Pineapple...no, not the delicious fruit that makes the inside of your mouth hurt (no, just me?) or the weird Emoji you use on SnapChat to tell everyone your relationship is "complicated." Pineapple also has a meaning in education when it comes to teacher observations. Have you ever heard of a Pineapple Chart? Two years ago, I came across the Pineapple Chart while browsing for educational pins on Pinterest. After doing further research, I found this amazing post from Cult of Pedagogy on these types of charts (click here). 

First let me explain what it is. A pineapple chart is actually a calendar where teachers go to sign up to have other teachers observe their lessons and instructional expertise. Teachers can visit the chart and decide who they would like to observe when, based upon the area of focus, lesson, and/or instructional strategy. This is a different way of doing traditional instructional rounds where teachers are subbed out for half a day so the principal can guide them through random classrooms during random times hoping to catch something that is inspirational or innovative. Although there are times when this type of instructional round can be effective, most times you don't get what you want out of this system. In fact, in my experience, the only thing I got out of this system was the fact that students sit a lot. With the Pineapple Chart, teachers can observe other teachers on their prep and choose specifically what they want to see from whom. For example, if I know that today during my prep Mr. OutDoUsAll is teaching a lesson on figurative language with a special emphasis on engagement and movement, then I would go observe his lesson for 10-20 minutes during that time. I would get more out of that 10-20 minutes than a half day of random walk-throughs. I understand that some teachers don't want to observe on their prep, but I much rather observe on my prep when I see fit than have to take a half day for a sub to watch my class, or to blindly walk through rooms hoping I'm going to get something out of an observation. Teachers are in full control concerning when they want to observe and why which makes it much more meaningful and effective.

"Wait, why is it called a Pineapple Chart?" you ask. Because "The pineapple has long been a symbol of hospitality; it's used in the chart in the spirit of welcoming one another into our homes [classrooms]" (Cult of Pedagogy).  Why are you getting so caught up in the name? Focus people focus! Here is a sample Pineapple Chart taken from Cult of Pedagogy:
Now this wasn't just something I read in a blog and thought 'That's a great idea, moving along.' When my principal, at the time, asked all the department leaders at our school about instructional rounds for first semester, you could hear the collective groan echoing in the conference room. We groaned not because we didn't value observing other teachers, but because it meant a half-day away from the classroom hoping to observe something fabulous but no guarantees. This is when I suggested using the Pineapple Chart. Yeah, go ahead and throw those words out there in a meeting so you can get some real weird looks. The principal told me that he'd like to hear more about it. Throughout multiple meetings, the principal and I set up an idea concerning what this would look like at our school and presented the idea to the other department leaders. We all agreed we should give it a try. The principal sent out an email we created that explained the process and how everything worked. Teachers were required to do a total of 60 minutes of observing, but those 60 minutes could be broken up into different observational times.We posted calendars for September-December outside of the main conference room in the office. Teachers signed up to BE observed on the calendar including important information such as name, block, area of focus, room #, and time. This is where other teachers would go to see who they wanted to observe when during their prep time.

I sent an email each week with who signed up to be observed, so that even teachers who said they didn't have time to go down to the main office to look at the chart (calendar), didn't have an excuse.

Also, instead of having everyone observe at one time, we gave each department a certain amount of time to go and observe. For example, the first departments to observe were English and world languages, then it was PE/ROTC/FA/CTE, etc. As teachers observed, they had to fill out an observation form created by the principal. This helped to guide us through our reflection activity during PLC time.
Once each department observed over its certain allotment of time, the principal met with the teachers during PLC time to do a wrap-up activity to see what they learned from their experience.  We used a gallery walk with our areas of focus posted on poster-size sticky notes, so teachers could write down what they observed under that area of focus. Then a discussion occurred about what take-aways we had while observing. Many teachers found something they would like to try in their classroom, or they found that they could be doing things differently to make their lives easier!
                                                                             Pictured Above: Our Areas of Focus Set by Principal

Now, did everything go perfectly? No! It never does, but most of us agreed that this was much more beneficial than how we previously did instructional rounds and/or observations. The benefits far exceeded the negative aspects, and the best part was that it gave teachers so much freedom to see who and what they wanted to see when they wanted to see it. Who is ready to try out the pineapple chart? The article from Cult of Pedagogy is a great way to get more information; it includes how it would work at the elementary level too. Too soon, okay, okay, sorry!

