Friday, September 2, 2016

Giving the Gift of Reading is Beyond Valuable & Thanks to Our Libraries it’s Free!

Guest post this week from Kathy Kinney of MrsP.com:

Even though my mother never finished high school she was a reader and she passed her love of it on to me - and I do so love to read. She took me to the library, and provided me with access to those books, and they became a big part of me. As a child if I loved a book I would re-read it once a year. Some of my yearly favorites were: Cheaper By the Dozenby Frank Gilbreth, Jr and his sister Ernestine Gilbreth Carey; Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein. It might seem like an odd combination of books - two biographies and a fantasy tale but what they had in common was living life in a fun, creative and adventurous way. That was the kind of life I wanted as a child and it is the kind of life I created for myself and lead now that I am grown. And that is what the library provided to me, a gift that stretched my imagination and developed a life long love of reading.
Contest image 2016   That’s why I created my Be-a-Famous Writer contest, to help stretch the imaginations of young students. This year the theme is Libraries! What could be a better word for K-4 students to write about?  Just look at the images of these libraries!  I can think of a lot of stories just by looking at these, and maybe your students will too!
                             Library           Library 2                Library1
I read everyday for entertainment, comfort and to keep my imagination toned and ever ready for my next adventure. Giving someone the gift of reading is beyond valuable and thanks to our libraries it's free. So why not share the gift of reading with every man, woman and child you know - and of course don't forget to gift yourself. Get a library card!
And if you are teacher, be sure to bookmark my writing contest. It is open for entries starting September 1st and run to November 15th.  It's free to enter. The winners of the writing contest get to build their own library, as their classroom is filled with books in every format from my amazing sponsors

Mackin title card.001   CantataLogo 3c     Tales2go new logo    Capstone_Logo      Powells


Here are some fun books about the library to use as inspiration to get your students excited about writing their own story!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Hacking Standardized Test Results


Hacking Standardized Test Results


The Problem:


Schools and parents are starting to see their standardized test results roll in. For individual teachers and students, the lauding or damning begins. It’s all about accountability, right? It’s all about systemic improvement, right?


Right.



The Hack:


If the test results are not specifically being used to improve student learning then they are more about policy and not teaching and learning. Any other purpose, including teacher evaluation, school ranking, teacher efficacy, etc. is about those policy decisions and not necessarily supportive of improving student learning. If we can partition the data itself from the ways in which it is being used unrelated to learning, then we can analyze what is worth analyzing for the sake of instructional programs and real student impact.


This partitioning must also include any biases we might have about the assessment. A standardized test is only good for what it was designed to do and usually that design takes into account a large population of potential test takers. It doesn’t mean the data are useless, nor does it mean that other assessments will be useful in determining student proficiencies.


Specifically, we can drill into data reports and look for trends that will enhance our curriculum data (units, lessons, etc.). Schools need both curriculum data and assessment data in alignment  in order to have what Bena Kallick and Jeff Colosimo call a “Data Informed Culture.”



What You Can Do Tomorrow:


Analyze the standard.
Look at your students’ performance on missed questions. Pour over any documents released by your state or test designers in order to better understand what each question is asking. Were the answers close to correct? Test designers will often provide distractor analysis. Did students misinterpret what the question was asking? Use released test maps and documentation to compare the assessed standard to your taught standards to make sure all of the discrete skills are being taught. Standards are checkpoints. Some of them are made up of multiple skills a student must demonstrate proficiency for. The assessment may be a telling reminder that some skills are definitely engaged and that others might need more attention. This is especially true for teachers who did not design their own curriculum but instead rely on a vendor/purchased/downloaded curriculum that they do not subtract from or add to based on their knowledge of their students.


Limit your action plan.
If your state or test designer didn’t publicly release test maps, work with your district data leaders to track them down. Look for versions of data reports that tell you how often a standard has been assessed over several years. If the current year’s assessment is the only time that a particular standard has been addressed over the last few years, then it is not necessarily a priority in your action plan for this coming year’s planning. Your priority is with standards that are addressed in the assessment every year or most years. Your energy is better spent on those standards that are assessed often.


