Extra Credit or Not?

I just finished reading Go Figure's blog post about this topic, and let me tell you, it is one of the most heated debates among teachers! I have always believed that extra credit is detrimental to students. It can falsely inflate their grades and make parents believe they know the topic when, in fact, they scraped by with extra credit. However, there are some reasonable justifications for the other side of the issue.

I have seen my own children bring home "work" that was way too easy for them, or game-type assignments that had nothing to do with the class they were taking. When I as about it, they claim it's extra credit. What is the point of extra work if it isn't allowing the child to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject?!

Having said that, I had a bit of a conundrum this year with my science classes. I had an assignment that I really wanted to give them credit for; it was a great demonstration of their knowledge of the scientific process. However, there were some constraints that we couldn't find a way around.

So here is the assignment: I gave them a sort of scavenger hunt to fill out as we explored projects at our school's science fair. The questions weren't the usual like: "Which project is your favorite?", but more like "Choose one hypothesis that isn't justified and rewrite it with a research-based reasoning." Because the assignment was time (and place) sensitive seeing as how we were only allowed 45 minutes at the fair, I couldn't make it a required assignment. But I also didn't want it to be "busy" work. The purpose was to see them apply the scientific method to an array of experiments. So I accepted reasonable and explainable responses as bonus points on their own science fair project. The entire assignment was only 8 points, so I felt it wouldn't inflate the grades of those who saved their own experiment for 10:00 the night before, but would show me they understood the scientific method, which is what science fair projects are all about anyway.

So, let me know what you think? Extra credit or not...or somewhere in between?

To read the original post go to Go Figure: Curing One Mathphobic at a Time.

February Show and Tell

I love this linky! I'm once again joining Forever in 5th Grade and lots of other great blogs for an online show and tell. Click back on the button above to see all the other blogs in the linky. I only have 3 this month, so here goes...

Science Fair projects are finished! My 5th graders have spent the last month learning about and conducting their own science fair experiments. They are presented at the school fair this week, then the county fair in March. This picture is my daughter and 2 classmates testing the evaporation rates of three different liquids by weighing sponges over time that were soaked in the liquids.

My son auditioned and made the regional honor band. He's the percussionist in the center-back...looks like he's glowing with the stage lights shining so bright. They sounded amazing!

I don't usually do whole-class novels. I'm more of a book club/literature circle kind of teacher, but since a movie version of The Great Gilly Hopkins is coming out later this month, we wanted all our 5th graders to read the book. After a mini-lesson on plot conflicts (character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. society, and character vs. nature) we applied it to chapter 3 of the book with this anchor chart...hanging from the top of my unused TV. My kids then filled out a similar chart with a partner for the next chapter. They are really loving this book!

Are Classroom Observations Beneficial?

I just read a really interesting article on the pitfalls of classroom observations and decided to start a discussion. This is such an interesting article. Personally, I've always enjoyed observations, albeit I'm literally terrified: like bungee jumping or sky diving terrified. But they give my students a chance to show-off what they can do. This article goes into some statistics about which type of teacher got the highest evaluations based on observations, but looked even more closely at classroom composition. I agree that classroom composition plays a huge part in student achievement, and just in what I can do with them. This year I lucked out in that I have a class (2 classes actually) that are perfectly suited for projects and investigations (student-led learning) that will overall increase their achievement. Some years I can't do that because of lack of participation, behavior issues, lack of parent support. Last year's class, while I loved them, didn't have the internal motivation for much. They didn't bring back homework, I had very little parent involvement or communication, and 20 of my 24 students were extremely shy, as in painfully so. So I'm sure it looked like was only engaging the 4 students who would willingly join in discussions. I don't think observations are an ineffective tool; but classroom composition needs to be taken into account for what is being observed. Check out this article and let me know what you think.

Show and Tell Tuesday

I'm linking up with Stephanie from Forever in 5th Grade for a new monthly linky:

This is where you get to show some cool things happening in your life or in your classroom, and tell the world about them. After you read my post, go back to the original linky by clicking on the button above. 

First, a show and tell from home. We had 2 very old cats pass away this fall, so we thought it was time for a new member of the family, and let me tell you, it is not easy to find a kitten in December! But we managed to snatch up Elfie 2 days before Christmas. Her first adventure in the Trouten household: climbing up the Christmas tree!

I have the best students in the world! I was very sick over Thanksgiving break, and even missed the first day back. Still not feeling up to par the next day, I told my students it would be a while before I got the Christmas decorations up in the classroom. Half my class showed up during their lunch recess to decorate for me!

