Educational Theory of the Week: Evaluation

Educational Theory of the Week covers different theories that teachers use and impact our children. They can easily be applied outside of a classroom setting.

And, here it is... the final tier of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Evaluation is assessing and making decisions. As adults, we evaluate every day. Our children do it too!

Questions

Evaluation is easy to incorporate and like other parts, you probably already do.

Did he (insert character's name) do the right thing at the end of the story? Why?

Tell me why you think you should have five more minutes of playtime.

Explain what your favorite colors are, in order of your preference. 

What grade would you give this paper? Why?

Little kids so enjoy evaluating and they are very willing to do so. It helps to guide them to logical and strong support, so that continues as they grow.

Adults do it--like at the grocery store. I like this apple, but this one costs more, this one has more nutrients, and on and on. 

Application to high school students

My former curriculum called for resume and cover letter writing. Those tasks are complex, primarily because they involve so much evaluation. Where does the objective fit best? Should I include this information, or am I being too repetitive? What does this potential employer want to see?

Most importantly, resume and cover letter writing, while using evaluation, activate other parts of Bloom's Taxonomy because it all builds on each other.

Audience's Turn

What did you like about Bloom's Taxonomy? Do you see how it is used? Do you think it is bunk?

Finacial Friday: Cleaning Cabinets

Financial Friday covers a few tricks I have found as a SAHM for cutting down on bills since my family is down an income.


When I moved into my home, I painstakingly arranged the cabinets. In the kitchen, I labeled bags and containers. Dishes were stacked according to size. I regularly checked the "plastics" drawer for cracks and containers without lids. The bathroom was tidy as well. No medicine was expired and I even recycled shoe boxes to separate items.

Not my kitchen, but look at that organization!

It turns out that little kids love to dump out shoe boxes. My cabinets are in disarray (read: the kids find a way into them and my hubby and I hide all the medicine up high and the kids dump everything else out and no one can find anything). The result? We buy stuff we don't need, or we waste money.  I set out to fix this--and found out that I have items I really need.

Bathroom

In the bathroom, the medicine has to stay up high. It looks silly, but my kids find a way into those "child protective" locks. They really do. I did throw out expired medicine, though.

I found tons of useful items: sample shampoos, conditioners, and lotions. Once I piled the dumped bandages together, I realized I will never have to buy any again, or at least this summer. I have enough breast pads for three more children. I have plenty of "female supplies" as well.

Kitchen

In the kitchen, I did not find anything great, but I did get rid of a few items. This past Christmas, I switched to cast iron skillets, so it only made sense to get rid of my yucky chemical-laden old ones. I don't know why I kept them, but they sure hogged space.

I found tea bags, cocoa mixes, and small batches of pasta.

Under the kitchen sink, I discovered unused scrubbing pads and trashcan liners. I believe the trashcan liners were unused because they are an uncommon size, but I will use them for cleaning in the garage or sorting kids' clothes.

Overall, I found tons of usable products and cleared out unusable junk. I don't know how long it will last, but my cabinets are pretty clean. I feel good, and I know I saved some money from not buying doubles.

SAHM Triumph: Organizing

Yesterday Ty wanted to paint. He painted his pictures, along with the table and chair and a bit of himself. Then his sister wanted to paint, so I set Za up. She climbed on the table and covered herself in paint.

They were really cute and messy. This is a triumph because I stayed calm. Then, while they finished their artwork, I filled the baby pool and plunked their messy butts in it.

Organizing my children's play activities around their messiness and my desire for cleanliness is my SAHM Triumph of the day.

Wonder Why Sunday: Dependent Learners

I'm rambling today--lots of questions pouring out faster than I can type them. Feel free to comment and my readers and I can examine this together. 

Last week, I wrote about high school students transitioning to college students. I was inspired by Brian Harke's article, and this blog is in response to his latest post, High School to College Transition, Part Two: Academic Expectations. (It is a solid article with nice ideas, for all parents of future college students).

