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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Time For You To Think

***Warning: This post asks for absolute honesty.***

Okay, many of my students have responded to my post about the frustration I am feeling this year by saying that they love my class and are really learning a lot. That is great to hear, but now I have some questions for them to answer:

1. What clues do you think teachers look for to see if students are working hard and learning in class?

2. What clues do you give a teacher to show that you are getting something out of their class?

3. What could we do differently in class to give you more of an opportunity to show what you've learned?

I am also open to any other thoughts you may have on this topic.

26 comments:

  1. My perspective isn’t from that of a student, so I’m only going to answer question #1.

    1. Taking pride in an assignment. Asking questions that show they are preparing for the assignment more than 12 hours before the deadline.

    Body language speaks volumes, too. Nodding, smiling, taking notes, good stature all indicate that the student is interested and engaged. Nothing is more aggravating than a room full of students staring at the clock.

    I keep thinking about this and have a couple other thoughts. What about grading on some sort of curve? Make the students compete for their grades, and those who fall below the average keep working until they get a satisfactory grade. Or engage the entire class in a discussion on what an A assignment would require (length, grammar, how many spelling mistakes allowed, etc), then what a B assignment would look like, etc. Perhaps have the class create a rubric. You could build the basics, or put in certain requisites but that way no one can complain that they didn’t know how to earn an A.

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  2. I talked to my classes today about all of this and tried to give them a better explanation of why I have designed the class as I have and what I expect them to get out of each aspect of the class. They seemed to receptive. I think they were as frustrated with me as I was with them. Hopefully, we are on the same page now.

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  3. 1. A teacher can see if a student is working hard in class by how there overall attitude is. In your class the student that writes a page long story for there bell ringer instead of a sentence or nothing at all should tell you how they feel about your class.

    2. To show a teacher i am takeing something away from there class i will be sure to pay attention and listening to what there saying. You will never see me fall asleep on a teacher in class because that shows you have no interest in what there saying.
    3. I don't have a problem with how most of my teachers construct there classes. But, I will say i hate when a teacher lectures. Staying away from the constant rambling and doing more interactive things keeps me more interested and on topic.
    - Jordan Sweet

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  4. I think that teachers look at the grades for clues. And I think the students give you clues by dicussing in class . I think we should dicuss more in class .

    -- Bailey Lawson (:

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  5. 3. In class instead of just having us do the discussions in small groups or as a whole class, I think you should actually have us read them in class as a sure way we actually read it. Then right after we read it have us right down our true thoughts and then give them to the author. That way it is anonymous and other students dont sugar coat what they are thinking. -Brie Tyler

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  6. 3. In class instead of just having us do the discussions in small groups or as a whole class, I think you should actually have us read them in class as a sure way we actually read it. Then right after we read it have us right down our true thoughts and then give them to the author. That way it is anonymous and other students dont sugar coat what they are thinking. -Brie Tyler

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  7. 3. I think it would be much more helpful in class if you could talk to each student individually and tell us what we are doing wrong. I want to know how I can get better and fix things.
    Nique Tyler

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  8. 3. I also think it would be more helpful when we do the peer review in class if you told everyone to review the story in person like they do online. Students say what they mean a lot more clearly on turn it in.
    Nique Tyler

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  9. 2.If you can tell students understand what you are talking about and that it shows in their writing and assignments then they are probably getting something out of the class.
    Nique Tyler

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  10. I am answering number three. we could have more opportunities to step up in class and talk about the things we have learned. I do not like test but that is another way we could show you what we learned in your class.
    Sean Shaffer.

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  11. You'll beable to tell if a student is working hard and paying attention by the grades the earn. Obviously if they are trying youll beable to tell if a student is giving their best effort or not. Also the other question you asked about what a teacher can do to get more out of students or what not. Well i think that is not necessary, teachers really should treat students more as people will in the real world, if the students dont want to try hard and do their work then they fail, its short and simple and it isnt sugar coated.

    -Sean Murphy
    7th hour

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  12. I think that if we ask questions and want to know how we can improve on our assignments into making better grades on them then you are doing what you are suppose to do.
    -Kayla Stickler.

