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As many of you know, I'm struggling with a bimodal distribution of grades in my classes. I think this indicates a need for a chemistry/honors chemistry split. I've been talking to my administration about the difficulty of meeting the needs of both groups of kids all year and I have been assured all year that my class is supposed to be an honors chemistry class and I should be pushing. Well, I just got slammed on my performance review for failure to meet the needs of the bottom of my class. Seriously, the bottom half of my class doesn't belong in a class called honors chemistry. They belong in chem for all (a BAD word in my district).
What do you to when you're tasked with theaching an honors level class to kids who aren't honors level kids when you're not allowed to say that because it might offend their parents?
I'm so ticked off right now. During the year, my principal has insisted I should be teaching an upper level chemistry class, he has made comments that some kids will struggle no matter what, pointed out that I shoudln't compare myself to the previous teacher because he didn't have all the kids he just had the top (the days before chem for all) and then he slams me on my review (done in the last three weeks of class when there's no time to correct anything) for not doing enough for the bottom of the class.
I could really use some advice from veteran teachers here. How do you both teach high and meet the needs of the bottom of the class? How do you challenge the top without failing the bottom (the real issue is kids have failed my class or not gotten grades high enough to appease parents). I've been talking to my upper kids over the past two weeks and they think I'm not teaching to a high enough level. I think I'm dealing with a situation where some of my students just aren't chemistry material. Obviously, there will not be an honors chem/regular chem split next year.
Let's talk about issues and what I've tried already.
1) I was told I'm not doing enough to give the kids immediate feedback. I do two things here, which my principal pointed out are not working. I do bellwork every day on material taught the day before. Kids get credit for trying but not whether the answer is right or wrong. I'd say about half of my students actually try the bellwork. The others write something down, or nothing at all and wait until I show them the answer. I also treat homework as formative. Again, I want to see that they've tried and again I get students who either copy someone elses work or just write anything down and wait for the answers. My principal is against grading either bellwork or homework because the kids are still learning the material.
Both the bellwork and homework are supposed to provide kids with fast feedback but they only work if the kids actually try. I also treat quizzes as formative assessments by allowing students to correct them and turn in the corrections for 50% credit and students who score less than 70% on exams have to do remediation packets and have the option of retaking the test for a maximum score of 80%. I'm finding that this may be creating more problems though because I think some kids study less because they know there's a way out then they don't study for the retake and score just as bad the second time.
OTOH, I'm told that I don't ask enough higher level questions (remember that this is based on being observed during one particular class when we weren't up to the higher level questions yet but, to be honest, those days are rare in my class. It takes a while to get there and only a few students tag along.). I'm scratching my head. I don't do enough for the bottom AND I'm not teaching high enough. I'm starting to think that I can't win here. I feel like my principal has been telling me to go left all year and just slammed me for not going right on my PR. He's been telling me to teach high and that kids will rise to the challenge, only some don't and now I'm told I didn't do enough for them.
I need help. While I am looking to get out of teaching, I'm likely looking at another year or two in the profession as jobs don't grow on trees these days. I need strategies for giving immediate feedback that work. In theory, bellwork and homework handled as formative assessments should work but they're not working for the bottom of the class because they're not doing them. Yet, I hate grading them because I'm assigning a grade before kids are ready to be graded.
FTR, the complaints of not giving immediate feedback come from student interviews. My principal interviews students to see how we're doing in the classroom. I have a subset of students who tend to not pay attention and then want to blame me when they don't get something. It's particularly bad in one class and I know this is the class doing the complaining because one complaint is I won't answer questions. I will only stop class so many times to answer the same question when the issue is students not paying attention. I'm sure it's this class doing the complaining because this wouldn't be a complaint in my other three classes. I have a hard time keeping this one class on the same pace as the other three because there is a tendency to just not pay attention. I spend more time policing cell phone use, closing books on kids doing homework for other classes, shushing talking, etc, etc, etc...in this class than I do any other. Letting them pace slower isn't an option (IMO, this entire class belongs in a lower level chemistry class).
Then again, maybe I don't have a problem. This PR could be a prelude to letting me go on Friday (the last day for them to tell me I'm not coming back).
I wish I was teaching back in the days when only the top half of the class took chemistry. With chemistry required for graduation, it's a horse of a different color.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 06-13-2012 at 02:41 AM..
Let's talk about issues and what I've tried already.
1) I was told I'm not doing enough to give the kids immediate feedback. I do two things here, which my principal pointed out are not working. I do bellwork every day on material taught the day before. Kids get credit for trying but not whether the answer is right or wrong. I'd say about half of my students actually try the bellwork. The others write something down, or nothing at all and wait until I show them the answer. I also treat homework as formative. Again, I want to see that they've tried and again I get students who either copy someone elses work or just write anything down and wait for the answers. My principal is against grading either bellwork or homework because the kids are still learning the material.
