Category Archives: Assessment

Using Evernote to Confer with Readers and Writers

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On January 31, I shared with several teachers about the possibilities of using Evernote to document student learning in literacy. Led by Amber Garbe (@ReadattheEDGE), this group of reading teachers have a growth mindset. They did not get frustrated when the technology did not always work for them. I enjoyed learning with these teachers. The purpose of this post is to summarize our learning.

Do you ever feel stuck when using technology? So many possibilities, when you just want to accomplish one thing? The story Stuck by Oliver Jeffers nicely describes this sense of frustration. The main character throws everything he can at a problem (kite stuck in a tree) when he should have focused on the problem itself instead of the tools.

 

Evernote is one tool that can address our need to better document learning when conferring with readers and writers. (A rationale for this technology is recorded in this Voicethread.)

The point I made is we need to allow the students to take control of their learning. This can be accomplished by being a learner as opposed to a teacher when guiding students to become readers and writers. Our learning takes place when we are close to the source (the student). Evernote can help a teacher measure student learning with tools that help them see and hear what the students know and are able to do. They are not just a reading level.

Much of this information comes from Knowing Literacy by Peter Johnston (1997). Although it was published fifteen years ago, this resource feels like it was written yesterday. He states that as assessments become more standardized and distanced from the student, the less trust and ownership there is between the student and teacher. This graphic is a visual I developed to better understand this assessment relationship.

 

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Once we established why there is a need to use tools such as Evernote, it was time to discuss how. Instead of telling participants, I showed a video of one of my teachers actually using an iPad to capture student learning and inform her instruction. (This is when technology failed me. The video was choppy and we didn't get to watch it all. Even if it had worked properly, it would not be shown here to protect the privacy of the student.) As we watched, I encouraged teachers to notice how the teacher:

Embedded assessment within her instruction;
Acted as a learner rather than a teacher;
Asked questions on what the student did right as well as what needs improvement;
Focused on strengths; and
Showed understanding that literacy is not always linear.

At this point we dug into Evernote. After everyone got registered, we built mock notebooks and notes. From there I shared some different ways teachers could document their students' learning. Here were a few suggestions:

Student Interviews
In the beginning of the year, ask students questions about their reading and writing habits. Record the conversation. Later in the year, review the audio from this interview with the student and facilitate a new one to promote reflection and growth. You can find a good interview template in Janet Allen's Yellow Brick Roads.

Personal Learning Goals
Students could use the check boxes in Evernote to list what they would like to accomplish for the quarter, semester or year. Donalyn Miller's goal for her students from The Book Whisperer of forty books from a variety of genres would be a good example. When they reach a goal, they can check off the box (and set a new goal).

Anecdotal Records
Although a teacher could also house students' quantitative data such as running records in a note, it's important to also develop a story of each reader's progress throughout the year. This can be one note with just a running narrative of their current reality, where they need to go, and how to get there. One incentive for using Evernote is the ability to share information with colleagues and parents. What will be most useful for them?

Digital Portfolios
A teacher could feasibly contain a gallery of a student's writing within one note. Giving each image of their writing a quick title along with a few comments would be all that it would require. The rest of the work should be handed over to the student, in the form of looking at their own work while the teacher asks, “What are you doing well?” and “What would you like to work on?”

We ended our session with each teacher sharing one takeaway from the night's session. The word that seemed to be heard the most was “possibilities”.

What other ways do you or could you use Evernote to confer with readers and writers? Please share in the comments.

KWHLE: A Different Take on the KWL

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I am trying to allow participants in my Connected Educator course to own their learning. Initially, I had set up several pages on our Google Site that would house each teacher’s evidence. The part that I now realize is missing is their professional learning goals for this course.

I was searching the web for a template but couldn’t find one that worked. Instead, I altered the well-known KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) by adding more columns: “How Will I Learn?” and “What Evidence Do I Have of My Learning?”. See the graphic organizer below.

