Paperman and Assessment FOR Learning

One of my favourite things about the new Australian curriculum is the clarification of assessment into the categories 'as', 'of', and 'for'. It takes the summative/formative dichotomy that extra step further and puts the emphasis back onto the process of learning rather than just the end point.

I know, right, I'm an exciting guy. 

For each of my classes I try to build in some informal diagnostic assessment (assessment for learning) that lets me know where each of my students are at. There are a few reasons for doing this:

1. Know Your Students. It helps me get to know my students - if I can't see how they respond to certain kinds of activities then I won't be of much help to them as the topic progresses.    
2. Structured Teaching. As an individual, I respond well to structure, so having a process that puts students through a standardised task appeals to me.
3. Teaching and Learning Cycle. Pre-test, diagnostic task, or assessment for learning - whatever you want to call it - this stage of the Teaching and Learning Cycle allows me to collect data that can be used as a starting point for each term. It also informs my reporting; writing reports is always easier when I have a bunch of figures in front of me that I can line up against my personal impression of each student. The more figures I have, the closer I'll get to accurately representing their true ability.
4. Differentiation. The push at most schools right now is for differentiated curriculum, something that has grown as a response to the mixed ability classroom and as a way to support teachers in catering for the widest possible array of learners. A great way to establish loose streams of 'Adjusted', 'Core' and 'Extension' students within the classroom is to use a diagnostic test at the start of a unit. 
5. Student Response. Presenting work as an informal assessment seems to make the kids sit up a little straighter in class. What I mean is, students take this work a little more seriously than most student-centered work I put down in front of them. In addition, I always try to make it clear why they're doing each informal assessment by linking it to skills that they will need for upcoming formal assessment tasks.

An effective assessment for learning should connect to what I'm looking to assess towards the end of the same unit. What I plan to assess should inform every part of the unit (backwards mapping yo!), so this is always my starting point. In this case the plan is to have students write an exposition piece in which they persuade their audience. The argument they have to make is: why Tim Winton's Blueback should win the 'Novel of the Year' award.

I actually jumped into this blog post with a specific activity and resource in mind, so now that I've gotten all the context out of the way I can do what I came here to do: talk about Paperman.

Paperman is a fantastic and dialogue-free award-winning animated film by Disney. I use it as a diagnostic text that can help me quickly check on the students' analytical and persuasive writing skills before we do Blueback for the rest of the term.

First, we watch the film. As there's no dialogue and it only goes for five minutes, I think you'll be hard-pressed to find many kids who can't get into it. While watching, the students can start collecting some ideas about their impressions of the film by filling in this sheet: Thinking About Paperman. Have them watch the film at least twice and model at least one idea on the board so they can see the sort of things they can write. You can even got a step further and have the whole class contribute opinions and make a big class example on the board so students can fill their sheets up nice and full.

The next step is, in the next lesson, have your students sit the diagnostic test. This should roughly take half a lesson. Give your students as long as they want though, if a Year 7 student has it in them to spend the whole lesson writing their responses up, then give them that time. This is their chance to show what they're capable of. I even let some students take the sheet home and complete it there if they're that way inclined - I know I can't always focus in a noisy room of about 30 people, so if a student wants to do well by completing the task in a quieter environment then who am I to stand in their way?

Here's the diagnostic test: "Here I am!" It breaks down as follows.

Section 1 is a series of True or False questions that test general comprehension. It's important to allow a section that doesn't require much in the way of writing because if we want to assess comprehension then we shouldn't let a student's inability to write get in the way of that. Writing and comprehending are two completely separate skills. Sometimes we have to make sure that we're assessing one thing at a time. Plus it never hurts to let students succeed in English without having to be great writers, especially at a Year 7 level when we want to encourage engagement with English as much as possible and set them up for a long-term journey.

Section 2 tests vocabulary through the use of a 'best fit' cloze passage. The word bank includes more than one correct answer for each missing word, however, students are asked to pick the best word to complete each statement. This lets the teacher see how far the students' vocabulary extends.

