Final Exams - The New Frontier

An exciting part of watching new changes in instruction as we look through the Windows Into Classrooms, is seeing the changes in assessment of student learning.  During December these assessments take center stage as students are taking their Final Exams of the semester.  We will look at ways that students are assessed on their learning and progress through the fall.

Performance Tasks have led the change in assessments.  Students are being asked to show their learning through performing tasks that demonstrate skill and knowledge.  The epitome of assessment through performance comes from our Music Appreciation classes.  Most of these students are new to music and this semester they were basically taught how to read the new language of music.  This week, their final exam for the semester was a stunning performance using recorders in the auditorium to a crowd of hundreds.  A true performance of skill, learning, and courage.  We are so proud of their efforts!

Other performance tasks come from the math assessments that will give students real-world problems that students will have to use what they were taught.  As they solve these issues, they must also explain and write how they were able to use their math skills.  Students in honors science classes will tackle hands-on performance tasks that involve using science tools.  Students will demonstrate proficiency at equipment operation as they use the spectrophotometer, the electric balance, and also execute proper slide preparation and biological diagrams using microscopes.  These experiences reflect college-level exams and will prepare students for their next level of education as well.  STEM students are busy building and testing models showing Kinetic and Potential Energy and their importance to our lives.

Many students will be preparing presentations for various classes.  Ag students will be delivering advocacy speeches to encourage their audience to support agriculture in various forms.  Seniors in their English class will deliver powerful presentations involving their work with The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  Students are reaching deep to make sure their audience understands what is important to their lives.  Freshmen and Sophomores in English are presenting to their classmates about Outsiders and Outcasts, The Joy Luck Club, and Poetry, allowing them to explore the way we interact with the world.  Law Enforcement students, dressed in professional attire, will be speaking in front of the class about jobs in Law Enforcement and encouraging their classmates to explore these careers that are highly needed in today’s world.

At Desert Valley High School, Seniors have been preparing a multi-disciplinary project to present in their English class about the financial, career, or personal learning they have accomplished so far this year.  These presentations take many forms as the students were able to choose how they present their learning.  Taking it one step further, the principal invited parents and the community to the school in the evening so that students can showcase their projects and deliver their message to a larger audience.

Even the traditional exams in the district look differently.  Science classes are using GoFormative to administer digital exams that allow students to answer questions in a variety of ways, including drag and drop, highlighting, and multiple answers.  Math classes will be using an online platform to administer their common final as well and students will be using desmos and other online tools to show their learning.  

Finally, we can’t ignore that most all of the assessments will include some type of writing as a base for students to demonstrate their learning - short answer responses, full essays, and explanations of procedures - to name a few.  Even the presentations have to be written first or prepared through a Google Slide presentation.  After many of the projects, students will write reflective pieces that show how their learning will impact their lives or the world around them.  This exercise of demonstrating learning through writing proves to solidify their understanding of the material.

In the end, Brawley Union High School District is expecting that the almost 1,900 students in our schools will leave for Winter Break full of a variety of learning and knowledge.  Students will also be satisfied that they are able to demonstrate their learning to different audiences - the teacher alone, parents and the community, and even a large audience of hundreds at a music concert.  We are proud of the students and teachers this semester as they have shown their growth in both creating and taking assessments to show student progress and learning.  

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:

I'm now at a 13 minute 20 second mile.  :(  My goal is to get back on track over the vacation. :)

Cooking and baking has been the family routine lately to keep us connected.

Bringing in my mom and grandma to cook with the Culinary Arts students was a highlight here at the district recently.

#ifnotusthenwho  #hopesquad  #brawleyproud  #scorpionpride

#gratitude

As we move into the winter season and our classrooms get busy with end of semester activities and holiday celebrations, here at the Curriculum & Instruction Department of BUHSD, we’d like to take the time to focus on #gratitude and what we are thankful for in our classrooms. 

In our district, the collaboration between students, teachers, and administrators continues to be a blessing. This entry focuses on those voices in our schools. We reached out to these players and asked this question: If we look through the Window Into Classrooms here at BUHSD, what are you thankful for in the realm of Curriculum & Instruction? #gratitude 

It’s no mystery that as teachers build relationships with their students, it has a positive effect on the instruction in the classroom. Our student voices focused on this concept. Students submitted their responses about their classrooms, but in reality, their #gratitude revolves around the people who teach them.
“They are wonderful teachers who know how to keep their students in check and be fun about it at the same time.”
“Yo estoy agradecida con (mi maestra) porque gracias a ella, he aprendido que no hay límites para ser una gran persona.”
“(My teacher) has taught me that you can’t do everything by yourself and you need to work with other people to be able to make something great and fun.”
“I'm thankful for (my teacher) because he was helpful in class and he was always really funny too.”
“People in band and our teacher have all become my family. We work hard and even on our bad days we work through it and try to achieve as much as we can.”
“(My math teacher) contributes to many fun activities in the Math Club field trips, and inclusively helps students that are not in his math class. #gratitude #MathClub”
“(My teacher) teaches me important things and she loves her work.” 

