I recently heard someone say not long …… what will take the time is for them to decide to change.
In the words of Martin Luther King………
“We are now faced with the fact my friends that tomorrow is today.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”
If the greater value is given the score, then value the score. If the greater value is intrinsic, then value the child.
Bob Stanish – The Giving Book
I believe if we as teachers understand our curriculum and truly use outcomes to drive our teaching we will use assessment to improve student learning.
Formative assessment breaks down the outcomes in order for the child to scaffold his or her learning. The assessment tells the child and the teacher whether the child needs to go forward or take a step back and revisit the learning outcome.
If we are able to communicate this with the learner and their parents we will improve learning.
Thomas Guskey – One of the greatest challenges that we face is describing students levels of academic performance in meaningful ways to parents and others.
In "Mentors: They Simply Believe," Lasley (1996) argues that the crucial characteristic of mentors is the ability to communicate their belief that a person is capable of transcending present challenges and of accomplishing great things in the future.
I have been reflecting on the many informal mentors that I have had in my teaching career and I think that the best mentors have been those that encouraged me to rise to the challenge and keep the big picture in view.
Listening, asking open-ended questions – not giving an easy answer are all ways that respect the importance of the individual and what they bring to the table.
Mentorship is a “lean on me and I’ll lean on you” way of being. Being respectful of what you can learn from each other is a recipe for an awesome mentorship experience.