Section 3 is where the actual mechanics of writing are looked at. This means articulating ideas, showing an ability to elaborate on ideas, structuring writing into paragraphs, writing for an audience, and showing an ability to evaluate. Very few students will be able to achieve full marks in this section, and the criteria has been intentionally 'amped' up so that we can avoid the students 'topping out'*. It needs to be difficult because if we're not looking for that tiny percentage of students who can do these really sophisticated and unexpected things, then we're never going to find those students in the first place.

Here's the marking criteria/answers: "Hello there!"

One more thing before I finish up; if you do decide to use this diagnostic assessment and collect some data it's worth keeping in mind that this information is just for you, the teacher, rather than for the students and their parents. I don't hand the papers back with the results because I don't think it's particularly useful for the students. It's not the sort of assessment that students have a chance to study for so it wouldn't be fair to give marks back to them. Plus it could be potentially demoralising to give students access to marks accrued in a test that has been deliberately 'stretched out' to accommodate the largest possible range of student ability. If any students ask for their marks (and very few do, because I don't use the word 'assessment' when I talk to them about this task) then I would simply tell them that the information was just for me and that the marks don't count towards their reports.

*By 'topping out' I mean that I don't want every student meeting the criteria too easily and getting full marks. If this happened then it would mean that I'm not extending my measurements far enough to see where their abilities end. This is another good reason why the students shouldn't be given their marks back: only the most gifted will achieve 'A-range' results.

Trotsky and the Splitting of the Socialist Democratic Workers' Party.

Lenin; the leader of the Bolshevik faction, and Martov; an historical footnote.

From a teacher's point of view, untangling the political landscape of Socialist Russia circa 1900-1905 can be a little tricky. I see one of the primary challenges as this:

How do I make this interesting or clear enough for my students to remember it? 

Of course, there are other issues to consider as well, like: 

• How much of this stuff is going to be relevant to the study of Trotsky?
• How do I avoid getting bogged down in just teaching content rather than skills?
• How can I check that students have taken in what I want them to take in?

What follows is a single lesson that covers the narrative of Trotsky's first escape from Russia, his meeting with Lenin in London, the split of the Socialist Democratic Workers' Party into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, and the Menshevik attempt to ally themselves with the Liberals.

It's a lot to ask students to process all this, especially when it concerns such a small segment of Trotsky's overall story, so I've deliberately kept my PowerPoint presentation quite simplistic in terms of detail. The real goal of the lesson is for students to be able to take in this information and then retell it in their own words. Here's a breakdown of the lesson and resources:

1. Move through the PPT with the students, reading each slide out and clarifying details. This presentation covers the narrative.

2. Students use the Scaffold Grid to summarise the PPT. For each slide, students are to write one point into a square of the grid. There are 12 squares for the 12 slides.

3a. Ask students to read over the notes they've put into the Scaffold Grid. Then tell them to flip the sheet over so they can't see what they've written. The final step is for students to retell the story of Trotsky and the Bolsheviks/Mensheviks using their (fresh) memory. The previous sheet should assist the students in building up their summary skills before they are asked to work in a semi-exam condition where they can't rely on their notes.

3b. It is, of course, possible to negotiate with your students. I might say to one, "You may look at your notes only 3 times while writing the 'story' out". The important thing is that they just have a go and try to increase their reliance on themselves because - as we all know - once they sit down in the HSC exam 'themselves' is all they've got. The trick is to get them writing without having to refer to any notes.

Resources:

1. PowerPoint presentation

2. Scaffold Grid

Matching Russian Timeline to Animal Farm

How great is Animal Farm? That's a rhetorical question, of course, but feel free to let me know how great you think it is anyway. 

I've just finished putting together all my resources for an Animal Farm/Elysium comparative study. I'm doing this with my Preliminary Advanced class for Term 2, and I'm looking forward to teaching it and discussing it and doing all those teacherly things.

A lot of the comparative study is context-driven, which means talking about Orwell, class divisions, allegory, fables, etc. Perhaps the most significant contextual element when it comes to Animal Farm is 20th Century Russian history; it would certainly be very difficult indeed to teach the allegorical function of Orwell's modern 'fairy story' without drawing comparisons between it and the Russian Revolution. 

The resource below pulls together a series of characters and plot points from Animal Farm and comparable events/people from Russian history. Students read through the sheet and must decide for themselves which elements from Russia fit with Orwell's text. 