“This class has pushed me out of my shell … I am a leader because of everything this class and my teacher have taught me. I can truly say I am less anxious socially.”
“My teacher not only works after school, but weekends and holidays too. I am #grateful for her because I know that if my animal for fair gets sick or needs any kind of help I can call her up and she is on her way no matter what time.”
“I am grateful for (my teacher) because she brings us breakfast.”
“I'm grateful for all my teachers this year because they have all taught me new things.”

The voices we hear in these student statements talk about an array of classrooms and teachers. From grand gestures in lessons to small connections to build self-confidence, teachers have impacted the learning of our students.

At the BUHSD schools, students aren’t the only people who are continuously learning. Teachers collectively point at the opportunities to learn and the support they receive as their main focus for #gratitude.
“I am thankful because I have an administrative team that has created a culture where teachers can feel comfortable to try new things and make mistakes.”
“I am thankful for having the opportunity to help students explore mathematics in their community and watch their excitement as they share their discoveries with classmates.”

"I am thankful to be a part of a school that encourages thinking outside the box and using creativity to inspire our young minds.”
“STEM students taught me how to collaborate on a PREZI. Students are my techies!”
“I am grateful to have a job where every day I have an opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of young people.”
“I am grateful to the district and administration for seeing a need within our student body and addressing it, by creating courses intended to instruct our students in how to plan for life beyond high school.”
“I am thankful to work in a noble profession that keeps me in contact with teenagers, who are our future, and keep me on my toes.”
“I'm grateful for students who are willing to try new things as I continue to adjust my strategies to meet their needs.”
“I am grateful for the incredible amount of support for our CTE programs and thankful for the open communication we have to keep improving them!”
“I'm grateful for administrators and teachers who trust me to implement the best interventions for our students during support.”
“I am so very thankful to work with amazing colleagues and students, they are the reason I love working at BUHS!”
“I am grateful for Student Desmos and the learning activities that it provides to the students. These activities keep the students engaged in learning the concepts we are working on and it is fun.”
“I am grateful for the online version of our textbook and the opportunities to use online assignments and assessments through this curriculum.”
I am grateful for our Instructional Aides and their help and knowledge that they share with students.”

“(I’m) thankful for my colleagues in the math department. I get to work with a very supportive team and learn from them.”
“I am thankful for my department (Social Science) and our ability to be flexible and open minded to new ideas. (Our) department understands that we must be flexible in order not to break.”
“I am thankful for a career that lets me focus on my passion and keeps me connected with my community (I love to see how the young people develop into hard working adults).”
“I am thankful for the resources and support of administration,and I am thankful for the friendship between staff both on and off campus.”
“I am thankful to work with so many hard working and talented teachers and administrators that support each other and inspire each other to be better educators in the classroom."

Administrators in the district are united in their #gratitude toward the teachers and their ability to grow and learn as professionals. Their profession is also profoundly impacted by the students they work with each day. They said:
“I’m thankful for classrooms that are no longer dominated by direct instruction but by students in charge of their learning.”
“The teachers at our schools take risks and include me in these risks so I can learn.”
“Teachers at BUHSD usually run toward technology instead of running away from it.”
“I’m thankful for the continued increase in student engagement and collaboration in every class and the willingness of DVHS teachers to allow for more student voice in their classrooms.”
“I'm grateful for the willingness of our teachers to stretch, grow, reach, step outside of their comfort zone - so that our kids can do the same. Thank you.”
“I'm thankful for teachers promoting student voice in activities so that all kids showcase their learning. #gratitude”

As we spend time this month reflecting on #gratitude, we want to also thank you, our stakeholders, for your commitment to learning about our school and classrooms. 

THANK YOU


Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:
Still at 12 minute & 35 seconds! (Don't forget to hold me accountable!)
Our family has been focused on together time with music.
Watching demo lessons and seeing the creativity of our teachers has been my motivation lately.
#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride

Writing Across the District

The 2016-17 CAASPP Results were recently released for schools and students in the state of California.  We are very proud of our staff and students and their strong improvements last year.  In the Area of Writing on the CAASPP, students at BUHSD who Met or Exceeded the Standard in ELA Writing increased almost 16%.  BUHS students alone grew 19%.  

As we look through the Window Into Classrooms, what looks different that has contributed to this growth?  The answer is simple - you will see students writing in almost every class every day, no matter the content.  Although this is a simple answer, the work behind the shift in class activities has been anything but simple.  The teachers and students have worked hard to make writing a central part of learning each day.