Keep on stressin' on,
Michon
Michon Otuafi
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 Calling all teachers. Don't be mad at me for this post since we tend to get a little touchy when it comes to our grading system and grade books, but...

I want you to take a look at your grade book, and ask yourself this question: Is your grade book fair, equitable, and reliable? At first, we naturally say, "Why of course it is! Stay out of my grade book you pompous, know it all!" But upon careful examination can you really say your grade book is all three of these things? I can't, but I'm changing this! 

I was inspired this year after I attended an English Department Leader Meeting where we discussed equity in grading. After a presentation by two other awesome English teachers, I decided to purchase a book called A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O'Connor. This book is such an easy read and makes so much sense to me. There are fifteen total fixes to broken grades:



Fifteen Fixes for Broken Grades
Fixes for Practices that Distort Achievement
Fix 1: Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc) in grades; include only achievement
Fix 2: Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late; provide support for the learner
Fix 3: Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement
Fix 4: Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement
Fix 5: Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately
Fix 6: Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence

These first six changes really help with the RELIABILITY and EQUITY of your grade book. For example, if I mark a student's paper late and only give him/her half credit, what am I really telling that student and/or parent? I'm not telling them anything about performance, I'm saying something about behaviors or compliance. This makes my grade book unreliable because it's not centered upon a student's academic performance. Now if I want to mark down his/her citizenship grade because of his/her amazing ability to turn everything in late, then that makes more sense. I can hear your groans through the screen you're staring into. I know, I know, you don't think citizenship matters, but it does if citizenship is attached to what teenagers value most: freedom. For example, if a student has lower than a "C" in citizenship, maybe she doesn't get to attend the school dance. Or if a student fails to turn in a crucial essay, maybe she gets marked down in citizenship and has to attend what our department is now calling "English Academy." This student then has the opportunity to perform on a standards-based task during his "English Academy" time (AKA lunch). Marking a student's paper late and taking off points rarely corrects the behavior, but a little loss of freedom works like magic. Many of the consequences for compliance tend to be taken out of the academic achievement side of a grade book which means that our grade book would not be a reflection of student performance, but instead is a reflection of whether or not a student can "play school." That gives me an icky feeling.  Yes, we can still teach them to be responsible citizens, but we have to do it in different ways. Furthermore, we must be careful with extra-credit. If a teachers says "Bring in tissue boxes for extra credit," the student who can't afford to buy tissue boxes is now at a disadvantage. This isn't an EQUITABLE practice. Plus, how does bringing in extra tissue boxes correlate to a student's academic achievement? It doesn't, damn it, and now I'll have a whole bunch of students with nowhere to blow their noses. These first six changes will get rid of grade inflation and grading based upon compliance. It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's just what the grading doctors ordered. 