Animal Farm and Russian History - Mix and Match Activity

Here are the answers for teacher-reference.

A. Karl Marx formulates the theory of Communism matches with Old Major comes up with the philosophy of Animalism.

B. Tsar Nicholas II's poor leadership leads to famine and food shortages matches with Mr Jones rules over the farm and forgets to feed his livestock. 

C. The aristocracy (upper class) exploits the peasants and workers matches with Man does not produce anything, and instead lives off the work of the animals.

D. Stalin makes a deal with Hitler, who then invades Russia. England does not help because they see Stalin as evil matches with Napoleon makes a deal with his enemy, Frederick. The farmer then betrays him. Meanwhile, the other farmer, Pilkington refuses to help after being treated poorly by Animal Farm in the past.

E. Stalin encourages a 'cult of personality' wherein he is worshipped by the Russian people matches with Napoleon is worshiped as the 'Father of All Animals'.

F. Stalin pushes the Russian people to complete his 'Five Year Plans' so that Russia can become more modern matches with The animals are put to work with the extremely difficult goal of building a windmill. 

G. The Tsar is kicked off the throne after the Russian Revolution matches with The animals take over the farm and chase Mr Jones out. 

H. Marxism teaches that labour should be divided equally by all people matches with The animals decide that all work should be shared by all. 

I. Stalin is not a particularly popular leader but he excels at playing people off against each other matches with Napoleon is not charismatic but is able to use certain other animals to his advantage.

J. The Russian peasants and workers (the proletariat) live in very poor conditions matches with The animals' lives are "miserable, laborious and short".

K. Stalin forces his enemies to confess in public 'show trials' before executing them. This is known as 'The Purges' matches with Animals are forced to confess to false crimes before being executed.

L. Stalin makes use of the NKVD (Russian secret police) to punish his enemies matches with Napoleon trains the pups to be his loyal and vicious servants. 

M. Other countries and former allies of the Tsar attack the communists in the Russian Civil War matches with The other farmers attack Animal Farm to try and take it back from the animals.

N. The Communist leader Trotsky wants to spread Marxism throughout the world matches with Snowball wants to spread Animalism to other farms.

O. Stalin wants to concentrate on preserving Communism in Russia and doesn't care about spreading Marxism to other countries matches with Napoleon wants to concentrate on protecting and defending Animalism in just Animal Farm. 

P. Communist Russia becomes a totalitarian regime matches with Animal Farm becomes the thing it rebelled again.

Q. There is a power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky, ending with Trotsky being exiled from Russia matches with There is a power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball ending with Snowball's expulsion from Animal Farm.

R. The Five Year Plans fail after being interrupted by WWII matches with The windmill remains unbuilt after so much effort.

S. The perfect worker Stakhanov is used in propaganda to inspire other Russian workers matches with Boxer's motto of 'I will work harder' inspires the other animals.

T. The Communist Party uses propaganda and censorship to influence the Russian people matches with Squealer feeds the animal misinformation in order to manipulate them.

U. Stalin decides to start trading with the rest of Europe matches with Napoleon decides to start trading with the farmers.

V. Stalin blame Trotsky for all of Russia's problems matches with The absent Snowball is blamed for the destruction of the windmill. 

W. Eastern Orthodox priests pacify the Russian people with tales of Heaven and Jesus, and have close ties with the Tsar of Russia matches with Moses tells the animals stories of 'Sugarcandy Mountain', a paradise that animals go to after they die, and is looked after by Mr Jones. 

X. Lenin's body is displayed in Moscow for the Russian people to pay their respects to matches with Old Major's skull is displayed in a central location for all the animals to see.

Reading Roll: January-March 2016

Antipodes edited by Margaret Bradstock

I picked this up at the ETA Conference last year. It's a poetry collection that puts the emphasis on indigenous voices and perspectives, and I'd recommend it as a good Stage 5 level poetry text for anyone interested in doing some Australian and/or Aboriginal poetry with their English class.

Skim by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

The debut graphic novel from two Japanese-Canadian cousins; Skim explores teenage alienation, sexuality, marginalisation, and mental health with a wry, slightly askew sense of wit and a uniquely evocative style of illustration. I liked this enough to immediately go and buy another graphic novel by the same creative team.

