Wednesday, June 8, 2016

A Year Later...

A year ago, I ended the school year as an English teacher at Fallbrook High School, and I ended this blog for the summer vacation, stating that I would resume writing again at the beginning of the following school year. Well... things didn't exactly go as planned, and, now that it's almost exactly one year since my last post, I felt like I needed to give this blog the closure it deserved.

This past year has been a year of change. I am no longer at Fallbrook High School, and, more shockingly even to myself, I am no longer an English teacher. Instead, I am the Dance Director at Temecula Valley High School.

How did all of this happen? To be honest, it actually started about halfway through last year, but, at that time, I had no idea things would turn out the way they did.

A little background...

Growing up, I was a dancer, and although things like turns and flexibility did not come naturally to me, dance was my heart and soul and the thing I would spend almost all of my free time doing alone in my room or, when I could rope her into it, with my little sister. However, growing up, I was also frequently told that while dance was a fine hobby, it was not suitable for a career. Since I had no illusions that I was going to be signed by some professional dance company, I gave up dance and entered college as an English major, since reading and writing were the two other things in the world that I loved doing.

Well, it turns out that I couldn't just stop dancing. Almost as soon as I entered college, I found myself dancing in my dorm room and registering for dance classes. I even went so far as to audition for the major even though I knew that it was extremely unlikely to get in since I had already started my undergraduate studies. Of course, I didn't get in. "Oh well," I thought. "I will just take as many classes as I can that are offered to non-majors." And I did.

The Modern Dance class series I took at UCSB was taught by Nancy Colahan, a woman I greatly admired for her extensive dance career. One day, just before the start of class, Nancy took me aside and asked me if I had ever considered being a dance major. I was flattered that I stood out in class enough for her to ask me the question, but I was also embarrassed. I couldn't admit that I had, in fact, thought about it, auditioned, and been rejected, so I made up some excuse.

This interaction has always haunted me. What if I had told her the truth? This was a professor in the program! She could have helped me; she may have even been able to get me into the program. At the very least, if I'd been honest, I wouldn't have been left with the never ending, "What if's...?"

In January of last year, this is what I was thinking about one day as I was driving to work. That same day, I got a call from the front office asking if I could cover for one of the PE teachers during my prep period. I agreed. Afterwards, I happened to run into the former VAPA Department Chair at Fallbrook High School. Knowing of my dance experience and my desire to teach dance, he asked if I had ever gotten around to taking the Physical Education CSET because he was almost positive that the current dance teacher would not be returning to Fallbrook after her maternity leave. When I told him I had not, he encouraged me to do so, explaining that he had a feeling that the position would "just keep coming up."

As I drove home that day, I thought about my options. A couple years before, a similar opportunity had come up, but I did not bother taking the test then because I didn't have the time. Now, I had the time. I figured the worst thing that could happen was that I wouldn't pass, and since this would leave me in the same position I was currently in, that wasn't really all that bad. More importantly, if I took the test, I wouldn't be left with the same pangs of regret I was currently experiencing.

I took the test in April, and I passed all 3 subtests on the first try. Honestly, I don't really know how I did it, because immediately after taking it, I was convinced I failed. In any case, I passed, and that meant I was one step closer to having a credential that would allow me to teach dance.

When the position for dance teacher at Fallbrook posted in early June, I applied. I still had mixed feelings about leaving English, but, again, I felt I owed it to myself to at least apply. After a couple of weeks of not hearing anything, I got a call from HR to schedule an interview. Unfortunately, the interviews were being held while I would be in Hawaii on vacation with my family. Since the superintendent would not allow anyone to do a phone interview, I was out of luck.

I already had mixed feelings about the new superintendent at Fallbrook Union High School District, but this pushed me over the edge. I wasn't just some random person. I had worked at the district for 7 years. I even offered to do an interview via Facetime or Skype, so they could see that I was actually answering the questions they asked me without looking anything up.

Nope. If I couldn't be there in person, I couldn't interview.

I was mad.

But then the current VAPA Department Chair told me there was an opening at Temecula Valley High School. She said that if I was really serious about making the change from English to Dance, I should apply.

I still had not come to terms with leaving English, but after everything that had happened with not being allowed to interview for the dance position at Fallbrook, I decided I owed it to myself to at least apply. Again, I still had a full-time job that I enjoyed to fall back on, so I didn't really have anything to lose.