Look for thinking.
I’m asking you to think back to college days here. Go back to Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels. All standards, Common Core or otherwise, can be boiled down to one basic throughline: increase thinking. When you look at your assessment(s), standardized and benchmark/quarterly/summative, what do you notice about multiple levels of thinking? This might be evident through questions that assessed the same standard, particularly if there are different question types. There may be anomalies that suggest that students do well on lower level questions but not on higher level questions.  If students are being asked to demonstrate high levels of thinking, particularly across multiple assessments, then those same high levels of thinking should be represented in instruction and resources used for instruction. If there is a mismatch in thinking levels between instruction and assessment, then there will be a mismatch in performance. If students have to evaluate on the assessment but the instruction only addressed description, then the assessment data will likely show the disparity.


Intervene logically.
Make sure students TRULY need scaffolds and interventions related to the data. If the standardized test is the only metric to determine extra help or interventions, be careful. Think about all variables involved. Look for other data to inform the decision: benchmark or quarterly assessments, formative data, past years’ performance, and intuition. If the assessment design includes questions that students faltered on but contained questionable distractors or multi-step constructed responses, consider how close the student's’ score was to whatever the proficient cutoff is. If it’s statistically insignificant (read: close), then it is likely that no intervention is necessary. If a student’s score is very low and it’s hard to determine where their specific improvement areas lie, then additional assessments, metrics, and data will be useful in targeting a specific improvement plan. Focus on student deficits the way doctors focus on symptoms. One symptom doesn’t give much information for a diagnosis. Multiple symptoms taken together paint a picture of what the action plan will be.


Analyze other assessment data.
Check your summative/benchmark/quarterly assessments for their alignment to both the standards featured in the standardized test as well as the ones you are responsible for. If you want to map out an assessment for the purpose of comparative analysis, you could use THIS TOOL for doing so. Mapping an assessment for question type, standards alignment, and thinking level is a worthwhile experience for discovering the degree of parallelism between assessments, i.e. how closely they align to each other in scope, coverage, and knowledge demands. This is an important step in aligning curriculum data and assessment data. If we truly want to reach the goal of a data-informed culture, then it’s worth our time to consider how deeply aligned our assessments are.


Doubledown on reading.
I can’t repeat this enough. Runners need to run to improve. Readers need to read to improve. The most important thing we can do to improve overall student performance is to give them ample time to read at their instructional level during the school day. The more they read, the more they know. The more they know, the more access they have to difficult texts or multi-step math equations. The more access they have, the higher the probability that they will be able to successfully solve problems / answer questions. Independent reading is a gift. Give them that gift at school.


Continued Data Meetings
To maintain high levels of alignment between curriculum data and assessment data, continue to discuss it throughout the year where the conversation can be about current assessments rather than just the summative standardized one. Continue to look for trends in the data both as a class and in terms of individual student performance and look for links back to the documented curriculum. Look to grade level standards below and above the grade you teach to inform your knowledge of how proficient a student is with skills that get more sophisticated over time. Look at questions all students did poorly on, is there an easy fix or misconception that can be addressed in follow up instruction? Do students falter on specific question types such as constructed response questions? (Which are also a higher thinking level question as students are asked to “put it all together” for a proficient response.) In short, don’t let data be a once a year conversation directed toward performance on one test.


Questions or comments? Contribute below or contact Mike on Twitter at @fisher1000
For more on Hacking Standards and the Common Core specifically, visit Amazon for Hacking the Common Core.


*Note: Information contained in this blog post is an amalgamated remix of work I’ve read about, experienced, provided professional development for, and had professional conversations about over the last few years of Common Core implementation. To discover more about how to use data to improve student learning,  inform instruction, and align curricular goals, consider the following:

  • Using Curriculum Mapping and Assessment Data to Improve Student Learning by Bena Kallick and Jeff Colosimo
  • Driven by Data by Paul Bambrick Santoyo
  • Protocols for Professional Practice by Lois Brown Easton
  • The Data-Driven Classroom by Craig Mertler

Photo credit: FreeImages.com user SHHO (2010) under FreeImages.com Content License

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Review of Hacking the Common Core!



The nice folks at MiddleWeb reviewed Hacking the Common Core! Thanks, Rita Platt--I appreciate what you wrote!

View the review HERE

The book is on Amazon HERE

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Have a Summer of Fun with Reading and Writing!

originally posted on MiddleWeb

Now that we are all fully heading into the summer, I thought it would be a good time to talk about summer reading and writing and how to get kids to continue with their literacy efforts over their break.
Over the weekend, we had a great #HackLearning chat on Twitter (Sunday’s at 8:30 AM) on promoting summer reading, and a lot of great ideas were shared. In the interest of expanding that conversation, I’d like to share a few ideas to help parents and teachers #HackSummerLearning!
The best thing that teachers can encourage their students (and parents) to do over the summer is to simply read and write. Kids can read anything of interest, preferably at an instructional level (which might necessitate teachers sharing reading level information with parents). Teachers can then encourage parents to have a daily or every-other-day reading habit.