Russian Olive to Red King by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen

This was recommended on AV Club as one of the best graphic novels of 2015 but I found it a bit disappointing. It deals with a dysfunctional relationship and a very real sense of loss, and it's extremely understated in its approach to plot and characterisation. A little too understated, if you know what I mean. I guess I just also found it a bit too self-consciously artsy.

Blue is the Warmest Colour by Julie Maroh

A lesbian bildungsroman that has made a lot of 'best graphic novels' lists since its release in 2010. I liked how realistically drawn the characters were, and Maroh has a deft grasp of non-linear storytelling that suits the themes she explores. Recommended.

Maps of Time by David Christian

I already wrote a bit about David Christian's groundbreaking treatise on history here. All I'll add is that this ambitious recontextualisation of history rocked my world.

American Holocaust by David E. Stannard

I read this as research for teaching the Spain and the Aztec Empire Case Study for Extension History. It's a very affecting and highly polemic history of the tragedy that was visited upon some 100 million Amerindian peoples by European invaders and settlers. Stannard makes an engaging and convincing case for the repositioning of the term 'holocaust' as something that should equally apply to genocides that rival or eclipse the one that took place during WWII.

Clay by Melissa Harrison

Clay is an interesting text that has been recently added to the HSC Advanced English Prescriptions list for Elective 2: Representing People and Places. I'm not really intending to teach it, I just picked up the novel because I liked the cover (yeah, I'm that superficial). It turned out to be a great book. It's very much a study of people and place so it fits the Elective well. It's also very beautifully written, such is Melissa Harrison's combination of her professional photographer's eye with her handling of the English language.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Woah. Blood Meridian is an extremely intense historical novel that follows the mythic exploits of the Glanton Gang, an immoral collection of scalp-hunters who operated during the Mexican-American War of the 1840s. For the most part McCarthy's spare and relentlessly bleak story takes place through the eyes of 'The Kid', an uneducated young man who falls in with the gang. The Kid's polar opposite is an unforgettable villain called The Judge, a figure with biblical qualities who comes across as a cross between Charles Darwin, Colonel Kurtz and Satan himself. I don't know if enjoy is the right word for how I feel about this novel, but it's certainly incredibly engaging and memorable. 

Alex and Ada Volumes 1-3 by Sarah Vaughn and Jonathan Luna

This snappy three-volume mini-series from Image comics was recommended to me by my friend Kira. It explores themes of artificial intelligence and the human condition in a tightly-plotted and well-characterised fashion that would lend itself very well to a cinematic translation. 

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling is great, isn't she? She does her best here to avoid the pitfalls of being pigeonholed as the voice of a whole generation of marginalised young women. For the most part this memoir is fast-moving, engaging and funny.

The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe

A collection of short stories from one of Australia's most celebrated writers, The Bodysurfers weaves in and out of the lives of a few barely connected characters who are characterised in relation to the beach. Drewe presents a darkly humourous but disaffected vision of post-war Australia and the role that beach culture plays in the ongoing development (or stagnation) of our national character.

The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis

I picked this one up on a whim. As far as high concept stuff goes, I don't think it really succeeds in what it sets out to do. Davis has a unique take on a Dystopian/coming-of-age genre mash-up (which is an achievement in itself) but he doesn't really follow through with any explanations, opting instead for an obscure kind of dramatic irony that left me feeling dissatisfied.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I've read this a few times before and have just read it again because I'm teaching it to my Year 11 Advanced English class this term. It's still a perfect novella no matter how many times I read it.

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

This is the third of Stephen Fry's memoirs. I haven't read his other memoirs but that didn't seem to matter because he spends the first third of the book recapping the events of his other books. The best bits are when he digresses and becomes un-self-conscious enough to just go with all the unrelated tangents that organically grow out of his narrative. The entire later half of the book is rubbish though; a verbatim reprint of his actual journals from the early '90s, which are much more dull and repetitive than one might imagine.

Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

This is probably my favourite thing that I've read so far this year. Scandinavian crime novelist Nesbo presents a new twist on the crime fiction genre by mixing cut-throat corporate shenanigans with the grimy underbelly of art theft, and then mixing it all together with a cat-and-mouse game of sexual insecurity and revenge. His writing style is minimalist but very effective and I was hooked from start to finish.