What do I think I Know? What do I Want to Learn? How will I Learn? (Content + Process) What Have I Learned So Far? What Evidence Do I Have of My Learning?
(Product – Student and Teacher)

The “H” column is not original thinking by me. I do like it because it helps the learner think about the process they will take to acquire new learning, as well as the content they will access. My potential addition is at the end, with the evidence.

I have learned from studying professional learning communities that it is essential to document whether or not students learned what you tried to teach. The same should apply for our own learning. In this organizer, participants could insert images, links and text related to what they created with their students. This organizer is a Google Doc, so we could also house each participant’s KWHLE on a page on the Google Site as a link. That way we can watch each other’s growth and collaborate in real time.

What are your thoughts? Does something like this already exist? What would you add, delete or revise? Feedback is always appreciated on this blog.

Should Kindergarten Teachers Use Guided Reading?

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This is cross posted on the #kinderchat blog.

This question I pose is genuine. It is not rhetorical or just an attempt at an effective lead to draw in readers. In the midst of the Common Core, raised expectations and standardized assessments for five year olds, it is something worth pondering.

Besides being an elementary principal, I am also a parent of a kindergarten student. With that, this topic should be looked at from multiple perspectives within a school. (This is not necessarily my thinking, just what could reasonably be each position’s point of view.)

As a principal…I see the whole picture. I know students come in with various language abilities. Guided reading is an effective instructional strategy to accommodate every student’s needs.

As a parent…I want what’s best for my child. Is he/she getting what is needed to stay challenged? What should I be doing at home to support my child in reading?

As a kindergarten teacher…Each of my student’s skills and ability levels are so unique. And their specific needs within reading vary as well, like concept of print and phonemic awareness. With this many students, how can I use guided reading while keeping the rest of my class engaged in effective reading activities?

As an instructional coach or interventionist…Now that we are midway through the school year, how do we take the next step and differentiate for our students through practices such as guided reading? We have to meet a certain benchmark by the end of the year. I am not sure if we are going to make it.

The purpose of this post is only to explore this issue, maybe even start a conversation on the topic. To start, I need to digress and explore what guided reading is and isn’t. (This is probably more for me than anyone.)

Guided Reading Is Not Necessarily…

Small Group Instruction

Three or four students congregated around a teacher, sitting behind a bean-shaped table does not mean guided reading is occurring. Upon closer examination, it might be round robin reading (kids taking turns reading aloud a page). Unfortunately, the teacher is controlling the learning instead of the student.

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Small Groups Always Reading the Same Book

I used this practice too often as an elementary teacher. Students worked with me based on their reading level. This is ability grouping, a practice that shouldn’t be used exclusively because the focus (in students’ minds, anyway) only seems to be on decoding. Students grouped in this way might also view themselves as either poor readers, or better readers than peers. Both mindsets are not healthy when developing life long learners.

Shared Read Aloud, Interactive Read Alouds

It is not guided reading when a teacher reads aloud the same text that every student has access to. Yes, the teacher is scaffolding for students by doing the decoding for them. But how does a teacher balance the need for student choice and engagement with structure and support?

What Guided Reading Is

Prepared, Thoughtful Instruction

Guided reading is defined as “the place where every child, every day, has the opportunity to learn by reading a book that is just right” (Fountas and Pinnell, 1996). It does involve small group instruction, but based on students’ needs, personal goals and interests. Only using a prescribed set of readers from a basal or anthology series does not take into account these elements, although it might make planning easier for the teacher. More time should be spent preparing for where both the teacher and student want to go, and selecting a just right text that will help get them there.

Student-Centered

My teachers regularly enter independent reading levels for all of their students on a spreadsheet. Looking at most classrooms, I notice students at a wide range of levels rather than three to five convenient groupings. I would say this is most evident in primary level classrooms. This can make it difficult to facilitate guided reading in kindergarten as it is strictly prescribed. A few students at this age level require one-on-one support, others need an adult to touch base with them from time to time, while the rest of the class is somewhere in between.

