Karen Olson reports from the field:
Hi Ben,
I’ve been mulling over jGR and reading the blog for a month now trying to figure out how to implement it. For me the devil is in the housekeeping details! I also went to Bryce Hedstrom’s blog to see what he had to say about the Special Person activity. I then stumbled on his participation grading which echoed jGR and something clicked about how I could manage the housekeeping!
I started implementing student jobs as you suggested a few weeks ago with great success! Thank you! One of the jobs is for a student to keep track of “Way to Step Up” which is anything that is “A” jGR behavior. (I had been doing this all year, but the effect of having it be a student job is multiplied.)
Starting next week, I will keep track of daily “D” or “F” infractions. Most kids are “B” jGR anyway, so it should be easy to keep track of the outliers. The beauty of the 1-5 of jGR is that it is simple math to do at the end of the week! I’m also using your idea of posting on a large poster the participation grading scale so that when an infraction happens, I’ll just point.
Below is a copy of the email I sent to Bryce:
I’m so happy to report that we had one of our best PQA/Special Person days all year yesterday. What happened was that I also have been giving them a heads up that I will be implementing your participation grading this Monday. So whenever a kid did anything that would earn a “D”, I said in a calm way, “You are modeling a “D” behavior.” [I took this idea from your videos, Ben!] Then kids would ask questions and I’d explain the reasoning. The most amazing thing was that in all of my classes, the conversations were positive, thoughtful, sometimes even humorous and community building!
I have been pointing out all year when kids have been modeling “A” or “B” behavior, but it wasn’t until I said they would be graded on their participation that they asked questions like, “If that behavior is a “B” then what’s an “A”? Even though I have offered extra credit using the phrase “Way to Step Up” all year as positive reinforcement for positive behavior, the prospect of actually attaching a grade to their behavior really caught their attention!
Even though I feel as though I’ve had a good rapport with my students, I have grossly underestimated the effect of “D” and “F” behavior on effective CI. I teach six classes a day each with 30-35 students so the effect is magnified.
It’s taken me several days to wrap my head around your participation grading, and I am finally sure that I can defend it and manage it. I think the reason the class conversations about the upcoming dramatic change in the consequences of their behavior were so positive is that students could feel my sincerity [something that you always say, Ben] and deep down felt the safety that those boundaries will offer.
The classroom management piece was the missing leg of our CI success. I know assigning my first “Ds” and “Fs” won’t be without challenges, but I know why I’m doing it and why it’s so important. It dovetails perfectly with the ACTFL 90% CI Interpersonal Skills recommendation as well.
Thank you again for your support and encouragement, Ben. It has made all of the difference to my mental health! This whole CI is a noble endeavor but not one that can be done without support!
Sincerely,
Karen