March 13, 2015

Ask Not What Your Teacher Can Do For Your Learning, Ask What You Can Do For Your Learning

In 2011, John Hattie published a book called, Visible Learning for Teachers. In it, he reported the results of his meta-analysis of others’ meta-analyses. (A meta-analysis is a research report that compares and contrasts the findings of multiple studies in order to find trends, discrepancies or relationships within a bunch of research reports.) The purpose of his study was to find out which factors have the greatest impact on student learning.

So what is the single greatest influence on student learning?

According to Hattie, it is having students self-report their grades. The idea is that the student herself knows better than anyone--including the teacher--how much she knows and how well she knows it.

What can you do with this information?

In the days leading up to a significant test/paper/project, ask your student what grade she will likely earn. If she says, “Probably a B,” then you should ask, “What would it take for you to get an A?”

This process of thinking about how much a student knows and what she must do to improve is critical to learning. (1) It serves as a goal-setting exercise, of sorts. (2) It helps students to understand what mastery looks like. (3) And it tells them that, with a little more effort and attention to detail--grit, anyone?--they can do better.

With one week to go before Spring Break (I thought it would NEVER get here!) there’s a pretty good chance that most classes will have some sort of assessment. Take a few moments this weekend to ask your student: What grade will you get on that upcoming project, and what will it take to do just a little better?

Highlights and Successes

• Thank you to all who contributed to the success of  Writers Week XXI, held in the Kolze Auditorium from Feb 23-27. The week featured 16 professional writers, 18 faculty members from four departments and over 100 student writers and performers.
• Three Fremd students were recognized with a Gold or Silver award from the Chicago Regional Affiliate of the 2015 Scholastic Writing Award program.  Students and their teachers are invited to the 2015 regional Award Ceremony at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus on March 26, 2015.
• Grade 9-12 GOLD Award:
• Naman Agarwal Personal Essay/Memoir Pulp Nonfiction Gold Key William Fremd High School Palatine Colene Brockman
• Grade 9-12 SILVER Award:
• Jessica Lu Personal Essay/Memoir Stag Silver Key William Fremd High School Palatine Sarah Braverman
• Annie Zheng Personal Essay/Memoir Peace, Love, Palmolive Silver Key William Fremd High School Palatine Gina Enk
• Annie Zheng Personal Essay/Memoir The Curious Case of the Immortal Guppy Silver Key William Fremd High School Palatine Gina Enk
• Annie Zheng Short Story This Is What Happened Silver Key William Fremd High School Palatine Gina Enk

• Congratulations to Coach David Yates and the Girls Basketball Team on taking 2nd place at the State Championship!
• Congratulations to the following Congressional Debaters for winning chamber awards at the ICDA Championship at Harper College: Shruthi Kumar, Nabeela Syed, Kamalesh Srikanth, and Leonard Lee.
• Congratulations to the following Varsity Debaters for qualifying for the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament: Matt Carlins & John Komoll and Zachary Jordan & Ishan Taparia.
• Congratulations to Leonard Lee for being elected Best Presiding Officer at the NSDA Congressional Debate Tournament.
• Congratulations to Haley Gorecki on being named The Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.
• Congratulations to swimmer Dan Suero on his successes at the State Tournament - Athletes with Disabilities:  5th place, 200 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle; 6th place, 50 Freestyle and 2nd place Breast Stroke.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

March 14	Girls Water Polo vs. FHS Invite @ Loyola Academy, 9:00 a.m. Boys Water Polo vs. Stevenson Quad @ Stevenson, 1:30 p.m.
March 16	Girls Softball vs. Fenton - 4:30 p.m. Boys Lacrosse @ Glenbrook North - 5:00 p.m. Girls Badminton @ Glenbard North - 5:30 p.m. Boys Water Polo vs. HEHS @ Schaumburg HS - 7:30 p.m.
March 17	Late Start - 8:50 a.m. Girls Badminton @ Hinsdale South - 5:30 p.m. Girls Soccer vs. St. Charles East - 6:00 p.m. Girls Water Polo vs. HEHS @ Palatine HS - 7:45 p.m.
March 18	Girls Softball vs. Prairie Ridge - 4:30 p.m. Girls Water Polo @ Barrington - 5:30 p.m. Boys Gymnastics @ HEHS - 6:00 p.m. Boys Water Polo @ Barrington - 7:30 p.m.
March 19	Orchestra Concert - HEHS, 7:30 p.m. Girls Softball vs. New Trier @ Northfield PD Duke Child’s field - 4:45 p.m. Girls Soccer vs. Lake Zurich - 6:00 p.m.
March 20	Girls Badminton @ Buffalo Grove Quad - 4:30 p.m. Girls Water Polo @ Naperville Central - 5:00 p.m. Boys Gymnastics @ Hinsdale Central Invite - 6:00 p.m.
March 21	Girls Water Polo @ Naperville Central Invite - 8:00 a.m. Girls Badminton @ PHS - 8:30 a.m. Girls/Boys Track vs. MSL Invite @ North Central College - 8:30 a.m. Boys LaCrosse @ York Invite - 8:45 a.m. Boys Baseball vs. Lake Zurich - 11:00 a.m.
March 23-27	Spring Break
March 24	Boys Baseball @ South Elgin - 11:00 a.m.
March 26	Boys Baseball vs. Prairie Ridge - 10:00 a.m.
March 27	Boys Baseball @ Naperville Central - 5:00 p.m.
March 28	Boys Baseball vs. Glenbard North @ Lenz Field - 10:00 a.m. Boys Gymnastics @ Rolling Meadows - 4:30 p.m.
March 31	Late Start - 8:50 a.m.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page.

Staff Spotlight

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Ask the Principal

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.