Reflecting on Unit 1

With the end of last week we reached the end of unit 1. This first unit took a total of 12 weeks and had three parts. Given that there are about 38 weeks in the school year and 4 units, this is a pace that needs to increase. I think that is certainly achievable. The biggest challenge for me is that a quicker pace obviously means I need to be more efficient in grading as well. 

Pacing:
Looking at the whole thing, as a general pacing we see three three parts taking the following amounts of time:
First part: 4 Weeks
Second part: 6 Weeks
Third part: 2 Weeks 

I know I can shave a least a week from both of the first two assessments which would put me more on track with where I eventually need to be. 

Tracking Sheets
I have been using the tracking sheets for the students to monitor their progress through the assessments. And while there are things I like about them, there are other things that just are not working. I would like the sheets to fulfill a way for students to reflect specifically on the SEPs. So I want to work those into it. The date tracking for the students just didn't work well because too many students didn't fill them out initially with the dates and couldn't remember when they completed parts. That being said, I am going to keep the sheets, just adapt them. They work well in helping the students see how the whole assessment goes together. 

Grading
As a quick overview of what I am doing, our grades are set up on a 4 point scale. Although the numbers a bit different basically a 4 is an A, 3 B, 2 C, 1 D. In the gradebook the assessments are the majority of the grade. So, if a student got mastery on the first 3 parts of the assessment, but not the 4th, they would get a 3/4 on the assignment. Basically a point for each part. That is working fine. However, I am entering this into the gradebook as one grade (with comments saying what the student hasn't completed). 

Next semester I am going to break up the assessment into the 4 parts in the gradebook. I feel like it will give the students and parents quicker feedback on where they are and makes it clearer what still needs to be done. So, if a student finished just the first two parts (and I require mastery before they move on) they would have a 4/4 on each of those two parts and a 0/4 on the other two. Essentially this is the same grade as the combined score (just out of 4 times as many points). Now, I may decide this doesn't help, in which case it would be easy enough to combine it all back together into one grade.

With grading as well, although I use rubric to give feedback and record scores on Google Classroom, the biggest help for me in being organized in tracking student progress has been the assessment record sheets where I mark off the student score for each part and highlight blue when they are done. It has made it very easy for me to see progress for each student at a glance. I will definitely continue doing that. 

Overall
I am really happy with our move to NGSS. There is still a lot to learn, things to change, and time for more reflection. But the assessments are working well and I feel like my students are understanding the topics at a deeper level than before. While we have some supplemental activities and lessons, I've been very focused on mostly just working through the assessments. Now, I still have my doubts. I can put together a beautiful PowerPoint or Pear Deck, I can make a fairly engaging lecture, I can get good students to answer questions on a test with respectable levels of correctness. While we still have some Pear Deck lessons, we've moved away from all of that, things I felt very comfortable doing. There are times I wonder if I am still effective. But, I believe in our plan and I believe in student inquiry. While I will improve in implementing NGSS each year I know this is the right path.