Nevada has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, and fortunately our district offered a free class for anyone interested. Of course I jumped right on that! To celebrate, I'm going to share a couple of my science displays. This first one is a collaborative research project. Students are divided into groups, assigned an ecosystem, assigned individual roles within those groups, and they then work together to make a display for their ecosystem to teach to the rest of the class. Here are this year's displays:

Another science project: near the beginning of the year we made vertebrate/invertebrate pop-up books. I've been doing this activity for a couple of years now, and it works so well I decided it was time to put my unit together for TPT. So here is a picture of the performance assessment that goes along with my newest product: 5 kingdoms of living things.

My Favorite Things

Wow! I have not posted in quite a while. I guess November just got away from me. So I thought I'd join up with Southern Fried Teachin' for a fun holiday linky. Here goes...

Click on the picture above to go back to the original post.


1. Carol of the Bells
2. Baklava
3. My kids and I have a book of inspirational and spiritual messages every day for the month of December along with scriptures and carols. We read it together each evening before bed.
4. Twas' the Night Before Christmas
5. Choosing names off one of the many giving trees around town.
6. Playing with all  my cousins at one set of Grandparents'  house on Christmas Eve, then playing with the other cousins at my other grandparents' house on Christmas Day. It's a good thing they only lived 15 miles apart! Pretty much any time to get together and cause trouble with my cousins was a good time!
7. On my 16th birthday, my grandma bought me a year's worth of piano lessons from a professional teacher.
8. Every year, my kids and I make a gingerbread village. None of us are very creative, so it usually ends up looking like a ghost town.
9. Charlie Brown's Christmas
10. Amazon...nothing beats shopping in your pj's with a cup of hot cocoa :)
11. books, books, and books!
12. My favorite subject to teach is reading, and my current favorite product is a Greek and Latin root packet with activities for the entire year. It is currently marked down to $7.50 for the duration of this linky (today through December 19).



Make sure you go back to the original page and check out more great blog posts. Merry Christmas!

What can a teacher do to be a good mentor?

I was just featured on Mrs. E Teaches Math with this question: What can a teacher do to be a good mentor?

Here's my response:

What can a teacher do to be a good mentor?

Don't bombard them with "stuff"!  I know we all want to share, but the last thing a new teacher needs is piles of stuff to go through (no matter how wonderful it is) when they're already overloaded.  Instead, ask them specific meaningful questions: "How are you planning on introducing this novel?" Or "Do you have a plan for comparing fossil fuels and alternative fuel sources?"  Then you can share specific lessons, ideas, or activities that they can use right away.

Go to the original blog to see some more great responses!

Trick or Treat

I'm participating in Rachel Parlett's blog hop to share some neat teaching "tricks", and maybe a few "treats" as well. When you finish reading my post, go on to the next blog in the hop for more tricks and treats.

How about an easy formative assessment trick...exit tickets! For me, these have always been something on the back of my mind. I know I should utilize them more, but when? So this year, I've made exit tickets one of my goals. I don't use them for every lesson, or even every day, but once or twice a week. I never get to hear every kid's thought processes, especially since I have 3 classes of 28 kids each, so exit tickets have opened up a little window into their amazing minds. 

Now for organization...I've seen some teachers who have students hand their tickets to them before they leave, or put them in a basket or bin, but (at least for me), it was too hard to keep track of who turned their ticket in and who just quietly snuck out the door. Rather than catch them the next class, or try to chase them down the hall, I gave each student their own place for exit tickets.

All of my students in all 3 classes are assigned a number. I have this nifty metal door on my room, so I just put up write on/wipe off magnets with their number on the door (there are a few extra just in case one of the classes gets more kiddos). Students place their completed ticket under their number on the way out. That way I can see immediately who hasn't turned one in. I can collect each set at the end of the class period so the door is ready for the next class.

Now about topic...these don't have to be elaborate questions based specifically on each lesson taught. The tickets shown above were students own conclusions about the results of a science experiment based on that particular day's reading in the text (you can see 3 students were absent), but there are many generic questions that will work for any subject and almost every lesson. Here are a few to get you started:

1. Name one important thing you learned in class today.

2. What is one question you still have about today's lesson?

3. Pretend your friend was absent. How would you explain the the lesson to him/her?

4. Write down 1 thing I can do to help you.

5. What concept has been most difficult/confusing for you in this chapter?

6. How did today's assignment go? What can you do to improve next time?

7. If you were writing a quiz for today's lesson, what are 2 questions you would put on it?

8. What do you need to do to prepare for the upcoming test?

For this week only, I'm offering 2 freebies at my TPT store as a blog hop "treat". 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep "trick-or-treating" on around to the next blog! You'll know when you've finished the hop when you get back around to my blog. Happy Halloween!