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  13. I think with what we have done so far with the short stories I think that you need to talk to each person about there story. I really didn't get that much from my class about my stories. I think it would be really helful if you were to talk to us about the story, tell us what to fix, give us positve and negative feedback, and explain why we got the grade we got on them. That would help me more.
    --Ashtyn Cary.

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  14. 1. I think if I was a teacher and all I saw was people talking to one another about the amazingly important things that couldn't wait till after class, I wouldn't feel they are working.

    This doesn't really have to do with the post, more of what you feel we should be graded like on our story. You said that if we meet the requirements, we should get a C, if we go above that, it's a B or A. But I don't particulary agree with that. The grading system is taken out of percentage of how much of the work the student does. If you have a 10 question short answer quiz, and they get all 10 answers write, you shouldn't give them a C just because they didn't write as much as they could have. The same concept goes for a short story. I think is you tell someone to write a short story, without any guide lines, if they do the short story, they have completed 100% of the work and deserve to be graded as such. I mean to it's limitations, though. I don't think that someone that hands in 3 paragraphs written on a napkin with marker, they don't deserve the grade. But if they write to the best of their abilities, they diserve an A.

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  15. Taking pride in an assignment is hard if you do not know what the assignment wants you to do. Most of the time i know what i am doing in here but sometimes i don't quite know whats going on. most of the time i try to get the assignment turned in before the deadline.
    Sean Shaffer

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  16. -Carmen Jones
    I think that students do assignments just to get them done and they do not learn what they did because they just want to get it done. And you need to go over the short stories with the students to make there stories better and give them clues to be a better writer.

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  17. a way to know if we are improveing in your class is to talk to us. sort of a oral quiz or something. not for a grade just to see if we are understanding the things you are teaching. it would let you know what we are learning.
    Sean Shaffer

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  18. i think that like once a month or somethin we should write down atleast 5 things we learn,or helped us learn something in class.
    --Toni Board(:

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  19. To give us more of an opportunity to show what we have learned, I think that we should be given more than just one test on a subject. We may just not understand the subject at topic or may be having an off day. Retakes would also be nice.

    Aleah Smith.

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  20. 1) I think that you should really be able to tell if students are getting a lot from your class if their showing an interest. Since your teaching a bunch of high school students, you can do just about anything to entertain them. Therefore, I think that if the grades are good, people are participating, and leaving your class with a smile or at least looking eager to be there then students are at least enjoying having you teach them.
    Ashlee Sinclair, 2nd Hour.

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  21. 1. What clues do you think teachers look for to see if students are working hard and learning in class? -I think they look for participating in class and doing well on test.

    2. What clues do you give a teacher to show that you are getting something out of their class? -you raise your hand and you do the work.

    3. What could we do differently in class to give you more of an opportunity to show what you've learned? -i think that projects give us a good opportunity, but sadly most people wont do them!

    -Jessica Hopper

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  22. I think teachers look for students that are commited to homework and pay attention in class. But some students dont do any of that and they still care about the class.

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  23. Teachers could give students a chance to talk and express their feelings about the class. I do not think students get to say what they think about class enough.

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  24. 1) Students have their homework done on time and ready to go and know what the assingment was about.
    2) Students raising their hands and asking questions
    3) Maybe writing your thoughts down on a piece of paper.
    I think aat our school students don't learn about much. These are things we need to do to become more successful in life.

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  25. 1. I beleive teachers are looking for assignments that clearly have had a lot of critical thinking and work put in to them.

    2. I try to respond to questions asked by the teacher as often as possible, that way I show them that I have been listening and therefore know the answer.

    3. You could put us in to groups more often and let us do projects that call for cooperation and for students to work as a whole.

    - Xavier Holt, 6th Hour, English II

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  26. 1- They can look for homework completion, and if their grades stay good, and on test if they seem like they are learning

    2- Ask questions, show that you have learned and somewhat understood what they have said.

    3- Group projects.

    KylieKnight

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