Questions, questions...
Until recently I have discounted my response to students' answers. I have now realized (after almost TWENTY years of teaching) that what I say after a kid responds to a question is just as important as the question itself. I have been going through the motions to get the kids to answer the questions. I am embarassed. I think the old PET evaluation form marked me and other teachers down if we didn't say, "good" or "great job" to the students when they got the correct answer. (Not that I am blaming any one else for my stupidity, but sometimes pointing a finger at others does make one feel better.)

Thank you all for being so willing to share your writing. I am impressed with your talent. Remember to save the writing you do in class. If you try out any of the things we do in class, please let me come see how it goes. If you are not comfortable with that, at least let us know how it goes during our next study group.

Chapters 4 and 5 in Fair Isn't Always Equal are short and chocked full of ideas for alternative forms of assessment. Please try one out. If you need support, don't forget I can help.

As I said before we started the Data Warehouse Survey, it is a pain, but the state department requires all participants to complete it so that we can get our grant money to pay for the class. Thank you all for being so patient and completing it last night.

Wow! We worked hard yesterday! I am impressed with your thoughtfulness and ability to take an idea and run with it. Math folks, that you for not running out of the room. I hope all had fun while learning about different ways to to view literature and all types of texts.

As I re-read the next two chapters in Fair Isn't Always Equal, I do so with an amount of shame. "Unfortunately, some teachers (and earlier in my career me included) do all these assessments, yet still go ahead and do what they were going to do anyway." This quote made me look directly at my practice of "marching on" and "covering" the content without regard to what my students had learned.

Let me know what you think!