Standard B, Indicator 3: Communicates high standards and expectations when extending and completing the lesson.
a. Assigns homework or practice that furthers student learning and checks it.
For the past three years, I have read countless studies that prove homework is not, in fact, beneficial to students' academic performance, and it does not increase level of responsibility or moral fiber; therefore, I do not assign homework. After a student has been in school for seven or more hours, the remainder of their day should be dedicated to their extracurricular activities, their family, and their own free time. I do, however, assign weekly reading logs that are required for all students to submit. All classes receive a new reading log each week (typically on a Monday), and it is due the following Monday. Students are asked to read a minimum of twenty minutes each night for any five days out of the seven-day period they have to complete the assignment. After each reading, students are required to write a personal reflection about the reading. If they have trouble deciding what to write, there are sentence starters at the top of the reading log.
This reading log is part of the comprehensive independent reading project that students are working on throughout the third quarter. Each reading log is collected and given an individual score based on the quality of responses that are provided. Many students have difficulty writing complete sentences and will often respond using summarized bullet-points; therefore, I will also assess their reading log based on whether or not they have used at least five complete sentences. Attached below is an example of the reading log students receive, the independent reading project students are working on both in class and at home, as well as a brief timeline students are required to follow.
Independent Reading Project.pdf
Independent Reading Project Timeline.pdf
b. Provides regular and frequent feedback to students on their progress.
Feedback is always provided on student work, especially if drafts are involved, as in the case of the independent research project. I strongly believe that feedback is one of the most important aspects in one's education, if not the most important. To me, if a teacher provides students with an assignment that will only be checked for completion, or simply because there needs to me more grades, the assignment is completely useless to the teacher and to the student. What is the purpose of giving an assignment that clearly falls into the category of "busy work"?
If the teacher only checks for completion, students will most likely rush through the assignment just to earn the completion grade. I recently conducted an action research project on various types of assessment, and the results showed that students performed better when they were provided with specific feedback in regards to what they need to improve, as well as what they did well. "Regular and frequent feedback" does not consist of writing a check-plus, check, or check-minus at the top of an assignment based off of a quick glance over a student's paper. With this particular system, there is no accurate evidence of a student's growth. To me, feedback means spending time with a particular assignment and providing meaningful and individualized comments. Yes, this certainly takes a lot of time, but it's beneficial to the students in the end.
c. Provides many and varied opportunities for students to achieve competence.
I understand that each student has their unique learning style; therefore, I am prepared to meet the needs for every student. I completely understand that some students are not very good test takers, but they can demonstrate their understanding through creative components (e.g. poster, PowerPoint, Prezi, collage, etc.) On the other hand, some students are excellent test takers. To me, it doesn't seem fair if two students know the material extremely well, but one student performs terribly on a paper-based assessment.
Even though I do rely on paper-based selection tests for assessment, I also give students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and thinking through the use of creative components or through a different type of assessment (e.g. written component, multiple choice, fill in the blank, etc.) For example, the independent reading project provides students the opportunity to write an essay and to choose (or design) a creative project to achieve the learning goals.
In addition, there are students who simply freeze the first time they take a test, but can perform much better the second time around. In my classroom, I allow re-takes on almost everything, of course, at my discretion, and at a time that works well for both the student and me. When students re-take or re-do an assignment or assessment, the two grades are not averaged, simply because it falsifies the student's score when they've proved to me they know the material.