Hello everyone, it's Becky! It's so good to be blogging again! After Thanksgiving, the sicknesses hit our whole family and didn't stop until the weekend right before Christmas! We went from Urban having an ear infection, Gray had strep throat, in a week and a half we all experienced some sort of virus with a fever and sore throat, and then I ended the sicknesses with the stomach bug the Friday before Christmas. Let me tell you, germs don't care that you have a million December craftivities to fit in with your first graders, or that you forgot to move your elf and figured you'd move it the next morning, only to wake up sick and not able to move him! But alas, we made it and had a great Christmas celebration at school and at home! I came across a linky party from the fabulous Miss Kindergarten, and knew that I just had to join. Here are my top 14 in 2014...let's roll!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes! Ha! (Were you singing it in your head?! Because that's how I meant it to be!) Starting this blog has opened up so many new friendships and connections for us, for which I am very grateful! There are also a few big possiblities for change in 2015 which we have continued to stress about contemplate. Hopefully we will have it all figured out in a few months, with only a few minor bumps and bruises along the way!

My 2015 goal is to blog more and create more products! There are so many idea and possibilities bouncing around in my head that I'd love to create for my kiddos...it's just finding the time to do it! Now that my classroom is 1:1, I feel that the possibilities are endless! (Sorry for my peppiness...I may not have mentioned that I am currently drinking a hot chocolate with a shot of espresso...enough said!)

Visiting my Dad and Step-Mom in Hampstead and playing outside in their backyard! We had a lot of family fun in the evenings after dinner at their house! It was great for them to be able to spend some time with the boys, and to have a week where we could just relax and let loose! 

I chose these photos mostly because they just make me laugh so much every time I see them! Grayson has this Santa suit that he got when he was 2, and is at least 2 sizes too small. But he loves to wear it! One evening in July he decided that he was going to don this lovely suit, and conned Urban into putting the green gingerbread apron on to be his elf. I'm not exactly sure what the next steps were, but they ended up in the driveway waving to the cars and neighbors coming home from their day of work. The reactions of the drivers were priceless! Some just laughed and waved back at them, while others just stared not knowing what to think! Either way, Greg and I were doubled over in laughter standing on our front porch watching them! Only with boys I tell ya!

My favorite accomplishment would definitely be starting the blog. Greg and I had talked about doing it for a few years now, and just decided this summer to finally run with it! As I said before, I love linking up and making connections with new people! This blog has pushed me to create more and has pushed my teaching skills to an even higher level.

My favorite blog post is Greg's post on all of the preparation elementary teachers do to get their classrooms ready for the first day of school. It doesn't hurt that he actually made the statement that primary teachers work harder than he does! (He really does work hard...don't let him fool you!) Every time I read this post it makes me laugh...I love the way he finds humor in all of the tasks he does in my classroom. The tasks he does aren't the most enjoyable, but I am certainly thankful for his help!

I have to admit that I'm not a regular "pinner." I read lots of blogs, but do not really stop to pin pictures.

The boys got me this Optimus Prime sweatshirt for Christmas! Although it may not have been my first pick, it makes me laugh because it is the epitome of a "Mom of Boys." But I also LOVE Urban's handprint Santa ornament that he made from school. It is one I will hold on to forever.

Movie making/projects with our iPads! My first grade classroom has only been 1:1 for a little over a month, but I have been trying some small and big projects with them. We are currently in the process of making a short movie, and I am excited to see how the final product turns out. A blog post on the whole thing will be coming when our movie is complete!

T.J. Rockwells We have been going here since our college days, and I think it will always be our favorite! Their Rhino Fries, although very unhealthy and perhaps nicknamed "heart attack on a plate," are the best combination of fries, cheese, and bacon I have ever tasted. And you can't beat the laid back atmosphere you experience when eating on their outside deck area on a warm summer night!

I'm not sure if it's my favorite, but Greg and I both really liked the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. 

Leggings! Any kind and any color; capri length for the early fall/spring, regular leggings with dresses, and the super comfy fleece leggings that look like regular ones but feel like sweatpants!

