Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Questions/Concerns/Issues
Please note any questions/concerns/issues you have regarding i-growth data and the plan as presented on 8-18-09 with Tony Vanderzyl. This is your time to give us feedback that will help us to customize the plan and create time if needed to make this a productive, but not burdensome plan for all.
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It would be nice to run though the process on a computer during a meeting before attempting to do so with students. A handout would be nice.
ReplyDeleteGood idea Linda- No doubt we need to give you all some time to practice this with each other prior to going through the process with the kids. We will discuss further.
ReplyDeleteI’m confused. WHAT is homeroom for? Steve said three times in in-service last week that the most important thing we can do in homeroom is “build relationships with students.” Now IGrowth data is taking precedence.
ReplyDeleteThrough HSTW we were told the purpose of homeroom was to provide students support and a chance for extra help. We were also assured that homeroom would NOT become an extra prep with additional paperwork for the teachers.
Last week the homeroom schedule we were given included no provision for extra help, more paperwork for teachers, and minimal time for building relationships.
In a full 5-day week of homerooms (of which there are 19--including the current week--out of 39 weeks of school this year), we have 70 minutes of homeroom (14 x 5 =70).
From that subtract 14 minutes for Monday SSR,
subtract 6 minutes to take mandatory attendance,
subtract 10 minutes ( 2 minutes X 5 students/week for grade check) on Tuesday,
subtract 6 minutes (2 minutes x 3 students per week for I Growth goals),
subtract 14 minutes for currents events (Wednesday or Friday),*
and that leaves 20 minutes.
Divide the 20 minutes by the 18 students I have in homeroom,
and that leaves 1.11 minutes per (full) week for building relationships.
(*Both Wed. and Fri. are supposed to be used for current events tweeting and blogging, but I can’t handle negative numbers.)
WHAT about the many homerooms that have more than 18 students?
WHO is supervising the other students in homeroom while teachers are checking grades and setting IGrowth goals?
HOW will 18-21 students be blogging and tweeting and checking grades in homerooms with only one computer?
WHAT do teachers tell the students who need extra help or make-up assignments from absences?
WHEN are we supposed to fill out emails to parents, I Growth goal forms with students, and two reports to administrators?
Like many teachers, I have 200+ student contacts every day. We are already expected to juggle technology integration, AIW/PLC reading and preparation, ICDP’s, extracurricular evaluations, Iowa Core, blogging responses instead of having live discussion and group feedback, and implementing Higher Order Thinking Skills and questioning--and--oh, yeah, teaching. We are supposed to implement the IGrowth component and percentage ITED increase in our ICDP even though not all of our students may be in our homerooms for testing because they have built a relationship with other teachers.
We’re one week into the school year and, yes, I have questions and concerns.
I find this very interesting- I am thinking some of the other "things" we do in homeroom need to go. I believe that working on the I Growth plan during this time will allow us to build the relationships I did talk about in the first days meetings. Good information and as I told you we need to know what you and others are thinking and TOGETHER we come up with the best plan to move forward with our I Growth Plan. Thanks for your post- can't wait to visit about this. BTW the Higher Order Thinking Skills by now should be a given. They really should. This has been talked about and discussed for years.
ReplyDeleteI am glad the handout we were given during inservice was only a starting point for discussion about homeroom work. I noticed "share day" was no longer a suggestion. Yet the electronic paper trail gets longer. Seems a few years ago it was stressed to us that quality, not quantity, was the goal. When it comes to Higher Order Thinking Skills, everyone should realize that that classes and teachers are works in progress - we never reach our goals (even as a school) because there will always be room for improvement. Such thinking skills are not always a part of EVERY exercise/activity in the classroom nor EVERY inservice or faculty meeting. That's why sometimes school can be fun - assemblies, mini-golf, homecoming. Maybe those need to go if they aren't raising tests scores and producing higher order thinking skills. There's always a balance - maybe we are losing sight of that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Vicki and David are saying. It seems that the homeroom time has changed since we first created it with HSTW. If we go solely to igrowth I am afraid of losing the chance of building student relationships. It seems that more and more gets put on our plates with more and more expectations. I'm not sure how to do all of the extra things being asked and still do what I'm here to do... teach my students.
