After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content. The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them. I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
If you've read any of my previous posts you know how I feel about the current state of student assessment. For those of you who are not caught up, simply put, this is how I feel. In my last post, I ended with the question "What makes a good assessment?" I have come to realize very quickly, and this is not an original idea, that the best assessment is one that the teacher doesn't write. At the end of last term, I gave my AP physics students the option of taking a traditional paper and pencil test as we had been doing all term or completing something I've termed an Objective Mastery Defense. Turns out the students like it and some said that it was the best innovation I have brought to the classroom. What is it and why did they love it? I'll save myself some typing and let my students explain it all. I took all the video today and cut it on my phone during 4th block. So, please forgive the uneven audio levels. It's my hope to have a more compl...