SCHOOL OF THOUGHT BLOG
Civility In Schools
Every day we interact with members of our communities in a variety of ways—talking to friends, working with clients, chatting with people when we are out and about— Throughout all this interaction, how we treat one another, and how our children learn to treat one another is key. Click here to read more.
NOTES FROM NIGEL
This edition of the Tesseract Independent is focused on a very important and often misunderstood area—student assessment/testing. I believe it is misunderstood because the No Child Left Behind legislation, although launched with the best of intentions to make schools more accountable, has spawned a testing culture that is actually harming our students by interfering with the learning process.
You may have heard about Davis Guggenheim’s documentary, "Waiting for Superman," which has served to reengage the public in a helpful discussion about the status and purpose of education in the United States. In this film, traditional public education is essentially derided, while charter schools are lauded. Filmgoers are presented with statistics that show students in the United States compare miserably to students in other developed countries and arguments that illustrate how the current structure—which is protected by the unions and hampered by bureaucracy—is broken. Solutions such as attracting more talented people into teaching, offering merit pay and getting rid of guaranteed tenure are explored in the film but, unfortunately, while these ideas may have merit, until we agree to how to make schools and educators accountable in a manner that will truly
help students in the United States develop skills to make sense of knowledge and apply it, not just memorize facts and figures for tests, there will be a continual struggle to improve our states’ systems.
Many years ago I attended a workshop that radically transformed the way I approach teaching. The workshop, Understanding by Design, reminded me that too often—according to Authentic Education—"…teachers cover, test and hope for the best" rather than following through with the thought process that "…teaching makes big ideas come alive, that new understandings be ‘uncovered’ and developed, and that transfer becomes the focus of all teaching of content.” It also went on to note, “Superficial coverage, teaching to the test, and assessments that ask only for recall or rote memorization are often the approaches of teachers who lack purpose or who have been allowed to lose their way." I learned that feedback is central to teaching and learning, and that planning the learning experience begins with identifying the most
meaningful and relevant assessments for the concepts and material being covered.
Until the United States’ education system adopts methodology to assess real learning and restructures schools to allow for this, there will continue to be a struggle to improve our states’ systems. In the meantime, this edition of the Independent provides you with some examples of how Tesseract offers well-designed, relevant and meaningful assessments to help our students grow and develop into reflective and confident learners.
Best,
Nigel Taplin
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF LOWER SCHOOL
The Gift of Varied Assessments
At Tesseract we focus on each individual child, celebrating his or her unique gifts. This respect for each individual student is reflected in the variety of assessments used to encourage students to show what they know.
Assessment is more than simply a snapshot of what has been learned at the end of a unit of study. We seek to know what knowledge a student has acquired before beginning a new unit or theme. This may take the form of a traditional paper and pencil pretest (math), a class discussion, or a web or KWL chart for a new theme.
Assessment is also an important part of differentiating instruction as students progress through a unit or theme. They might be asked to write in a journal, submit note cards or participate in a class discussion. Educators note evidence of learning and make adjustments accordingly.
At the end of a learning experience, students are given an opportunity to show what they know through a wide variety of projects. We have assessed student learning through plays, original science projects, book reports, PowerPoint presentations, demonstrations and reports. Of course the traditional paper and pencil testing is also part of the experience as we prepare students to succeed in this format as well.
Varied assessments are woven throughout a Tesseract student’s experience in ways that enhance and encourage learning. These allow all of our students to show what they know in ways that are creative and affirm their learning styles.
Kathleen Dunne Millar
Director of Lower School
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE SCHOOL
Assessment: The Act of Evaluation
Tesseract believes assessment is not simply a pen and paper application, but an opportunity for innovation. Educators at Tesseract strive for creating assessments that not only provide imperative data on academic progress, but innovative examples of student growth and progress.
Multiple-choice tests are not the norm at Tesseract. Students are asked to display their mastery of concepts in a variety of applications, and are often given choice in how they wish to display their mastery. In middle school, performance assessments are used in classes to exhibit mastery of knowledge, as are writing assessments, which include perspectives of historical time periods, tiered oral questioning, listening and speaking assessments.
The gathering of assessment data is not the ending point at Tesseract, it is a benchmark for further progress and planning on the educator’s part. Students must feel they have ownership of their newly acquired knowledge so they can use it in a variety of meaningful applications.
Erika Goethe
Director of Middle School
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF UPPER SCHOOL
Student Assessments
Nearly all educators would agree that the most important part of the classroom experience is providing information to students—a.k.a. teaching. And most would agree that student assessment—a.k.a. testing, follows right behind. Just as there are many ways to teach information, there are many different ways to assess student learning. Grant Wiggins, a leading educational thinker, advocates that student assessment should be the first thing —not the last—that educators consider. The best lessons should lead inexorably to a specific learning objective and assessment. This is certainly an essential part of effective teaching, yet an over-emphasis on assessment can lead to its own problems.
