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Friday, January 23rd


23 January 09 05:45 PM | fravan | 0 Comments   
Students took their mid term exam. Exam grades will be posted on Firstclass this afternoon, by 5:00. Have a great weekend--we are going to start chapter 7 on Monday.

Advocating for Teachers


15 January 09 07:40 PM | fravan | 0 Comments   
I live in Maine. Our State Super of Education has announced today that she is proposing the meager salary supplement for National Board certified teachers. I am composing a letter to various political types and need some input. I know all the virtues of NBC teachers but what I don't have a feel for is what gets the attention of politicos? What would make a legislator take notice? Any thoughts? Suggestions? Magic Words?
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Cell Phones


20 December 08 06:23 PM | fravan | 4 Comments   
One issue that I have been following closely has been the use of cell phones in classrooms. Currently I teach in a school that is not unlike other schools in that we strictly prohibit the use cell phones during the school day. It is almost as if it were the Eleventh Commandment. As with the other ten, there are those who follow the rules and those who do not. I read an interesting post by Steve Dembo over at Teach42 that has given me pause. Maybe we educators have been wrong about the cell phone. Maybe we need to revisit the idea. Steve list several uses for cell phones in the classroom. Uses that could potentially enhance instruction. The best use is the use of polling---which I would use as a formative assessment, a quick check for understanding. I have used the G-Cast in my class before to have students record their speaking. The issue needs to be addressed in a meaningful manner. Either we jam the signal or we allow students to have them and set some realistic parameters for their use. Although not a lawyer, I understand that there are some legal issues involved with jamming the signal. According to the FCC, cell phone companies pay to use particular frequencies and as such have established a property right in said signal. Thus, they cannot be denied their property with out due process. The FCC also prohibits states from interfereing with the federal government's ownership of the airwaves. This makes jamming the signal tantamount to theft. The issues was recently test in South Carolina, where the governor, Mark Sanford wanted to jam cell phone signals in prisons. Several years ago, we had a adminstrator who put the 'pal' in principal. He decided that we would allow students to use cell phones, int the hall between classes. It was a disater--to put it mildly. What would be a realistic concession for administrator/teachers to make? Is the prohibition universal? What is the logic behind said prohibition? (Is there more than just the simple distraction argument?)
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National Board Certification


13 September 08 12:55 PM | fravan | 4 Comments   
I am working on National Board Certification this year in World Languages. I have National Board in AYA Social Studies but, in order to get the state offered stipend, I have to add World Languages. Long Story. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone else is going through the process and would be willing to collaborate. When I went through the process in 2000, I had a couple of colleagues who were going through the process. This time around, I am the only one in my district going through this. Let me know either here or at my e-mail. Ravanfamily@aol.com
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A New Approach


31 August 08 02:04 PM | fravan | 1 Comments   
Last year I experimented with an idea that I am hoping to continue this year. The idea was a proficiency based classroom. I am a Spanish teacher. The material I teach is scaffolded in such a way that new material always builds on previously acquired skills. Students have to master the concepts in Chapter One in order to be successful in Chapter Two. The problem with this approach is that students are never in the same the place. Some students find chapter one to be easy while others struggle. In Chapter Two, some students are confounded quickly while another groups breezes through. What traditionally happens is that the students who find both chapters difficult are usually doomed by chapter three to a failure for the year. These students give up. Last year I changed things. I broke the chapters down to a list of skills. Students were assessed on how well they had mastered the skills. If they needed more practice, I provided that and they were allowed to take another version of the assessment. Students did better, I only had a few failures and fewer kids dropped my class through out the year. There are some draw backs. One is that my method does not fit the schools grading calendar. If some kids are still working on chapter two and its the end of the quarter and the rest of the class is on chapter 4 this creates an issue that must be address on an individual level. (last year there were only a few who fell into this catergory) The other problem is with the mid year exam. The exam covers chapters 1-6 but, if you are still working on chapter 5, then that creates another issue. To remedy this, I only graded to the place they were in the course. So for some I graded through question 89 while other I graded all 110 questions. I explained this by saying that mistakes for the 89 group were more costly. The biggest initial issue was that students would not prepare. I recognized immediately that some had not studies and were simply playing the odds. This required a little explaining on my part and I also developed a study guide that had to be completed. (Not a worksheet but, I list of things they needed to do before they re-took the test.) Although the number of re-takes is unlimited, I am thinking that I will institute a limit this year to keep kids moving along. My fear is that next june, some kid is going to still be on chapter 4. If anyone else is doing the same thing, I would love to hear how you manage this and things that you do in your classroom.
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Happy New Year


30 August 08 11:46 AM | fravan | 0 Comments   
The 2008-09 school year is coming---like an avalanche down a mountain. Each year, I set goals for myself. These are the two areas of focus for my classroom this coming year. 1) to work more collaboratively with colleagues both in my building and on line. 2) to incorporate more technology in my lessons. One of the things that is sorely missing from our profession is collaboration. I'll never forget a couple of years ago I was at a workshop. One session was a teacher swap shop, where teachers bring a lesson plan or an idea and share it with the group. At the workshop, I sat mesmerized by one teacher's presentation about how she get students to participate. Her ideas were brilliant and my mind began racing with ways I could incorporate them into my next lessons The disconcerting thing was the teacher involved was my neighbor at school. I had to go 120 miles away, pay XX amount of dollars to hear what my colleague and friend was doing daily across the hall from me. I am planning to use some o the ideas that Bill Ferriter has discussed in his blog, The Tempered Radical over at the Teacher's Leader network. I hope to present some of these ideas at the Penobscot Collaborative and at the Foreign Language Association of Maine conference in March My second goal is to incorporate more technology into my daily lesson plans. The idea is going to the computer lab has been a "treat" --much like the "outside class" on that first warm Friday afternoon in Spring. I am hoping to use technology to make my life easier--no small task and to enhance learning. Frequently, technology requires a major investment of time by a teacher and the learner benefit is minute. I am hoping to use things that will allow my students to practice using the language outside of the classroom and encourage them to explore topics and issues related to the target culture. Happy New Year!!!!
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