I Over the years I evolved my planning and grading in many ways. No year was the same; new windows kept opening, and I kept following the next opportunity I saw to get better at what I do. The mission in the back of my mind was:
"How do I make grading more fair?"
"What will encourage learning rather than completion?"
"What is my grade book really conveying?"
These questions led me to what I now call my teaching cycles.
Finding the Skills
I have three cycles of teaching I use when planning any unit. There is a big picture that I draw from starting with the skills. I want them to learn the skills, and I make sure there are not too many in the cycle. A balanced number of skills combined with a goal leads to successful learning. I start with the question "what do I need them to know." It is no longer about what I want them to learn. There are higher powers that be that as educators we must answer to. There are standards, essential skills, common core, college readiness standards, or whatever your state calls them. This is the task I am charged with implementing into my curriculum for my students' learning. Regardless of your personal preference, every school district has a curriculum made up of essential skills, and we must teach it. It is our framework, our foundation and the base of where we can build our curriculum. Sometimes this means letting go of a favorite activity or lesson. My cycles of teaching no longer are activity focused. They are skill focused, but that doesn't mean the creativity and fun is lost. In fact, I feel the creativity has increased since I changed my planning.
Purpose
Thanks to a friend in education, I have been challenged daily by her to seek the purpose of my lessons. What is the purpose of this activity? What is the purpose of this reading? What is the purpose of this lesson? I ask myself the purpose of what I am teaching each time I start to plan a learning cycle. My purpose revolved around the skills necessary for my students' learning. It keeps me focused on the real mission of teaching. It is not about "exposure" , it is not about "the text I love to teach", it is not about "what I am good at". It is about what will be the best vehicle to get students to master the skills I am charged with teaching. I have come to recognize that I will not control what students pick to read or write in their future, but if I can teach them skills to use when they do these things, they should be able to read and write anything.
Mastery
Is it really possible to "master" all the skills? I say with the right amount of differentiation and relearning opportunities, yes it is. It takes patience on the teacher's part. Those of us that have our own children know exactly how patient we have to be sometimes in order to allow our kids to go through a learning process before they are successful at anything: tying their shoe, riding their bike, swimming, writing, reading. It doesn't matter what our children are trying to learn they fall down and mess up and get it wrong before they get it mastered. I implement this theory in my classroom. This ability to process and figure it out leads students to master the important skills on a timeline which they feel comfortable.
Differentiation
Can all students leave my room with the same understanding of skill sets? I always ask people to think about driving on the Kansas City highways. All those drivers behind the wheels got a driver's license, but did they all know how to use their blinkers correctly, or parallel park, or even merge onto the highway? If you are not a KC driver, the answer is NO. There are drivers that are not so good at some of these things. I recognize that understanding levels will differ between each student walking out my door at the end of the year. But my job is to decide what are my non-negotiable items? What are the basic level of understanding required before leaving my doors that will aid in their success in the next grade level? or in their professional careers?
The Learning Cycles
In my planning I planned entire units based on three phases: Learning Cycle, Assessment Cycle, ReLearning/Extension Cycle. My students knew what the dates of these cycles would be for every unit when we started. These cycles allowed me to give ample attention and importance to all phases of learning. It also helped me to develop a growth mindset about their learning.
Learning Cycle
Learning is not that different than some of the concepts that we see in the Pixar movie "Inside Out". Not all memories are going to be Core Memories or Long Term Memories instantly. I explained to my students during the Learning Cycle, they have time to condition these new things they learn into long term memory. They felt a release of pressure to have to know it all right away, as many teachers expect.
My Learning Cycle lasted anywhere from two to three weeks. I did only formative assessment at this phase in the learning. I did have a conversation with my principal on this idea, prior to implementing, since most schools have some kind of policy on regular grade entry. I did not enter grades during this time. As the year went on, grades on relearning or reassessment of skills were added continually, but the first three weeks of school, I did not enter grades. I was only grading on skill mastery, no compliance or behaviors were graded. During this phase of learning, students were provided the skills, standards/objectives, lessons and choices of readings. Students had practice tasks to complete during the Learning Cycle. I worked with students individually and in small groups daily. The "Stand and Deliver" method had left my classroom years before when I first started flipping instruction.
During Learning Cycles students felt safe to "get it wrong" or guess and try skills without punishment or grading. I saw students finally enjoy the process of learning again. I think it is so important for students to enjoy learning and recognize that it is a process. They shouldn't get it on the first try.
Assessment Cycle
During the Assessment Cycle, I assessed directly on the skills and standards presented in the Learning Process. Rubrics were created in advance and each skill was assessed individually. I did not do one test grade or one essay grade. These assessments were entered as five or six grades in my grade book. I also did not require students to assess skills they had already demonstrated mastery on. This was a workflow that I had to create to keep track of student mastery. It also meant that I entered grades for some students and left some for later. I no longer started at the top of the column and entered all the test scores at one time. During the assessment cycle I also allowed students to assess in different ways.
ReAssessment and Enrichment Cycle
During the week following assessment, I provided time for my students to use the feedback from assessments to either relearn or grow from enrichment application. One thing that is often left out of classrooms is the time to reflect, relearn, and apply new knowledge after assessments. I did not move on, I used the data from the assessment cycle to help me reteach in some cases, things that were not scored at mastery. I was also able to see student strengths and able to give them problems to apply the skills to in new situations. This is one of the most valuable times we can provide students, time to reflect and process the feedback we have given.
