Chapter 3 What Grading Looks Like in the Standards-Based Classroom
This chapter references the I Can statements so students and educators can get a very specific answer on whether students have gained an understanding of the standards.
As a teacher, have you used the I Can statements with your students? If so, what benefit did you see from doing this? If you have not used I Can statements, where might you begin this process?
This chapter references the I Can statements so students and educators can get a very specific answer on whether students have gained an understanding of the standards.
As a teacher, have you used the I Can statements with your students? If so, what benefit did you see from doing this? If you have not used I Can statements, where might you begin this process?
I like the Wonders series that we currently use, because each week there is an essential question and a skill that is focused on. I take the skill and change it into an "I Can" statement. I post these on our "Focus Wall" each week. On Mondays, I introduce the essential question and the I can statement with the new vocabulary, High Frequency words, and grammar skill. I do direct instruction with the skill and the kids practice it whole group and then guided/independently during small group instruction. After reading chapter 3, I would like to continue to use my current "I Can" statements, but then extend that into the students writing. I would like to take writing pieces and break them down into learning targets with rubric based grading. This would help me provide more small group instruction pertaining to writing skills that need assistance. This would eventually help kids to be able to self-evaluate. I liked the idea of students highlighting the skill and rubric the same color, so the teacher can easily see the learning. For example if the students were asked to use sequential words in their piece, they would highlight that in their writing with a certain color. Then if they needed to work on writing descriptive settings, they would highlight that a different color. I feel this would be a great way to help the student become more responsible with their work and be able to help them see what skills or learning they may need more assistance with. I do think this would take time to develop, but just like Daily 5, hopefully it could become a common language we use within our school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Janice that the Wonders series is set up in a way that lends itself to "I can" statements. I also agree that asking students to highlight specific elements in their writing is a great way of focusing students on the skill and making them self assess. I have always relied on rubrics to guide students in any of my larger projects. The rubrics are handed out on the same day that the projects are assigned. I have also learned that the more examples I can provide for them ahead of time--of mastery and nonmastery of the target skills, the better understanding they have of what is expected, and the more successful they are. I have also built into many of my projects the self assessment at the end. Students are usually aware of how well they did, and they are often quite hard on themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs we are making our way through this transition to standards based classrooms, I think that many of us are realizing that a lot of what we already do can be adapted to fit in more closely with the standards based approach. It was helpful to me to read at the beginning of chapter three that a good way to approach this transition is to have a solid understanding of the standards, and then work backward from them toward more specific learning targets--which are the "I can" statements. It goes on to state that it is an even better method to group targets together so that several targets may be addressed by the same activity. That is my goal as I begin to create more projects to meet the standards in all of the subject areas.
When I first started teaching, I would post the Common Core standard for the daily lesson the board for students, and I would discuss it with them in terms of "I can". I no longer post the standards in my classroom, but I often share the standards with students. Middle School students begin asking, "Why do we have to learn this?" For this reason, I tell my students the standards and what they are suppose to learn or be able to do by the end of the lesson/year. Sharing the standards with the students, especially middle schoolers, provides them a reason or purpose for why I teach the concept as well as what they need to be able to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteNow that I am teaching math, I think it would be beneficial to provide "I can" statements for students. I could present these at the beginning of each lesson. "I can" statements could also ensure that I connect my instruction to my assessments. In addition, students would be able to use "I can" statements as a method for reviewing and for determining mastery of skills.