Both the bellwork and homework are supposed to provide kids with fast feedback but they only work if the kids actually try. I also treat quizzes as formative assessments by allowing students to correct them and turn in the corrections for 50% credit and students who score less than 70% on exams have to do remediation packets and have the option of retaking the test for a maximum score of 80%. I'm finding that this may be creating more problems though because I think some kids study less because they know there's a way out then they don't study for the retake and score just as bad the second time.
OTOH, I'm told that I don't ask enough higher level questions (remember that this is based on being observed during one particular class when we weren't up to the higher level questions yet but, to be honest, those days are rare in my class. It takes a while to get there and only a few students tag along.). I'm scratching my head. I don't do enough for the bottom AND I'm not teaching high enough. I'm starting to think that I can't win here. I feel like my principal has been telling me to go left all year and just slammed me for not going right on my PR. He's been telling me to teach high and that kids will rise to the challenge, only some don't and now I'm told I didn't do enough for them.
I need help. While I am looking to get out of teaching, I'm likely looking at another year or two in the profession as jobs don't grow on trees these days. I need strategies for giving immediate feedback that work. In theory, bellwork and homework handled as formative assessments should work but they're not working for the bottom of the class because they're not doing them. Yet, I hate grading them because I'm assigning a grade before kids are ready to be graded.
FTR, the complaints of not giving immediate feedback come from student interviews. My principal interviews students to see how we're doing in the classroom. I have a subset of students who tend to not pay attention and then want to blame me when they don't get something. It's particularly bad in one class and I know this is the class doing the complaining because one complaint is I won't answer questions. I will only stop class so many times to answer the same question when the issue is students not paying attention. I'm sure it's this class doing the complaining because this wouldn't be a complaint in my other three classes. I have a hard time keeping this one class on the same pace as the other three because there is a tendency to just not pay attention. I spend more time policing cell phone use, closing books on kids doing homework for other classes, shushing talking, etc, etc, etc...in this class than I do any other. Letting them pace slower isn't an option (IMO, this entire class belongs in a lower level chemistry class).
Then again, maybe I don't have a problem. This PR could be a prelude to letting me go on Friday (the last day for them to tell me I'm not coming back).
I wish I was teaching back in the days when only the top half of the class took chemistry. With chemistry required for graduation, it's a horse of a different color.
You have a smartboard, I believe. Can you put the questions on the board when students ask them, so that if another student asks the same question, you have it up there already? You could also save the questions from each class period as documentation that you answered them. If you needed to, you could also put a running record of disciplinary interventions similar to the "name on board/check mark" system that so many schools use. If nothing else, you would have a record for the parents and the administration that you are, indeed, teaching the class, answering questions, and addressing conduct issues. If you used Google Docs, the changes would be automatically saved and tracked so that students couldn't easily go in and change the records without a trace.
Good luck. I've had whole years go badly. Fortunately, the one I've just finished was easy, and the grades weren't too bad. I had more A's than I've had in a while, and not as many F's. Although I did have four seniors who couldn't graduate because they didn't pass my class, not even close. i had about 10 other seniors who pulled it out at the last minute to demonstrate mastery of the course objectives, even though they let themselves get way behind. One of them is still trying to con his way to a passing grade, because I've given him a list of things he needs to do so that he can retake his exams later in the summer, but all he really wants is for me to just give him a passing grade so he can get his diploma. Not happening.
Suggestion 1: The one thing I hated about teaching was calling parents, but this is the sort of thing it may help with. At the very beginning, as soon as you see that kids are not really doing their bellwork and/or homework, call the parents. Document the calls.
Suggestion 2: For kids that do well enough on quizzes, continue your policy of not grading homework/bellwork. For those who don't do well enough on quizzes, grade homework and bellwork. Does your school have student TA's? Get one for this purpose.
Suggestion 3: Have parents sign failed quizzes and tests. If a student doesn't return the quiz, call the parents the first day. Keep the signed papers (or a copy) so you can present them to parents who "didn't know" the kid was failing. Doing this (if the students know it) will help prevent forgery. After a second or third failed quiz, call the parents, and during the call be sure to mention the signed quiz that was returned.
All of these will be a pain in the beginning, but if you are consistent, they may work, and they can replace the work you do trying to get students to bring up their grades after they've failed tests.
Suggestion 4: This may have been discussed in a previous thread, but make the tests themselves easy enough to pass, but very hard to get an A. Let the test be 60% very basic questions - perhaps questions taken directly from notes or quizzes - to make it possible for your lower students (who hopefully now have been at least trying) to pass.
None of this will solve the biggest problem, which is that those kids shouldn't all be in the same class, but you work with what you've got.
