M6U2A3: Pre-Assessment

I created a Kahoot to pre-assess student knowledge before teaching standard 9.RI.06. The pre-assessment is meant to show me if students can identify persuasive techniques and if they know the meaning of pathos, ethos, and logos. The pre-assessment is meant to show me 1.) were students taught this before 2.) if they retained what they were taught 3.) if I need to start from the basics or if I can skip some if the rudimentary and move into the higher level analysis.

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/0c8a8abc-9de7-43a6-ae73-70a70d6ab8e2

For the students who didn’t have a good understanding based on the pre-assessment, I would have a presentation for the class of rhetoric and how it is used. I would have the students with the lower scores in a group with a couple speeches and advertisements. These students would start with lower level questions like, “Identify the type of rhetoric used” and “Explain why the author used that technique”. Then the questions would move to higher level thinking like “Produce an advertisement with a partner that uses a form of rhetoric”.

For the students that scored in the middle, their group would have the same sample of speeches and advertisements but their questions would start at a higher level. Questions that ask, “Compare  and contrast the different types of rhetoric used” and “Create a diagram that identifies the persuasion techniques and examples”. Finally they’d have a question like, “Rewrite the advertisement so that it uses a different rhetorical style”.

The students who had the best performance on the pre-assessment would be grouped together and would start with the higher level questions. An example of the questions would be, “Categorize the articles and advertisements into separate rhetorical styles and evaluate if different styles are more effective in certain situations” and “Create and advertisement using a rhetorical style and assess its effectiveness on your peers”.

I will use their advertisements and the questions to assess their progress. At the end I will hold discussions with the groups to hear how well they grasp the concepts and use their advertisements to see if they can apply the concepts. The standard states that the student should be able to analyze the effectiveness of rhetoric and point of view. Through these questions and activities I can assess if a student can identify the rhetorical styles and determine its effectiveness or how to make it effective.

M6U1A3: High Stakes Testing

I am in my first year of teaching and I started pretty excited about the fun discussions I could have with students and the books and literature we would analyze. Mostly, I was excited to see what the students would produce with me as their guidance. Then the school year started and I learned that there is a calendar with standards. The standards are a state requirement, I must introduce each student to the standard and to check if I introduced the standard, the student will be tested. These are not the high stake tests. These tests let me know how well the student grasped the standard because the high stake test later on will test for that information as well.

The high stake tests from eighth grade determine if a student makes it into honor classes in ninth grade. The students test once every week or every two weeks. I have a limited amount of time to get them to understand a standard because once they test it is time to move on to the next standard. If the student didn’t get the standard then they have another chance to test again but with very little time for review. Remember, I said it was time to move on to the next standard so there isn’t much time to go back to that standard they didn’t get. Just to be sure the student didn’t get it the first and second time, at the end of the quarter they take a benchmark to tell me a third time that the student doesn’t know what they are doing. These tests affect the student’s grade but they can still move on to the next grade.

At the end of there year they take AZ Merits. This is a state-wide requirement but it measures student’s progress in Math and ELA (What is AzMerit?). I’m glad to know that the test doesn’t impact the student’s ability to graduate but it does reflect on the school and the district. There are benefits to getting a good grade for the school, like funding, it also effects the reputation of the schools and boosts attendance numbers. Attendance also equates to funding.

While students in Arizona spend a lot of time taking assessments, removing consequences like grade advancement removes the pressure from students to perform. However, the U.S. is very college oriented and that puts a pressure on grades and SAT/ACT scores. I don’t think the pressure is as high as places like South Korea, where students commit suicide due to performance pressure and perceived failures (Student Suicides).

As a new teacher, I felt pressure to get my students to perform. There aren’t consequences for failure. In fact, my school has really great and supportive systems in place to help each teacher teach what the students need and that equalizes the learning in the district. Each student has the opportunity to learn the standard but is still required to put forth the effort to earn the grade to graduate or get credit for the class. The standards still provide freedom to the teacher to emphasize the skills a student needs to function outside of high school and into college or the work force. Those skills just aren’t necessarily tested.

References:

Student Suicides in South Korea. (n.d.) La Voix Des Jeunes. Retrieved from http://www.voicesofyouth.org/fr/posts/student-suicides-in-south-korea

What is AzMerit? (n.d.). Expect More Arizona. Retrieved from https://www.expectmorearizona.org/arizona-aims-higher/assessments/faq/

M5U5A1: Diversity in lesson plan

Of all the subjects in high school I would have to say (in my most biased way) that English is the easiest class to explore cultural diversity. Literature comes from all over the world and throughout time. Regardless of the standard being studied, material that represents a certain culture, sex, age, and experience can be included. Cultural diversity is about exposing students to a culture and perspective other than their own. To analyze the literature not only improves the student’s skills in English but improves their world view and the way they analyze life.

Starting after the fall break, my students will be analyzing text for rhetorical styles. What better way to teach rhetoric than to have them compare and contrast rhetorical styles from other cultures. What works as far as ethos, pathos, and logos in the U.S. may not necessarily be the best or same route to take in another culture or country. By seeing different advertisements and political speeches they can compare to what they are familiar with and then understand from a different perspective. That new perspective can take them out into the world and be able to meet and apply it to new people. That new perspective develops their 21st century skills like communication and critical thinking.

I will give my students a project that gives them a new identity and with the knowledge that they research about a certain region or time, they will create presentations about an argument using pathos, ethos, or logos, and justify that argument. This presentation will be one of the ways that I can evaluate if my students understand the impact of the author’s point of view on cultural diversity. Also, when analyzing text and poetry, I will know if students use the origin of the author to help them understand the passage.

The district that I teach in isn’t very diverse but I grew up in a very culturally diverse area. I understand the importance of exposing my students to different cultures and to help my students think outside of the box of their own private worlds.