A pleasure, not a chore

Sometimes parents get lost when the expectation is to keep up with reading logs and document every page their kid reads. Remove that accountability and use the honor system to help encourage parents to keep up with reading.
Or even better, leverage social media to replace the reading log and have students and parents tweet to a teacher or school-specific hashtag sharing their favorite moments, titles of books, plot twists, favorite characters – anything!
Don’t make the reading just a student event. Even if the students are older, ask that parents read to their children and have discussions about what’s happening in the books the kids are reading for themselves.
Additionally, summer is a GREAT time to start co-reading events where the parent(s) and the child read the same book and have discussions about happenings and inferences.
Another option is “post mortems” where everybody talks about the book in general. We are doing that this summer with our nine year old. We’ve been waiting years to share Harry Potter with her, and this summer is the summer of Harry for us. My wife and I are so looking forward to sharing this with our daughter and can’t wait to rediscover “the magic!”

Read the rest of the blog here!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Hacking the Common Core

I'm so pleased to announce that Hacking the Common Core is Now Available on Amazon.com in both print and eBook formats!

From the publisher:

There Is Nothing Common About This Common Core Book
It's finally here: a book that unravels the Common Core State Standards, exposes the myths, and shows educators and parents exactly how to bring back the fun to teaching and learning--even in a standardized world.
In Hacking the Common Core, longtime teacher and CCSS specialist Michael Fisher reveals 10 amazing hacks for teaching the Core in all subjects.
The Common Core Is Not Evil, but. . .
Fisher explains how the CCSS are not evil, while demonstrating their limitations, particularly when teachers trust a vendor product over their own professionalism. Getting to the CORE of contemporary instructional practice and undoing the mass hysteria following the Common Core implementationare both the heart of this book.
What All Education Stakeholders Will Learn
  • How to bring literature back to the classroom
  • The truth about close reading
  • What the instructional shifts really mean for instructional design
  • Why we must ditch “Rigor” in favor of “Vigor”
  • How to fix vocabulary with "Morecabulary"
  • How to upgrade the verb
  • The problem with the one-size-fits-all mentality
  • Why parents need to understand the Common Core
Change How You Teach
Hacking the Common Core is the book that every teacher who feels handcuffed by standards and testing has been waiting for. It's time to take back your class, engage all learners, and be amazing for your students. 
The Hack Learning Formula
The Hack Learning Series formula is perfect for Hacking the Common Core. Forget everything you've heard about standardization and the Core. Fisher throws out or upgrades most information and strategies, and in classic Hack Learning style, he gives you:
The Problem (Common Core issues that need a Hacker's mentality)
The Hack (ridiculously easy solutions that you've likely never considered)
What You Can Do Tomorrow (no waiting necessary; you can make writing immediately)
Blueprint for Full Implementation (a step-by-step action plan for capacity building)
The Hack in Action (yes, people have actually done this)

Are you ready to bring the fun back to learning?

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Triptiks Can Rev Up Student-Centered Learning

Originally published on MiddleWeb

In my workshops and my most recent ASCD book, Ditch the Daily Lesson Plan, I advocate for teachers to work smarter, not harder, and to learn how to plan curriculum for contemporary classrooms and contemporary students.
My overriding message is still focused on high levels of student engagement. We also want to be sure we include discovery level learning opportunities that are authentic and timely.
One idea I like to propose for discovery learning is what I call “The Triptik.” I use it as a metaphor for co-creating a learning experience with students where the students are largely responsible for getting to a destination once the destination (or learning objective or project deliverable) has been established.
Those reading this who remember the American Automobile Association’s Triptik® will probably recall that a member would set a destination and then AAA would design a packet of information to help get you there in myriad ways, allowing you to know about construction, alternative routes, direct and indirect paths, places of interest to enhance the journey, etc. The traveler would then have everything they needed to shape a unique travel experience.
I think this method can well apply to contemporary curriculum design, particularly when we shift much of the responsibility for the (learning) journey to the student. While student choice and voice are important in all contemporary classrooms, they are vital in the Middle Grades classroom, where students have a built-in longing to explore, discover, and create.

