Ask-Dr-Kirk

Summer Workshops For K-12 Teachers

While my book, Taking Back the Classroom, was written with college professors in mind, I sometimes get email from high school teachers with questions or comments about the book or classroom management in general.  I refer these to my friend and colleague, Angela Maiers, who does training for K-12 teachers.  She's doing several workshops this summer.  I love her approach from her upcoming book on the seven habitudes of 21st Century learners.  One of these habitudes is curiousity.  As she notes, if we can get our students curious about a topic, they will want to learn more. 

Book On Effective Teaching

TIBERIUS PUBLICATIONS has released the third printing of my book, Taking Back the Classroom: Tips for the College Professor on how to be a More Effective Teacher.  Chapters include

• Managing the first day of class
• Managing difficult students
• Determining classroom policies
• Managing diversity in the classroom
• Managing teams and team projects
• Managing online classes

as well as much more on being more effective in the classroom!

You can order through the TIBERIUS website, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble College Bookstores.

What Are We Rewarding Here?

I was having a new dishwasher installed this morning and overheard the two workmen talking about a fellow employee.  Apparently this third employee was telling them how he managed to go home early the previous work day.  He kicked in the front of the appliance he was delivering and then called the store to tell them he couldn't install it because it was damaged.

Time Off For Good Behavior

I'm off to Belgium and the Netherlands for ten days so will be taking a short break from posting on this website.  Good luck everyone in wrapping up your semester!

Determining The Validity And Reliability Of Rubrics

Dear Dr. Kirk:

I have a question about using a rubric...We have several tasks that we would like students in different programs to do. The tasks would be the same in that the same kind of questions would be asked and the same kind of projects would be done. However, they would be specific to each program (for example - early childhood activities look different from elementary children activities).  If we use a task-specific rubric, would the results give us valid score-based inferences?

Sincerely, JY

Dear JY:

You might check out this article by Barbara M. Moskal and Jon A. Leydens (Colorado School of Mines). As they note:

Although many teachers have been exposed to the statistical definitions of the terms "validity" and "reliability" in teacher preparation courses, these courses often do not discuss how these concepts are related to classroom practices...One purpose of this article is to provide clear definitions of the terms "validity" and "reliability" and illustrate these definitions through examples. A second purpose is to clarify how these issues may be addressed in the development of scoring rubrics. Scoring rubrics are descriptive scoring schemes that are developed by teachers or other evaluators to guide the analysis of the products and/or processes of students' efforts.  The ideas presented here are applicable for anyone using scoring rubrics in the classroom, regardless of the discipline or grade level.

Does anyone else have suggestions or resources on determining the validity of a rubric?

Tip To See If Students Are Really Listening In Class

Angela Maiers offers the following tip to see if students are really listening in class especially if they are not "actively" participating by speaking up.  She calls it the TWO WORD STRATEGY.

"Here is how it works:  Choose a point in the lesson or group discussion that you think warrants reflection or active learning. Ask the students or group members to stop, reflect on the content presented, and synthesize their most important thoughts and ideas down to only two words. This may sound easy, but it is difficult to express yourself in only two words. Be sure to encourage, not judge as learners share out their responses."

As she notes, this strategy:

• can be used with any audience: regardless of any age, grade, or content.
• can be employed at any time: before the discussion starts, during the presentation, or afterwards as participants reflect on key ideas.
• is a powerful assessment tool: In an instant, I can hear what my audience is thinking and wondering based on their two words shared.
• allows everyone to participate: the two words can be written down, shared with a neighbor, or communicated as a  group. Everyone has a chance to pause and reflect about what matters most to them as active participants in the learning experience.