Shared Assessment

Students need to be able to assess themselves as readers. One job of the teacher is to facilitate this process. Teacher talk that is observational and questioning can help students reflect on their efforts. Questions that focus on strengths as well as areas for improvement also blurs the lines between teacher and learner, as described by Peter Johnston in Knowing Literacy. “Children develop the criteria for evaluating their reading out of the conversations in which they are immersed” (Johnston, 1998). Anecdotal records and student portfolios can also provide more concrete evidence to measure growth in this process.

So, should kindergarten teachers use guided reading? Maybe a better question to ask is how we as teachers fulfill our role as a guide, which Merriam Webster defines as “one that leads or direct another’s way”.

Consider the following:

  • Do I know my students as readers? That is, am I aware of their interests, reading habits, background knowledge and aspirations?
  • Can I explain to a parent or colleague each of my student’s strengths and areas for growth?
  • When a student struggles to find his or her next book, am I able to pique their interest with other titles I think they will enjoy?
  • Do I regularly confer with my readers and keep anecdotal notes to plan for future instruction?
  • Are my students reading and writing at least 50% of the school day (Allington, 2002)?
  • When my students are reading independently, are they allowed to choose what they want to read?
  • Are the texts my students are reading at their level (Allington and Gabriel, 2012)?
  • Am I extending my students with text at their instructional level and guided support?

    • If our efforts result in students who develop a love for reading while making strong growth, then our guidance has been effective.

    References

    Allington, Richard E. (2002). “What I’ve Learned About Effective Reading Instruction From a Decade of Studying Exemplary Elementary Classroom Teachers.” Phi Delta Kappan, 83(10).

    Allington, R.E. & Gabriel, R.E. (2012). “Every Child, Every Day”. Educational Leadership, 69(6).

    Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.

    Johnston, Peter H. (1997). Knowing Literacy: Constructive Literacy Assessment. Stenhouse: Portland, ME.

Feedback After an Evernote and iPad Workshop

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I recently hosted a one hour technology session for district staff. The topic: Using Evernote on the iPad to Confer With and Assess Readers.

Afterward, I emailed each participant a survey via Google Forms to gather feedback. The last question I posed was, “What is one way you see using Evernote with the iPad in your current teaching position?” Here are their responses:

“I plan to have students read and record them, then play back. I am working on fluency with a lot of kids and I would like them to hear themselves. I’m not sure on the conferencing part/note taking yet, but we’ll see as I mess with it. With things like this I don’t make plans, I just jump in and see where it takes me.”

“I plan on recording students’ one minute reading fluency assessments and then embedding a picture of the actual passage they read with miscues and self-corrections marked. I am also going to take a pic of a page in their independent reading book and record them reading as part of my ‘running records on the fly’”

“I plan to record running records and allow students to hear themselves read, both immediately after reading and later on in the year (to show growth).”

“Photograph and save student work samples using hash tags so that I can easily access them later.”

“During running records: record students’ reading of the selection in order to score/check the record at a later time. This allows for me to focus on fluency during the assessment as well as have documentation of the students’ reading at that point in time.”

“I plan to use this when I conference with my students. It is my hope to try this today!”

“I could see myself taking a picture of what a student is working on and sharing it with the classroom teacher.”

“In Reading Intervention, I could record a students’ reading of a passage and replay it for them to hear. Together we could discuss strengths and weaknesses and set goals for improvement.”

“I plan to use Evernote by making notes as I meet with students during guided reading groups. Each group is reading a different book that they were able to choose. I will use it to create a notebook for each group. – Jot down their predictions and record audio of students reading and/or our group discussions at the end of each chapter.”

“I don’t have my own iPad, so I don’t see myself continuing with this. Maybe having your own iPad should be a requirement for this course.”

“I find this to be effective for my guided reading. I can keep all of my notes together instead of having a post-it here and a post-it there. I can view my notes from home too without having to bring my notes home with me.”

“I started using Evernote the next day. I took pictures of student tradition writing and them recorded their voice reading it. Next I am going to use volunteers to display on reflection and go through the process of editing on the SMARTboard.”

I am scheduled to run this workshop again for Central Wisconsin reading teachers in January. This information is invaluable to me as I think about how I will change my instruction to better meet the needs of the participants.