Tips for creating classroom Triptiks

In order to design a Triptik® in your classroom, ask yourself the following questions:
  1. What is a learning journey worth embarking on? This can be a negotiation between teachers and students. Teachers have an understanding of the objectives, standards, etc., but student voice here could reveal iterations of the objective that create opportunities for buy-in and high levels of engagement.
  2. How do I align the journey to standards, and how will I assess it? Whatever the learning experience will ultimately be, the teacher still needs to coach students through learning expectations and coach towards success on whatever the assessment will be. (Hopefully it’s one that is co-designed by students and teachers!)
  3. What are the essential skills that students will need to master as they embark on this learning journey? These essential skills will be determined by the assessments that are designed as well as any standards that a teacher aligns this learning experience to. Additionally, other skills related to the designed task may need to be documented, particularly if they are part of a negotiation with the students on how they will work, learn, and perform. (Such as Habits of Mindor even peripheral skills related to contemporary research strategies.)
  4. What questions need to be asked? Focus the work for the team by helping students develop questions, both essential and supporting, that facilitate students’ finding the right resources to advance their learning and lead them to their learning destination.
  5. How will students and teachers (and anyone else involved in the learning process) communicate and collaborate? Co-creating tentative instructional tasks based on skills and group-brainstormed ways of getting to the assessment / product (where students’ voices impact the planning and delivery of instruction) will allow students a window into what teachers must consider when designing instruction. This conversation could help students self-advocate for scaffolds or opportunities for differentiation.
  6. How will students be accountable for their work? Be mindful of the destination while you work to get there, setting instructional milestones and providing ongoing feedback. In the Middle Grades classroom, feedback is essential to quality work and improvement. Think of creative ways to distance yourself from traditional grading in favor of helping all students generate a quality product.


Read the rest of the blog HERE!

NOTE: “Triptik®” is a registered trademark of AAA and is used with permission.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Category Cubes: An ARIAS Addendum

I’m so excited that the Ditch The Daily Lesson Plan Arias book is doing so well. I’m glad that it’s resonating and that teachers are finding value in new ways of thinking about instructional planning.

I thought I would add a little amenity to the book for the New Year. What I came up with is called “Category Cubes.” I took the content for the cubes from the section of the book where I describe an inquiry process that I call “The Triptik®.”

The basic idea of “The Triptik®” is that a learning destination is co-created with teachers and students but students are largely responsible for getting to the destination once the destination (or learning objective or product) has been established / agreed upon. Think about what the AAA company does for it’s customer. The customer decides on a destination and then AAA designs a packet of information to help the customer get there. It includes construction along the way, alternative routes, direct and indirect ways to get to the destination, places of interest, and suggestions for stopping points. The customer would have a one-stop shop of everything they would need to take a unique journey.

I thought this was a great metaphor for instructional planning.

In explaining “The Triptik®,” I describe a way to help teachers co-create instructional parameters around potential research or project-based goals. These include a student’s ROLE, their ORBIT, their TASK, how FEEDBACK is collected and used, and LIMITING FACTORS.

I expanded these parameters into potential student actions and created cubes or dice for students and teachers to use to help with instructional design.


A couple of notes about using them:

  • Consider printing them on cardstock for improved durability.
  • There is a blank template you can use to create your own cubes or perhaps have your students make their own cubes.
  • What ever kind of project or inquiry your students are engaging in; it is not necessary to use all of the cubes. You may only need one, you may use more than one to help scaffold or sophisticate.
  • On the Feedback cube, there are several ways listed for students to get feedback. You may have to provide some direction / coaching for team, self, or social media feedback.
  • On the Orbits cube, note that students may need some coaching help when navigating social media, asking an expert, or creating a good survey.
  • On the Role cube, I included a few examples of potential roles for group inquiry. There are many more roles that students could take on. Feel free to remix or revise at your discretion.
  • These cubes may be helpful when students are making initial decisions and they may be good for refining their decisions once their work is underway. I hope you find them useful.

I’d love to know of your successes if you’re willing to share them in the comments section below. I sincerely hope each of you has a fantastic 2016!

Happy New Year!

Mike Fisher  (on Twitter: @fisher1000 )

Available now from the ASCD Arias series:

Also available from ASCD:
Triptik® is a registered trademark of the AAA company and is used with permission.