At Tesseract educators have the freedom to create a rich matrix of assessments that match the specific educational goals of the lesson as well as the larger overarching goals of the subject matter and the school. Educators at Tesseract appreciate that some material must be specifically targeted and frequently tested for retention (e.g. math facts), yet they also adapt their assessments to evaluate a student’s grasp of more complex skills. For example, writing assessments frequently occur in the form of a writer’s circle, where students work as a team to improve one student’s writing and the educator is able to assess the student's writing abilities, editing abilities, and his or her clarity of thinking and communicating.
Tesseract is committed to providing a student-centered approach that fosters 21st century skills, among them creativity. One way we incorporate these skills into our assessments is by emphasizing student choice. For example, in all of our science classes, students are allowed to choose whether or not they do their homework, lab reports and book notes. They are given a clear rubric of the point-values of the different assignments and categories and they can track their own progress towards earning the points that will ensure them an ‘A’, ‘B’, etc... In other subjects, educators allow students to choose the forms of their assessments.
While Tesseract utilizes these types of student-centered assessments as the primary approach, it is recognized that our students need to be skilled at demonstrating their knowledge on more traditional assessments. For this reason students are given first- and third-quarter final assessments, which more closely resemble the traditional ‘finals’ that they will take in college. Our primary assessments (Portfolio Presentations and Sophomore and Junior Projects) are designed to maximize student choice and to emphasize skills such as compelling evidence-based writing, information synthesis, successful teamwork, thorough research, and creative applications of previously learned information.
Statisticians like to say, “What gets measured gets done.” At Tesseract we work to craft our assessments to meet our mission goals of engaging students in learning valuable 21st century skills.
Chris LaBonte
Director of Upper School
TECH TALK
Do you remember when writing something to a friend required more than a Smartphone and an opposable thumb? I think it’s safe to say that things have changed a little bit since we were in school. One of these changes is the ability of our students to collaborate with each other instantaneously from anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Tesseract students are primarily using Google Docs to create documents and presentations as well as to peer edit or create work with their peers. This is a great tool that allows students to use any computer with an Internet connection to share and create projects. The students don’t have to save files and e-mail them back and forth anymore (not to mention hand-writing, rewriting, rewriting and rewriting). Students are using a modern tool in a modern way. They are learning how to communicate and collaborate as adults do in the “real world” in a safe environment where it’s OK to make mistakes. Students can learn these skills while there are educators available to help them learn how to effectively write online and express their thoughts. We help them to become the leaders of tomorrow by letting them practice today.
We have no way of predicting what technology our children will have access to when they are older, but we do know that modern technologies focus on communications and entertainment. We know that in the 21st century our students will need to be able to create, communicate and collaborate effectively and efficiently in a variety of digital environments. Google Docs is the tool we are using today to help our students learn the skills they will need for tomorrow.
Randy Thomas
IT Specialist
NEW PROGRAM - CORE PLUS
This year marked the beginning of a new program for Tesseract’s middle school, Core Plus. Core Plus is a program designed to further enhance and enrich students’ educational experiences in middle school.
While class selections are generally student-driven, there are situations where educators recommend particular classes. For those students who need additional help in a subject area, as determined via assessments, exams and educator evaluations, the student is then assigned to a Core Plus class that focuses on that particular subject.
As Core Plus classes are part of the regular school day, meeting for 35 minutes three days a week, students who are not assigned to a subject-specific Core Plus class may choose from other Core Plus offerings that pique their interests. For example, all fifth-graders take a writing course during the first quarter because they are new to the middle school, and writing is a foundation of the middle school program. Following this course, the students who needed extra attention with their writing skills were assigned to the Core Plus class, Reading Revolution. Other fifth-grade students had the option to take Reading Revolution or to take Core Plus classes in which they could learn modular origami and math applications to create works of art or basic American Sign Language vocabulary and finger spelling in Spanish.
Each quarter the Core Plus offerings will change with the essence remaining the same—to strengthen and enrich the middle school’s core program.
ASU’S SANFORD HARMONY PROGRAM
Tesseract's Early Childhood Program to Participate in ASU'S Sanford Harmony Program
The Sanford Harmony Program at Arizona State University (ASU) is developing a school-based prevention program to enhance the way that boys and girls interact, communicate and think about one another throughout early childhood and beyond. Tesseract School is partnering with ASU in field-testing one of the upcoming research projects, the "Buddy Study."
Through planned, positive play experiences with a diverse array of peers, boys and girls develop a broader and more flexible range of social sills and have more positive attitudes towards one another. This research represents the first stage of testing components of the Sanford Harmony Program and assessing how well it meets the needs of children and teachers. What we learn together will be very important for revising and further developing the program most effectively.