Do you give a grade for class participation? That is where you can give credit for students who truly attempt the bellwork but get the wrong answer AND you can document those who would not attempt it or scribbled something that is not a real attempt to do the work. It would:
1. Give more feedback. You would be giving students feedback on what they were doing right/wrong without dinging their grade if they got the wrong answer. I agree with not wanting to give an actual grade on the content because students are just learning the material.
2. Provide you with documentation that some students simply do not put in any attempt to do the work while rewarding those who are attempting to learn the material, but don't have the skill yet.
3. Make students do the work. In my experience students only do things if they are being graded on it. They will eventually catch on that doing the bell work helps their grade even if they get the wrong answer.
Another thing that I have seen used in classes is that homework is graded but students that get a C or lower can correct their homework for credit the next day. There are problems with this approach in high school. I think it works better in lower grades where kids are less likely to just cheat.
My middle son had a math teacher who went over quizzes in class. Students were then required to hand in their quiz corrections for a grade. It was the easiest grade ever as all they had to do was pay attention to the teacher, write down what she said and hand it in to the teacher. It made the kids pay attention when the teacher went over the quizzes. The teacher handed back the quiz corrections for students to use when studying for the tests. She did not do this with tests, only quizzes. It made students pay attention when she went over the quiz corrections. BTW-they had to do this during class and hand in the correction before they leave. No going home to copy someone else's quiz corrections.
Let's talk about issues and what I've tried already.
1) I was told I'm not doing enough to give the kids immediate feedback. I do two things here, which my principal pointed out are not working. I do bellwork every day on material taught the day before. Kids get credit for trying but not whether the answer is right or wrong. I'd say about half of my students actually try the bellwork. The others write something down, or nothing at all and wait until I show them the answer. I also treat homework as formative. Again, I want to see that they've tried and again I get students who either copy someone elses work or just write anything down and wait for the answers. My principal is against grading either bellwork or homework because the kids are still learning the material.
Both the bellwork and homework are supposed to provide kids with fast feedback but they only work if the kids actually try. I also treat quizzes as formative assessments by allowing students to correct them and turn in the corrections for 50% credit and students who score less than 70% on exams have to do remediation packets and have the option of retaking the test for a maximum score of 80%. I'm finding that this may be creating more problems though because I think some kids study less because they know there's a way out then they don't study for the retake and score just as bad the second time.
OTOH, I'm told that I don't ask enough higher level questions (remember that this is based on being observed during one particular class when we weren't up to the higher level questions yet but, to be honest, those days are rare in my class. It takes a while to get there and only a few students tag along.). I'm scratching my head. I don't do enough for the bottom AND I'm not teaching high enough. I'm starting to think that I can't win here. I feel like my principal has been telling me to go left all year and just slammed me for not going right on my PR. He's been telling me to teach high and that kids will rise to the challenge, only some don't and now I'm told I didn't do enough for them.
I need help. While I am looking to get out of teaching, I'm likely looking at another year or two in the profession as jobs don't grow on trees these days. I need strategies for giving immediate feedback that work. In theory, bellwork and homework handled as formative assessments should work but they're not working for the bottom of the class because they're not doing them. Yet, I hate grading them because I'm assigning a grade before kids are ready to be graded.
FTR, the complaints of not giving immediate feedback come from student interviews. My principal interviews students to see how we're doing in the classroom. I have a subset of students who tend to not pay attention and then want to blame me when they don't get something. It's particularly bad in one class and I know this is the class doing the complaining because one complaint is I won't answer questions. I will only stop class so many times to answer the same question when the issue is students not paying attention. I'm sure it's this class doing the complaining because this wouldn't be a complaint in my other three classes. I have a hard time keeping this one class on the same pace as the other three because there is a tendency to just not pay attention. I spend more time policing cell phone use, closing books on kids doing homework for other classes, shushing talking, etc, etc, etc...in this class than I do any other. Letting them pace slower isn't an option (IMO, this entire class belongs in a lower level chemistry class).
Then again, maybe I don't have a problem. This PR could be a prelude to letting me go on Friday (the last day for them to tell me I'm not coming back).
I wish I was teaching back in the days when only the top half of the class took chemistry. With chemistry required for graduation, it's a horse of a different color.
Here are some ideas:
CALL.
Let's say you have a kid who's not attempting the chemistry bellwork and is doing poorly on the quizzes. Let that happen 2-3 times to establish a pattern and DOCUMENT THE DATES. If you have Easy Grade Pro, it's pretty easy to establish an assignment for no grade, say, "Nongraded Quiz #1," and then write down in Billy's grade, "Billy did not attempt the assignment."
