Wow–it’s hard to believe that we’re already 6 weeks into the 2015-2016 school year! I came into this school year so excited to use all of the tips, tricks, and tools that I was exposed to during my Kenan Fellows experience. The biggest change I’ve implemented this year is my mindset; I am much more willing to challenge my students to think, make mistakes, and work together in their problem solving. Personally, I’m also willing to try new activities, tools, and classroom management tools. One aspect of my classroom that has changed dramatically is transparency–transparency of expectations, deadlines, mastery, and me, as a person.
There are 3 major tools that have used to increase transparency:
- Unit and Year-Long Syllabi: Our principal has encouraged us to embrace the theme of transparency this year. As a result, my PLC and I have worked really hard to provide students with unit calendars, listing test dates, lab days, and a general topic sequence. I have found that implementation of these syllabi has led my students to be more accountable and look forward to important dates and events.
- Mastery Tracker: Along the same vein of accountability, I have provided students with a “Mastery Tracker” which is divided by unit and objective. As we take quizzes/tests for each objective, students write down their scores to track their own mastery of the material. We have set “mastery” at 75%, so the goal is for students to achieve mastery by the end of each unit. By having students collect this data themselves, they will have a record (when we get ready to review for the EOC) of what they should focus on when studying. Additionally, I have a poster in the classroom (organized by student ID number), which shows which objectives for which the class has achieved mastery. For me, this has already become a tool that I use to assess students formatively (and I look forward to using it for EOC review).
- Twitter: I got really excited about using Twitter with my students after a session with Allison Stewart at NCCAT. I have been using it to keep a record of cool activities and labs that we do in class, but students haven’t really gotten on board. I tried hosting online office hours for students before their first test, but no one took advantage of the opportunity. I hope to see Twitter participation improve over the course of the school year!
Having taught my content and curriculum for four years now, it has become easier to identify and address misconceptions, while also extending and connecting my content to other subject areas. With the implementation of new ideas, and the creative influences of my Kenan Fellowship and a student teacher, this year has required me to expand my instructional toolbox and embrace change!