Welcome to the All Star Planning Podcast. My name is Kelsey, and this is the place where I talk all things teacher lesson plans. Today, we’re actually not talking lesson plans, but this is something that can make your lesson plans a lot easier. And it is actually cultivating a culture of self assessment in your classroom.
Self Assessment and Self Esteem
It’s not easy. I think there’s a lot of unspoken pressures, especially in high school regarding where kids stand. I mean, they’re always, at least in high school, in my memory, kids were always ranking themselves against each other in ways that they probably shouldn’t and aren’t healthy. But in my classroom, self assessment is not a scary thing. And the way that I do this is simply by telling my students, I love them.
Showing Your Students that You Care
Literally on the first day of school, I say, “hi, welcome to chemistry. This is the hardest class you’re going to take this year. We’re going to have so much fun. I’m so excited that you’re here. I already love you. You are my chem babies. I am your chemistry mother. And we’re in this together. I’m going to be your guide through chemistry. We’re going to have a blast.” Right?
I lead with love. The very first thing that I tell my students, really is that I love them. And I think that that’s super important. I think that there is not enough love in the world. Regardless of where you look, there is always room for more, love, more respect, more caring, more kindness. And the more that we can show that in our classrooms, the better off the world is going to be.
Learning By Example
Kids learn by example. And if the example is to be kind and show love and understanding and be lenient. And give people the benefit of the doubt, then I think we’re setting ourselves up for a happier planet to live on. Maybe that’s just me. I, I, I hope it’s not just me. I hope everyone can get on board with that message.
But, what I do, I really, I just tell my kids I love them. Every single day.
I also tell them that they don’t have to return the love just because I say, “I love you.” It doesn’t mean that they have to return it. Um, they do have to return respect. I’ve never had a kid actually tell me that they were uncomfortable with me saying, “I love you.” Um, but if that ever became a problem, obviously I would not make a kid feel uncomfortable on purpose. I make sure that they know that I am not expecting any love in return. I did not become a teacher because I wanted to feel loved. I became a teacher because I wanted to show love.
Growth Mindset Classroom Decor
The second thing is that my classroom decor says the exact same thing. Everything in my classroom is kind and inclusive. On the front of my door I have a rainbow tie dye poster. I guess I made it. But it says “All Are Welcome Here” which implies that no matter who you are, you are welcome in our classroom to our family.
Which again is leading with love. I also have a bulletin board in my classroom, right beside the door on the inside. And it says, “In case nobody told you today. Hello. Welcome. You belong here. I’m rooting for you.” No, “I believe in you. Have a great day.” I don’t know exactly what it says. I’ll post a picture of it on my Instagram. It’s I’ve posted it there a few times before.
Complimenting and Noticing Your Students Out of Class Achievements
But it’s something that just helps to solidify my message, that I do care about my students. I do love them; I am rooting for them every single day. It’s there in case they need that reminder. And I don’t think that you have to devote an entire bulletin board to your message. I think that there are plenty of ways that you can show love. Not just by saying it, not just in a welcome sign, not just in a bulletin board. But also by letting your kids know that you’re rooting for them. Letting them know that when you can, you will go to their events, their sports games, the music concert, that you appreciate their artwork. When you see their artwork in the hallways, you say something about it.
Even if it’s not good art. Even if it’s crap. Um, you can still say something nice. You can still say that you appreciate their passion as an artist. I mean, that’s not a lie. I at least I hope it’s not. But no matter what you do, you, you show kindness to your students and, um, you can give them a high five at the door. You can shake their hands; you can offer them hugs when they’re not feeling well.
Encouraging Students
Um, when a kid is, having “a day.” We all have days. When a kid is having a day, you take them in the hallway and you say, “Hey kid. You don’t have to tell me anything, but just know that I’m here for you. Just know that I’m willing to help you, or I’m willing to find somebody who can help you.”
There are so many ways that you can show students that you care. You can compliment a new haircut. You can, it’s not even complimenting. It’s just noticing. You can just notice that they have a new pair of shoes on; you can notice that they got a new haircut; you can notice that a kid has grown taller. I am telling you 15 year old boys will so love and appreciate when you go, “holy cow, like over one week of spring break, you grew like three inches taller. How the heck did that happen?”
When you hear a kid on the announcements that they got the winning basket in a game of basketball, you can, you know, say something to them and say, “I’m proud that you are at our school.”
Let Your Students Lie (But Only Once)
I think academically, something that you can do to show kids that you care is just give them the benefit of the doubt. When the kid says that inevitable lie of “I did my homework, I just left it at home.”