Allison Grady
Early Childhood Coordinator
TESSERACT COMMUNITY EDUCATIONAL SERIES
The Tesseract Community Educational Series arranged a private screening of the documentary “Waiting for Superman” for the Tesseract community on November 3. This thought-provoking documentary looks at the current status of the educational system in our country and offers commentary on possible solutions provoking lively discussion throughout the nation. After the film, Nigel Taplin facilitated a discussion among approximately 80 individuals who attended the screening. The discussion included conversations about merit pay, education in Finland, American students' results in the three main international tests, assessments, teacher salaries, teacher training, Teach for America, socio-economic diversity and the charter school movement.
The next film that will be screened in the Tesseract series is “Race to Nowhere.” More information will be provided after the winter break.
EDUCATOR PROFILE
Coming to Tesseract has proven to be an exciting and challenging opportunity. Tesseract’s unique approach to learning, the opportunity to develop strong relationships with the students, and the chance to be a part of a dedicated faculty were all selling points not only in choosing to join the Tesseract team, but in relocating my life from Chicago to Arizona. It has been exciting to share my experiences, both as an educator and as an experienced professional, with the Tesseract family.
I view the middle school music program as a way for the students to explore music from all different walks of life—from scat singing and improvising with New Orleans jazz rhythms, to learning show tune hits from the “Great White Way” of New York City. My goal is to provide students with a well-rounded curriculum, which includes providing them with creative outlets and opportunities, as well as helping them become more self-confident and musically aware. The upper school theatre and choir programs will also provide students with additional opportunities. Throughout the school year, the choir performs both on and off campus for various community events; the upper school theater students are currently rehearsing “Flowers for Algernon,” which will be performed at Paradise Valley Community College’s Studio Theater March 17 – 19.
As a professional musician and actor, some of my fondest and most inspirational high school memories include the many fine arts opportunities that I was given such as taking that final bow on opening night; savoring the final chord of the last song in a choir concert; and being inspired by the way my choir director was able to show the connections between music and life. All of these moments had an impact on me, and I’m anxious to give my students the same types of experiences and memories through this year’s choir and theatrical performances.
Brandon Zale
Middle and Upper School Music, Theater and Choir Educator
GREEN TIE EVENT
Tesseract School’s
Green Tie Event 2011
Bourbon Street Blues
March 12, 2011
6:00 p.m. -11:00 p.m.
Sound the alarm! Ring the bells! It’s a Celebration of Donations!
On March 12, 2011, Tesseract will present Bourbon Street Blues, a New Orleans jazz-themed event. The location for our fabulous party is The Venue in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale. The evening will be filled with live jazz music, a silent and live auction, a rockin’ DJ, the “Saints & Sinners” Poker Tournament, and much, much, more….
On the evening of the event, our VIPs will experience an exclusive VIP Lounge, an open bar all night long, swag bags, champagne at the dinner table, free valet parking, and a special treat among a few other surprises. Our event planning co-chair, Danielle Merrill, is leading a team of volunteers to create an atmosphere that will transport you to Bourbon Street from the minute you arrive. Also available that night, to a rare few, is our French Quarter Hideaway. Only four unique booths are available for purchase. Each includes a premium bottle of alcohol, mixers and a dedicated waiter. The booths will open after dinner once the party kicks into high gear.
Seating at The Venue is limited and many tables have already been purchased. If you plan to attend this years “can’t miss” event, please book your seats now. Once the tables are full, your chance to attend will be gone until our next Green Tie Event in 2012!
The Auction Committee’s donation team lead by our donations co-chair, Mitzi Kim, is now hard at work acquiring amazing items for the live and silent auctions. If you would like to donate to the auction, please visit our Web site or drop by the school’s main office for a donation form. Our team will be happy to assist you with any questions regarding the donation process or make a call on your behalf to acquire an item.
For details on the event, please visit our Web site at www.TesseractGreenTieEvent.com or www.tesseractschool.org. If you would like to contact one of our executive team members listed below, please e-mail our team directly at BourbonStreetBlues2011@gmail.com.
Your Auction Committee Executive Team:
Denise Voss, Chair
Mitzi Kim, Donations Co-chair
Caroline Prelog, Marketing Co-chair
Danielle Merrill, Event Planning Co-chair
Heide McDermott, Operations Co-chair
Jennifer Hannum, Research Co-chair
SAVE THE DATE
Meet the Lower School Night
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Meet the Middle and Upper School Night
Thursday, February 10, 2011
We encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to learn more about Tesseract School's innovative programs, and meet the faculty, head of school, directors of lower, middle and upper school and early childhood coordinator at Tesseract School's Meet the Lower School Night on February 3 and Meet the Middle and Upper School Night on February 10, 2011.
We also encourage our current families to attend to meet their children’s educators and hear about the curriculum for the next school year.
For more information, please contact Scott Salk or Dana Kuhn at 480.991.1770.
LOVE YOUR SCHOOL? TELL A FRIEND!
When we meet with prospective families, we always ask how they found out about Tesseract School. While we receive a variety of answers, the one we are the most pleased to hear is, “From a friend.”
We truly appreciate your support, and hope that you will continue to share your love of Tesseract School by encouraging friends, relatives and others you know to contact us if they are looking for a school for their children.
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