Chapter 8

I don’t believe in a grading curve, and I like how this book backs me up. It seems natural to me, to want all of my students to get the best grade they can. If they all wind up with A’s, that would be amazing. I know of other teachers, and I’m sure even some from my own high school, who are pressured into grading on a curve, or are just personally out to fail 7.5% of their class, plus or minus 4% depending on their class size. I don’t understand why teachers do it; I will never do it in my class.

Chapter 14

Wow. So the chapter starts off saying that we should take existential intelligence seriously, then goes right on to say how it should never be used in school. This chapter is a waste of time. It’s not an intelligence, and until it is, I’m not talking about it.

Chapter 13

Multiple Intelligences would be a good way run a career development class. We only had one career development class, and it sucked. I’m not sure if it sucked because it was just an unorganized class, because it didn’t seem to help any of us students, or because the teacher was a nut. He didn’t ask us for any input on careers we might want to pursue. Using MI to interest students would be helpful I believe.

Chapter 11

I heard a rough statistic the other day, that only the top 15% and bottom 15% of the student body is going to get the help it needs in high school. This is especially disturbing after being in the classroom and seeing that there are many students “undiagnosed” or “misdiagnosed” with special needs. These techniques should be used on any student who is have difficulties with the curriculum, not just children with learning disabilities. While I think the one-on-one help that some students with special needs get is wonderful, it’s a damn shame how we don’t think our energy is needed with students without special needs. I don’t know if MI works, I’m sure it does, but the way it’s presented in this book is completely ridiculous. The authors make it sound like it’s going to save the world, but in truth, I wonder if MI techniques themselves are just one way students can learn, and not the answer to all of our prayers as educators.

Chapter 9

I was most intrigued by The Key Learning Community’s view on classroom diversity. Just recently, I had a discussion with Geoff about tracking in high school and the pros and cons of it. He never had tracking in his own high school, and he said it worked out fine. This school seems to go a step further and actually place kids of different ages in classes together, not unlike my own elementary school where we had grades 1 and 2 mixed. I would be interested to learn more about this, and I wish they could have gone into more detail in the book. I think students could benefit from that specific kind of diversity.

Chapter 8

I would be really interested to know if these disciplinary methods actually work. I have a feeling that they wouldn’t. Once again, I feel like these techniques are too elementary for high school students. For me, the best kind of discipline if obviously none at all, but when it comes down to it, speaking to a high school student like an adult is what I find works best. If you respect them, they will respect you. Engaged students won’t be misbehaving in your classroom. Assess the student behavior, but also assess your own instructional strategies and what you can improve in the lesson before blaming a bored student.

FIAE - Chapter 9 AB/SYN?

Abstract - Jen T

This chapter focuses on the top ten no-nos for grading based on guidelines using differentiated instruction. In overview, avoid grading nonacademic factors, avoid averaging grades, avoid grading homework, avoid withholding assistance, avoid grading of inaccurate factors (similar to grading nonacademic factors, or homework), avoid extra credit, avoid group grades, avoid grading curves, avoid recording zeros, and avoid using norm-referenced terms to describe criterion-referenced attributes.

Synthesis?

Instead of summarizing what we, as a class, agreed with in this chapter, I have decided to focus more on the things that we did not agree on. This chapter is a perfect example of how, as a class, we could be having some really amazing conversations instead of just writing a reflection on the chapters. I know of at least one of us who thinks putting zeros in the book is stupid, one who thinks it only makes sense, and one who isn’t sure about his/her feelings about it. This has come from real conversations I've had with them, and not reflections posted on wikis. We just discussed in seminar how maybe homework is silly, but I know that most of us who were on the 'agree' side, will have regular homework once we enter into our own classrooms. Why?
(For your personal viewing pleasure. What kids really think about homework. Not suitable for class. Rated R)

Let’s pretend like we’re all adults right now who can have opinions other than those of the author. Do we really think that Wormeli is right about these ten things? No homework, no grades for homework, no zeros, no nonacademic factors (that means no attendance or class participation). And if we do agree, what are the chances that we'll incorporate them into our classrooms? What are the reasons that we won't? Instead of an abstract/synthesis, which can be helpful in certain situations, I would be more supportive of a VoiceThread or Scribblar, that allows us to discuss/agree/debate about our thoughts on these chapters. Anyone game? Either way, I need to find someone to talk to because I'm sure Sara, Megan, and my mom are tired of hearing me bitch, and I'm tired of reading reflections that just prove how easily persuaded we, as pre-educators, are to other people's opinions on education. I say that in the nicest way possible and fully comprehend that that is a broad generalization of our class. I just feel like it's a waste of my time or your time to not question what we're learning, especially since we're amazingly fortunate to have such a close class and supportive professors.

End Rant.