Exciting Math Stuff

Here is a link to some great Coalition of Essential Schools stuff on creating math curriculum.

Non Discipline-Specific Competencies

I've done some organizing here. I think I've included everything from the list. Feel free to submit edits. Here's the shorttext link if you prefer. Eagle Rock School calls them "expectations," btw. I kind of like that.

Communication Skills
Student demonstrates effective research strategies and skills, including the ability to evaluate the credibility of sources
Student demonstrates understanding of written materials
Student demonstrates effective oral communication, including presentations, small group communication, interpersonal communication, interviews, mediation, and public speaking
Student demonstrates effective expression in various forms of writing including essays, research paper with documentation, creative writing, correspondence, responses to text and responses to issues.
Student uses standard English grammar where appropriate
Student demonstrates adequate listening skills
Student expresses her/himself creatively

College & Career Skills
Student takes effective notes
Student studies for and takes tests effectively
Student keeps his/her belongings and self organized
Student demonstrates critical thinking and analytical skills
Student demonstrates the ability to follow instructions
Student demonstrates knowledge of the college and/or employment application process
Student understands and demonstrates the qualities needed to maintain a job and/or succeed in college, such as dependability, the ability to set and meet goals, the ability to work with others, etc.

Personal Awareness
Student demonstrates knowledge necessary for making healthy choices for mind and body, including knowledge of physical fitness, mental health, drug abuse, and sexuality
Student has investigated his/her personal origins
Student participates in the artistic community in an effort to find and develop the artist within
Student has worked to develop a personal aesthetic

Cultural Awareness
Student demonstrates an awareness of current cultural and political events
Student has investigated the "human condition" from a variety of perspectives
Student demonstrates knowledge of major historical events and perspectives within and outside this U.S.
Student demonstrates knowledge of a variety of world views
Student demonstrates adequate knowledge of world geography

Community Responsibility
Student demonstrates a sense of community responsibility
Student demonstrates commitment to community service
Student demonstrates math skills needed as a consumer in our society

Um hi, it's me again...with another link!

Found this page on forms of assessment at the Eagle Rock website. Great for getting ideas.

Next Meeting

The next staff meeting will be next Wed., July 5 at 10 a.m.

To do:
Catch Les up on what we've been up to
Look at letter to parents draft
Look at competencies / HEP draft
Staffing decisions

Plant maintenance issues

Allright folks, what did we notice? Post as a comment below.

Bloom's Taxonomy Link

Here's the link to Bloom's Taxonomy. A quick Google will take you to more info about it.

Link: Teenagers Save the World

Here's another cool link I found. YouthNoise.org. Great for social studies, writing, etc. classes.

Great links a la Angie

Shorttext.com (what I was showing you at the meeting)

engrade.com (free online gradebook)

mynoteit.com (check it out...may be useful for students)

Here is the blurb:
mynoteit.com is an extremely powerful utility for any student at any grade level.

You can store all your school information in one place, and access it anywhere in the world instantly. Here are some reasons why every student would benifit from mynoteIT. Tell us the scores you get on assignments throughout the semester and we will automatically calculate your grade.

Instant access to your teacher's contact information.

Our note taking area has an auto-save feature so you never lose any of your notes if your browser crashes. You can also lookup words you don't know, and translate words between languages, instantly inside your workspace. If you need help on a certain subject, use our community search to find what you need, even bookmark notes for later use.

Need to find those notes you thought you would never need from two months ago? Use the Your Search option to search through your notes instantly. Build a friends list so you can easily get in contact with your classmates.

Our calendar allows you to view all your upcoming assignments so you never forget what is due again. Create (or join) groups at your school so you can more easily share information with the people who need it.

Next Meeting

The next staff meeting will be June 28 at 10 a.m.

To do:
student entrance assessment
move from standards to syllabi
decide on time, notify parents
notify other part time teachers about changes
develop "marketing" strategy for parents and teachers
develop Horizons Education Plan format and implementation

What are we selling?

So what are we selling? As Bruce said, what's different? How do we communicate with the students what a great thing this change is?

The Five Levels of English Proficiency

I'll have my standards for everyone to see at the meeting tomorrow. In the mean time, here are TESOL's five levels of English Language Proficiency. In my experience, most int'l students entering Horizons are a level 3 to 4.

Level 1-Starting
At L1, students initially have limited or no understanding of English. They rarely use English for communication. They respond nonverbally to simple commands, statements, and questions. As their oral comprehension increases, they begin to imitate the verbalizations of others by using single words or simple phrases, and they begin to use English spontaneously.
At the earliest stage, these learners construct meaning from text primarily through illustrations, graphs, maps, and tables.

Level 2-Emerging
At L2, students can understand phrases and short sentences. They can communicate limited information in simple everyday and routine situations by using memorized phrases, groups of words, and formulae. They can use selected simple structures correctly but still systematically produce basic errors. Students begin to use general academic vocabulary and familiar everyday expressions. Errors in writing are present that often hinder communication.

Level 3-Developing
At L3, students understand more complex speech but still may require some repetition. They use English spontaneously but may have difficulty expressing all their thoughts due to a restricted vocabulary and a limited command of language structure. Students at this level speak in simple sentences, which are comprehensible and appropriate, but which are frequently marked by grammatical errors. Proficiency in reading may vary considerably. Students are most successful constructing meaning from texts for which they have background knowledge upon which to build.