So, while I was in Hawaii on vacation, I reworked my cover letter and other materials and submitted my application. I didn't think there was much of a chance that I would actually get an interview. After all, this was a school that didn't know me. On paper, I was just some random teacher who had been teaching English for 7 years and who now wanted to teach dance.

But I got an interview.

And then, on the same day that I was going to a doctor's appointment to confirm that I was 6 weeks pregnant, I got offered the job.

Instead of starting another school year as an English/ELD teacher and former ELD Department Chair at Fallbrook High School, I was starting at a new school in a new subject. I became the Dance Director, in charge of the entire dance program, which consists of three teams and two beginning classes, at Temecula Valley High School.

And I was pregnant.

Holy sh*t.

Now, at the end of the school year, I can say, "I did it!" This year hasn't been easy, especially because I had to figure out a lot of the ins and outs of being a dance teacher and running the program on my own. (When I asked the former teacher for some advice, she lovingly said, "It's your program now! Do whatever you want!" Thanks...) Not only did I have to teach on a daily basis, but I also had to attend football games and basketball games, design and order t-shirts and costumes, and learn about cutting music and lighting a show. Additionally, in order to finalize my credential, I had to take 6 online classes. Oh. And I had a baby. In the backseat of my car. But that's another story altogether...

In the end, I believe I made the right decision to make this change in my career. It was one of those situations where the right opportunity came around at the right time. However, there are some things that I definitely miss about English and about Fallbrook. Here they are, in no particular order:

The people. I really, really, really miss my colleagues at Fallbrook. Being the only teacher in your subject area can be very isolating. Add that to the fact that I'm not exactly the most extroverted person in the world, and you get me knowing about 5 other teachers at TVHS after one year. At Fallbrook, I knew pretty much everybody (but I did work in a department of about 20 teachers and had been there for 7 years). I miss my friends who I would see almost every day, and I miss the people I would only see every now and then, like the one math teacher I would always run into at the end of the year, the day after school got out, and with whom I would always have a long heart-to-heart about the state of our school and our students. I miss them all.

And I also miss the students. I think that has to do with leaving Fallbrook and leaving English. I became an English teacher because I wanted to explore the issues and have the kinds of conversations that come up in an English class. I loved those moments, and I miss them. And I miss how they allowed me to develop close relationships with some of my students. This is not to say that I don't love my current students. I do. But... and this is may sound weird and even narcissistic... they don't seem to need me in the same way that some of the students in my English classes did. It's different.

I miss the drive. It was beautiful. If you've ever driven into Fallbrook, you know what I mean.

I miss knowing everything I needed to know about the school in order to do my job. Again, this is partially due to the fact that I was there for 7 years, but it also has to do with the fact that it was Fallbrook. Fallbrook hired quite a few teachers each year, so they did a pretty good job of making sure all the new hires knew what they needed to know and who they needed to know. At TV, I barely got a tour of the campus before starting out. Throughout the year, students would ask me where a specific classroom was, and I would look at them and shrug my shoulders. Why? Because I had no idea, and I didn't even have a map that showed the layout of the campus that would allow me to at least point them in the right direction. Also, there is nobody on campus who knows exactly what my job entails, so I pretty much just figure it out as I go. Luckily, there were only a few times this year when I ran into issues where someone asked me something like, "Did you write a PO for that? You need a PO." Me (in my head): "What's a PO???" (out loud): "No...." Sigh.

I miss being in a small district. Fallbrook is so small that I used to be on a first-name basis with the superintendent. When I had a problem or a question that needed to be solved or answered at the district level, I would email Jean Proctor in HR. Why? Because she was the only person to email. Now, if I have a question, it gets bounced around to 5 different people before I get an answer. Why does it get bounced around to 5 different people? Because each person is in charge of very specific things, so even if I have only 1 question, depending upon what it entails, it may take multiple people to tie their information together and answer my question.

The professional developments. Not all of them, of course, but some of them. Some of them were small and cozy and run by other teachers, and we would goof off and have fun and learn some really cool strategies. And then some of them were at CSUSM and had really good food... Yeah... I miss those ones, too.

The technology. Oh, the technology! I was spoiled at Fallbrook. From the time I started out, I had 8 computers in my classroom, and as the years went on, those 8 computers were in addition to a laptop cart and then a ChromeBook cart. Anytime I needed something, I just had to ask, and I would get it. I was lucky. As you can imagine, VAPA and PE classes are pretty much on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to getting any kind of technology at a school...

