A Community Learning Together

Tappan Zee High School

January 20, 2014 Volume 1, Issue 2

Making the Grade

Whatdoesittaketomakethegrade? Goodcoachesknownevertoaskaplayertodo somethinginagamethattheyhavenotdonein prac ce.Toprepareplayersforcompe on, coachesrunthemthroughdrillsandplaysto ensureplayersunderstandclearlywhatis expectedandwhatsuccesslookslike. Wepreparestudentsinclassroomseveryday,but deningsuccessandexpecta onsistrickiersince itdoesnotendwithabasket,goal,touchdown, pin,ormatchpoint.Consequently,thechallenge isgreaterforustodevelopandforstudentstobe abletoar culatevariousbenchmarksof"success" intheclassroom. Iwonder... AtTZHS,isthereaclear,common,andbuildingwidebeliefaboutwhatprocientor masterylearninglookslike? Doweshareacommonbeliefaboutwhatittakeforstudentstoearna85%ora65% onanassessment,onaproject,orinourcourses? Isthisconsistentacrossmul pleclassroomsforthesamecourse,ormightmasterylook dierentdependentupontheloca onoftheinstruc onandassessment? Isprociencydenedsimilarlyacrossadepartment? Dowehaveacommondeni onacrossthehighschool? Howdodeni onsandexpecta onsoftheselevelsoflearningalignwiththatofother highschools? Ialsowonder... Dostudentsknowhowwe,asindividuals,asdepartments,andasaschooldene prociencyandmastery? Dostudentsknowhowtheirlearningwillbeassessed? Arethereclear,commonguidelinesthatstudentscanuseasguidancetoassessment theirownlearningonvariousprojectsandunitsofleaningandagainstthemaster planfortheirlearningwithineachoftheirclasses? Ifassigningstudentsgradesisintendedtoprovidethem,theirfamilies,andusreliable informa onabouttheirprogressinmee ngexpecta onsforlearning,thenhowcan clarifyingandcrea ngcommonunderstandingandlanguageaboutthingslikemasteryand prociencyenhanceourprac ce?

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In this issue:
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Food for Thought

AssessmentBased Grading vs. StandardsBased Grading Which do you believe is more impactful for students and can lead to a greater change in academic behaviors? Why? If youre not familiar with these terms, here is a 4 minute video that presents a broad overview: http:// www.youtube.com/ watch? v=k3dyJAkYsew#t =237

Gender Balance in STEM classes

BrianAdlerrecentlysharedthefollowingar clewithmefromUSNewsandWorldReport regardingtheboy/girlimbalanceinSTEMrelatedclassrooms:http://www.usnews.com/
news/blogs/data-mine/2014/01/14/ap-test-shows-wide-gender-gap-in-computer-sciencephysics_print.htmlThisar clelooksatgenderrepresenta onthroughanarrowlenswithin

STEMrelatedAPcourses,anditinspiredmetodoali ledigginginourbroaderbaseof STEMrelatedcourses(thiswasaquickinquiry,soifIvele outcourses,pleaseletme know.)Herearethecurrentsta s csfromenrollmentatTZHSthisyear:

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each others eyes for an instant? Henry David Thoreau

Ourgenderbalanceissignicantlystrongeracrosstheboardthanstereotypeswould suggest.Iwonderhowwecancon nuetodrawourfemalestudentsintotheseareasof studyatTappanZeeHighSchool.HeresagreatvideoNickDesan ssharedearlierthisfall: h p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIGyVa5X wandheresapromo onforinspiringmore girlstopursuecareersintheareaofSTEMresearch:h p://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Q_11rwb4vEc ThistopicalsocameupbrieyatlastweeksCurriculumCouncilmee ng,andwediscussed waystogetourfemalestudentsmoreinterestedinhandsonlearning.Didyouknowthat theK1studentsinthedistrictarealreadyworkinginthisarea?Thislearningcon nuesin theelementaryschoolsandhasledtoasuccessfulRobo csclubatSOMS?Didyouknow thatwehavea3DprinterrighthereatTZandthatseveralmoreexistthroughoutthe district?Didyouknowthatwehaverobo csinstruc oninfusedintoourinstruc on?Did youknowthatstudentsdesignandcreatetangibleproductsinourclasses?Iencourage youtolearnmoreaboutSTEMandSTEAMeduca onalopportuni esforourstudents.

Tech Tips & Tricks

ScanToPDF Mobil FREE

For you iPhone and iPad users, you might want to check out an easy way to use your camera to create multi-page PDFs. (Ive used this for over a year, and I love it!). You can photograph student work, turn it into a PDF, and post it to a website or email it to yourself for later viewing on the SMARTboard. Good stuff!