"Well it's in my heart and it's in my soul
And just like you, I never can let go
These wheels just gotta roll"
  ~Dierks Bently, Damn These Dreams

This song just seems to be part of the soundtrack of our lives right now. Sometimes you hear lyrics that speak to you and relate to your lives at that moment, and that's how I feel about this one.

Thank you for sticking with me on this post! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Happy New Year to all of you! May 2015 be your best year yet!
~Becky

Hey everyone! Greg here. When I first started the blog with Becky, I never realized how difficult it would be to keep up with posting! Becky is much more diligent with the posts, for which I am very thankful.

When I heard that the College Board was introducing a new format for AP US History (APUSH for short) this year, I was genuinely excited that real change could happen with my course organization. I first started teaching APUSH in 2009. I reinforced the test format with the drudgery of countless multiple choice questions focused on minutia from over 400+ years of American history. Students who were strong at deductive reasoning excelled at the MC questions while others, who were still extremely bright, floundered in the wake of those tests/quizzes. I supplemented with as much writing as I could, but couldn’t ignore that 50% of the AP exam score was derived from MC questions. My grade book looked like almost every other grade book: it was organized by assignment - Quiz A, Homework C, Test 1, Project 1.2, etc. It was what I was taught, so it is what I did.

So when the CollegeBoard presented the new course outline, I was ecstatic at the potential of focusing on “historical thinking skills”. The refocus gave me an opportunity to try something new. Rather than allow the content drive the grade, I could flip it and make the skill the center of the discussion. This concept is completely appropriate, perhaps the norm, in the early elementary grades. Becky’s report card, for example, consists of 32 academic skills and 8 social & work habits. Subsequently, her grade book includes scores for some of the following indicators: applies vowel sounds, applies letter knowledge, solves addition facts, recalls addition facts, et.al. This allows Becky to have a much more accurate read on student performance and more importantly - student understanding and growth. Although I essentially was checking for skills within my tasks, students and parents were unable to determine what they were truly gaining from the course. 

How could I apply the practical grading procedures from the elementary setting to my AP US History course? The CollegeBoard identified 9 historical thinking skills that all students should be proficient in when interacting with the content. 

With the support of administration, I organized my grade book around the 9 thinking skills with one additional category of "semester project". Each skill would be scored out of a base of 100, as each are viewed as equally important to becoming a well rounded historical thinker. 

To make sure that every "assessment" holds an equal value, every question on a quiz, test, or activity is paired to a skill. So there is no total score for a test, simply a compilation of results targeting a handful of skills.

I also have a lot of questions that allow students to mind map their response. I try to promote non-linear thinking, and the student response has been positive. Below is a question from my last exam. A student response follows.

Each skill question is scored on the base of a 100. They are marked against a rubric. I used the description standard from the CollegeBoard as my "Exemplary" column on the rubric. The remainder of the scoring sections work back from there. 

The rubric is broken down in to general terms to allow for some leeway in the grading. "Exemplary" generally means above a 90%, "proficient" is between a 80% - 89%, "progressing is between a 70% - 79%, and "not meeting expectations" is between a 55% - 69%. I believe students shouldn't receive scores lower than that. If they are continually having problems, we need to work together to strategically improve their skill base. 

Students always have the option to develop a skill. They need to designate a skill to work on, meet with me on strategies to build that skill, and then develop an answer to a prompt targeting that skill. I grade it against the rubric like any other question. 

Student response has been extremely positive. Although almost every student agrees this is extremely difficult, many students have commented that they can identify "what they're learning".  One of our best discussions came at the end of the first marking period. I projected the following image on the board.

This was the skill average across all students at the end of the marking period. Students immediately said, "Wow, I guess we need to work on historical argumentation." It was the first time I realized the potential for organizing my grade book and assessments in this way. Students were thoughtfully reflecting on their learning, and how to develop a specific skill. Rather than the question "How do I improve my grade?", students asked "How can I improve a skill?". Are there flaws? Yes. Are there things I want to improve in the system for next semester? Yes. But I am really proud of pushing my students to focus on to their thinking and not just a grade. 

-Greg