I'm not going to reiterate the entire post, or analyze its entirety either. One part stood out to me, and I kept rereading it. Right away, Dr. Harke discusses the manner in which freshman enter college. He says:

High schools often reinforce these expectations [that college will be like high school] by unwittingly allowing students to enter college as dependent learners rather than independent learners. I say this not to place blame, but to recognize that up to this point most students have had teams of people supporting them, keeping track of their academic progress and looking out for their best interests. Since this has been their norm for 12 years, new college students are often at a loss when faced with the reality that it is up to them to manage their academic independence.

I liked that he said "I say this not to place blame" because blaming others for a large problem diverts attention from actually solving the problem. I agree with Dr. Harke. College, trade school, or a job requires people be independent learners. Can you imagine showing up to work and the boss saying, "Did you read the manual? Nope? No time? OK, I'll give you some time today." That does not happen, and I wonder why it does in high school.

I can't imagine that, and I know that never happened to me as an undergraduate, and my goodness, never as a graduate student. It probably shouldn't happen in high school either, especially if teachers are training students for a big world they will enter in four years or less. High school teachers do that, though. I've done that. I have enabled students to stay dependent learners instead of growing as independent learners. Why?

When I entered teaching, I knew not to do that. I just finished college where research and professors told us to give students an assignment or a consequence, and follow through. I started my teaching career with the idea to follow through and stay consistent. And then a few things happened.

Parents, guidance counselors, other teachers, and administrators called me. They came to visit. They were concerned about grades. Many times, parents asked me: when did I plan to offer extra credit? remediation? opportunities to turn in late work? drop lower scores from earlier in the semester? print off my notes because a student "lost" his? print off missing homework? None of my college professors or research studies told me what to when I encountered this. I thought those suggestions were terrible, but I did them (some of them, not all of them).

You can only imagine why I did them, something that probably doesn't need to be written, but it was pressure from everyone. Over years of teaching, I saw this happen countless times: coworkers and community pushed teachers into breaking their rules. It really does create a stream of dependent learners--those who think others are responsible for their education, that they should rely on others to play the active role, to care the most. Some teachers don't give notes clearly enough, some won't accept late work. Teachers won't plan their tests with other teachers so students don't have too many in one day. All of these concerns? What is a teacher to do about them? They come at teachers everyday. Is this what parents want? Some of them do, and when the others hear what some are getting, well, they want it too.

Which leads me to this very large question: Are schools what parents and society want them to be, just like they are? To be cynical, I could say that fried foods made with white flour and nothing fresh is part of our school system. I could also look at kids sleeping in classes and being passed from one grade level to the next when they should repeat. Is it full of 'A papers' that should be rewrites, or 'Ds'? Going back to the theme of dependent learners, are parents and society creating dependent learners? Is this what they asked for, what they paid for, and what they got?

From a trustful, and perhaps inexperienced view, walking through a high school's hall, you would expect see teachers grading papers, bent over students' desks, or researching an original lesson plan. Students would be working, behaving, trying, attentive, and awake. This is probably what everyone wants and sure, this image happens sometimes.

Which image happens more, the first or second? (How many dependent learners go to college? How many independent? Those answers should provide more clues as to the realistic image).

It is upsetting, especially because that first image is never what I had in my mind when I started teaching, and it probably isn't what other teachers envisioned, or even society and parents. It is what happens though, and it molds these dependent learners Dr. Harke mentions.What are we parents and members of society going to do? What do you want to do?

Wonder Why Wednesday: Chutes and Ladders

Ty, my three-year old, asked to play "Chutes and Ladders" with me today. We got the game, sat down to play, and reviewed the rules.

I find innumerable teaching moments when we play board games:

1.  We review rules, which works his memory.

2. We have to follow rules, a life skill.

3. We take turns and use niceties as we play.

4. It takes patience, because these preschool games take quite a bit of time.

5. We finish what we start.

So, number 5 did not really happen today, and as usual, I am wondering if I did the right thing.

