I apologize about putting some personal stuff in the class blog but I will try to explain why it's relevant. If you have been following along I have been struggling with how I am going to grade class. This weekend, my wife had a student who is going back for her third year of college. This morning is my five year old daughter's first day of kindergarten. It's also my first day with students at school. What do we have in common? It's the trepidation of the unknown. I could see the anxiety in my wife's student and in our daughter. This morning while I was running I realized I have the same anxiety over grading physics. The big question when school starts is: Will we be successful?
How does this relate to class? I have had the fear of not knowing exactly how I am going to grade class for a month now. It's also the same fear that students have when they go to school. I think that we are so ingrained to know the answer that we have lost site what is to not know. Teachers are supposed to know everything. They should have all the answers. It's understandable for students to have anxiety and it's okay for them not to know. But teachers?
I am the first to tell you I don't know. I have been thinking about how to grade class in terms of what I don't want rather than what I do want. I realized this morning that it's okay to not know. It's okay if I don't have all the answers. The most important thing for me and my physics students, sometimes it's more valuable to know what it isn't before you know what it is. I told my wife's student that she needs to find out what she doesn't want to do before she will figure out she wants to do. My first boss, Clyde Smoll, told me that and it has always stuck with me. So here is what I don't want in my class this year:
I do not want points. Points are for games not grades.
I do not want to lecture. I think that if I am talking how can they learn.
I do not want one size fits all. I think everyone learns differently and at different pace. Why force one thing on students?
I do not want a textbook. There are so many more resources out there and texts follow the author's thoughts on how it should be presented. In reality, ideas in physics are intertwined not by chapter.
I do not want to give a test or exam. That is not to say I do not want to assess my students, I just think that a multiple choice exam is not an accurate measure and students put too much emphasis on the test.
I do not want to give assigned homework. I think that assigned problems or worksheets can be done in class
I do not want to be thought of as a teacher. Teachers are thought to have a magic wand and if I am teaching then students are learning. I disagree. If I am teaching how can they be learning? I cannot reach everyone just by spitting out physics facts or by doing problems. Learning comes from within when many factors are just right. Sometimes, students are not in that place when I am. I could go on but that is for another post.
I do not give the answers. This goes back to my point in the beginning. I don't have all the answers but I am willing to learn.
I do not want to answer a question. I want to answer a question with a quesition so students think of it themselves.
In education, learning has become almost linear. The format has been presentation of content, then practice or reinforcement of content (labs or worksheets), then a summative assessment. I think learning should be more cyclic.
I stole this from Mitchell Resnick and his Lifelong Kindergarten presentation. I saw him speak this summer from the SEPT at MIT. This slide really resonated with me and I want my class to follow this model instead of the usual path. I think that the assessment piece comes in the share and reflection part of the cycle. You could also assess skills in the play part. That would be more a formative assessment. If I could do this quantitatively and easily I think I would be rich.
To summarize, I don't know and that's okay. I will figure it out and make it right. I will also work hard to do what is best for my students. That is what I do know. I needed to get this out of my head. I hope it doesn't turn into something like Jerry McGuire's manifesto.
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