The other day at the ball field, I chatted with a mom about the crummy weather… small talk.  My daughter was playing on the swings and her daughter was a participant of the tournament.  This woman’s daughter dropped by to see her mom and said “Hi Ms. Younghusband.”  Another student I did not recognize, but recognized me.

That is one of the best or worst things about being a teacher in a small community.  You become a local celebrity.  Personally, I like being known.

Anyway, the mom and I started talking about school.  She asked about what my future plans, if I intend to return to teaching, and reasons why I left.  I was honest and diplomatic.  What is… is.  This was an excellent sign of acceptance.

The dad joined our conversation and started talking about an incident he had been dealing with at the school.  In essence, he spoke about his concerns about how his daughter was being evaluated in one class.  I encouraged him to inquire.  He said he did, but stepped back because he started to “feel bad” about expressing his concerns.

I questioned him.  You should not feel bad or feel like you are the “bad guy.”  YOU ARE THE PARENT ADVOCATE.  That is not a bad thing.  You are only inquiring.  If you are given a rationale or reasonable explanation of what is, then you’d feel satisfied or see action.  Worst case scenario, you would create an opportunity for professional reflection.

Teaching and learning is not about creating “bad feelings”… it’s about working together to establish the best possible outcome.  It’s about communicating.  It’s about negotiating.  It’s about dialogue.  The best part about education is that there are no absolute rights or wrongs… it’s about finding out what works for kids.  Best practices are always evolving.

Another classic edu-rant to a community member and parent.  What I realized is that I am 100% completely passionate about education, teaching, and learning.  What the dad realized is… I should run for municipal government.  He asked, “Are you running for mayor?”  Mayor?  Was I sounding like a politician?  School Board, maybe…

We parted ways and shook hands.  These parents were grateful for our honest and candid conversation about education… and so was I.  His last words were “You have my vote if you run for office this November.”  Now that is a compliment.

One of my ah-ha moments occurred at a provincial workshop regarding Understanding by Design.  The best part of professional development is talking with other colleagues about your practice.  Sometimes the topic has nothing to do with the session.

At this workshop, I started chatting with a teacher from the Coquitlam School District.  He was a middle school teacher.  We were talking about our assessment practices and he asked me, “Why does everything count?”  Hmmm… Why does everything count?

For years, I counted everything… assignments, quizzes, tests, participation, lab reports, projects, peer/self-assessment… you name it… it was worth marks.  Everything counted.

After talking to the man from Coquitlam, he sent me a few articles about assessment and AFL (Assessment for Learning).  It seemed like a radical idea, but worth a try.

In the last few years of my practice I stopped counting homework assignments, participation, self/peer assessments, projects, and quizzes.  The only thing that counted for marks was the tests and final exam.  Everything else is a work habit.

The framework is… if it helps them learn… it is formative assessment and does NOT count for marks.  If it is an opportunity to demonstrate understanding… it is summative assessment and does count for marks.  In math, summative assessments are tests.

OK.  That was a bold remark… there are other ways to summatively assess in secondary mathematics, but most times it is in the form of a test or exam.

In the end, with AFL… EVERYTHING DOES COUNT… just not for marks.  Kids get it… and thrive on it.  I call it… “Fear Free Learning”… Learn for the sake of learning…

According to the The Free Dictionary Online:
COLLEGIAL is “characterized by or having power and authority vested equally among colleagues;” and, DIALOGUE is “conversation between two or more people.”

This professional conversation is going beyond complaining, griping, and feeling unsatisfied.  Collegial dialogue is about having mutual respect, honest responses, and deep understanding.  It is not about lying or coercing… it’s about sharing and negotiating.

I love professional development.  I am so lucky that I am still engaged with public education and fellow colleagues to talk about math education, leadership, and Assessment for Learning.  That’s what I’m going to do today… out for lunch with a good friend to yap about math.  Lucky me.

That was my biggest workshop.  I was uncertain how to navigate a professional development workshop with an audience of 80 people situated in a theater.  I had cooperative activities in mind.  I spent most of the night before brainstorming ways to make adaptations to achieve the same goals in a different way.  I loved it.

I do enjoy professional dialogue during professional development.  That’s what it’s all about.  To dialogue is to learn.  Habermas calls this COMMUNICATIVE ACTION, where conversation is used to establish mutual understanding.  I felt that we had achieved this at Enver Creek Secondary.  Well, we were certainly on our way.

Every workshop I have given so far regarding Assessment for Learning has a theme or vibe.  Much like the classroom… every class is different.  This workshop’s theme was to be “professionally provoked.”  I think my mission was accomplished.  Teachers are talking about their practice and may take a bit of a pedagogical shift.  That’s great!

Honestly, my dream has come true.  I am talking to a bunch of people (practicing secondary teachers, in this case) about something (that is, assessment for learning and grading practices) in front of a HUGE screen (it was really big) and loving it (I truly did). 