And here are some of the things I do not miss:

The drive. I now have a 15 minute commute versus a 45 minute commute. Enough said.

The politics and the problems. I spent so much time trying to solve the problems at Fallbrook, and nothing ever happened. Or something would happen, but it wouldn't be enough. Or they'd try something for 1 year, and then give up on it. I hear it's better now with the new administration. But, man, let me tell you, working there was both exhausting and infuriating at times. In my last year there, I had to just stop caring about everything else and just focus on my classes, because I couldn't afford to emotionally invest myself in all the other stuff anymore. It was too much.

Pacing guides. Let's be honest. I never really followed the pacing guides anyway. I just taught what I wanted (always standards-driven, of course), and I spent as much time on it as my students needed. But there was always a little nagging feeling that I might get in trouble some day if the wrong administrator walked in on the wrong day.

Grading essays. Okay. I said it. I do NOT miss grading essays. I still have to spend just as much time doing my job, but instead of spending that time grading essays, I'm spending it at football games or other similar events. And you know what? I can take my kids with me to football games. And I can pay attention to them. I always felt bad for my son when I had a batch of essays to grade. He would play and try to get me to play with him, and I would have to tell him, "Sorry honey, Mommy has a lot of work to do right now." And I would sit there, grading essays for hours. And my son would come up to me every few minutes and ask, "Mommy, are you done yet?" "Not yet, honey. I'm almost done. I promise." I still sometimes have essays to grade, but it is like once a semester instead of once every couple of weeks.

Being exhausted all the time. There is something ridiculously draining about teaching English for 5 periods a day. You would think I would be more exhausted from dancing all day, but it's not even close. Teaching English is exhausting.

In the end, did I love being an English teacher? Yes. I did. But, to be honest, I think I just love being a teacher. I think I could teach anything (yes, Mom, even math) and enjoy it. And I think that's my take-away here. I was fortunate enough to find a profession that I am good at and that I really love. I love it so much that I may even go into teaching people how to be teachers sometime in the distant future.

And so, I'm signing off on this blog for good. I can't continue to write about "experiments in the English classroom" if I no longer have an "English classroom." Who knows... Maybe I will start up another blog about dance or teaching dance or teaching in general sometime in the future. But for now, I'm going to snuggle my baby and enjoy my summer vacation with my family.
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Friday, June 5, 2015

End of Year Reflection

We have actually been out of school for a week now, but as soon as I turned in grades and finished cleaning my room, I immediately headed up to Santa Barbara for a bachelorette party and a mini-vacation. Now home, I finally have some time to write a post to wrap up this school year and reflect on some of the tools I have tried this year. Here goes...

Top 5 (in no particular order)

  1. Google Forms (1, 2, 3) - I love Forms. 
  2. Focusing on "difficulties" while reading - I love this method because it really allowed me to remove the scaffolds I had been using all year with my students. I plan on introducing this earlier on next year, because it really helps to create a student-driven and student-centered classroom. 
  3. Socratic Seminar - I know... it's kind of funny that I avoided this for so long, but I really enjoyed it. More importantly, my students really enjoyed it. On my end-of-year evaluations, one student wrote that I should do more activities that force the entire class to interact together (as opposed to just working in small groups); I think this is a perfect activity for doing just that. 
  4. Doctopus and Goobric - Oh my goodness, the amount of time Doctopus and Goobric saved me in grading essays this semester! I can't even begin to express my love. 
  5. Google Classroom - This one doesn't excite me that much, but since it is so easy to use AND it allows me to easily use Doctopus and Goobric, it is in my Top 5. 

Definitely Using/Trying Again


On the Fence

  • Peardeck - I liked this a lot when I first used it, but then the second time, it didn't go as well. I think you just need to really know what you are doing and be sure that this is the best method of presentation to match your purpose. Also, this isn't something I would do all the time anyway, because part of its appeal to students is its novelty. 
  • Newsela - Newsela has partnered with some big names in news, such as the Washington Post, which I like. I just have to figure out a better way to use this and present it to my students. 
  • The rhetorical précis - I need to be honest: I absolutely hate the rhetorical précis as it has been stuffed down the throats of both high school educators and students. I hate it. I do. I am not against the real rhetorical précis as it has been used in higher ed institutions, and I understand that, in some disciplines, students are expected to frequently write them. For example, when my husband was in a Master's program at CSUSM in History, he had to write them weekly. However, what he wrote (and always earned A's on) never looked anything like the 4-sentence ridiculousness we feed to high school students. Now... since I undoubtedly will have to teach the précis in the future, I will use the method I used with my ELD 2 students. But I will still hate it. 
  • Independent Reading Program - Don't throw virtual tomatoes at me. I like having an independent reading program. I just need to figure out how to better implement next year. That's all. That's why I'm on the fence. 
  • Sentence Wall - I kept this up for a few weeks and then slowly started forgetting to highlight student sentences. I like this. I just need to make sure that, if I use it again, I implement it with fidelity from the beginning of the year.
  • Fiction Jigsaw - Eh. I like this when in a bind, but I would much rather have students read the entire text.  
  • Virtual Question Box - Only 2 students made use of this. I can't decide if I want to bother next year or not. It's not really hurting me to do it, but... I don't know... I need to decide.

