It's an evolution...

If you've ever attended a teachers' conference, then you know what it can do to motivate and invigorate the mind. Just surrounding yourself with other people who do what you do and actually enjoy it, can give you the jump start you'd been craving. I recommend it for ANYONE, no matter what your field...meet people who understand what you do. I love my co-workers, but getting an outsider's point of view really helps put things in perspective!

I was a presenter at the Tennessee Association of Middle Schools Conference, and while I spent a large portion of the weekend rehearsing and rewording what I was going to say, the majority of it was spent absorbing the positive energy from the other presenters and attendees. I came with a message to share, but we all left rethinking the way we approach our kids.

Middle school teachers everywhere would benefit from hearing what Jack Berckemeyer has to say about teaming and how teams who provide consistency benefit their kids. He truly understands the middle school student, and we were all entertained by his high energy and use of humor. I think I speak for everyone in attendance when I say I wish I had a teacher like Mr. Berckemeyer teacher when I was in middle school.

I was equally affected by Ken O'Connor and what he had to say about grading. I now recognize that late work, missing assignments, completion of classwork and homework are behaviors. Ken says the grade we report to parents should be based on student achievement: whether or not students grasp the concepts we are teaching. In Canada and Australia, they do exactly that. They have separate columns on their report cards to notify parents as to whether or not their kids are completing work and how timely. They do not count classwork and homework as part of the students' grade!

Everyone in the room had the same question for Ken: if you don't grade classwork and homework, how can you expect your kids to do it? His answer was that if completing work is a BEHAVIOR, not completing it should result in a CONSEQUENCE, not a GRADE. He would call home, and have the kid stay after school every day until he completed the assignment. What a completely different way of thinking about how we grade. And it makes good sense.

As for my presentation, I have to say, I'm pleased with the overall result. The teachers and administrators who attended my session were very kind, willing to share, and I received a great deal of positive feedback and suggestions I will incorporate in the future. It was clear to me what worked and what didn't. The audience was the most responsive to specific suggestions they can use in their classroom. They especially seemed interested how to let kids know you are on their side and creating a positive classroom climate. I was pleasantly surprised to find this out, as that pretty much sums up my philosophy on how a classroom should be run. I will try to gear future sessions more in that direction.

One thing is for sure...my message continues to be an evolution.