"How do I make grading more fair?"
"What will encourage learning rather than completion?"
"What is my grade book really conveying?"
These questions led me to what I now call my teaching cycles.
Finding the Skills
I have three cycles of teaching I use when planning any unit. There is a big picture that I draw from starting with the skills. I want them to learn the skills, and I make sure there are not too many in the cycle. A balanced number of skills combined with a goal leads to successful learning. I start with the question "what do I need them to know." It is no longer about what I want them to learn. There are higher powers that be that as educators we must answer to. There are standards, essential skills, common core, college readiness standards, or whatever your state calls them. This is the task I am charged with implementing into my curriculum for my students' learning. Regardless of your personal preference, every school district has a curriculum made up of essential skills, and we must teach it. It is our framework, our foundation and the base of where we can build our curriculum. Sometimes this means letting go of a favorite activity or lesson. My cycles of teaching no longer are activity focused. They are skill focused, but that doesn't mean the creativity and fun is lost. In fact, I feel the creativity has increased since I changed my planning.
Purpose
Thanks to a friend in education, I have been challenged daily by her to seek the purpose of my lessons. What is the purpose of this activity? What is the purpose of this reading? What is the purpose of this lesson? I ask myself the purpose of what I am teaching each time I start to plan a learning cycle. My purpose revolved around the skills necessary for my students' learning. It keeps me focused on the real mission of teaching. It is not about "exposure" , it is not about "the text I love to teach", it is not about "what I am good at". It is about what will be the best vehicle to get students to master the skills I am charged with teaching. I have come to recognize that I will not control what students pick to read or write in their future, but if I can teach them skills to use when they do these things, they should be able to read and write anything.
Mastery
Is it really possible to "master" all the skills? I say with the right amount of differentiation and relearning opportunities, yes it is. It takes patience on the teacher's part. Those of us that have our own children know exactly how patient we have to be sometimes in order to allow our kids to go through a learning process before they are successful at anything: tying their shoe, riding their bike, swimming, writing, reading. It doesn't matter what our children are trying to learn they fall down and mess up and get it wrong before they get it mastered. I implement this theory in my classroom. This ability to process and figure it out leads students to master the important skills on a timeline which they feel comfortable.
Differentiation
Can all students leave my room with the same understanding of skill sets? I always ask people to think about driving on the Kansas City highways. All those drivers behind the wheels got a driver's license, but did they all know how to use their blinkers correctly, or parallel park, or even merge onto the highway? If you are not a KC driver, the answer is NO. There are drivers that are not so good at some of these things. I recognize that understanding levels will differ between each student walking out my door at the end of the year. But my job is to decide what are my non-negotiable items? What are the basic level of understanding required before leaving my doors that will aid in their success in the next grade level? or in their professional careers?
The Learning Cycles
In my planning I planned entire units based on three phases: Learning Cycle, Assessment Cycle, ReLearning/Extension Cycle. My students knew what the dates of these cycles would be for every unit when we started. These cycles allowed me to give ample attention and importance to all phases of learning. It also helped me to develop a growth mindset about their learning.
Learning Cycle
Learning is not that different than some of the concepts that we see in the Pixar movie "Inside Out". Not all memories are going to be Core Memories or Long Term Memories instantly. I explained to my students during the Learning Cycle, they have time to condition these new things they learn into long term memory. They felt a release of pressure to have to know it all right away, as many teachers expect.
My Learning Cycle lasted anywhere from two to three weeks. I did only formative assessment at this phase in the learning. I did have a conversation with my principal on this idea, prior to implementing, since most schools have some kind of policy on regular grade entry. I did not enter grades during this time. As the year went on, grades on relearning or reassessment of skills were added continually, but the first three weeks of school, I did not enter grades. I was only grading on skill mastery, no compliance or behaviors were graded. During this phase of learning, students were provided the skills, standards/objectives, lessons and choices of readings. Students had practice tasks to complete during the Learning Cycle. I worked with students individually and in small groups daily. The "Stand and Deliver" method had left my classroom years before when I first started flipping instruction.
During Learning Cycles students felt safe to "get it wrong" or guess and try skills without punishment or grading. I saw students finally enjoy the process of learning again. I think it is so important for students to enjoy learning and recognize that it is a process. They shouldn't get it on the first try.
Assessment Cycle
During the Assessment Cycle, I assessed directly on the skills and standards presented in the Learning Process. Rubrics were created in advance and each skill was assessed individually. I did not do one test grade or one essay grade. These assessments were entered as five or six grades in my grade book. I also did not require students to assess skills they had already demonstrated mastery on. This was a workflow that I had to create to keep track of student mastery. It also meant that I entered grades for some students and left some for later. I no longer started at the top of the column and entered all the test scores at one time. During the assessment cycle I also allowed students to assess in different ways.
ReAssessment and Enrichment Cycle
During the week following assessment, I provided time for my students to use the feedback from assessments to either relearn or grow from enrichment application. One thing that is often left out of classrooms is the time to reflect, relearn, and apply new knowledge after assessments. I did not move on, I used the data from the assessment cycle to help me reteach in some cases, things that were not scored at mastery. I was also able to see student strengths and able to give them problems to apply the skills to in new situations. This is one of the most valuable times we can provide students, time to reflect and process the feedback we have given.