Dr. Elizabeth Green

Instructional Designer, Writer, and Free Spirit

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree

August 3, 2015 by Elizabeth 3 Comments

2010-01-01 00.00.00-312Some years the single peach tree in our garden produces so much fruit that I make enough jelly for our extended family and close friends. Other years, drought, warm winters, or a late freeze prevents the tree from bearing. Early this spring, we were delighted to see hundreds of pink blossoms turn into tiny fuzzy peaches. The bumper crop was due to the right number of cool winter nights and plenty of winter and spring rains. I counted the days until the flesh would ripen and the green fruit would morph to peach and cream, fuzzy, deliciousness. I imagined the first bite of the fully ripe fruit so juicy that the nectar would dribble down my chin. I purchased half-pint jelly jars from the local dollar store, envisioning the delight of my family and friends as we presented homemade jelly as gifts.

This year, the tree produced hundreds of peaches no larger than a golf ball. The tree dropped most of its leaves and looked sickly. I researched gardening websites to figure out what we had done wrong. Did we need more fertilizer or water? The answer was that we should have pruned some of the fruit. To be exact, we should have clipped away much of the small fruit allowing each peach six to eight inches of space on the tree. The gardening experts state that the tree cannot provide enough nutrients and water to grow the fruit the proper size. I’m concerned that our tree might not survive the remainder of the hot Texas summer and fall.
My fruit tree taught me a lesson in self-care. While I’s counterintuitive to prune and discard what looks like perfectly good fruit, sometimes I need to do so. Sometimes I do so many things that I don’t do any of them well. Pruning my schedule and my to-do list helps me focus on quality rather than quantity. What do you need to prune from your life and teaching practice?

A New Page in the Grade Book

January 9, 2015 by Elizabeth 2 Comments

New Year - New Page

New Year – New Page

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the first page in a new journal.  I keep a personal journal and start a new one at the New Year, when I want to move in a new direction for my life, or simply when I run out of pages.  I also keep several project journals for my business projects.  There is something magical and refreshing about having a blank page before me on which I can write anything I want.  I take time to choose a new pen and select the color for the look I want for the first clean, white, page.  I take a few moments and think about the possibilities for my phase of life or project.

As a teacher, I love a new page in the grade book or blank workbook on a spreadsheet.  The new semester is a fresh start for students.  It was a symbol of hope for everyone who wanted a fresh start.  The teacher’s grading practices can either encourage or discourage students eager to start a semester with a clean page in the gradebook.

When my math-phobic daughter took Algebra II, her teacher gave a pop quiz on the second day of class.  Andrea was distraught over a grade of 20 out of 100 points on the quiz.  I assured her that the teacher would not record the grade, as she hadn’t practiced math skills in some time.  The school was on an accelerated block schedule.  Since geometry followed Algebra I in the school’s math sequence, she hadn’t practiced algebra for 1 ½ years.  Her teacher was trying to figure out what the students knew.  Using teacher language, I assumed this was a formative assessment to inform instructional practices.

I was wrong.  The teacher recorded the grade as a major test grade.  So much for having a fresh page in the gradebook!  The unfortunate students, like my daughter, who did not immediately recall previous math skills had to struggle the entire grading period in an attempt to make up for the low grade.  One problem with the numerical grading scale is that a grade of zero or below 50 disproportionately lowers the overall average.  Mathematically, the numerical 0-100 scale is unfair.  A student that makes an F, B, B, A has an average of B-.  A student with similar numerical grades, such as 0, 80, 80, 95 has an average of 64, which is failing in many school districts.

When I asked Andrea’s teacher about her grade, she assured me Andrea would be okay.  If she didn’t ask to leave the class to go the restroom the entire grading period, she would drop the lowest grade in the gradebook.  I couldn’t believe my ears. What did going to the restroom have to do with how well students learned math?

As a school improvement and curriculum specialist, I’ve worked with many teachers, schools, ad districts clinging to the numerical system and defend it as if it is a hallowed practice.  The American school system adopted the numerical grading system as public school populations exploded during the baby boom, as a way to manage grades for large numbers of students.  It was what teachers knew to do at the time, but may have outlived its original purpose.  Some teachers are loyal to practices they experienced as students or practices they learned in their early years of teaching.  Often, they have not examined why they adopted a numerical system.  Some assign grades as a method of keeping students under control.  Grading practices should reflect content mastery rather than student compliance or controlling student behavior.

What are your experiences with fair or unfair grading practices?          

About Me

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get sidetracked into issues that I find interesting or timely.   Disclaimer This is my personal … Read More...

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get … Read More...

From the Blog

  • Experiencing Shame and Compassion
  • Leaving Shame Behind
  • Avoiding Burnout – Getting Real About Your Schedule
  • Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree
  • Insist on Educational Excellence

Archives

Find it here

Copyright © 2019 · Elizabeth Green