Won't Bother

  • Google Docs Websites - These were extremely easy. However, I mostly teach 11th grade, and my students are fairly proficient with other forms of technology. Next year, instead of allowing them to use Google Docs, I am going to force them to use something a little more complicated like Blogger or Tumblr. 
  • Teacherspayteachers.com - Don't get me wrong. The lesson I got off of teacherspayteachers was awesome. My problem is that I don't really have time to peruse the website to find other resources I may want to use. They frequently send me emails about 10 free downloads, but I haven't taken advantage of any of them. I think it can be helpful, but... like I said, I won't bother using the site in the future. 
  • Turnitin - This was the BIGGEST disappointment of the year! I had been rooting for my school to get Turnitin because I really wanted something that would catch plagiarism for me and save me time in Googling suspicious sentences. Unfortunately, it didn't catch everything (or even close to everything), and I still had to spend my time researching on my own. I had my online class use it throughout the semester, but I didn't bother having my English 11 classes use it after the initial assignment. 

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Next year, I will be at Fallbrook High School again. I plan to continue this blog, but I may introduce some changes. For now, I will be on a summer hiatus. I will see you back here in a couple of months. -Annie :)

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Friday, May 22, 2015

Week 28: Teaching the TED Talk

This week was the last week of instruction prior to finals at Fallbrook High School, so, naturally, all of my classes were winding down. My English 11 classes had their Gatsby party on Tuesday and worked on research papers for the rest of the week, and my ELD 2 class continued to work on their 20% projects. When I introduced the 20% project about a month and a half ago, I told my students that they would have to present their project in the form of a 5-minute TED talk; I told them I would go over this later, and I left it at that. Well, now is later. (When I said that in class, the kids repeated it, "Now is later..." trying to make meaning of this phrase and internalize it to be able to use in the future in the same way that they sometimes repeat some of the other soundbites they often hear me say.) Anyway, as I was saying, now is later, so now is the time I needed to discuss the presentations and explain what they needed to do.

Over the weekend, I watched a few TED Talks to get some ideas. While I really liked the messages in some of the longer talks, I decided that showing my students a few of the shorter, 3-minute talks would be more effective and efficient. With the shorter talks, it would be easier for my students to focus on the way the presentation was given without getting lost in the length, density, and intensity of the talk. Also, I could obviously squeeze in a few different shorter talks in the same amount of time that it would take me to show them one of the longer talks.

After watching a number of talks, I decided to use these 3 in class:
I chose these talks for a very specific reason: the three speakers present in very different ways. For example, Cutts only uses a handful of pictures throughout his talk, while St. John has a PowerPoint slide for every point he makes. In contrast, Moore doesn't have a PowerPoint at all; he simply takes the stage with a simple prop - a black tennis shoe. I wanted my students to see that all of these forms of presentation are acceptable - they can use a PowerPoint, but they don't have to; they can use pictures, but they don't have to; they can use props, but they don't have to; etc. However, I also wanted them to see that ALL of these talks were memorized - the speakers did not have note cards or papers from which they read. Additionally, all of the talks were engaging in their own way. 

After deciding on the talks, I created a worksheet with 3 questions for each video:
  1. What did you notice about this talk?
  2. What did you see in this talk?
  3. What did you not see in this talk?
On the worksheet, I asked the students to answer these questions for the 3 videos I showed them as well as for a 4th video of their choosing (one of the full-length TED Talks). Then, I included a t-chart to help them synthesize their ideas on what a TED Talk is and what a TED Talk is not:

After creating this first worksheet, I did a little more research. I googled something like "planning a ted talk" or "how to make a ted talk," and I came across a few help'ful resources. The first was a website titled "How To Make A Great TED Talk" which listed and explained 5 key features of successful TED Talks. I also found a website - teachingwithted - with a resource page that included links to different articles on how to create and prepare for a TED talk. From these sites, I created a second worksheet to help my students begin to plan out their talks. I took the 5 ideas from "How To Make A Great TED Talk" and adapted them into a form that I thought would be more helpful to my students. 