Fixes for Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence
Fix 7: Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals
Fix 8: Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations
Fix 9: Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards
Fix 10: Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments
These four fixes are really about making sure that your grade book is RELIABLE and  appropriately aligned to standards. For example, if your grade book is set up into categories such as "Homework, Participation, Classwork, and Test/Quizzes," then how can you really say what standards your students truly struggle with or excel at? If I have low quiz scores, what the hell does that mean? But if my grade book is set up to reflect standards, then I have a better idea of how each student is performing based upon standards. In English, the grade book should be set up into categories based upon "Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking, and Language." We have to be very methodical with whatever we put into the grade book when using this system. I will no longer walk around the room, look for completed homework, and then give everyone a 10 out of 10 under the category of "homework." This doesn't accurately reflect performance on any of the aforementioned standards. Instead, I have to thoroughly collaborate with my colleagues who teach the same English classes as me in order to figure out what type of product tasks we want to put into the grade book. This provides FAIRNESS across each course because each student is getting the same experience for the most part. Process grades such as rough drafts, quizzes, etc. shouldn't necessarily go into the grade book because the student is working towards proficiency of that standard, but product grades like a final draft of an essay should! Now of course I still grade process work and provide students with feedback, but I don't punish them by putting it into the grade book when we are working towards proficiency. What this means is that I will have fewer assignments in each category, less inflation,  and more accuracy. This also means that the products I do choose to put into the grade book need to be reliable and directly tied to standards. This is something our English Department spent 8-10 weeks on; we looked at our grade books together to see if they were fair, equitable, and reliable. As much as we hated to admit it, we couldn't say they were. Insert crying emoji. We are now working towards making sure anything and everything we put into the grade book is a product-based task that is directly aligned to standards. It takes a lot of work, but we feel really good about what we are doing.  In fact, we are having conversations that I haven't had in my entire career thus far. Imagine that, veteran teachers who haven't heard it all!

Fixes for Inappropriate Grade Calculation
Fix 11: Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment
Fix 12: Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence

The next two fixes, particularly #12, usually make teachers want to throw their district-outdated, desktop computers out the window or at me. Yes, you read that correctly. When a student doesn't turn in work, you don't issue a zero, you issue an "I" for incomplete. This is a tricky one that would require support from your admin. team. When a teacher puts a zero into the grade book, it's like telling a kid "There ain't no way you're coming back from this one, kid!" Once again, this makes the grade book unreliable because the student didn't really earn the F; he just didn't turn in the work. This is when something like the English Academy comes in handy. Students who don't turn in work will lose freedom, hence why you need admin,. support. They will have to come in on their own time to make up an assignment. When we have rules like this, students begin to see that what we assign is important. We aren't saying, "Welp, you didn't turn in that assignment, so that's a zero. Moving along..." Instead we are saying, "It's really important that you do this assignment, so I'm asking you to come attend the English Academy to complete it." Students are not getting away with not turning in work. If students fail to attend the English Academy, there will be further consequences such as detention and so on. 

Fixes to Support Learning
Fix 13:  Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence
Fix 14: Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement
Fix 15: Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can and should play key roles in assessment and grading and promote achievement

These last three fixes I've somewhat discussed in previous explanations of other fixes having to do with process and product assignments, but #15 is also really important. I'm not sure students really even understand the grading system. I'm not sure we understand the grading system anymore. Grades should be a reliable, fair, and equitable source that show what skill sets students have obtained throughout high school, but as of right now, many grades are just indicators of compliance or desired behaviors that aren't even related to achievement.
We have to start to change the way students think about grades. Right now it's just about a point system. Students don't even know why they earned the grade they earned, they just know they did some work and got some points. Instead, we have to show them that each thing we have them do is tied to particular standards which in turn shows what skill sets they have as writers, readers, mathematicians, scientists, etc.  Wouldn't that give more meaning to school? I would hope so!
I'm sure some of these fixes have you all pissed off, but the book goes on to explain how you can implement each one of these changes. And they make SENSE! Believe me, when I first read some of these fixes, I thought 'You can go stick that fix right up your...' but then I realized that I was just stuck in my old ways. By "old ways" I'm talking about my own experiences with education from kindergarten until now. I've been so used to a broken grading system that I didn't realize how broken it was until now. But I'm going to work hard to ensure that my students value what they are learning in my classroom and understand that their grade is an accurate reflection of what they have achieved in our class in regards to standards and skill sets.

Keep on stressin' on,
Michon
Michon Otuafi
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