Level 4-Expanding
At L4, students’ language skills are adequate for most day-to-day communication needs. They communicate in English in new or unfamiliar settings but have occasional difficulty with complex structures and abstract academic concepts.
Students at this level may read with considerable fluency and are able to locate and identify the specific facts within the text. However, they may not understand texts in which the concepts are presented in a decontextualized manner, the sentence structure is complex, or the vocabulary is abstract or has multiple meanings. They can read independently but may have occasional comprehension problems, especially when processing grade-level information.

Level 5-Bridging
At L5, students can express themselves fluently and spontaneously on a wide range of personal, general, academic, or social topics in a variety of contexts. They are poised to function in an environment with native speaking peers with minimal language support or guidance.
Students have a good command of technical and academic vocabulary as well of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms. They can produce clear, smoothly flowing, well-structured texts of differing lengths and degrees of linguistic complexity. Errors are minimal, difficult to spot, and generally corrected when they occur.

Free Software / Educational games for teachers

Found this link:
Games include algebra, presidents, states, etc.

Because you don't have enough to think about

Hi all,

As we're doing all this standards and competencies stuff, I find myself wondering about my own standards and competencies as a teacher. So here's a question to comment on if you dare/care...

What are the standards you hold yourself to as a teacher at Horizons? What competencies do you expect of yourself?

Next Meeting Time

The next staff meeting will be Tues., 6/20 at 10 a.m.

Notes from meeting, 6/7/06

Horizons Plan

College Track? ____ Yes _____No (student and parent initials) _______

Carnegie Units Required for HOPE GAC State Independent
Math
Language Arts
Foreign Language
Science
Social Studies
Health/PE
Other


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Academic Personal Capacities Misc.

English Swim Community Service
Writing
Journalism
Literature
Math CPR Pottery
Social Studies Keyboarding Tennis
Science Power Point
Drug & Alcohol
Foreign Language Independent Study
-----------------------------
Free courses offered online from the state
-----------------------------

THINGS WE THINK STUDENTS OUGHT TO GET:
Public Speaking
Essay: Persuasive, etc.
Grammar
Editing
Research:
Library
Internet
Power Point/Multi-media
Consumer Math
Interp. Literature
Test Taking Skills
Follow Instructions
Math Interpretation
Study Skills
Notetaking
Organizing
Letter writing
Business
Personal
Interview
Reading Comprehension
Summarizing
Analysis Strenth
Dirtion
Interpersonal Skills
Fitness/Health/Nutrution/Sex
Listen/Oral
Grammar-Eng
Be Human
Origin
personal origin
historical
ontological
autobiography
Critical Thinking
2 Productions
Community Responsibility
Cultural Literacy
Beauty
Horror
Creative Expression
Art Appreciation
Current Events
Make Decisions
What does Language Give Us?
What’s my ability to connect with a wider world?
Comparative Worldviews
NVC
Rage +-
Geography

French Class Standards. How might they work with what we've discussed?

Here is a link to the National Standards for Foreign Language Ed.

Here is a link to the Georgia QCC standards for French 1, French 2, and French 3 which I use. The new Georgia Proficiency Standards do not seem to be online yet.

I have also developed a list of Essential French that my students need to know by the end of the year. This list can be tailored for individual students. It's a list of grammar and vocab items. Reading and speaking skill a gauge through class participation.

So how do these standards and benchmarks fit in with the broader "what do students need to know" discussion? So far, I see it as a kind of outline or hierarchy:
If we're talking about "Essential Questions," then the question for French would be something like, "What is my place in the world?" Beneath that, we have the skill from the list that we made on the 7th, "cultural literacy." As a subhead beneath that, of course, we have "French." Then We have the QCC standards for the particular class. Then we have the very measurable, check-off-able "do you know this?" stuff from my Essential French list.

If I clarify with students (on the blog, on a syllabus, etc.) the skill(s) they will be demonstrating in various aspects of the class (discussion, homework, conjugation, participation, etc.) and if I create some kind of record-keeping system that works, I should be able to keep track of progress along the lines we've been talking about. The formidable challenge that remains is to create a workable record-keeping system and a system for keeping myself and students THAT organized in class. Yikes!

Angie

Essential Questions: Ideas

Here are some "essential questions" or "areas of exploration" that the skills we came up with seem to suggest. Underneath are content areas that address the questions in part. Lots of overlap here, of course. Plus, I don't have the "life skills" in front of me, so this is from memory.

Who am I?
Self exploration (creative writing, performance, art, music, psychology

Where did I come from?
Comparative religion, history, philosophy

What is my place in the world?
World languages, world cultures, history, literature, sociology

What is the nature of the world around me?
Math, philosophy, science, government, history, aesthetics, literature, current events, humanities

How can I best interact with the world around me?
Reading, writing (essays and creative), mechanics (grammar, punctuation, syntax), vocabulary, performance, listening / interpersonal skills, art, ESL, foreign language, decision-making, public speaking, group work (collaborative effort), techonology

How can I make the world a better place for myself and for others?
Community service, career exploration, social justice stuff, group work (collaborative effort), health / sex ed, consumer economics, study skills & test-taking

Comments? Likes? Dislikes? Changes? Additions? I do like the idea that these are questions all humans seek to answer and that we teachers facilitate the inquiry by providing opportunities within these content areas.

Angie

Here it Is!

This is our Horizons Teacher blog. A few tips on its use:

To post, you'll need to log into Blogger. To comment, just click on "comments" below each post. If you have a link or other addition you'd like added to the sidebar, email it to me or do a post about it and I'll change the template.

The address for this blog is http://teachinghorizons.blogspot.com. Let's keep its existence between ourselves, shall we?

If you have any problems or questions about using this blog, just let me know.

Angie