The True History of the Blackadder by J. E. Roberts

I love the TV series Blackadder and am tragic enough about it to actually enjoy finding out all the behind-the-scenes stuff, however, Roberts spends too many pages talking about stuff that has nothing to do with Blackadder. If I'd wanted an in-depth history of the Cambridge Footlights comedians then I'd read a book on that. 

A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu and P. Otie

I bought this as research material for a Year 10 History unit on China that I wrote last year, and this year I finally got around to reading the graphic novel in its entirety. Li Kunwu's autobiographical account of the Cultural Revolution simultaneously illuminated and confused my understanding of China's incredibly complex modern history. It made me want to know more about the subject, much more, and it succeeded in changing my understanding of the Chinese perspective of itself and the rest of the world. 

Dark Rain by Mat Johnson and Simone Gane

A short but satisfying action-thriller that plays out a thrilling heist-scenario against the backdrop of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. If there are any one-shot graphic novels out there that would make a great film, then this is it. Johnson does an expert job of balancing themes of American class inequality with effective characterisation, humour, and excitement.

Big History and Me

You'll have to bear with me if you're already familiar with all of this because, as six months ago (thanks to my introduction via Jonathon Dallimore), I have become quite tragically in love with the historiographical approach that has been endearingly dubbed 'Big History'. 

I read Maps of Time by David Christian and just as the Foreword promised (with some apparent degree of hyperbole), it blew my mind in sufficient manner. I'm not about to say, "Let's abandon all other historical approaches" but the whole idea of looking at history in the broadest possible context spoke to me. I guess it appealed to the part of me that resents the seemingly undefeatable presence of Eurocentrism that has sculpted the world's history 'canon'. Christian's view is one that combines scientific disciplines with philosophy and history to determine universal patterns that apply to both humanity and the growth of celestial objects.

At first, I found the idea of establishing similarities between the formation of stars and the formation of human civilisations a bit... tenuous and pointlessly esoteric. But I stuck with it! And after I read about these things in much more detail it all became more enlightening, and made me think of human history in a completely different way; which was the whole point.

As I read Maps of Time, which is Christian's bible for the 'Big History' approach to history, I made some notes.

These notes became hideously extensive.

Like, 47 A4 pages of notes.

When I was done, I knew that I couldn't just hand these notes over to my Extension History students. It was too long. I did, however, come to a much better understanding of the concepts by taking these notes, so I don't regret it. I'd do it again!

I thought I could still use these notes for this blog, so I'll be going to go through the concepts of the book in a few separate blogs in the future.

I'll leave you with this quote from one of the book's two appendices.

"Being complex creatures ourselves, we know from personal experience how hard it is climb the down escalator, to work against the universal slide into disorder, so we are inevitably fascinated by other entities that appear to do the same thing. Thus this theme - the achievement of order despite, and perhaps with the aid of, the second law of thermodynamics [entropy] - is woven through all parts of the story told here. The endless waltz of chaos and complexity provides one of this book's unifying ideas".

For more about Big History, go to the Big History Project online.

For more about 

Extending Stage 4 Students in English

Blueback, a novel that I highly recommend for Year 7 students - it's both easy to read and possesses depth of language/ideas.

In addition to my role as classroom teacher, I also work at my school as the Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator. This has predominantly meant the implementation of a class-sized pull-out program for identified gifted students (more on this at a future date), however, before I got to that point I piloted an experimental phase in which individual students with potential giftedness were targeted. At the time (2 years ago), I was teaching a mixed-ability Year 7 English class. There were two students in particular in this class who showed classic signs of advanced ability and I wanted to give them a meaningful opportunity to use and stretch this ability. 

It's worth noting that these were the sort of students who would not initially present as gifted upon first impression but, after extensive diagnostic testing, I felt that I had confirmed that their potential had gone unrecognised. Before I could create a larger program that would cater to students such as these and, indeed, develop a system of testing that would establish levels of giftedness amongst their entire cohort, it would be necessary to pilot a smaller program of increased support that would prove the validity of specifically catering for gifted students. 

