Robert Harrell on Assessment

6 thoughts on “Robert Harrell on Assessment”

1. Ben Slavic

   February 11, 2013 at 8:21 pm

   …the student was happy because she can still get an A in the class without having to produce something she isn’t ready for, and mom was happy because she was hearing good things about how her daughter participates in class and shows that she understands….

   This is what we are about. Comprehension based instruction is a finely woven sweater of intricate patterns and the finest threads. But what Robert describes above should be the dominant color of all the colors in the sweater. That thread is the thread of honoring children via community building, not judging them.

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2. Robert Harrell

   February 11, 2013 at 9:51 pm

   I love the Excursus thing. Is that like a kind of car?

   Lol, Ben. It’s just a fancy way of indicating: This is Off Topic, but I’m going to say it anyway.

   I have a student in period 2 who likes to stop in and visit a friend in period 4 between classes. He heard me say, “Nochmals Guten Morgen” (Hello again), and has picked that up. He delights in saying, whenever possible, “Nochmals Guten Morgen!” (He also is giving me output in other ways, but he started with “Nochmals . . . “)

   There is also a student who has never been in German class who greets me nearly every day in German. That’s all he can do, but he does it with a grin, and he does it with a really good accent. I’m always happy to see and spread good will among students.

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   1. Ben Slavic

      February 12, 2013 at 4:01 am

      You have created community. Community allows them to function as real people. That counts for something. They all have their ways of saying hello. How freeing for them! They count! Personalization via community through a simple hello. And what is the glue that holds communities together? Language? So you say, “I’m always happy to see and spread good will among students.”

      .

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   2. mb

      July 31, 2013 at 9:47 am

      I had a student last year who kept coming into my classroom at the beginning of the block, from her French class across the hall, to visit her friends in my class. Whenever she wore a skirt or shorts, she would stop and tell me, “No más pantalones.” with a smile on her face — that led to her saying “hola” to me in the halls and “cómo estás”. because she had fun doing so, and we always made a joke out of it! Make it fun and exciting to learn a language….and they will come! 🙂

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3. James Hosler

   February 12, 2013 at 9:04 am

   I posted something like this on Latin-bestpractices a while back, when I first started with CI-type stuff at the beginning of the year. It fits here, and I’d like to here the input of those in this group on the matter.

   I actually find myself giving a LOT more As now that I have made the switch to CI. This has made sense to me, because if it is my job only to give them stuff they understand, why wouldn’t they get As or at least a B? Other Latin teachers reported the same thing, but now Robert seems to be saying something different. Thoughts?

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4. Ben Slavic

   July 31, 2013 at 11:02 am

   ….if it is my job only to give them stuff they understand, why wouldn’t they get As or at least a B….

   Indeed! This really speaks to the point of what education should be in general – a positive experience. And note that we don’t teach Physics or Calculus, which only a few can understand, but a language, which ALL of our students are fluent in – at least one – already. So yeah the grades should be high.

   However, and this speaks to your point James, Robert is addressing something that has happened in schools that is really ugly. Kids have given up hope and stopped trying and have lost their beautiful capacity to enjoy and wonder when they learn.

   Enter jGR. That is why I am so geeked about it. It calls bullshit on the kid who has stopped trying, opening up an avenue of communication between the teacher and the student where they CAN reach out to us.

   BUT the only way that they will do that – respond to us so that they are really learning the language and helping us be their teacher – is if we are honest with our use of jGR as an assessment tool. So that in my opinion is what Robert is talking about in terms of honesty in grading. Robert is about accountability.

   We all teach in different environments. My own kids at Lincoln High School are deeply wounded. Some of them have seen loved ones lost or left behind in Mexico. I must coax them in shamanistic fashion back into the game, yes, and that is the art of teaching. But it doesn’t always work. So I have the hammer of jGR. Others in our group may not have to use the hammer but I do.

   My point is that A’s and B’s must be the result of the interpersonal skill set that we instill in our kids in the beginning of the year and that is largely the source of all gains in the field of language acquisition. Then the high grades are justified. If they just sit there, they suck and we give them the low grade.

   Kind of an obtuse answer, James, but I hope it addresses your point.

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