[Note: there is a thread on coaching here but it appears later in the flow of comments. Just FYI. Look for comments by skip to find it.]
So you can see that if someone comments and it is something I think is really important for the group I turn the comment into an article here. I’m doing that again here. In the spring Jody made the crucial distinction between grading behaviors and grading behavior. It was a revolutionary concept for many of us in this group. Her observation was in response to the year long thread started by Robert about finally aligning our assessment of kids in TPRS/CI classes with the ACTFL Three Modes of Communication, which have or are now overtaking the focus on the four skills, which underpinned a lot of bad teaching for decades because it allowed teachers to break the language into small pieces and teach it that way, focusing on one small part (grammar) at the expense of the entire thing. The shift to focusing on the input skills over past years and the changes brought by that shift have been nicely described by Robert and I will continue to ask group members to visit that category here often (Assessment/Robert Harrell) here so that they end up aligning their CI instruction next year with their CI assessment. The two have to be brought together. Jody and Robert have pointed us in the right direction on this deal and it is going to be a great improvement for many of us this year as we are required to mess less with the assessment piece so that we can not only align much more with ACTFL but also have more time to focus on our actual teaching. This is a good thing. I might add that I feel that we are going to make great strides this coming year on classroom discipline as long as Chris keeps reminding us about that piece which I know he will because he is a young bad ass Ohio shaker who is not going to let a little tradition get in the way of his having a long and satisfying career in the classroom. Anyway, Robert just checked in from Spain (Robert are they still partying over there from their masterful dismantling of the rest of the world in football? …with condolences Robert to that great young German team that got their ass handed to them on a plate by Italy) He wrote the following, something to be read over and over until we get it and make the fixes in our assessment for next year before grading kids drives us nuts and thank you Robert again for the check in and the repetition which alone leads to our fully grasping Jody’s distinction.
Robert says:
…In one of the threads someone commented that we are “grading behaviors” (plural), not behavior (or as it used to be called, “comportment”). The ACTFL Guidelines delineate certain behaviors that are part of the interpersonal communication piece. That is what you are grading, not their general behavior in class. Of course, the two are interrelated, but one is a citizenship and work habits grade, the other is an academic grade based on guidelines provided by our parent professional organization (and state standards in some places).
If you stop and think about it, grammar-based grading also grades behaviors, just a different set of behaviors. (Manipulating the language is a set of behaviors; producing certain sounds involves a set of behaviors of the vocal mechanism. We are looking at more holistic behaviors in terms of their impact on interpersonal communication.)….