Formative assessment #1

Title:	Formative Assessment Techniques to Support Student Motivation and Achievement
Personal Author:	Cauley, Kathleen M.; McMillan, James H.
Journal Name:	The Clearing House
Source:	The Clearing House v. 83 no. 1 (2010) p. 1-6
Publication Year:	2010

This article is about Formative Assessment, one of our school focuses this year.  This article will start a series of articles around this idea, as it is one very near to my heart.

There is a brief summary:
    Formative assessments are best when the are linked to a clear learning target
    Formative assessments provide opportunities for offering feedback in a timely matter about progress toward the explicitly stated learning target
    Make explicit the link between success on the formative assessment and student effort
    Encourage students to engage in self-reflection around the formative assessment
    Use formative assessments to help set goals for students so improvement is expected and measurable

Additionally, there is a conversation about low level FA tasks vs. high level FA tasks.  Which do you employ on a regular basis?

First Weeks of School - Guskey

This week was the first week of school for many of us.  How did it go?  Guskey, a leader in education, provides us insight that might help us.  Here is some advice from him:

1) Students come into the year with their most uncertain view of themselves.
2) Give students meaningful success, and they will continue to see themselves as successful.
3) Successful momentum can build to a successful year.  Better attendance, better behavior, etc.
4) The degree to which the parents can help build success at home that helps support the success at school will build positive results.

How did your first week go?  How can you build on this?

TheMathProphet

After your first week back

After some first day jitters (which I get every year) things are looking great!  I have a large Physical Science class with some interesting students (nice kids but immature) and some great math classes.  Did some wonderful problem solving and team building exercises and set up notebooks.  Even started notes in my physical science class and next week we have labs!

What was great (and not so great) about your first week of school?

Organization Change part 1

http://www.joe.org/joe/2010october/tt2.php

Kinsey, S. B. Quiet Leadership: How to Create Positive Change Without the Noise and Negativity. Journal of Extension (ASCII Edition) v. 48 no. 5 (October 2010)

As my school undergoes huge amounts of change it is time to think about how we as a group handle change.  This article is about quiet leadership.  The three elements of quiet leadership as laid out in the article are tenacity, modesty, and restraint.  How you use those three elements are important in the spaces between big decisions for administration and for most decisions for teacher leaders.

The article outlined six principles that are necessary for quiet leadership:

1. Don't overestimate how much you understand about a situation or how much you control.
2. Expect your motives to be mixed or even confused.
3. Count your political capital, and spend carefully.
4. Buy time before jumping into action when dealing with uncertain or hazardous situations.
5. Search for ways to bend the rules without breaking them.
6. Drill down into the technical and political aspects of a situation.

How do you see yourself as a quiet leader?  Who else do you see as a quiet leader at your school and why?  What can you do to be a better quiet leader (if you see yourself as needing to become one)?