Then call home -- but do so NOT to criticize, but to offer your help. "Hi, Mrs. Smith, this is Ms. Ivorytickler, Billy's chemistry teacher. Yes, I've noticed that Billy really seems to be struggling with some fundamental chemistry concepts -- the other day during the quiz, he didn't even attempt to do the question, which makes me concerned about his preparation for this course. Hey, listen -- I'd like to offer him the opportunity for tutoring so that he won't fall behind. I'm available every day after school, and I'd like to see him on Wednesday at 2:30 until 3:00."
That way, what you've done is this:
1. Documented the problem
2. Called the parent
3. Offered to go out of your way to help the child
4. Told them, in effect, "Your kid has no clue and might fail."
Suggestion 1: The one thing I hated about teaching was calling parents, but this is the sort of thing it may help with. At the very beginning, as soon as you see that kids are not really doing their bellwork and/or homework, call the parents. Document the calls.
Suggestion 2: For kids that do well enough on quizzes, continue your policy of not grading homework/bellwork. For those who don't do well enough on quizzes, grade homework and bellwork. Does your school have student TA's? Get one for this purpose.
Suggestion 3: Have parents sign failed quizzes and tests. If a student doesn't return the quiz, call the parents the first day. Keep the signed papers (or a copy) so you can present them to parents who "didn't know" the kid was failing. Doing this (if the students know it) will help prevent forgery. After a second or third failed quiz, call the parents, and during the call be sure to mention the signed quiz that was returned.
All of these will be a pain in the beginning, but if you are consistent, they may work, and they can replace the work you do trying to get students to bring up their grades after they've failed tests.
Suggestion 4: This may have been discussed in a previous thread, but make the tests themselves easy enough to pass, but very hard to get an A. Let the test be 60% very basic questions - perhaps questions taken directly from notes or quizzes - to make it possible for your lower students (who hopefully now have been at least trying) to pass.
None of this will solve the biggest problem, which is that those kids shouldn't all be in the same class, but you work with what you've got.
Yeah, I have to get better about calling parents. I think I'm going to buy a calendar book just to keep track of who I call when.
I can't grade homework for some and not for others.
I like having parents sign quizzes. My students won't though
Do you give a grade for class participation? That is where you can give credit for students who truly attempt the bellwork but get the wrong answer AND you can document those who would not attempt it or scribbled something that is not a real attempt to do the work. It would:
1. Give more feedback. You would be giving students feedback on what they were doing right/wrong without dinging their grade if they got the wrong answer. I agree with not wanting to give an actual grade on the content because students are just learning the material.
2. Provide you with documentation that some students simply do not put in any attempt to do the work while rewarding those who are attempting to learn the material, but don't have the skill yet.
3. Make students do the work. In my experience students only do things if they are being graded on it. They will eventually catch on that doing the bell work helps their grade even if they get the wrong answer.
Another thing that I have seen used in classes is that homework is graded but students that get a C or lower can correct their homework for credit the next day. There are problems with this approach in high school. I think it works better in lower grades where kids are less likely to just cheat.
My middle son had a math teacher who went over quizzes in class. Students were then required to hand in their quiz corrections for a grade. It was the easiest grade ever as all they had to do was pay attention to the teacher, write down what she said and hand it in to the teacher. It made the kids pay attention when the teacher went over the quizzes. The teacher handed back the quiz corrections for students to use when studying for the tests. She did not do this with tests, only quizzes. It made students pay attention when she went over the quiz corrections. BTW-they had to do this during class and hand in the correction before they leave. No going home to copy someone else's quiz corrections.
How would you suggest giving more feedback without grades?
I can't grade homework for some and not for others.
I like having parents sign quizzes. My students won't though
Why can't you grade homework for some, if automatic credit is something that is earned by meeting specific criteria? The students who do well have demonstrated that they do not need to be monitored as closely. If a student no longer meets the criteria, his homework is again graded.
Just have parents sign failed quizzes. The fact that they don't like it is a deterrent for those who could succeed but choose not to. If they don't want Mommy and Daddy in on the details of their schoolwork, they can choose to take care of their own responsibilities in a more mature way. If Mommy and Daddy don't want to be bothered, then they are giving up some of their right to complain. Shift some of that responsibility off yourself and onto the kids and the parents.
Instead of grading homework with a numeric, grade for completion. Can you do a pass/fail in your gradebook regarding each homework assignment? Pass means they turned it in, fail, well, you know. That way it will effect their grade, but each assignment isn't graded.
Bell Work, do you do the same thing everyday or do you switch up your bell work? Have you ever done cube questions? You have six questions per cube, you can differentiate the cubes to the different levels in your class. The students throw the cube and have to answer the question on that side. The questions are based on the material you have been covering. Make them write down the answers they came up with and any questions they have on it.
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Seriously, the bottom half of my class doesn't belong in a class called honors chemistry. They belong in chem for all (a BAD word in my district).