Using Rubrics to Evaluate Educators

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I live and work in Wisconsin. That means that, through a waiver for No Child Left Behind, I along with every other public educator will soon be assessed using a twenty-three point rubric. It will be on a scale of one to four, with one being “ineffective” and a four qualifying as “highly effective”.

Here is a sample of what the rubric looks like (draft only; it can also be found at Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s website).

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What’s Good About It

Clear Expectations
No longer can a teacher or administrator’s livelihood depend solely on a supervisor’s judgment. In fact, this rubric is but one piece of a more comprehensive evaluation system. With multiple measures, one would assume that the rating a teacher or administrator receives should be more valid.

Time to Try and Offer Feedback
My district is part of a pilot for the Educator Effectiveness Plan. I am one of three principals using this new system on a trial basis only. Our team was given three days of intensive training to help us use this tool with greater reliability. In addition, the state team that developed this is asking us, the practitioners, to provide feedback about how effective this tool is for evaluations.

What Needs to Improve

The Four Point Rubric
When I taught 5th and 6th grade, I often used the web tool Rubistar to develop differentiated levels of achievement for various activities. The students and I would develop these together with a computer connected to the television screen (this is pre-SMART board era). What I remember finding most frustrating is trying to wordsmith the descriptors. For example, what is the difference between “differentiates” and “develops” when describing staff development offerings? I don’t know either, but both of these qualifiers are used in this new rubric within the same element.

The Levels of Effectiveness
This might be the area that needs the most attention. Why do we need four levels of effectiveness? Maybe I am a little too black and white on this issue, but I feel like I am either doing my job or I am not. For example, if I am holding others accountable in the area of professionalism, then I am meeting expectations. If I have failed to do this, then I am not meeting expectations. Anywhere in between should be handled with a candid conversation between the supervisor and the employee. I fear that breaking down every aspect of what a teacher or administrator does takes the thinking and doing out of our positions and attempts to simplify our jobs to a series of steps or processes. This profession is just not that simple.

Next Steps
I plan to continue to keep an open mind about this new system and hope I do not come across negatively. Many smart and caring professionals put a lot of time into this plan. As well, they are giving us the opportunity to share our thoughts on how to make it even better. I just hope they listen.

Examples of Practice: Using iPads to Document Student Work

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I just finished reading aloud The One and Only Ivan to 4th graders. We participated in the Global Read Aloud, where schools from all over the country and world heard the same story. Classrooms connected through Edmodo. It was a very innovative way to communicate with other learners about topics related to the story, such as gorillas, the author, and special projects classrooms were doing.

One project that caught my classroom teacher’s eye was a writing project posted by another teacher on Edmodo.

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She took this unique idea and made it her own with her students. Students picked an object that Ruby might have wondered about, and then answered her hypothetical question with an answer as if they were Ivan responding.

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All of their responses were posted on a bulletin board in the hallway.

So where does an iPad come in? I took photos of some of their writing. After cropping them with Snapseed, I pulled some of these photos into another app called Frame Magic. You can choose several different frames to create a collage of all of the students’ work in a matter of minutes.

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What’s great about Frame Magic is I can share this collage through a variety of online tools, such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. As well, I can embed the photo onto a blog post like I did here. Parents and educators in other schools and districts can now see what excellent writers our students are!

Instructional Walkthrough Template v. 2.0

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In a previous post, I shared an instructional walkthrough form for my school. It is based on three different forms and an instructional framework, the Optimal Learning Model. This tool allows for the collection of both numerical and narrative information.

When I presented this form to my Instructional Leadership Team, they had a few suggestions to alter it. For one, they wanted to be able to write comments on the bottom after the walkthrough, not just me. We changed this section to “Reflections” and clarified that this space is now usable for both the teacher and the observer. Related, they wanted to expand this area and create more space to respond to the observations.

With the walkthrough form ready to roll, there was nothing left to do but try it. Five staff members agreed to be guinea pigs and allow me to observe their classrooms. Using Notability on the iPad along with a stylus, I started visiting classrooms ten minutes at a time.

I started by noting where I saw the learning occurring and quickly made tallies.