ReplyDeleteThe above comments also reflect my feelings. As we progressed through the in-service days before school, I could sense that the stress level was definitely rising with all of the expectations outside of the school day. Have we actually accomplished the things that we said were important in homerooms when we first got them going--or have we just dropped them and gone on to a totally new set of initiatives?
ReplyDeleteI am also wondering about time with sped kids. We are working on things they need to complete and help they need also. That is also a time some of us do our progress monitoring because that is the only time we see them in the day. I was on that homeroom commity when we set it up, our goal was to help students get the help that they need. Not to mention with sporting activities, what about those students? My two cents.
ReplyDeleteMy concern with going over the igrowth data is the time factor. As previously mentioned, there is little time in homeroom to get everything done. I can just imagine that going through everyone's scores (in addition to SSR, showing grades, helping students) could take a long, long time. I do think it's beneficial to share that information with students, but it could take awhile . . .
ReplyDeleteI want to focus on "building relationships". I question how igrowth is suppose to "build relationships" with my students. I sure wouldn't see it as building a relationship with someone where I had to sit down, discuss my scores on some tests I had taken, discuss what were my thoughts and feelings when taking the test, discuss what can I do to bring the scores up, and then turn around and discuss here's what we want you to do and if you succeed this is what I get. I forgot to add I would also have to journal about what I was doing to bring my scores up. I definitely would not be excited and I wouldn't see it necessarily bringing me closer to my teacher. Relationship building is deeper and it takes time. It's showing care, respect, trust, and understanding. I feel igrowth is more about the dots, the lines, and the outcomes rather than the student.
ReplyDeleteAll of your comments are so valid and so well thought out. Getting your input is JUST WHAT WE NEED! ALL of your comments make so much sense and definitely need to be taken into consideration as we move forward. Thank you to ALL of you for taking the time to comment. You are great thinkers and are the ones in the 'trenches' and together, we will come up with a solution!
ReplyDeleteMy first concern is that I need a computer to use in my homeroom. In my mind I can see IGrowth working first as a large group discussion as suggested by Tony. I look forward to the individual conversations with my students. Yes, this will be time consuming, but I don't think it will take all homerooms. I see it building one on one communication. I find myself chuckling a little as I remember vividly all of the time and hard work that went into setting up the schedule and activities for personalization in the homerooms, and then all of the negative criticism received for those very schedules and activities. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest concern about homeroom is that we have not yet decided a direction or goals except for SSR and the handbook. I feel that already having two weeks without expectations has set a precedent for the year that will be long lasting. I would like to have this conversation sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of comments in both strands...namely, the idea to give standardized tests in the discipline(s) that students learn them, hold them accountable for them by giving them a % of their score as a grade in their current class, and also to give the minimum amount of tests. I am also curious to the scheduling of igrowth into homeroom time. We will need instruction, and you know what...all of these things will work out in the end. It doesn't have to be determined (or done by) tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI am willing to forgo other homeroom activities in order to hit igrowth information hard up to test time. We can then get back to "normal" homeroom activities post ITED. I also feel students will have a more favorable mindset for success on the ITED tests if taken in familiar curricular surroundings. Science in science rooms, Math in math rooms etc. I do not feel comfortable about giving the ITED grading weight in my class when a majority of the test usually is not addressing my particular area of science.
ReplyDeleteMy question is what do we do with seniors that we have in homerooms since they don't take ITED's. I think if we are to do this, we need more time to clearly understand the expectation of what we are supposed to be doing with the igrowth concept. An hour in-service is not enough in my opinion to understand what is expected out of us.
ReplyDeleteI think the igrowth data is important, but I do have concerns about the time issue as some have already addressed. Another concern I have is that unfortunately homeroom is the only time I see a chunk of my special education students which is barely enough the way it is. Homeroom is such a short period of time the way it is and now we're being asked to do 1 more think in that time slot.
ReplyDeleteFor seniors, Tony did present the ACT/SAT predicted score table in which you can use the ITED score to indicate what the student SHOULD score on the ACT test. That is one idea to use with seniors. I am thinking, though, that this would obviously only be accurate if the ITED score were a true indicator of student ability. So........
ReplyDelete