So now we get to the real point of this blog entry, extending these two Year 7 students with activities based on the current topic that was running during class-time. In line with the requisite academic research, I decided that the work had to be:

• Relevant to what was being studied. 
• Not a simple case of 'extra' work.
• The kind of work that would challenge these students enough to allow them to devote the same amount of quality time that any other student would spend on core activities back in the mixed classroom. 

Anything less would risk student disengagement, the same sort of thing that led to these kids 'flying under the radar' in the first place.   

The topic in question back in 2014 was a novel study of Tim Winton's beautiful ecological story Blueback. The resource I've attached below was designed to be used by tutors who had been assigned to the targeted students, but, really, it can be used in any context.

In Stage 4, annotating texts is probably something that most students would not be completely comfortable with. I usually introduce it to Year 9 students, which put me in mind of using it with gifted Year 7s as it would be a step-up for them. The style of annotation featured in the resource makes use of a few higher order skills:

• The annotating of techniques is a form of attribute-listing that requires students to taxonomise information in their heads.
• The second part of the activity, in which students identify their own techniques, contains elements of backwards-engineering. 
• Explicitly teaching the skill of annotating equips gifted students with a method that they can use to design their own systems for note-taking.

I've resisted explaining the actual mechanics of the resource in any great detail because it's all on the sheet below. If you have any specific activities that you like to use to extend junior students, please feel free to drop me a comment below - I'm always on the look-out for more ideas!

Resource: Extending Stage 4 Students in English

Society in 1930s Stalinist Russia

The HSC Modern History National Study for Russia and the Soviet Union can pose a challenge for Modern History teachers due to the sheer breadth of content that begs to be covered. Aside from the best essay responses on the subject revealing a broad and in-depth contextual knowledge of Bolshevik Russia, it's also a fact that any half-interested History teacher will find it difficult to resist the magnetic pull of Stalinist Russia's more fascinating asides. 

For example, Stalin's second wife Nadezhda was 17 years old when she married the 43 year old Joseph Stalin. And as if that wasn't creepy enough, she was the daughter of one of Stalin's friends and Stalin had known her since she was 4! 

Of course, this is largely irrelevant if your student is faced with an essay question about collectivisation and Stalin's attempts to close the industrial gap between the USSR and the rest of the developed world. But how can we ignore the juicier bits of Russian history when it helps engage our students with the wider narrative surrounding the madness of Stalin's Soviet Union? 

My weakness with this topic is, undoubtedly, the 1930s. I tend to spend the larger slice of time teaching students about the Bolshevik consolidation of power in the 1920s and the move towards the Five Year Plans. The part that I have more trouble disseminating is the various aspects of living in Stalin's totalitarian regime - there just seems to be so much to cover, and I get so fascinated by each and every facet of this intense society that it becomes a bit of a Hobson's choice trying to work out the ones that should make up the narrative that's taught to the students. 

In addition to this challenge, I have to be careful not to ignore the skills-based part of the course. It's very appealing sometimes to just stick to the content and travel through the narrative but Year 12 students need to be able to sit down at the end of the year and write a series of essays in the pressure-cooker that is the HSC. It's sometimes assumed that Modern History students are au fait with structuring essays because the subject is so academic, however, as I've probably mentioned elsewhere on this blog, my Modern History classes tend to range from students who do Advanced English to those who do English Studies. With that in mind, I need to ensure that I'm teaching enough of the skills to support all of my students in being able to communicate what they've learned. 

This means teaching one of the key Super Six Comprehension strategies; summarising. It's easy to associate the Super Six with just primary school and Stages 4 and 5, but it can be dangerous to assume that Stage 6 students are experts at comprehension. Because, well, they often aren't. 

It's never too late to teach literacy.

Here's a resource on society in 1930s USSR: Stalin's Russia. 

And a graphic organiser to go with it: Graphic Organiser for Russian Society.

Get your students to read through the resource and use the graphic organiser to summarise the various aspects of Soviet society under Stalin. The graphic organiser is fairly straight-forward and isn't particularly different to a series of comprehension questions, however, by arranging the information in this fashion students can get an idea on how to separate their ideas. It also acts as a scaffold towards hopefully engaging the kids in creating their own summaries of documents.