Take their word for it. Try it. Try it, take the kids’ word for it. I know that there’s going to be some little part of you. It just digs under your skin. And you’re like, “I know this kid is lying straight to my face.” Let them lie.
This might be the craziest thing that I’ve ever said – let this kid lie to you. Let them know “it’s okay. We all make mistakes. Bring it tomorrow.” That will make a kid feel loved, feel cared about, feel like you are not interested in the grades, but you were interested in them.
I dare you to try it. It will go over. Well, I promise. Um, if a kid does it too many times, obviously, then it becomes an issue and you need to say something to them. But give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe just once.
Trying is Learning
I also think it’s important that you tell kids that trying is winning. Chemistry is spelt “chem-is-try.” So I actually have that posted up in my classroom with like hyphens to differentiate. They’re on different sheets of paper. Um, I use that motto in my classroom. You could find some other cute pun that goes with your course. Trying is learning. I also give the example of Thomas Edison.
When Thomas Edison was inventing or working on inventing the light bulb, he had made 10,000 different versions before he found the one that actually worked. And I let the kids know that that’s okay. Thomas Edison, everyone knows his name. Everyone knows who he is. He is one of the more accomplished inventors of our time. Everybody’s experiencing the benefits of his work. If he had given up, we wouldn’t have light bulbs, as soon as we did. We’d have to wait for somebody else to have this idea. And then for somebody else to find the right way to build it.
Trying is learning. Thomas Edison wrote a bunch of papers: how to not build a light bulb. They weren’t exactly that, but that’s how I explained it to my students. And they can very much appreciate that somebody who is so accomplished was able to make so many mistakes. It’s just that he learned from them.
Promoting Growth Mindset
There are so many growth mindset books right now. They’re out there circulating. It’s a part of a lot of schools curriculums nowadays. I very much appreciate growth mindset. I actually read four picture books a year to my students. All of those picture books are growth mindset oriented. I teach high school. I don’t necessarily have a lot of time to read these books.
But I think that they’re super important. So I just read one a quarter. And it kind of just brings back, to the front of their brain, the idea that we learn from our mistakes. And as long as we are working towards the goal, we are getting somewhere. You don’t necessarily need to be constantly moving forward. You can move two steps forward and one step back. As long as your net gain is forward, everything will be okay. I actually have a blog post, the four picture books that I read to my high school students. I will link it in the show notes.
Cause I think it’s great.
I will usually attach some type of goal sheet with that lesson. It’s only like 10 or so minutes. We don’t talk about it very long. But I think it is important to teach the kids about goals and setting goals and taking steps to accomplish those goals. And that no matter what we are doing in life, the goal is just to be moving forward.
Telling the Truth About Your Course
The very first book that I read is actually about the structure of the brain. And I make sure that during that first week of school, first day of school that I am telling my students the truth about chemistry. I think the math teachers need to listen for just a minute. Also you teachers who teach, everybody can listen to this. But I think most importantly, the math teachers. When you have a kid who says “when am I ever gonna use this?” Don’t lie to them.
As an adult, I have never used the Pythagorean theorem in my entire life. When my teacher told me that I was going to have to learn the Pythagorean theorem because I would use it in my real life, I knew that they were lying to me. And I didn’t appreciate it. And then that teacher just became. A big knucklehead that I didn’t want to listen to. I make sure to tell my students that more than likely they’ll take just a few little bits of information from chemistry for their everyday real life. But really what happens is that I am teaching them logic, problem solving, thinking outside the box, questioning what they know, learning how to read data. All of these things are skills that adults need out in the real world.
When you read a bunch of statistics online, or you hear about it in the news, you want to be able to look at that with a critical lens. And say, “yes, this is reliable and I can trust it or no, this isn’t reliable. Let me go find something that is reliable that I can read.” That’s what I teach the kids.
And I tell them “I’m teaching you logic, problem-solving, reading data and chemistry is how I do that. Chemistry is the tool that I use to teach you logic and problem solving, and reading and analyzing data and the scientific method.” That’s how it’s done. So no, the Pythagorean theorem, no one uses it in the real world. No one uses it in the real life, but the Pythagorean theorem is the tool that math teachers use to teach logic and problem solving.
Be honest with the kids. When you’re honest with them, they will respect you so much more. And they know that what you’re doing is for real. When I tell the kids, “intermolecular forces, probably not part of your real life, but this is why oil and water don’t mix.”