On Monday, we began our work on our TED Talks, which, of course, started with my first worksheet to help my students understand what a TED Talk is and what it looks like. We watched the first video, and I walked them through the 3 questions. Then, we watched the other 2 videos, and I had them walk me through the 3 questions. As we discussed each video, questions began to come up: 

"They don't use note cards. Are we allowed to use note cards?" 

"Nope."

"But Miss!..."

"You can do this! You will have all week to work on this and memorize your presentation."

"But it will be very difficult."

"Yes, it will be difficult, but this is your final. I know you can do it."

"How long does it have to be?"

"5 minutes."

"5 minutes?!? In English??? With no note cards???"

"Yep."

"Miss... it will be very difficult."

"Yes, it will be difficult, but this is your final. I know you can do it."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

One boy, who had not done very much to work on his project over the last few weeks, was very concerned about how he was going to speak for 5 minutes on his topic. I explained to him that this is what I'd been trying to get him to see the entire time. When I introduced the project, he choose to write his own album of songs; however, once he realized how much work that would entail, he asked me if he could change his topic to make a video with an app he frequently uses and knows very well. Since making a video wasn't anything new for him, I told him he could teach someone else how to make a video OR he could make a video, explaining how to make a video. He didn't listen to me, and the next day, he came in to show me the video he made for his friend's project. 

"Is this okay?" he asked. 

"No," I said, "because you didn't do anything new. You did this in one day, and while it is a very nice video, it isn't good enough for your project. You are supposed to spend 20% of your time between now (this was the end of April) and the end of the year working on your project. You should choose a topic where you can actually do that."

"Okay, okay," he said, but then he continued to not do much of anything for the next few weeks. 

So you can imagine his concern when Monday came along, and he realized just how much trouble he'd gotten himself into by trying to take the easy way out of this project... I explained to him that he had a choice: he could try to make his current topic work, or he could choose a new topic and work a lot on this new topic all week to make up for how little he'd done so far. 

Luckily, after watching a TED Talk on his own, he was hooked; he knew exactly what he wanted to do: create a presentation on what it takes to be successful. I steered him away from just copying Richard St. John's 8 ideas, and he came up with 7 ideas of his own. 

After all the students were finished watching the TED Talks of their choice, I had them talk to each other and fill out the t-chart. We went over the chart at the start of class on Tuesday, and from there, I introduced "Planning a TED Talk" and tasked students with writing out what they wanted to say. 

Over the next couple of days, they worked on what they would say and put together their presentations. I had them time themselves to make sure that they had 5 minutes worth of speaking. Then, they had to figure out how and when they wanted to include pictures, props, etc. into their speeches. One student, who had done research on depression and anxiety, wrote his speech and then created a brochure to hand out to the other students in the class that lists the warning signs of depression and anxiety. 

On Friday, I directed them back to the t-chart from the first worksheet. From what we filled in on the t-chart, we created the rubric for the presentation. Here are the criteria we came up:

  • The speaker…
    • speaks for at least 5 minutes
    • has a good connection with his/her audience
    • memorizes the presentation
      • does not use note cards, papers, etc.
    • explains the topic well
    • speaks loudly and clearly with confidence
      • does not speak too fast
      • has good pronunciation, especially of past tense verbs*
    • speaks in a professional manner
    • dresses professionally
  • The presentation…
    • is interesting and understandable
    • includes pictures, slides, examples, videos, etc. 
*We included the pronunciation of past tense verbs, because we've been working a lot on that over the last couple of weeks.