At the same time, I wrote observations and posted questions in the narrative space, such as:

The students worked quietly on the task at hand.

How did this activity promote this level of engagement?

As I wrote, I would notice a theme in my observations and highlight it on the left side.

Once I had completed my observation (no more than ten minutes), I politely interrupted class and let everyone know what impressed me about their learning. This experience could be nerve racking, especially in the beginning. I wanted to be sure that my visit was viewed positively.

After I emailed my completed form to the teacher through Notability, I entered the tally mark totals into a Google Form in my office. The spreadsheet is set up to automatically tabulate what percentage of instruction is either shared, guided or independent as a whole building (this data is anonymous).

To finish up, I wrote my own comments about what I saw in class in the Reflection box. This was more summative in nature, based on the evidence I had just collected. If the pilot teachers wanted to see my comments, I encouraged them to stop by and chat. I am hesitant to provide my summary, at least initially, because it can shut down the thinking of the teacher. I am making a judgment about their instruction instead of allowing them to arrive at it through professional reflection. This process is not intended to be an evaluation.

The next step is to collaborate with the teachers I am trying this with and continue to tweak the form as needed. It may involve completing a walkthrough as a group while watching a teacher’s lesson on video.

Overall, I am happy with the progress we have made in assessing whether our instructional framework is truly embedded in our classrooms. I know we will continue to make changes, which is part of the growth process for all of us.

Instructional Walkthrough Template

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(This is what I am sending to my Instructional Leadership Team to discuss on Tuesday. We previously had discussed measuring levels of instruction occurring in classrooms with a simple tally sheet.)
I have given some thought to tallying how frequently components of the Optimal Learning Model are observed in classrooms. First, my understanding of how we are being assessed in 2014 has changed. Narrative feedback is welcomed. Also, I think I might feel like a bean counter, breaking down the teaching process into a series of boxes to be checked. And I don’t know what you would get out of it as a teacher. Therefore, I am proposing a second draft. Here is a snapshot of it: Tally
I will still try to track how often a teacher is using different levels of the Optimal Learning Model. As you know, one of our goals is to make sure the students are doing the work and therefore the learning. The difference will be, I will spend more than just a minute in each classroom. This should allow me to see a more comprehensive slice of instruction.

I will enter the data in a spreadsheet. The data we aggregate and share with the building will be anonymous as planned. My initial goal is to observe around three to four teachers per day as unplanned visits.

Observations
I want teachers to be able to receive immediate, formative feedback that helps them think about their practice, recognize what they do well and consider how they can continue to grow as educators. Right now, I plan to choose one or more areas of focus on the left and circle it/them. In the blank space, I will write a narrative of what I observe in the classroom. It will be objective in nature. I may also post open ended questions about the instruction. The purpose of the questions would be to help the teacher reflect on what they do and why they do it. This process should be positive and constructive in nature.

My Comments
After I email each teacher the completed instructional walk form and then touch base with them afterward, I plan to make a few comments on the bottom for myself and what I saw. This would be similar to how you might write down observations after conferring with a reader. I don’t plan to share these in the form I email to the teacher. These are primarily for my reflection process. However, if a teacher ever wanted to see what I had written in the comments box, I would be happy to share what I wrote with him or her.

Where to go from here? I suggest you take a look at the form through two different lenses: That of the teacher being observed and the observer. Let me know your thoughts on Tuesday.

Time to Breathe

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Yesterday I wrote about a writing activity I have used with staff called List, Jot, Write Long. It helped us think about our beliefs about instruction, and move toward developing individual and team goals. This morning, I actually presented this information to my teachers during our all staff gathering. Here was the agenda:

I felt like I was as prepared as I could be. Or so I thought. I shared visual samples of what the Individual Professional Development Plan could look like. An example of a SMART goal was distributed as well as presented on the whiteboard. We confirmed the due date for these goals to be submitted to me (within a month).

As one might guess, the problem I ran into was changing too much at one time. I threw two new things at them today: 1) Connect your individual goals to a team goal, and 2) Do it in the context of a professional learning community. Expecting staff to make two shifts at one time is not realistic, especially when we have state assessments and other initiatives breathing down our backs.