Your Course is the Tool
I think the most important real life skill that I actually teach my students is about not mixing random cleaning chemicals under the kitchen sink. Uh, and then maybe a few blurbs here and there. But for the most part, as I’m being honest with them I’ve never had a kid ask me “when will this come up in my real life?” Because I lay it out flat from the beginning of the year that the course is not really about chemistry. Chemistry is the tool.
And they, they appreciate me for it. They respect me for it. They respect the honesty. And when that happens, I can tell them specifically, “this unit, math of chemistry is really going to build the problem solving part of your brain. Matter and energy is really going to build the logical part of your brain.” They love it.
I mean, when we read. Shakespeare for instance, um, No, one’s reading Shakespeare. Shakespeare doesn’t come up in your everyday life. But Shakespeare can teach us about how people interact with each other. It can teach us about storytelling. And I mean, The Lion King is Hamlet. We can talk about how, uh, stories repeat themselves and they evolve and change over time. And those are really the things that we’re teaching kids. It’s just Shakespeare and his works are the tool that we use to teach those things. So I think it’s crazy important that you’re honest with the kids.
Take Notice
That’s just my 2 cents. I think it’s crazy important that you show kids that you care. That you tell them why they are learning the things that they are learning. You recognize the goals that they are working towards, you take interest in their life. And especially with the kids, uh, how they’re dressing, how they look, how they’re acting, what music they’re listening to, the accomplishments within the school that are not necessarily academic, whether that’s arts or athletics.
There’s a lot of different ways that you can show kids that you care. But when you are showing them that you care they will know that it’s okay to be wrong in your classroom. That making mistakes is part of learning. And that when you’re honest with them, they want to return honesty right back to you. So that they are going to tell you. They’re gonna raise their hand and they will be able to say loud and proud in front of the other 25 kids in the room, “I don’t get it. Please explain it to me.” And there will be no fear because they know that is part of learning and they know that that’s normalized in your room.
And maybe when they go to the next class next door, they don’t feel that way. But your room will be a special place where they feel like they can be themselves. They can be honest. And they know that what they’re doing is all for learning and not for grades.
Self Assessment in my Classroom
The easiest way that I find to do self assessment is with a three to one rating. I usually ask the kids, if they’re understanding, if they feel comfortable. Again, it’s more about how they feel rather than the correct answer or not. But I’ll ask them to hold up fingers. So one finger is a lost puppy. Somebody who’s really confused and doesn’t really know what’s going on. Two is somebody who feels okay and maybe wants to see a little bit more before they feel comfortable. And then three fingers would be somebody who is super comfortable, ready to move on.
I turned them into puppies. Three fingers is the happy puppy who is super confident and he’s smiling. And then two, as a puppy, who’s tangled up in a leash and he’s very confused. He’s working on it, but he’s confused.
And puppy number one is very sad. He’s crying, he’s confused, he’s lost. And lost puppies can always be found. So I don’t, I, I definitely like the idea of, um, one puppies, because it’s not a personified thing. And it’s very easy for kids to be able to say, yes, I’m a lost puppy, as opposed to I’m a confused kid. I think it just in their brain does something different for them. You don’t necessarily have to do puppies. You can do your, um, school mascot. I’m a lost Fox. I’m a lost pirate. I don’t know.
When self assessment is something that is just as easy as one, two, three. I think this is a great place to start because kids can more or less just share with you, especially if they are nervous about their, um, their feelings being spread out to the whole classroom. They can kind of just hide their number with their body so that only you can see it as opposed to the entire class. Although you will have some kids who raise four or five fingers because they are so excited, they know everything. I tell them that they have a PhD in lesson 5.2. They love it. They think it’s cute.
Building a Culture of Self Assessment Isn’t Easy
So that was a lot. And I hope that your culture of self assessment becomes a huge point in your classroom because once you have that, I think everything else in your classroom is a cakewalk. It’s really just getting the kids to figure out what they know, what they don’t know how they feel, whether they’re confused or not. And then just the element of honesty.
If there’s any questions, please reach out to me on social media. If this needs a followup episode, I would be happy to do it. Because this is one of my favorite parts of my classroom.
If you haven’t already, please sign up for the masterclass. Inside the All Star Planning Masterclass I talk about the five elements of lesson planning and curriculum writing. Uh, if you signed up for it, I’m sure you’re sick of me saying it by now, but if you haven’t, it’s a great place to go. Uh, I teach you just the basics. It’s 45 minutes. It’s a free class. You can find it at plan.kelseyreavy.com. You can also find it all over my website. There’s links to it everywhere, kelseyreavy.com. And that’s all. Subscribe to the podcast, so you don’t miss anything and I will talk to you next week. Bye for now.
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