Developing Standards for SBG II

As I mentioned in my last post, all of the chemistry teachers in our district recently got together to flesh out our standards as we move forward in our implementation of standards-based grading. Before we get to the goods, I want to clarify the specific terminology that we've been using, as defined by the district. Each class basically breaks down into three levels, starting with big ideas and narrowing down to more specific ideas.

Reporting Standards 

Reporting standards will appear in the gradebooks, and reflect a combination of priority standards (big picture). We based these on the MN state standards.  

Priority Standards

Priority standards are "absolutely essential for student success". These are a bit more specific, but still general enough that they can be assessed in a variety of ways, and will cover a variety of learning objectives. I'm thinking I may put these into my gradebook as well (or at least have some method of tracking them/having students track them). 

Learning Objectives 

Specific nuggets of information, tailored to individual or sets of lessons. These are set by each individual teacher (although each level should have similar ones) so they were not included in our work, even though they are expected to be used to further clarify the priority standards.

Now that we've got that aired out, here's what we came up with for our standards. These will be continuous for all levels of chemistry (conceptual, general, and HP/AP), with the thought that higher levels may add extras or go more in depth.

The first reporting standard (Nature of Science) will be a continuous thread throughout the entire year, and the others will be only in certain trimesters that we cover that particular standard (probably at least two others per tri). The district would also like us to map out exactly which standards (both reporting and priority) are being covered each trimester, so that theoretically a student could transfer from one HS to another within the district and be in basically the same area of the course... still not sure about that idea.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions, critiques, etc. are more than welcome!

Developing Standards for SBG

One of the most difficult things that I've had to deal with this year is trying to figure out a set of standards to use for chemistry. As I was preparing last summer, I wrestled with our state standards (which, at the time, seemed too "big") and the-slightly-less-daunting learning targets for each (series of) lessons that would be taught.

I spent quite a bit of time reading through lots of SBG tips and ideas, but I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around how it would look for my class. I tried grouping targets by topic (such as "atomic structure", or "chemical reactions") and used a lot of Jason Buell's structure for designing rubrics (or topic scales, as he calls them) and set up checklists similar to what Mylene had done.  When all was said and done, I went about 3 weeks into the year before realizing that the grouping I had done and all of the rubrics I had created were not working the way I wanted them to - so I scrapped them and started over¹.

My intentions were to fully use SBG this year, but the initial setback (without much time to gather the pieces) made it difficult to move forward. I have been utilizing learning goals (targets) for each section/unit and making the targets clear and assessments based on those targets. However, the big ideas (standards?²) are being loosely strung along while we plod through the year and not as clearly tied to the targets as I would like them to be. I'm hoping that by the start of our 3rd trimester in a few weeks, I will be able to have a bit more structure to end the year on a high note.

As our district moves forward with our SBG implementation plan, we are meeting with all of the other chemistry teachers tomorrow to finish developing our standards for next year. I'm hoping that this collaboration will give me a better sense of the "big idea"-"learning target" connection and make it a much easier transition to full SBG next year, and I will have a later post that details what we come up with.

[1] Although at first I felt as though I had wasted a ton of time by doing this, I've come to realize that I learned a lot about how to design useful rubrics through this process - even though I didn't use the rubrics I created.

[2]  I haven't settled on the preferred verbiage just yet (standards? targets? objectives? blah?) but I usually think of standards as being the "big ideas".

Feedback

THIS. Above all else, I recognize that giving students feedback is one area of my teaching in which I'm in need of improvement. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that this is the area in which I am in need of the most improvement! Oy vey.
It wouldn't be professional development without an article to read, now would it?

Recommendations

When I first started blogging (sometime early last summer) I came across a number of blogs that have allowed me to reflect and develop my educational "theory" and apply it to make changes in my classroom. Most of them are science related, some are math, and all of them offer great insight into what a classroom can (and in most cases, should) be like. Yesterday, I created a blog roll that lists the main ones that I make a point to read whenever I have the time. Here's a few snippets from that list:

The Math/student-engagement guru:

Dan Meyer is a pretty big name in the math blogosphere, and his blog was the first one that got me searching for others. It was his TED talk that led me to him; if you're interested, start with his "Author's Choice" page. Highly recommended for anyone working with students who are less self-motivated (or anyone in math or science). 

The Puzzlers:

Each of these guys post frequently about science as well as education, and many of their posts leave me questioning and reflecting:

John Burk is a physics teacher who has endless insightful posts. I was particularly intrigued by his recent post about the growth mindset.

Brian Frank is another physics guy who teaches teachers, and constantly has interesting posts about physics as well as teaching.

The SBG-er:

Probably the best resource I have found for SBG guidance has come from Jason Buell. He has an entire page that lists all of the posts about SBG, and they have been an immense help in my transition to SBG this year. It's worth mentioning that he's also a science guy.

****UPDATE
I neglected to include another great SBG (and science) resource: Shawn Cornally, who also has a TED talk that is quite good. He also has a page of SBG stuff, and it's not just for science!


The Newest Addition:

A blog that I just found last week, but has been a great addition to my reading list, belongs to Nick Mitchell - yet another science teacher (surprise surprise). I particularly enjoyed his most recent post about the purpose of using demos in science. Couldn't have been more timely - our district just had a recent incident, and I will be attending a meeting with other science teachers to discuss our district's demo safety policies this week.