Thank you Enver Creek Secondary.  I had a blast.

Almost 30 teachers and school administrators attended my workshop.  The workshop was optional.  Professional development is self-directed, meaning the teacher defines what is important to learn to improve his/her teaching practice.  The majority of this teaching staff and all three administrators identified another workshop on Assessment for Learning (AFL) would be worthwhile.

All I can say is, the workshop was amazing from beginning to end.  Doughnuts… Dialogue… Discussion.  I had so much fun delivering a workshop I am truly passionate about.  AFL MATTERS.  The  teachers and administrators were engaged.  The group activities worked.  The conversations were authentic.  They asked great questions and they had an opportunity to talk freely with colleagues about their practice and AFL.  It was an awesome learning and teaching experience.

Aside from a wonderful professional development workshop with the teachers and school administrators of Howe Sound Secondary, I was treated to a yummy lunch with the workshop organizer and a couple other colleagues.  We had continued our professional development day with more discussions about assessment, math education, and student learning over a plate of wings and artichoke dip.  Am I living the dream?  Yes I am.

I am passionate about AFL and had come to learn more about it during my last few years in public education.  Bottom line, AFL helps kids learn about their learning, learn in a fear-free environment, and learn how to realize their academic potential.

In return, AFL helps teachers understand how well their students are learning the content, assess student prior knowledge and what needs more work, and provide descriptive feedback to students to help them comprehend the course content.

AFL does not work in isolation.  How teachers assess students is closely tied with grading practices and instructional strategies.  Teachers do implement AFL at various degrees… depending on what grade they teach, what subject area they specialize in, level of understanding of AFL, and years of experience.

What I would like to address in this NEW workshop offered by Younghusband Consulting is effective grading practices.  Grading practices reflect student achievement.  In the end, teachers use their professional judgment to assign grades or percentage to students that reflect their level of understanding of the prescribed learning outcomes.

The ultimate goal is for teachers to report out a grade that best reflects student achievement.  Within this premise, there are NO bonus marks, NO zeros, and NO participation marks in the grading process.  Bonus marks reward students for going beyond the curriculum.  Zeros punish students for poor work habits.  And, participation marks tokenizes student engagement.

Effective grading practices should authentically “measure” student understanding.  AFL is instrumental to how teachers evaluate student achievement.  What counts for marks?  Anything that allows students to demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned.  What shouldn’t count?  Anything that helps students learn the course content.

I was born and raised in a small town, Prince Rupert to be exact.  I lived on Prince Rupert Boulevard and went to Prince Rupert Senior Secondary.  Need I say more?  Oh ya, my parents immigrated to Canada in the late 60’s, so the English language was not a strength of theirs either.  Bottom line, I read only one novel to completion during my high school career and pleasantly surprised to pass English 12.

Back to UBC… also, back in the day… all UBC students had to pass the ECT, the English Competency Test to graduate.  The ECT was UBC’s version of the LPI (Language Proficiency Index).  All that I know is that I failed the ECT twice, along with English 100.  It was a hat trick of failure.  Yes, I managed to return back to UBC for my second year, but I was also back to English 100… and the ECT.

I love the old wives tales that loomed around campus regarding the ECT.  A commonly told story was that you passed the ECT if your paper landed face-up from the clock tower.  Some people would say you couldn’t get into third year and others were worried about graduation.  I had to pass the ECT.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I registered for a continuing education course called “How to Pass the ECT.”  That was a selling title… SIGN ME UP.  I rode my bike there, in the snow, up hill both ways… It was the best $80 I had ever spent.

The most memorable moment was the first class.  There were a couple of dozen people sitting at tables formed into a horseshoe.  The instructor was an English graduate student.  OK.  I was ready to learn.  The class began with introductions.  We shared our names around the horseshoe.  Curious, the instructor asked us to go around the horseshoe again to answer the following questions:  (1) What country do you come from?  (2) How long have you been in Canada?  (3)  What is your first language?    

My answers:  (1) Canada  (2) All of my life.  (3)  English.

Everyone else responded with (1) Any other country but Canada.  (2) Less than one year.  (3) Any other language but English.  This class was an ESL class.

English as a Second Language… but English is my first language… next to slang.  The instructor pulled me aside to ask me if I wanted to change sections, but I wanted to stay.  Can you hear the song from Sesame Street?  “One of these things is not like the other…”  If I really knew how to write, I would have passed English 100 and the ECT.

The 10-week course was the best English course I ever took.  I started to see patterns in the grammar  and sentence construction.  I’ve always hated what my former teachers would say to me about editing my essays… “read it out loud and you can hear it.”  When your parents are ESL, you hear nothing.  Anyway, I was a star in this class… and loved it.

Happy ending… I passed the ECT on my third try, I passed English 100 with 56%, and graduated from UBC.  You do what you’ve got to do to get where you want to be.