Ty wanted to disregard the spinning-number part of the game. He wanted to climb ladders and go down chutes. I told him that was fine, but then we were not playing and he could just mess around with the board. This resulted in a screaming crying fit. I stood my ground, but should I have modified the rules, just once?

I wonder, because he is only three. He is small. He wanted to have fun. Is one game of Chutes and Ladders that impressionable for the rest of his life?

I wonder, because what I do matters. I want him to understand rules and know that consistently his father and I enforce them. I want him to know we don't cheat (even though that probably wasn't his intention).

I want him to be happy and know that I love him. I want him to be prepared for life, for me to give him as best a handbook as I can. I just always wonder if I do.

Wonder Why Wednesday: High School to College

Time and time again as a high school teacher, I have students return to see me, often for lunch or a quick Facebook chat. After talking for a bit, many casually mention they have left college. I always wonder why.

I believe there are many paths to success. Sometimes I send off students to college shaking my head, because I know he or she does not have the drive, nor the academic skills to stay there. Other times, I do wonder if some of my college dropouts were really gems, just covered in soot, that nobody took the time to dust.

How do we Americans have this problem of college freshman performing so poorly that they leave? Does society expect too many people to attend college? Is college for everyone? Do parents send kids to college with little help?

I read "High School to College Transition, Part I: The Freshman Myth" yesterday. This article built off these questions I always wonder. In it, Brian Harke wrote for the Huffington Post:

...college is one of the biggest transitions a person will make. Therefore, it only makes sense to focus more attention on high school to college transition.

I agree. Harke mentioned several other ways this should happen, such as counselors helping students (at the high school level) and colleges helping at (of course) the college level. Most importantly, he wrote about healthy dialogues that parents should have with their children. As a high school teacher, I see so many parents that think their influence with their teenagers is nil. It isn't, and discussing college in a realistic way will shape students' views and attitudes upon arrival on campus. After all, as Harke so truthfully stated about college:

The students have already arrived with ideas and perceptions about college that are often more romanticized notions than accurate reflections of college life - ideas created by admissions brochures, a campus visit, stereotypes in the media and stories from family or friends. This leaves many new students struggling to adjust to their new environment.

I "went away" to college my junior year. I remember sitting in my dorm room, wondering what to do. I had new towels, a clean room, and a loaded laundry card. I ate some Ramen noodles because I knew that people in college "survived on those" -- whatever that meant. I don't even think I was hungry. I simply did not know what to do. I wonder how many of my students feel that way. I was lucky, figured it out, and graduated. I took plenty of wrong turns and could have quit or "taken a semester off" as so many of my former students word it. When a student tells me of leaving college, I always return to that feeling of eating Ramen noodles, even though I wasn't hungry.

Harke promises to continue writing about the transition from high school to college, and we probably should too. So... what were your expectations when you went to college? How will you help your child make realistic goals and expectations for college? Do you already talk to your child about college? What is a good age to start? What do you talk about? Anything else I left out?

Almost Done Feeling Sorry For Myself

I really am. I can do this whole SAHM gig. I will find time to do writing and blogging, because I love it. I miss all my bloggy and twitter peeps. I am going to get going again, and this my pep talk.

I've wallowed enough. I will ignore the older person who told me over the weekend that I was "a lady of leisure" because I didn't work everyday. Completely dismiss her.

I will balance, I will: I teach two hours in the morning? I have grocery shopping to do? Carpet to vacuum? A husband to watch the telly with? Laundry? Dishwasher? Kitchen floor? Toilets? Kids to read to? posh, posh [insert hand wave above my head]

I will blog as well, because it is important to me.

I will also exercise more, because that is important to me as well.

Shucks, I might get this SAHM concept yet. I will and I will return. This is all just part of the journey.