I've actually been struggling with this in the computer classroom. The standards on the report card are very vague and are difficult to put a grade. Instead, I try to think of experiences or lessons students should know or be able to do at a specific grade level. I also have incorporated more hands-on project based learning into the middle school tech classroom. I try to stay up to date with technology that they are using now or want to use. I often say "Can you...", but forget often forget to put the responsibility back on the students. I think it would be helpful to put in some "I can" statements for certain grade levels. To try and do this with everyone might be a little overwhelming. For example: "I can...create a Google Presentation with a theme and multiple slides to showcase information in a logical order." This is something we work on a lot in 4th grade. I'm going to include some I can statements into my lesson plans in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Janice and Liz that our Wonders Series lends itself to student understanding of what they will be learning from the essential question of each lesson. That essential questiont helps them to clearly understand what the goal of the learning is and what they will demonstrate to show that they have reached the targets. I like the idea of changing them into "I Can" statements for learning. Also as students develop “I Can” statements as part of their growth mindset, they begin to understand the process of how learning develops over time. That mindset helps students to know that they don’t have to know all skills right away, and that they will develop them as they practice and use the skills or content in many different ways.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3 states that “Then students must be given the freedom necessary to make decisions about their learning.” This creates an optimum learning environment because students understand that their teacher is creating a classroom that allows them choices and gives them the pathway to succeed. Rubrics also provide students with a specific plan to follow and know what is expected of them as they move toward the final assessment. It gives them more ownership of their learning. It also keeps them directed toward what is expected and the pathway to complete the assignment or project. I use rubrics in the classroom and like how you can evaluate “with” students to help them assess their learning.
I use “I Can” statements, but find it a large task to address all of the standards. I always try to provide many different learning opportunities across the curriculum for my students so they are motivated to keep learning more. I like how the book suggested combining tasks to address more standards at once is a good way to use the limited time we have with our students.
I want to apologize for the length of my blog entry. As I reread it; I realized it to be a bit of a “rant”. But, since my time is short…I am not going to rewrite it. I’m just going to blame it on low blood-sugar and family stress….and go make some recipe I saw on Pinterest. ;-)
ReplyDeleteA Question of Time (– And the questions I still have.)
--My take away from Chapter 3
I found it interesting that on page 52 when discussing the difference between correcting, grading, and feedback, the author wrote, “When we stop grading everything we have more time!” I understand that they meant that if we formatively assess as they work on their projects, there is less work to do – later. But when I need to record the useful, formative feedback on practice work, written pieces or projects that takes as much if not more time than simply “correcting” it. And meeting individually to conference takes time too! (some more than others) It has been my personal experience, that while differentiation is very important…it takes more time to prep for multiple learning styles and abilities. And some years you just have one or two kiddos that just need more of your time.
Another aspect of time – I feel that much of this works better the older the students get. There is a great deal of time spent in lower grades “prepping” students to be able to “make choices” and work independently. Even the example of the 3rd Grade writing example…There are a great many little skills that have to be taught before they can be turned loose to start to write a longer project piece.
Finally, trying to fit standards together from multiple areas (like the MS example on page 51) makes huge sense! It helps to make the large number of standards manageable. But…when are we supposed to make/find/create the time to do these things. A few in-service days a year are good step in that direction. And, Yes, we can meet in the summer. Yes, we can stay late or come in early. Yes, we can use our 30 minutes of daily plan time to work on it, but when did this career become so time consuming that it precludes any “life” outside of work. Why/When did it become the expectation that teachers should use their own time to “do this job”? I think back to the 1800’s and female teachers were not allowed to be married. It used to seem crazy and unfair to me, but maybe they knew what they were doing. Young women of that time wouldn’t have had time to prep for teaching and have time to chop wood, make flour, sew clothing, bake bread, butcher chickens, make candles, haul water, tend sick children; to take care of a family.
I think one solution ties into what Katie K. said in the last blog; that we need to have/purchase/select series and materials that are already set up to aide us with teaching in a different way. We need to find publishing companies that provide us with materials to make our jobs easier. We don’t have the time to constantly be re-inventing the wheel. Projects and rubrics are great ways to help students meet the goals/standards of a project. They are very beneficial in the long run, but well written/planned rubrics, student choice projects, differentiation do take a while to create (at least for me).
The question I had as I was reading throughout the chapter was "Why can't the standards from the very beginning be written in words that make sense to everyone so teachers don't have to take the time to rewrite them in words that parents and students can understand?" Some of the time I am not even sure what they are covering. It would make our jobs much easier.
