#ditchthathomework

The 8th chapter of "Ditch That Homework" by Matt Miller and Alice Keeler, is a chapter called "Ditch That Red Pen". I chose to read this third chapter from this book because I felt conflict in my classroom in the field. I felt as though grading was pointless. Students would receive their 100 and move on. If they scored poorly, they might ask my mentor to revise. What they did not ask is how they could improve, only if they would be given the chance to. My immediate reaction is that yes of course they can have another chance to show proficiency, that is what learning is all about. My second reaction is, why aren't they asking how to improve? I can't assume that they know, and I know from my own experience as a student that they may not ask out of fear or some other anxiety. This doesn't help me and it doesn't help them.

This chapter is about making grading actually relevant to the student, rather than just some score they need to keep high so they can pass the class. Grading should feel like feedback, not just some number that is supposed to represent their overall achievement. I agree with almost everything suggested in this chapter. The suggestion to sit with a student and have in person conversations is so much more fulfilling and holistic than a comment attached to a grade. By talking to kids about their achievement in the moment, they know exactly what they are doing correctly. We can encourage them down the right path, rather than punatively knocking off points after the fact.

Finally, something practicum has taught me is that I as a teacher will need to find ways to make my life easier, for my own sanity. If I am tired and off my game, I am not fulfilling my responsibility to give my students the best possible education I can give them. Things like the suggestion to automate grades, or the suggestion to flip the classroom from another chapter in this book are definitely things I will do when I become a teacher. When I take the time to make things easier for me, I can devote more time to giving detailed, in depth feedback, plan better assignments, and create a more holistic learning experiences for my students.

I enjoyed reading what I have from Ditch that Homework by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller. I think there are a lot of critiques they make towards education and bad teacher habits that definitely ring true to my experience in school. The two chapters that caught my eye were chapter 2, Ditch that Lecture, and chapter 7, Ditch that Compliance.

I really enjoyed Ditch that Compliance, because it describes one of my chief complaints I had as a student: busy work. The authors bring up a good point by discussing the "gamification" of education, how since everything has become about the grades, we sabotage actual learning that could have taken place. I completely agree. I can describe multiple times where I was only doing the assigned work to get it done, rather than actually taking my time and learn the content. This means that students do not take ownership of their learning, and are merely plugging away at a list of work in order to get an A. The book suggests teachers try to get their students to invest in their own learning and the classroom. They suggest giving students roles in the classroom, so that they feel some responsibility to it. They also suggest giving students agency, and empowering them to make decisions about their own learning. This is anxiety producing, because it means you have to give your students the space to step up and take on roles, and potentially fail. That failure is not a bad thing though, and is a chance to grow. If we don't give kids chances to take ownership of their own learning, even if it is unsuccessful, they will always be passive in their learning, which will not help them in life. I liked their suggestion to utilize social media. It would be interesting to require students to watch the news each day, and make a post on twitter or some other platform on their thoughts on at least one current events topic, and then reply to some of their classmates. This is especially cool in social studies, because it can begin to let students get an idea of what is means to take part in the national conversation (online citizenship, national citizenship), and the global conversation (global citizenship). This develops two skills in one. Being able to follow current events is extremely important, and being able to break down those current events and communicate your thoughts will be a skill they use throughout their lives as citizens in a republic.

The other chapter I read, Ditch that Lecture, was really helpful to me personally in particular. One of the skills I struggle with in the classroom is standing up and giving long lectures in front of kids. It just isn't something that comes naturally to me, even if I do manage to pull it off most of the time. Whether it be ADHD or anxiety, I start to struggle the longer I need to speak. I appreciated this chapter because it made me feel a little better about that deficiency, because I will be a better teacher because I will try to avoid doing those long lectures. Of course there will be times where information dumps are needed, but the more I can delegate that learning back onto the students, the better, both for me and for their learning. Information can be expressed in so many ways, and taking time to talk at students may not be the most efficient way. Using my time wisely is key as a teacher. There is no reason I should take so much class time explaining things, sometimes multiple times over, when I can provide written versions and simply address it once, while redirecting attention should it come up again. (Of course, with students who may not be able to utilize written resources, alternatives can be made.) If I can avoid lecturing and create other venues of information transfer, such as peer to peer knowledge, topic exploration, digital conversations, etc., my students will be more engaged on the topic and I will be making things easier for myself (though the former is far more important). One of the suggestions I noticed that I will definitely use in my own classroom, especially due to my concentration, is the pausing the video suggestion. It's really common in social studies classes for documentaries and other videos to be used because there is so much content out there related to the subject. That said, just having a video playing and students taking notes in ineffective, especially if those students aren't good note takers. Pausing the video and making sure certain points are made and noted, while also encouraging discussion to further engage and deepen student understandings, elevates the tired practice of playing a video and turning out the lights, to an engaging, full classroom activity that demands student and teacher interaction.