At BUHS, the Resource Teacher and Instructional Coaches have developed a system of writing activities that take place in all classes each semester.  Science, History, Math, Welding, Spanish - no matter the subject - students are expressing themselves on paper and explaining more and more.  The ELA teachers have commented that when they explicitly teach writing strategies to their students, it is no longer a new concept.  Students bring with them writing skills they learned in Science or Spanish or even Culinary Arts.

At DVHS and Renaissance, students continuously work together on presentations or projects that are steeped in writing and expression.  Students are connecting career learning with their core content learning, and the work that they produce is full of collaboration and expression.  Google Slide presentations and Google Doc activities are the norms for students to showcase their learning in writing every day.

Students in a PE class recently took time from physical activity to write about their learning of muscle anatomy, function, and weight training exercises.  This learning will lead to them writing their personal fitness plans and goals.  Appropriately in the fall, students in English 2 are writing Gothic stories using storybird.com.  Students across the subgroups are expressing their creativity and creating spooky tales that keep their peers on the edge of their seats in anticipation as the stories are read aloud.

In History classes across the district, students are turning to Chromebooks and Google Classroom and Slides to showcase their learning and explain the importance of historical events.  The writing on Google Docs and Slides has made the feedback process for students and teachers much more efficient and effective at both DVHS and BUHS.  Science teachers have had their students writing lab reports for a long time, but now have learned stronger skills to help students improve their lab writing by increasing their ability to cite claims and evidence with more thorough explanations of the phenomena.   

Students are writing all over the district including in their elective courses and Math.  More importantly, our elective and Math teachers are refining their instructional skills in helping students improve in their technical writing, which in turn helps them express themselves more clearly and effectively in all classes.

All schools in the district have taken student writing and moved it to the forefront of instruction.  We are committed to the WASC Schoolwide Learner Outcomes for both sites that focus on students demonstrating effective communication through writing.  We are proud of the work we’ve done in this area and can’t wait to see how these improved skills help students even more as they graduate and enter universities and the workplace.

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:

Now at 12 minute & 35 seconds! Ran with PE students for the Baseline Mile Run!

Took the littles snorkeling and have been reading together a lot at night.
Spending a lot of time in classrooms observing lessons and giving feedback.

#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride

Taking The Pulse of Student Learning

How do we know if students are understanding or learning?  Does it always have to be a long, formal test or project?  This entry will focus on Informal Formative Assessment ... or more simply stated ... how do teachers quickly figure out if kids are getting it?  What does that look like in the Brawley Union High School District?  

In education, we often refer to this informal assessing as “taking the pulse” of the class.  If we are working with students on a particular topic, how do we know that the students are ready to show their learning? More importantly, if they aren’t getting it, what concepts do we need to re-teach?  Here are a few of the diagnostic ways teachers work with their students and help them along the way.

Teachers often check in with their students throughout the class.  They may have students raise hands to show understanding or even write their work on a small whiteboard to display.  In this manner, a teacher can see a clear picture in less than 30 seconds to take the pulse of learning at that moment.  Toward the end of the class, teachers often collect “Exit Tickets” or short responses that students leave as they exit class.  By taking a few minutes after class to review these tickets, the teacher knows what to address at the beginning of the next class.

With more collaboration comes more opportunities for students to work together on understanding.  Using Peer Evaluations is very effective in many classes to keep the pulse.  Physical Education teachers have students evaluate each other in their execution of sports and skills.  Drama students critique performances and the feedback allows students to adjust before the final assessment on particular topics.

More and more often, teachers are also turning to technology to take the pulse of learning.  Students can be found video-recording their responses in FlipGrid, which allows the teacher and students to give feedback in a very timely manner.  There are often Kahoot activities going on when teachers give the class short electronic quizzes for students to respond with a click.  Their answers are immediately tallied and feedback for both teacher and students is instant.

Although we are early in the year, it’s not uncommon to hear about assessments.  We always want to keep a steady hand on the pulse of each classroom to make sure that we can adjust instruction and assure that students have all opportunities to succeed in their work.  Most informal formative assessments don’t carry a grade with them for the student, which is important as well.  We need to give students time to make mistakes as they need without the consequence of a grade.  Helping students correct their thinking and learn from their mistakes helps keep our students healthy in their education.  

We can’t believe September is almost over . . . We wish everyone well as we finish out the month.

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:

Now at a 13.5-minute mile (I'm gearing up for the PE Baseline Run!)

Took the littles to see The Little Mermaid on stage in San Diego.
Spending a lot of time in classrooms observing lessons and giving feedback.

#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride

Getting to Know You

(For added entertainment with this entry, play this song on YouTube in the background as you read . . . Getting to Know You.)