ReplyDeleteI have used "I can" statements in reading and math. When Mr. Haverland was our principal we worked on posting these statements. I found them to help me to have more focus on what I was covering in that lesson. I'm not sure if it made a difference with my students' learning. In science class we always have a focus question that I either say or write on the board. These are very similar to the essential questions in our Wonders reading program.
As I was this chapter and they were talking about putting the standards into words the students can understand, I agree with Betsy’s comment that the standards need to be written in terms the teachers can understand. If we, the teachers, can’t understand what they are saying, then how can we efficiently teach and assess the students correctly. The standards are there to make sure we are all teaching the students them, but if we are interpreting them completely different then that defeats the point of having the standard. Why do we have to work harder to interpret the things that are supposed to guide our teaching every day?
ReplyDeleteI do use “I can” statements within my teaching. Being able to explain to the students what they will be able to do by the end, allows them to be part of the learning process from the beginning the end. I will say that some lessons are easier than others, depending on what and who I am working with at a given time. In the past, when I had larger groups, I would write them on the board and assess with the groups how we completed the “I Can” statement. It really allowed the students to be part of the process and more accountable in the end.
My first couple of years of teaching were flooded with "I Can" statements, because the Core was becoming a really big deal around that time. I had a space on my whiteboard where I listed "I Can" statements for each grade level, for each class....and of course, over time, this came to be quite a chore, and I began to use that space for other things. I realized, with time, that while it was nice to be able to point to the board and tell the kids exactly what I wanted them to learn, it was nicer to tell them why they needed to know how to do those things, and that's what they were more interested in anyway. However, I do think there's a lot of value in using those "I Can" statements to better collect data, to grade, and to show parents how a kid is doing in class.
ReplyDeleteIn English, I think it would be useful to attach "I Can" statements to most (not all) assignments, to easier pinpoint what a kid is doing well in, and what they're struggling with as well. It would also be useful to use those statements in conferences, when I'm trying to show parents what their kid is excelling in, and where their kid needs to improve.
I completely agree with earlier posts though, that putting the standards into kid/teacher/parent-friendly wording to begin with would be a huge help! Not having to re-word the standards ourselves while trying to do the job would be a huge time-saver, and would leave less room for misinterpretation.
As many have said the Wonders series really leads itself to I can statements. However, I don't write them on the board. I only have so much board space and as Katie V said sometimes you just need that board space for what you're teaching.
ReplyDeleteOthers have touched on rubrics, and I use them. However, I find that the kids who do well are really tough on themselves while the kids who don't do so well tend to inflate their grade.
In math I like to tell the students how they will use what they are learning in the future instead of using an I can statement.
As some have said time is a precious thing. While writing I can statements seems like a great idea, I look at all the prep time I give up to work one on one with students. I look at how much I take home to do in my evenings and on my weekends, and some of this stuff looks invisible as it is just me taking my laptop home to spend half a day updating MTSS forms etc.
I also have used "I Can" statements in the past, but I no longer explicitly post them. I guess it just got so low on my lengthy list of things to do that I kind of forgot about them, to be honest. However, as Betsy said, I do feel like our focus questions in science are a really good substitute for "I Can"8 statements, and I do talk about these questions before I begin an investigation. Even though I don't officially post these statements, I am constantly reminding students of what we are trying to learn or discover through our lab activities and readings. I don't think you have to specifically word it as "I Can" or have it posted in the front of the classroom to still accomplish the same goal of having students understand where their learning should be taking them. I also agree with everyone who said that writing "I Can" statements is just another time-consuming task that we don't have lots of time for.
ReplyDeleteI use rubrics as well, more often in social studies. I like rubrics because I believe if I take the time to make a good rubric, the expectations are clear for students and grading is easier for me in the end. IF (and that's a big IF) students take time to actually look at them again while working, then the students can effectively monitor their own learning and progress. As long as I remind them frequently to check those rubrics, they are effective. I do feel as though the students better evaluate their own work when using a rubric, and generally tend to be pretty honest about their performance.
