Motivated Students

I found a nice article on the blog scottaaronson.com.

The writer (Scott, I presume) addresses the challenges student motivation.

Scott makes a couple of observations that made me nod my head in agreement.

For one thing, the introduction of grades and assessment into a learning milieu immediately complicates the situation and disrupts the natural curiosity of the learners.  Scott advises teachers to grade generously.  I concur.

Secondly, Scott reminds his readers that a classroom is composed of unique personalities.  It is inevitable that some students will not be interested in learning the subject material; often, they will make it clear that they do not want to be in school.  The teacher should not then be dismissive of the whole group.  Sometimes, I fall into this trap.  If one or two students gives me difficulty, then I feel discouraged by the entire class.  I must remind myself that each student is an individual.  As Scott suggests: focus on the good students and not on the bad ones.

Photo by bernat…

First Week

These days, many teachers are blogging about their planned activities for the first days of school.

My plan is to have the students write exams in each of the subject areas.  Then, around Christmas and again at the end of the year, I will ask them to write similar versions of the same exams.  This way, I will have a measurement of their progress.

There are many states and provinces that have archived exams available online.  So, for example, students could write the 2006 California English exam in September, and then write the 2007 California English exam in December.

Edinformatics is a website indexing a list of state exams.

Additionally, Larry Ferlazzo has compiled a list of websites offering online exam practice.

Photo by yorgak.

Shwup

I created the slideshow below on a website called Shwup.

Shwup has several appealing options.  Users can upload photos, or import them from common sites such as Flickr.  There are a few melodies on the site that can be used, or you can upload your own song.  Shwup uses the Muvee technology to create  slideshows with attractive transitions.  There are several styles from which to chose.  Best of all, it’s free.

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Marking Session

I just completed a two week training session in Montreal. 

25 teachers were invited from around the province to attend.  Each day we read, evaluated and discussed the Secondary Five exams which were written by students in May.  The exams were articles (not essays) and they all addressed the same topic: “Youth Culture: Empowerment or Manipulation.”

From the ministry’s perspective, the event was a step towards standardization of graduation examinations, whereby all the exams will be marked by teams at a few centralized cities.  We’re not there yet.  This year was a dry run, and a chance to train and educate teachers about the process.  Next spring will be the real deal.

The training was quite enlightening.  I had the opportunity to hear the opinions of several colleagues.  There were many lengthy animated conversations about the minute details of how English writing ought to be assessed.

Having the opportunity to personally read and discuss about 200 exams, sampled from across the province, was a real eye-opener for me.  It provided me with a unique insight into the quality of writing of our students and the topics that are on the minds of modern teens.  It also forced me to examine closely the qualities of good writing and to ruminate on how I will teach these skills to my students next year.

Thanks to Anne Doucet for making the whole event possible and thanks to all the helpful, friendly teachers who attended.

Photo by gmayster01.

More Nostalgia

… and here is a blog that I worked on with my students during my final year in the North.  And, lots of photos.

Nostalgia

It’s funny how things on the internet seem to never die. 

I just stumbled on a website I made in 2006, for the school at which I was then working.  I doubt this site has had a single visitor for years.  Me, I had totally forgotten about it.  But here it is, photos and all.  Enjoy.

Pobediteli

Here is a nicely crafted website and a great resource that provides an animated chronology of WWII; specifically, from the point of view of Russia.  It is called Pobediteli.