Working together to transition freshmen & transform schools from the bottom up!

October 2009 Blog Posts (13)

Assessment FOR Learning - Practical ideas for more frequent assessment to enhance learning

This post was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 30, 2009.

As a teacher, have you ever experienced anything similar to the following scenario:

You teach your course content over a period of time. The day before your big test you have a review activity of some sort. The review activity is a good one. It goes well, but during the activity you realize that your students don’t know the material… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 31, 2009 at 9:06pm — 2 Comments

Guidelines for using Ning in a school setting

My school system - City of Salem Schools, VA - has undergone a lengthy process to determine what types of social networking should be available on our system's network. Until recently, all social networks were blocked by our filter.

After much discussion and exploration, it was decided that social networking would be open for all faculty members. Faculty members would be treated as professionals who are able to use social… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 28, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

9th Grade Administrator Tip #3

Make sure you know the sort of skills/ideals/strategies that the teachers in your Freshman Transition Program are teaching your 9th graders. Then come up with ways to support and reinforce those.

For example, teachers at my school use John Wooden's Pyramid of Success in their classrooms. When I'm meeting with students in my office I try to reinforce those lessons by… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 28, 2009 at 7:07am — No Comments

First nine weeks success

I just wanted to share that we have only tried the freshman transition approach for nine weeks. At the end of our first grading period, we only had four students in our academy with any failing grades. We have 193 students in the freshman class, and while the freshman class comprises 28% of the school's populations, we only comprised 15% of the in-school suspension referrals. Many of our freshman in-school suspension referrals were not for discipline issues, but for those who did not attend our… Continue

Added by Debbie B. Fowler on October 25, 2009 at 5:16pm — 2 Comments

An AFL review strategy that can be used by any teacher in any content area

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 22, 2009.

As I have come to comprehend better what Assessment FOR Learning truly means and how its principles can be applied, I find myself regularly thinking about how I would do things differently if I were still in the classroom. After recently observing Paola Brinkley, one… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 22, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Students Who Read Succeed

In this age that offers an explosion of technology reading skills is still one sound way to help children to succeed in school. Too often parents set children in front of a television or computer when they have not learned some of the essential reading skills. Once students obtain a joy of reading they are like a sponge absorbing all of the knowledge that they can. It time to dust of the books in your home and share them with children who have no books in their homes. Every home should have… Continue

Added by Dr. Stephen Jones on October 16, 2009 at 10:47am — 5 Comments

Does AFL lead to grade inflation?

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 12, 2009.

A criticism of Assessment FOR Learning is that along with it comes pressure to make sure that students’ grades increase. In other words, some have been concernerd that AFL might lead to grade inflation.

I would hope that no school would ever encourage grade inflation while it encourages its teachers to try AFL techniques. I think that… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 9:18pm — 2 Comments

How AFL could be applied to a PE class (based on principles that apply to all classes)

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 9, 2009.

I would imagine that many Physical Education teachers must feel as though much of the professional development activities and workshops in schools do not apply to them. Typically, discussions of state standards and NCLB expectations dominate these discussions. While these apply to PE, they apply in a different manner than they do in a core area… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 9:16pm — No Comments

AFL - more than just letting tests replace quizzes

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 7, 2009.

I plan to create a series of posts that will help teachers better understand AFL so that they can apply AFL ideas into their classrooms. One way to do this is to define what AFL isn’t.

AFL isn’t replacing quiz grades with test grades. However, replacing quiz grades with test grades could be AFL – does that make sense? Here’s what I… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 9:14pm — No Comments

3 Perspectives on an AFL example - Administrator, Parent, Student

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning on October 4, 2009.

I’d like to share a recent AFL experience from three different perspectives – that of a school administrator, that of a parent, and that of a student.

My daughter is a freshman taking Algebra 2. While she typically does very well in math, she has a tendency to start slowly. She is often somewhat overwhelmed by new concepts. It takes her a… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 9:11pm — 2 Comments

Downloading Videos from YouTube

This blog post will be helpful to teachers who want to use inspirational videos in the classroom with your freshmen. YouTube is full of wonderful video clips to use in a classroom. There are 2 problems with YouTube, though.

1. Some schools block it

2. Sometimes a slow network will make it difficult or impossible to watch a video

The solution is to download the videos to your computer (this can be done at home if your school blocks YouTube) and then either show them… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

9th Grade Administrator Tip #2

Look for ways to empower the teachers in your Freshman Transition Program. The more effective they are the more effective the program will be. This is one of the reasons why teaming is such a powerful tools. It brings teachers together in an atmosphere that enables them to have a greater impact on students.

Anyway, look for ways to empower these teachers. Here are some examples:

1. Allow them to make intra-team schedule changes. If they find that a combination of students… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 6, 2009 at 8:55pm — 2 Comments

3 Perspectives on an AFL example - Administrator, Parent, Student

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning. If you are interested in the topic, you might want to join that site.

I’d like to share a recent AFL experience from three different perspectives – that of a school administrator, that of a parent, and that of a student.

My daughter is a freshman taking Algebra 2. While she typically does very well in… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on October 4, 2009 at 10:23pm — No Comments