Using experimental inquiry

When I first read the information about experimental inquiry and deductive/inductive reasoning, my first reaction was that it would work well in a science classroom, but not so great in a foreign language setting.  However, after some reflection, I have concluded that it would be helpful to me and my students if they would explore things like why they are missing the conjugations of verbs that they should have learned in Spanish I.  What has happened is that they are missing content and the realization by the students about what kinds of knowledge they are lacking and what they can do to bridge the gap would be helpful as they pursue the next level of the language.  I like the idea of asking students to explain their reasoning that led them to their answers...again makes the student accountable and encourages them to pause before they write just anything down.

Feedback

I totally agree with the assumption that feedback has to occur soon after the assessment in order to be effective.  What I don't know and have never been able to resolve is how you go over a test or quiz when not everyone has taken it yet.  I seldom (more likely never) give a test on any given day on which all students are present.  So, although I grade the assessments on the evening after I give them, I either have to wait until all of the absentees have completed the test/quiz, or I have to create a new version for them to take.  I have tried both and neither is very effective.  I have parents upset because they want their child to have additional time to complete work, although my policy clearly states that students have five school days to complete missed work after their return to school.  I just had two students take a vocabulary quiz over a month late ( I just returned them to the rest of the class on days when these two were absent again) and they failed it.  Of course they did!  Did anyone think that they were still studying the material and would pass it when we were on new material already?  The parents must have thought so since they insisted that their child receive extra time to complete the work.  Permission was granted, but the effort of the students was less than stellar.  Not a surprise to me...students invariably do poorly on missed tests or quizzes because they also missed a lot of instruction and class practice and they don't ever make that time up.  Any solutions out there for timely feedback without compromising the validity of the assessment...share and compare, please.

Who is responsible for learning?

Marzano's idea that students should be held responsible for their own learning and should keep a learning journal based on their own goals and achievements is revolutionary!  Who knew that students should be held accountable?  In this era when the responsibility seems to lie more and more on the shoulders of the educator, I appreciate the fact that in the end, the student chooses to learn and exert effort or not.  Of course, Marzano does not negate the fact that a lot of preparation of objectives and strategies is the role of the teacher, but sincerely appreciate anyone who will honestly state that students have to take a major role in their own learning.  The idea that the students start with statements about what they want to know is a good starting point for true education to occur. 

Base groups

I discovered in my reading a good reason for having base groups, i.e. make the students accountable to each other for checking on homework issues.  I also like the idea of a base group creating a "team spirit" within the classroom.  My big concern would be that the base group would become a team in which one member does the work and the others just copy it.  I have found that high school students really do not discern the difference between helping someone to learn a skill and just giving their friends the work to copy and saying that was helping them.  I do like the idea of accountability and may work it into my first block class that I see daily...like a contest of which base group has the fewest 0's on homework or the highest quiz/test scores in one grading period.  I will have to give this idea some more thought and perhaps use it during second semester.

Sizes of groups

I agree that the size of groups must be limited, based on the task assigned.  I have found that when there are too many members in a group, little is done because the students don't really know how to divide up the tasks.  When there are the same number of tasks to be done as members of the group, then the students can easily manage completion of the assignment.

Cooperative Learning

As a foreign language teacher, I use cooperative learning a lot just to give the students practice with partners in using what they have learned.  According to Dr. Marzano, the groups I use most often are informal groups and they last maybe 15-30 minutes per class.  I have found these groups to be most effective in dealing with new grammatical structures because one partner can usually help the other partner to understand.  I generally use ability grouping, but I group high learners with low learners as often as possible, especially if I am using groups of two.  When I move to a project and I am grouping the students, I use random grouping and them look at the groups and make sure that they are heterogeneous so that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed on the project.  One thing I do not believe in is giving a group grade for a project.  My students are generally surprised that they can receive different grades and be in the same group, according to their individual effort.  I have the students keep a log of what they have contributed each day that they are doing the project, and I also observe their efforts within the group.  I have always considered it grossly unfair that when students are doing a group project, one student feels compelled to "carry" the others in his/her group for the sake of getting a good grade.  I think that group grades reward laziness.  I did not see this issue addressed in Dr. Marzano's book, but I do feel that it is an important issue and the reason that some students approach group tasks with trepidation because they are the ones motivated to excel and don't want to be responsible for earning a grade for a group.