The students will present their projects next week, on Wednesday. They will have one block period on Tuesday to practice, practice, practice. I will admit that I am a little nervous, because there is a possibility that these presentations will bomb; however, I am trying to have faith in my students. Much like Jenn Roberts explains in her most recent blog post, "I'm cutting the cord, pulling out the rug, and letting them sink or swim."
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Ease of use: After I decided upon the videos and created the worksheets, introducing and implementing this with my students was fairly simple. The way I set up the introduction to what a TED Talk is, using the videos, made what I wanted my students to do very clear to them. They also knew exactly what was expected of them, because they came to the concept of what a TED Talk is (and is not) on their own.
Would I use this again: I am curious to see how this goes. I think the instruction went well, and I liked the 20% project overall, but, as always, there are things I will probably do differently in the future. Based on how the presentations go, I will know if I need to adjust my instruction on what a TED Talk is and how to plan a TED Talk. Next week, I will report back with a reflection on how the presentations went (and follow up on a few other topics as well).
Downsides: The main downside was that I have a few students who aren't very motivated students and haven't done much of anything. On Friday, I had to keep 2 boys in my classroom for detention at lunch because they had been goofing off in class and not getting their work done. Both kept complaining that this was a lot of work, but then they proceeded to do very little in class. I tried to be supportive, but when it came down to it, I had to put my foot down and forbid them from talking or doing anything else until their speeches were written. I think with projects like this one, you really see the differences in your students. My paraprofessional made a comment about whether or not the students saw the value of this project to their daily lives, and I pointed out that some of the students had taken it and run. The students who had chosen topics that were important to them - like learning to cook or depression and anxiety - were doing extremely well. One girl, for example, has close to 20 sources listed from all the research she did for her project. Unfortunately, there are a few students, as I've mentioned, who have not committed themselves to the project, so I am a little worried about how their presentations will be. But I guess that's how it goes with most projects assigned at school...
Applications: If you are having your students present something, and you want to move away from having your students reading everything off of a PowerPoint, Prezi, or Google Slides, you can use the TED Talk format.
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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Week 27: Using Feedback Immediately, Thanks to Google Forms

Well, I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I love Google Forms. Recently, I introduced Forms to my student teacher, and she called me a nerd after I sent an email her stating, "Remind me on Monday to show you the coolest thing about Google Forms." Here it is...

Immediate feedback!!!! 

Okay. Okay. I know you already know that you can get immediate feedback using Google Forms, but how often do you really take advantage of that fact? I've created forms that give students immediate feedback, and I've used Forms to help inform my instruction; however, this week, I managed to use the feedback I got through Forms to direct my instruction within the same class period.

When I was planning for ELD 2 this week, I decided that it was time to give my students a review list for their vocabulary because: 1) we have already gotten through all of the words on Averil Coxhead's Academic Word List; 2) it had been a while since their last review list; and 3) we weren't really doing anything new this week in terms of readings for me to pull vocabulary from. So, I sat down, started looking over the words from the last few lists, and tried to figure out what words my students needed extra help with. Then I realized, "This is stupid. Why am I trying to figure out what they need help with? Why don't I let them tell me what they need help with?" Enter Forms. :)

I created a simple form that included the words from the last 5 vocabulary lists. Each question was multiple choice, and the options were:
  • I feel confident about this word.
  • I know this word, but I feel like I could have a stronger understanding of this word.
  • I do not feel confident about this word. 
Here is the finished product. 

At the start of class on Monday, I had my students log into Classroom and complete the form. It took them about 7-10 minutes to get through the 100 words listed. Then, as my paraprofessional led them through an activity on how to pronounce words in past tense, I checked out the results. 

As you know, Forms will automatically create a spreadsheet for you with all of the results. While this was helpful for this activity, it wasn't what I needed. What I needed - and what was extremely useful - was the summary of responses, which includes graphs of the responses. (To access this, in your results, you go to "Form" and then click on "Show summary of responses.") The summary gave me this:


With this, I was able to quickly scroll through all of the responses to see which words I should include in our review. For example, I could immediately see that I didn't need to include the word "investigate" (a word I probably would have included if I had not done this activity) because all of the students indicated that they already had a strong understanding of this word; whereas I should include the word "contrast" (a word I may not have included if I had not done this activity) because my students felt they needed more practice with it.


Using this method, I easily determined the 20 words for this week's list based on my students' needs.
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Ease of use: Creating the Form and using it in class were extremely easy and only took a few minutes each. You do need to have something to occupy the students if you want to be able to look over the form and pull the words (or whatever other information you are looking for) immediately, within the same class period. However, you could also do this from one day to the next.
Would I use this again: Yes, but I think I would have to be careful about it. If I did this on a regular basis, my students would wise up and tell me they didn't feel confident about the words they thought were the easiest. (I'm not being cynical; they actually said that after they did that activity and found out what I was doing with the information.)
Downsides: See above.
Applications: You could use this with any material you have covered. You could even use this before you teach the information to see what your students already know.
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