My apologies for the lateness of this first email. 
I know many kids are struggling, and I know some parents are a bit freaked out by grades. I'd like to address these issues as briefly as possible. This may be a little redundant to those of you with whom I have been trading emails. 

If you think about what these students are being challenged to do, there are really two developmental issues involved. The first is that they are likely reading a book at a higher level than ever before. Students have had to adjust many strategies that may have worked in the past, but aren't working in this true pre-AP environment. I have seen enormous progress in this regard on the part of almost every student. I can tell from the quality of questions I'm getting, the quality of the discussion when we debriefed the last test, and in the forum posts.

Okay, so if they are understanding more and showing improvement, how come the grades are still lower than one would expect? That goes to the second developmental issue, expressing what one knows on a blank line in response to a specific question. Again, open ended tests are probably new for your student. They are a generation of scanners, for better or worse; and they miss key words in questions that would lead them to accessing what they learned from de Blij. This skill will come too, and we are working on it in class.

I am asking both you and your child to trust me. I'm not bragging, but you need to know that my students perform above national averages in every way that can be measured. My students really do come away college ready. Things get better, study time shortens, grades improve, stress eases. And the harder students work, the sooner those breakthroughs happen.


Here are the reading techniques that I know work. 
1. Scan the chapter first and determine how de Blij has organized the content.
2. Go through next and identify challenging vocabulary in writing, by hand.
3. Read through section by section and stop after each one and write a summary and a "so what?" paragraph, by hand.
4. Interact with other students, and anyone who will hold still, about this chapter's content, ideas, significance, etc. 
5. Share the work and reinforce your understanding on the class forum.

With regard to test taking, students need to be in the habit of slowing down and asking, "what is this a question about?", box the subject, underline the object and the verb, answer the question, then look back at the question and ask, "did I answer the question asked?"

More later, all the best,

What's missing is rigor and teaching kids to think critically. Here are two interesting and recent articles about the state of American education.
The Economist.
ASCD

Here is the short version of parent night.
Experience has taught me that helping kids gain success in high school, especially one as rigorous as HSPVA, requires a partnership between you and I. Here are the three issues that can do the most to make our partnership effective.
1. Do everything possible to make sure your child is in school every day. We loose many days to testing and the art areas as it is!
2. Please do me the courtesy as a professional of checking with me if something doesn't sound quite right about class. My students are successful year after year because I'm pushing them to levels they have rarely attained before, and often making up skills that should have been mastered earlier in their school career. It's easy for a 14 year old to misunderstand or mis-characterize what's going on.
3. Engage with your student as much as possible about specifics regarding the class. Keep an eye on GradeSpeed, check at this site often, ask about assignments, discussions in class, de Blij's view on a world situation, something funny that happened in class...you get the idea. This really helps a kid firm up his or her understanding.

I'm looking forward to meeting you and being part of your child's growth at PVA. Feel free to browse around this site, post a comment here, or shoot me an email from the "Contact Me" page. See you at Artist's Academy!

Dear Geography Folks:

You may notice a new grade in the Grade-Speed on line service called “EOC Diagnostic”. The score may be troubling to you, so I’d like to explain a few points about the assessment.

1.       This was an entirely asset based assessment. That is to say, all the questions included the use of a chart, a map, a graph, a quote, an image or some other type of supporting document. Our analysis of the new EOC (End of Course Exam) is that these are skills required to obtain a strong score.

2.       This test was largely based on US History content, last year’s Social Studies content.

3.       All standardized tests, in order to be statistically viable, are designed to distribute scores across a wide range. This allows for more accurate analysis, but is troubling for test takers and their parents. A score of 50% or so is often the average, or mean score.

4.       I weighted this zero in the grade-book. It has no impact on student’s grades; I am using it to calibrate my assessments and to determine instruction going forward.

Next week, students will take another diagnostic that is not designed to create a wide range of scores. It will count for a grade.

Feel free to email me through the course web site’s contact form.

Just a quick note to let you know that any student who wishes to improve his or her score on the de Blij chapter 6 test may retest any day this week at lunch.

Regardless of the original score, in accordance with class policy, I will average the first and second attempt. 

Students should be in my room with their lunch by noon. This opportunity will not be available after Friday.

This email was sent November 8th, 2012. Please contact me if you did not receive it!

Greetings:

As this six weeks draws to a close, a quick glance at GradeSpeed will show this was a successful marking period for the great majority of students. Learning about, and responding to, questions regarding physical geography was often a mere review and this went a long way to building student’s grades before the open ended test over chapter five of de Blij’s The Power of Place.

