SBG...that is Standards Based Grading...Year #2

So I handed back the first skill quiz to my Algebra 2 students the other day.  I didn't get past three students before one of them asked "what grade is this?" and another asked "is this a B?".  For most of my students this will be their first experience with SBG.  I have talked about it profusely in my Math Department PLC and encouraged others to investigate or even try it themselves but no one has taken me up on the offer to assist them.  I am involved in district wide curriculum discussions and when I talk about SBG and its impact on student learning I get a lot of requests for information from other teachers.  So far no one has taken the bait and been hooked.

Back to the SBG and my Algebra 2 classes.  Today I distributed a new and improved copy of my SBG Rubric to all of my students.  This year I switched from the old 4 point scale (actually it was a 0 to 5 scale) to what I think will be a "nicer" scale of 5 to 10.  Last year I had to spend a lot of time explaining to students that a 2 out of 4, even though it is not good, really did not equate to a 50% or F.  This was even more difficult for good students who scored 3 out of 4.  Really...a 75% means I am doing ok?  The go-getter students saw this as pure motivation to kick it into high gear and make sure that 3 became a 4.  Pure magic for them...not so much for my reluctant scholars.

I will try to post my new rubric just in case someone is following this blog and would like to see it (and offer some constructive criticism).

Remember...Math Rocks!

ps - I had to send a student (11th grade) to the hall today because he asked "Who farted?" at least 12 times in a 4 minute span.  When he left the room another student who was sitting near him said, "Mr. C, what is the probability that he was the one who farted?" as everyone else laughed...we just happened to be discussing probability today.

A New School Year...

It is good to be back at school and into the routine again.  This year has some changes in store for me, including no more teaching Enriched Geometry.  I must say I will miss it ( but at least I can help my daughter with her geometry work ).

This will also be year #2 in my implementation of SBG (standards based grading).  Last year went well and I think my students began to grasp the reasoning behind SBG.  This year I am making a few changes to my system, including going to a 5 - 10 point rubric.  I will post some of my resources and rubrics once I can catch a breath from the start of the school year.

I shall return...

ok so now I am back.  I had to assist my daughter with her homework.

Today was our first all district staff development day.  It began (after coffee and rolls) with our Superintendent talking with us about various things.  One of the items on her agenda was discussing the use of technology by our students and how it could be used for learning.  The district is opening up the idea of letting students bring in their own technology (byot).  A little depressing seeing that we are always in the midst of budget woes and are currently beginning year number 2 of a 4 day school week.
But, hey...it would be exciting to have ipads and laptops at our disposal for each and every student...wishful thinking.

Back to SBG.  I am working on revising my sills lists for each of my classes and I am struggling with how detailed my lists should be.  For example in Algebra 2 one of my items is "use appropriate counting procedures including permutations and combinations."  Should I break this up into separate skills, like a specific one for permutations, another for combinations, and even another for fundamental counting principle?

What do you think?

I'll give this a try...

I am putting some of the final touches on my version of Skill Based Assessment and will be sharing the process with you.  Things are kind of crazy for me right now as I am juggling my ever so busy teaching workload with the added tasks of being an assistant coach for my son's high school baseball team.  Top that off with being the "commissioner" of our communities youth baseball program and you realize there just isn't enough time in a single day to do all that you want/need to do.

My first post...which should be up later this week, will be about the creation of my "skills" list for Algebra 2.  This was seemingly going to be an easy task but now that I am in the third trimester of the school year I have found my self revising the list more often.  As you follow my posts keep in mind that this is a work in progress and the nature of everything is tailored to how things occur in my classroom.  Your environment is certainly different than mine to some degree.  Please feel free to comment (I tend to take constructive criticism quite well).

More on Assessing in the Classroom

Skills Based Assessment, Formative Assessment, Summative Assessment,...asess, assess, assess...

I have spent much if this school year thinking about how I assess my students within the classroom.  What I have discovered/realized was not to comforting or professionally reassuring.  I think I have been doing it wrong.  Not completely wrong, but wrong in the sense that I was simply giving assessments "of" learning rather than "for" learning.

I have been visiting numerous blogs written by those that are walking in the same shoes that I am.  Teachers from throughout the country who have implemented some sort of skills based assessment and are seeing it the way that I see it.  From my readings (thier writings) I have been creating my own system to assess students in my Algebra 2 classes.  It is something that has taken a lot of time and energy to develop and I am still not where I want to be with it.  I am seeing students respond to it and as I get better at implementing it, they too will respond better (I hope).