“Getting to know your students on a personal level, showing them they are just more than a grade, and giving them a safe, fun environment sets the stage for learning.”1  

In the introduction of his book, Teach Like a Pirate, Dave Burgess reminds us of the importance of getting to know your students and building a classroom community at the start of the school year.  Throughout the first few weeks, as teachers deliver lessons and students review and learn, there are various activities sprinkled throughout that allow students to express who they are and break the ice with their peers and teachers.  

Brawley Union High School District serves students who come from a minimum of six different Junior High Schools and even some students in the same grade don’t know each other well.  We must remember that getting to know each other is important from the beginning in order to establish a productive space to learn.  There are ways to infuse these introductory activities into our content learning and this is our focus with this post.

ELA 9 team chose Acrostic Poems as the vehicle for students to introduce themselves.  Some students embellished their poems with personal photos and decorations, while others were visually plain, but had very descriptive words about their personalities; which one may argue the visual presentation of these poems says as much as the words that are chosen.  

One very Tech-y teacher who has a very Tech-y class, appropriately asked her students to design a cellphone built with Apps that reflected who they are and what is important to them.  Another classroom was full of students who brought in personal items that they showcased to explain why that article represents who they are - soccer jerseys, jewelry, photos, colorful ponchos - a high school version of Show and Tell.  Drama students started the year creating monologues, allowing the class to catch a glimpse of who they are.

An expansion of our LinkCrew program has been the biggest factor in a school-wide effort of getting to know one another. The Junior and Senior mentors have spent many hours meeting with and supporting our freshmen this year, even organizing a student section at the Freshmen Football game to promote spirit and positive school culture. Building this connection will pay dividends as we support freshmen in their transition into our schools.

The staff at Desert Valley and Renaissance are visiting classrooms to talk with students and review their transcripts to make sure their goals of graduation and preparing for life after high school are being addressed.  

Content review games and activities also tell teachers a lot about students.  Many AP classrooms had students working together to review summer reading, easing them into a rigorous year of Advanced Placement content.  A Math teacher used Kahoot as an engaging review activity that allowed him to see where the students' strengths were in math and which material he may have to review as the learning continued.  Knowing where students are academically is important in our work as educators. We can then meet our kids where they are and then support their progress toward their goals.

BUHSD teachers are taking advice from Anna of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical, The King And I . . . that’s the first thing she did as a teacher.  Taking the time to understand who’s sitting in their classrooms is important to so many teachers and these few minutes at the beginning of the year help each class establish themselves as a community of learners.  

1Burgess, Dave.  Teach Like a Pirate:Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life As An Educator., 2012. Page xiii.

Julie Andrews graced us with her voice in this rendition of Getting to Know You via YouTube.

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:

Now at a 14.5-minute mile (The heat needs to stop!)

Ended up with the kids at the beach (not my favorite thing, but they LOVED it!)
Trying to show Appreciation . . .

#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride

Welcome to 2017-18 at BUHSD

As we entered a new school year, our teachers and staff came back rejuvenated with a sense of focus after our successes last year.  Our theme this year is Superheroes, “If Not Us, Then Who?”, and H.O.P.E. Squad (Heroes of Public Education), following last year’s theme of Going for Gold as Team BUHSD.  Our Professional Development activities in August followed suit and our #hopesquad worked hard on aligning their curriculum with support for all students, including integrating English Language Development into their content.  

During our first week of school, classes were bursting with enthusiasm and conversation.  Teachers converted their once plain, empty classrooms into learning centers, discovery zones, and in one case ... the beach!  Teachers are stepping back to allow students to collaborate and think as they grapple with new material.  

Monday brought an amazing eclipse that had STEM and Science classes making view boxes for safely experiencing this phenomenon.  Desert Valley made this a campus-wide activity as Welding and other classes also offered students safe ways to view the spectacle that will only happen a few times in their lives.

Math teachers offered an array of mathematical tasks as a form of review, with students calculating losses from a store owner who was robbed and estimating how many people were on a crowded beach through collaboration with their partners and coming up with answers many different ways.  In Social Studies classes, students started day 1 with asking questions about history and diving deeper into the concepts as opposed to memorizing dates and facts; English teachers wasted no time in learning about their individual students through activities that allowed students to showcase who they are; PE teachers took students around the campus to make sure they felt comfortable with their campus; and a Spanish teacher took her content introductions even farther with a #breakoutedu activity where students had to solve puzzles to “break out” and escape fictitious detention with bad music.

Smiles and laughter while learning ran through BUHSD campuses this week, which culminated into a pep rally for the first football game and a great crowd at the field on a warm, late summer night.  As we move into the 2017-18 school year, keep talking with your child to learn of the activities and content they are experiencing.
Welcome back to BUHSD!

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:

Now at a 15-minute mile!

Made time to take kids to the new Splash Pad for a fun time!

Left personal notes & snacks - - - keep building on the R for Rapport.

#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride