tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post7862674576932026051..comments2024-01-03T04:58:04.221-05:00Comments on I Hope This Old Train Breaks Down...: Benefits of Shared AssessmentsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-24386299475243342072012-10-10T08:46:25.553-04:002012-10-10T08:46:25.553-04:00I am so glad to hear about the changes you are mak...I am so glad to hear about the changes you are making. It was definitely time to shake things up!<br />-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05837755478247457505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-62425005548245444822012-10-09T09:54:33.451-04:002012-10-09T09:54:33.451-04:00So, in summary, good luck with your district's...So, in summary, good luck with your district's new situation. Sounds tough, but you should try to keep an open mind and keep the communication line open to giving the administrators honest feedback about their new system / new policies. From a district's perspective, I think the admins are probably feeling some pressure from either having high math teacher turnover, some inexperienced teachers, or low/inconsistent test scores. They probably felt that they needed to do something to address an existing problem. There is likely a reason why they would opt to implement shared lessons, and if you feel that the new system is not actually helpful to your students (after checking out the lesson resources), communicating that clearly to the admin while trying to find an interim solution to address their external-facing problem is going to be the most effective means to counter the new policy. Good luck!!untilnextstophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285583728476473117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-48972450798598796792012-10-09T09:48:00.626-04:002012-10-09T09:48:00.626-04:00Hi Jessica! I have worked in a school that impleme...Hi Jessica! I have worked in a school that implemented shared lessons. As a new teacher, it was really good for me, because sometimes it forced me to examine/experiment with other lesson formats that I would not have normally gravitated towards myself. In the end, it was a really good learning experience. Now that I've been teaching for a few years, I think I would find shared lessons to be stifling, especially if they are forced upon me, which is why as a dept head I have only implemented/obligated minimal "sharing" across the department. But, from a systematic perspective I can understand the advantages of implementing some shared materials such as lessons or projects. Ideally, you want to provide enough written resources (in the form of a partial curriculum) that all teachers can add on to and take from, that would guarantee some level of success in all classrooms, regardless of teacher's experience level or their personal teaching style. The more such resources you provide, the more you are freeing teachers up to use their energy where best suited -- to offer extra out-of-class help or to personalize the lesson material for their groups without having to re-create the pacing, problem sets of appropriate content/difficulty, etc. If you can do some of that grunt work for the teachers (from a systematic perspective), you are maximizing their effectiveness by allowing them to focus their creative energies elsewhere, thereby improving their students' learning experience. But, there is a big difference between offering shared written curriculum resources and FORCING everyone to use them. The latter is very tricky, because you have to be pretty sure that what you are putting out there would work for all students without modification -- which in my opinion is impossible. untilnextstophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285583728476473117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6651514617266100245.post-5118444008614564242012-10-08T10:14:35.312-04:002012-10-08T10:14:35.312-04:00Some administrators in my district are looking int...Some administrators in my district are looking into implementing shared LESSONS across the district, that would be written by our math specialist. We have held strong against this idea so far, and are only implementing shared unit assessments as of this year. My fellow teachers and I feel that each of us brings our own flavor to our classrooms and that implementing lessons created by one person would really be negative for all of us. Thoughts?Jessicahttp://mrsaitoromath.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com