overly technical or unspecific. "I need to perceive the actionable, tangible details of what I did...[share] one or two important things they noticed that, if they can be changed, will likely yield immediate and noticeable improvement, and they don't offer advice until they are convinced the performer sees what they saw."
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FAQ | Standards-Based Grading
Question: What about students who don't turn in any work?
Response: In his book, Grading from the Inside Out, Tom Schimmer addresses the importance of redefining accountability in response to students who don't follow through on their end. He discusses how holding students accountable is another place where we must be careful to separate behaviors from academic proficiency. He outlines four profiles of students: Infrequent Can't Dos, Chronic Can't Dos, Infrequent Didn't Dos, and Chronic Didn't Dos. Each profile requires a different type of response from the teacher and the 'system'.
Infrequent Can't Dos
- skill deficiency prevents student from completing required assignment
- happens occasionally; is unpredictable and rare
- behavioral consequences for an academic shortcoming are not appropriate
- teacher is in best position to address specific learning issue
- may include attendance during targeted GOLD time, tutoring at lunch or after school, or extra support or instruction during class time
- likely doesn't require a system, process or protocol
Chronic Can't Dos
- skill deficiency or gap in understanding
- predictable and ongoing
- behavioral consequences for an academic shortcoming are not appropriate
- teacher works within the school's systems (ie GOLD time, MTSS, IEPs) to understand and support the learning challenge of student, and to respond effectively
- intensity of intervention should match intensity of challenge
- may include a weekly scheduled appointment with student, time with a resource teacher, inclusion in a preexisting program, evaluation for academic supports, etc.
Infrequent Didn't Dos
- has capacity to complete required assignments but hasn't done so
- make learning mandatory rather than invitational
- the consequence for not doing the work is doing the work
- shared responsibility of school
- GOLD time can be used to provide another opportunity for student to complete work, or the teacher may engage in the MTSS process to address behavior (if student is defiant about completing the work) and missing work
- CTs could establish one classroom during GOLD for 'Didn't Do' students
Chronic Didn't Dos
- capable of completing most of the work but continually falls short of doing so
- shared responsibility of school, utilizing the MTSS process and supports/programs within PBIS
- requires behavioral interventions to move student towards increased productivity; interventions need to be tailored to the needs of the student
- offer social-skills support; avoid removal and isolation
- necessary interventions focus on student attributes and work habits (ie pacing work completion, accessing supports in advance of deadlines, breaking big tasks into smaller, more manageable ones, completing homework at school)
- if student continues to refuse to do work or to participate in interventions, it becomes a discipline issue (still not removal or isolation, however) within school procedures for responding to inappropriate behavior or disrespectful interactions
- what looks like apathy may be a lack of understanding or increased anxiety; be cautious, particularly regarding any disciplinary approach