The news there was especially encouraging as most students mastered this challenging content and performed better than they did on chapter one in the last marking period. Your (or your student’s) score on chapter four is the most important feedback looking forward to the last marking period of the semester.  A score of 80 or higher means the learning/study process is on track; keep going and more improvements are in store. A score below 80 means one of two things must change.

Students who earned below a “B” should either take a hard look at the way they manage their time or put more effort into the studying that they do (or both).  Ask, “do I need to apply the SQ3R method?; webbing?; reading aloud?; working with a study group?;  posting on the forum?; reading through more times?; or some new combination of these things?” No student should settle for a grade below 80, it is in his or her power to do better.

The next six weeks includes a survey of human geography, reading chapters two and three of de Blij and most class time devoted to developing academic writing skills. Many believe it is the most rigorous of the marking periods in this class.

As always, the class web site should be your first stop for answers , information and assistance.

Thank  you for the privilege of being part of your (or your child’s) education.

Dear Family of a Geography Student!

Now that the dust has settled on our first marking period, we have made good progress. Most students have adapted to the new school and the new level of rigor in both the arts and academics.

This is to let you know where things are going now in this class. We are moving rapidly through a series of topics related to physical geography (please see the class calendar at BinghamsPlace.com , matching downloads can be found on the “Boot Camp” page, although each student received a copy in class). This should be simple review for most students, but I need to insure that all students have a common geographic vocabulary for the work that follows. The key to success will be to stay organized and on top of the rapid, read, review, assess cycle we are going through. I am allotting class time to study where possible, some students are taking advantage of that time, and others are squandering the time. What they don’t finish in class is homework.

Please note that included is a quiz on the SQ3R reading method. Please ask your student to explain that process to you. If they can’t, that should be a good indicator of his or her level of engagement.

This culminates with a test on all the material (four packets) next week. Then, we will tackle chapter five of Harm de Blij’s The Power of Place. Please help me remind your student of the work required to master this reading. That test will be open ended response, which requires a high degree of comprehension. Starting now would be a good idea.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Regards, 

Please note: If you DID NOT receive this email from me, please use the contact form on this site to let me know, I'll update the distribution list.

Dear Geography Family:

It feels great to finally send the first email of the year! After wrestling with MS Office Outlook, dealing with district server issues, updating and revising distibution lists, and finalizing grades for the progress report, we are ready for our first Family Update.

Let me begin by saying how much I admire this group of students. On the whole they are fully engaged in class, asking great questions, respecting each other’s opinions and stepping up to this challenging class.

This BinghamsPlace gmail account will serve as my main outgoing email client throughout the year, it just works so much better than the Outlook interface (sorry Microsoft!). But don't be surprised if you receive an email fromavatarwb@gmail.com in response to any contact form submissions from the class website. I check my school mail often, but many students and parents choose to use the following resource to email my personal email directly:http://www.binghamsplace.com/contact-me.html, after all, the website is designed to be the best tool you and your student have for staying on top of Pre-AP Geography.

I know there is some grade panic out there. I understand, and I am sympathetic and aware that you may be concerned. I am also very proud of this year’s group in the way they have worked to meet the challenge. While you may not see improvement, I certainly do. The adjustments to open ended questions, fast pacing, elevated vocabulary and a college level monograph are not easy, but the rewards are meaningful – and long lasting. This is not a school experience that will fade from memory once the final is taken! My goal as an educator is to help students reflect on the process of learning, not their grade. I want students to learn what study and reading strategies work for them, to identity strengths and weaknesses in their own writing, but mostly, to practice the critical thinking skills that will help them succeed in college.

As for grades, you will soon see a series of fairly straightforward quizzes that engaged and organized students will have little trouble mastering. At the end of this marking period, the hurricane tracking chart is a test grade and frankly, is an easy “A”. These should pull your student’s average up considerably. In addition, there is extra credit available on the website to offer a little insurance. I know it’s tough, but I’d like you to try to take the long view of this semester and the goals we have of improving analytical thinking, success on the End of Course Exam and college readiness. We have made a strong start.