I have not done any "I can..." statements in PE. I have seen it done though while I did my observations and student taught. I think it is definitely something I can use in the future in my classes. I like how students can view them every day on my board and see what they are going to be working towards in class that day. When class is over, it is nice to go over it again and see how many of them "can" do that particular skill or whatever it may be in class that day. I also think instead of putting them on the board every day, it could work to give them for each unit instead of each day. At the end of the unit, students would be able to see things they accomplished and learned.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am going to post on our 11th snow day!! Yikes! As I read this chapter, I did agree that the standards are hard to understand the way they are written. So like everyone else who posted, I wonder how teachers have time to write them in a kid friendly way. It makes sense to make the standards simpler so students know what the goal is to achieve but all of that takes time to do. Honestly, I think it takes a lot of time just to decipher the lingo to actually be able to put them into an "I Can" statement that is meaningful for students. Definitely something to talk about but hard to say how we can accomplish that and not feel we are not only buried in snow but also with unpacking standards.
I agree with Betsy that it would be so much easier if the standards were written in words that make sense to everyone. I also use the Wonders Series but like any series, we the teachers, still need to take the extra time and effort to come up with the rubrics and "I Can" statements to cover that standard. I have developed many "I Can" statements to go with reading/language, but where do we draw the line as to how many we create for each standard? Students are suppose to be able to self-assess their own understanding to have more control of their learning. Will they become overwhelmed with all the "I Can" statements, especially those children that are mastering them at a slower pace? What extra problems are we creating when children move up to the next grade?
ReplyDeleteTeaching Kindergartners I have many checklists of the goals my students need to meet or "Can Do." Is giving my students their own rubric/I can check sheet the answer to put them in control of their own learning? My students need many pictures on their rubrics, which makes more work for the teacher. In my classroom I set learning targets to go with the standards and then assess student performance. Rubrics help me keep track of student progress and give me a concrete report for parents and students. Children are aware of what is expected for each target and encouragement is given to them to do their best as well as seek help when needed.
I love the statement "I Can" as a reflection of achievement. It is so important that we encourage students to set goals for themselves. "I Can" statements are a great way to show students immediate success in achieving their goals, or standards in our classes.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I could do more in my class helping students make and achieve goals. I try to compliment students often about what they are achieving in music. For example, I congratulated and praised the third graders for playing their first full song on the recorder. However, I rarely encourage students to share what they believe they have accomplished in class.
Educators teach much more than the curriculum required of us. We teach morality, social skills, hygiene, communication, and so much more. We also teach the skill of goal-setting. "I Can" statements are building blocks to goal-setting. It is part of what we do each day to encourage students achieve classroom standards and standards they set for themselves. We encourage students to raise the bar higher and higher as they continue to find success in achieving their goals. We help to form students of high achievement as we encourage them in their journeys.
I plan to do more in the future with goal-setting phrases such as "I Can" statements. I hope the students will set high standards for themselves throughout their lives.
For Wonders we always look at the essential question at the beginning of the week but I always struggle to come back to it at the end of the week. The weeks I do it shows great understanding of what the students have learned and gives the students a goal of what they need to learn that week. The place I rarely use "I Can" statements is in Math. Last year I would always right them on the white board but after awhile it just faded out. I need to get back to doing the "I Can" statements because I feel it gives students a goal to work towards. I plan to do a better job of this and I know it will help the students understand the material better.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first encountered a classroom teacher using the I Can statements I was impressed that students and teachers were having conversations about what they were learning. I agree with what has been said that this also can be a lot of additional work when you look at the scope of the standard. I guess if nothing else, we just become more thoughtful about asking ourselves what we want students to know and do they know why and what they are learning. While I know that seems so obvious, we know as educators that isn't always the case. Often kids don't know the specific thing we want them to learn and why.
ReplyDeleteI have not used "I Can" statements, but I agree with the Wonders series comments above. I appreciate that each unit provides an essential question and a skill to be cover. This helps provide me a focus to each lesson/unit. I always start out each lesson discussing what we're going to learn, but I don't necessarily use "I can" statements.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Betsy's comment about the standards being in more user-friendly language, so we as teachers can easily identify what needs to be taught and parents and students can also understand the standards without us having to explain them. It would be easier to form "I Can" statements if the standards were more specific and clearly written.
I agree with many of the people above that the language of the Standards can be confusing. It would it would be very helpful if they were written in a way that would make them more easily understood by teachers, parents, and students.
ReplyDeleteI like the focus questions in science and the essential questions found in the Wonders Series. They really give a purpose to the investigations and drive students to find the information they need. I would like to start using I Can statements in Social Studies. Often there is so much information when learning about American History that students become overwhelmed. I Can statements would break that knowledge down into digestible pieces.
During my schooling over the years I have been able to observe basal planners for Reading instruction made by different companies. Using these planners and instruction has helped me to see that the objectives for learning are easily defined for both teacher checklists of required teaching and for the benefit of student learning. I feel that our Wonders program aligns perfectly well with our evolving changes that the way we teach has made. We used to just teach without defining the growth along the way that each student has made. I appreciate the "I can" statements that accompany the lessons and I apprecaite the resarch behind using these positive well defined phrases to provide for further growth mindset in all abilities of student learners. Another wonderful way that aides in student recognition and "why" for learning is the use of rubrics. By clearly defining the learning goal and then showing students the grade or accomplishments that they can make it allows students to be the one in the end who can determine the grade they wish for. I feel that goal setting and open discussions about the "why" (Iowa Core Standards) and the tools we can use to aid each students success such as interviews and individual checks. This forefront language in combination with student relationships will remain the powerhouse to every student reaching growth in a positive light.
ReplyDeleteLike several of the other teachers, I allways talk about what we will be learning or what the focus is before we start the lesson. I also use the focus questions in Science to help guide the lesson. I do not post the I CAN statements. However, if I did I am unsure if I would refer to them.
ReplyDeleteI did like the ideas about using them to measure the students' progress and share with the parents at conferences. I gained a lot of good ideas from reading the other answers. I will reflect on how to use I Can statements more in my teaching.
As I asked myself this question, I realized that I should be incorporating more "I Can" statements into my teaching. I also utilize the essential questions in the Wonders series and refer back to it throughout the week. This is the first year that I have shared the specific literary elements, skills, and strategies for each lesson with the students on the first day of instruction. I have found that it helps them to know which areas we will be focusing on and why. I agree with Tracy that as students get older, they appreciate knowing what learning standards apply to each subject and what they are expected to know and be able to do to demonstrate successful learning. Like Gina, I have found that rubrics are helpful tools because they provide concrete expectations and allow the students to see the levels of performance necessary to achieve the desired success in each academic area.
ReplyDeleteI have used I Can statements in the past and like the simplicity of their wording. Very student friendly! My first graders can easily understand what their goal is to achieve. I agree that they will have more ownership of their learning this way. I need to get better at using more rubrics in my classroom and showing them what mastery would look like. I need to continue to work on finding out how each of my students learn best and then allow them to work towards mastery in that way. It will take some work with my first graders to help them realize what is the best way that they learn. They might not know. In first grade, not everything is graded as we are working towards mastery as it may be in the older grades. I need to find ways that I can let my students learn in small groups with me more as a guide. I would like to see how this works in first grade. I have introduced flexible seating this year and like that they have the choice in this. I just need to find more ways.
ReplyDeleteI did use the I can statements but I never really referred to them. I used the wonders essential questions and I use the Science focus questions. I would have to agree with Betsy change the standards so that everybody can understand them. Have them mean exactly what they want, so that way everyone will understand them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would go back to the I can statements. I really like the essential questions and the focus questions. I will continue to use them everyday when teaching reading and science. Students understand them.