If I think back to my days as a teacher, I knew not to differentiate more than one piece of my instruction. Otherwise I would potentially lose my students due to too many choices and lack of focus (Content + Process = Product). For example, I could differentiate the process I used to present the content through visual, auditory and kinesthetic means, but that meant my content and product needed to stay the same.

So why didn’t I follow what I knew to be best instruction? Maybe I am also feeling the pressure of getting information delivered without a lot of time and resources. Nevertheless, as I came back from our staff gathering I reflected on how it could have been better. I touched base with a few teachers and asked, “What are your thoughts after today?” The general consensus was that it was good information and they understood what is expected of them. It was just a matter of finding time to look over all the materials.

I appreciate that my staff is so honest with me. It shows that we have a good level of trust, that they know I am looking out for their best interests and vice versa. Around the same time, the former principal at my school stopped by to drop off some documents. Always willing to lend an ear, he listened to my concerns about all this information being delivered to staff without enough time to truly integrate it with integrity. His response: Give them more time.

Brilliant! And why didn’t I think of that? Maybe because I was too mired in the conflict itself and needed another perspective. At any rate, I developed a plan that extended the due dates as well as bring in subs to give grade level teams substantial time to collaborate. When I sent out the new plan, staff responded immediately with “Thank you!” and “I appreciate you understanding”.  The fact that my teachers didn’t say much until I asked them speaks volumes about their character and their willingness to follow their principal into new territory despite their uncertainties.

I think any public educator can make the claim that we are being inundated with initiatives like we have never seen before. I don’t believe this to be hyberbole; has their ever been a time before the present when standards (CCSS), teacher evaluations (value-added) and instruction (RtI) are all being overhauled at the same time? We as leaders need to recognize this, for our staff and ourselves, before leading change. All of these initiatives are truly secondary to the energy and well-being of the educators who work with our students every day. In spite of whatever comes our way, we need to build in time to breathe so we don’t become overwhelmed or forget why we entered this profession in the first place.

What I (Think) I Know About the Educator Effectiveness Initiative

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What is the Educator Effectiveness Initiative?
It is the new way we are going to be assessed as public educators. Instead of the once every three year dog-and-pony show, there will be several shorter observations every year. These snapshots of teaching will be collected as artifacts over time. Every three years, you and your supervisor will come to a rating based on the many pieces of evidence collected. A rubric with four ratings (Highly Effective, Effective, Minimally Effective, Ineffective) will be used to make a final determination. It is based on the Charlotte Danielson model for instruction.

Where did this initiative come from?
A little while back, the federal government was offering states Race to the Top funds. States applied for these funds to receive waivers from Adequate Yearly Progress and No Child Left Behind. Wisconsin applied twice and was denied both times. It may not be a bad thing, however. States that were initially accepted for RTTT are now expected to follow through on their commitment on using student outcomes in addition to supervisor ratings for evaluation purposes. There have been some problems with this, especially in states like California. We are being told that Wisconsin is looking at how the other states are progressing when developing our plan.

Will our ratings be public, like principals’ evaluations are now?
No. It was stressed by several organizations representing educators that public educators’ evaluations not be for public consumption. That means newspapers and citizens will no longer be allowed to request this information. Act 166 is the legislation that contains this language.

What will these “more frequent observations” look like?
They can take many forms. A few that were encouraged by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction include walkthroughs and look-fors, narrative feedback, minutes from staff collaborations, student products, video documentation of lessons, peer observations, surveys and more.  Also, the teacher and the principal will work together to develop goals for each year. Observations curated in an educator’s portfolio will be a collaborative effort, although the supervisor will make the final rating.

Say what? We have to create portfolios now?
Not in the traditional sense, but my understanding is yes. There has to be a way to curate and store all of these observations to go back to later. I think technology will play a big part in this. Currently the DPI is still exploring tools for this purpose and is open to suggestions. My thoughts? I think Google Sites could be a great way to house all of this information in a secure way, but I am also open to whatever works for us.

Is this going away?  No, and that could be a good thing