On another note, we’ll be extending our conversation about human identity and group membership to the next level in the coming two weeks. To do that, we will look at the events leading up to, during and after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. I believe students need to be engaged on an emotional and ethical level in addition to an intellectual one. This adds meaning and context to the academic experience. I have taught this unit several times in the past and students find it thought provoking and relevant. If you would like to know more about our readings and the PBS Frontline documentary, Ghosts of Rwanda, you will find them on the website here http://www.binghamsplace.com/identity-membership--community.html including a complete transcript of the film.

As always, thank you for the privilege of guiding your student’s education. I take your trust seriously.

Note: Unfortunately, the district server is down and I was unable to email this to parents. Here it is for now.

Dear Geography Family:

After William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was published, he was interviewed by a reporter from the New York Times. The reporter asked, “Mr. Faulkner, many of our readers report that they really don’t understand your book, even after reading it two or three times. Do you have any suggestions for them?” Faulkner thought for a moment, and then drily replied, “Read it a fourth time.”

I had hoped to move on by now, but ethically I can’t. The Power of Place is the most highly regarded, contemporary work in the field of Geography.  If it was worth your student’s time at all, it’s worth doing right. If we abandon it now, your student will lose the benefit of the labor they have put in to it so far. I am convinced of its value to your child with regard to the state mandated testing, their college preparation and their citizenship on the planet.

I haven’t abandoned them in their struggle, as Mr. Faulkner did to his readers. There is value in Faulkner’s comment though. When we see a child struggle, it is tempting to ease the burden, to lower the stress, to give it to them. That would be a disservice to a child. Maybe reading it “a fourth time” is just what they need to gain the genuine feeling that comes from mastering a difficult task, a feeling that might motivate them to even greater accomplishments.

If your student is following my directions, they are taking time this weekend to cull from the two tests they have taken so far the key concepts, the topics, from each question. In this way they can learn to separate the “important stuff” from the sea of words. In order to help with that, I’ve done the same thing. My list is posted on the forum “What works” on the class website. If your student is not satisfied by their learning so far, and the grade that reflects it, ask if they have used the resources available on the “Geographic Destiny” page of the website. It’s clear to me that many have not. If your student does this work, I am convinced their learning will improve dramatically. We’ll find out together early next week! I do not have a student email distribution list yet, so please forward this message to your child if possible.

On another note, in the critical realm of staying organized, your child should have three folders intact for the class, they are; “Geographic Destiny” which includes The Power of Place materials; “Identity and Membership”; and “Boot Camp” which will be filling up in the coming weeks, but should include now a copy of Blooms Taxonomy (of cognitive processes). Boot camp is all about learning how to learn, now that he or she knows growth is needed in this area. That folder should also contain his or her hurricane tracking chart and log. This is a summative test grade that should be fairly straightforward and simple to accomplish, provided it’s there!

I’ll keep you posted and we move forward.

Regards,

Dear Geography Family:

As I’m sure you know, this Wednesday and Thursday, your student took a test on chapter one of Harm de Blij’s seminal work, The Power of Place. This challenging read and the open ended assessment was likely a struggle. For that reason, this grade is not weighted in the grade book. As with the policies & procedures quiz, you can see the score in GradeSpeed, but the score will not count as part of your student’s average for the marking period.

This is an opportunity for you, me, and your child to reflect on where they are in the Advanced Placement environment. This transition is a tough one, and nobody, least of all your child, should feel dejected by the result. This grade is simply a measure of where we are and how far we need to go together before the end of this academic year. I can tell students the course is rigorous, I can tell them that the tests are tough and the reading is unlike anything they are likely to have experienced before. But they often don’t believe me. I understand, they’ve heard it before. But now it’s real. Now, my hope is, I have his or her attention and they are open to new strategies, new ways of thinking, new work ethics.

Of course the trick is to separate “can’t” from “won’t”. If your child can’t do the work, but he or she is willing to make the effort to succeed, I’ve got the tools and the experience to get them there. If they won’t do the work, if the pressures of a tough arts program and tough academics is too much for them, that’s okay too. After all, we’re asking a 14 year old to manage a 17 year-old’s work. A child isn’t lazy or “dumb” if they are not ready yet. I need your help in considering these questions, talking with your student about goals and the time and effort they have for academics. Bright or not so bright, Advanced Placement curriculum is about effort.

As I mentioned above, this one is free. No penalty is placed on these grades. Now is the time for you and your student to decide if they are willing to meet me at the high level of rigor that College Board demands. Now may not be the time. If this is the time, I’m ready to meet the challenge together with you and your student.

As always, there is rich support at the class web site, BinghamsPlace.com. And as always, email me with your questions or concerns,