- Year 12 QTAC applications closing soon
- Year Extended essay proposal day approaching soon
- Date claimer Aspire
- Next week is Exam week
- Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art and Design
- Year 10 Laptop logo fixes
- Aspire Awards nominations
- P&C Meeting Wednesday 7pm
- P&C Monthly Social Barbecue Friday 18 September
- Giving an A
I had a worrying conversation with a student this week. The student was highly stressed and upset. At the core of this was her worry of achieving a B instead of an A for a subject. To quote from her email:
“I was saying to my mum how scared I am of what my teacher thinks of me (last term I went down half a mark to an A- overall in …………. I also said to mum today, "I'd rather do no …………. exams and get an N than get a B."
The student was paralysed by this focus.
The emphasis students place on a grade cannot be understated and in some cases the awarding of a grade can have a negative impact on learning and the students self perception. In our society a reality is that outcomes need to be measured and reported to serve a range of purposes. The report card in our situation serves two key functions:
- To inform parents
- To meet National system requirements of two reports a year on a five point A to e scale.
Certainly, my belief is that with quality and open conversation in many cases the significance of a term report in informing parents would be lessened significantly and the report would only exist as an artefact which confirms to parents what they already know, achieved through engagement with their student and their teacher throughout the term. Many of our processes and certainly the effort of our teachers seek to realise this goal.
We cannot change point 2, however, we can frame our environment to ensure that the grade is only a small confirmation statistic within an overall development plan, not the sole burdening focus, as seems to be the case of the student who saw me.
In my opinion we (teachers and parents) need to ensure the conversation about assessment and outcomes involves an approach as advocated by Professor Erica Mc William ( in her book “ The Creative Workforce – How to launch young people into High Flying Futures “ UNSW press 2008). In her book Mc William states:
“Teaching will involve helping young people be explicit about, as well as responsible for, their learning goals by differentiating them from their performance goals.”
A learning goal is not to get a higher grade in English or to get a A instead of an A-, but to be able to focus on the skills or processes that, if performed well and repeatedly, will as a consequence meet criteria which look like the descriptors of an A.
We need to let students know very clearly that we value the totality of their learning and development as a person, not just the test result on one exam at the end of term. When we do this students are more likely to focus on their learning goals and not just performing and in so doing focus on what they can control piece by piece not the final “all defining grade”.
When we as teachers and parents question and listen with respect and attention to a student’s account of what they have or have not achieved and why and what strategies they have used or are developing in their continued learning, a learning goal focus and responsibility emerges.
As I explained to the girl at the centre of my motivation for sharing these thoughts, she can only control how she approaches the skills of that subject. If she makes this the focus the result will take care of itself.
My analogy was that of a cricketer. If he goes to the wicket focussing on the score he needs to make rather than repeating the skills he has learned and has practised in batting the chances are he will be distracted and not make a score.
At QACI whilst there is much emphasis on assessment to provide data for further coaching and to give accountability to mandated reporting endeavours it is my very strong belief that it is how we use this data (as one of many sources) to help the student inform their learning goals and subsequent progress which is paramount.
At the end of my newsletter is a compilation of extracts from a book called “The Art of Possibility” by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander (2000). It advocates an interesting approach which can be used by both teachers and individual students to set learning goals and focus on achieving these.
Year 12 QTAC applications close soon
Please note that QTAC applications close on the 30 September and all Year 12 students should submit an application irrespective of their future intentions.
Rob Stewart is here on Monday and Tuesday and whilst students may be focussed on final submissions they cannot afford to miss the chance to see Rob.
Key dates : http://www.qtac.edu.au/Applying-NonYear12/KeyDates.html
Some courses, including a number of music and arts courses have strict closing dates. http://www.qtac.edu.au/Courses/CourseHome.html
Year 11 Extended Essay proposal day approaching
A very important stage in the Extended Essay is approaching for Year 11. Their research proposals for two subject areas need to be posted on the 8 October. From these proposals, teachers will choose up to 5 students to supervise for the remaining 7 months of the Extended essay process. The teachers will consider the proposals without names attached, so the quality and the amount of thinking and effort that goes into the proposal will determine which students get their first preference or not.
Year 11 have had since the launch of the process in July to work on this proposal and seek ideas from various teachers. The importance of posting a quality proposal cannot be understated as it not only earns the student the topic and potentially the teacher they desire but it also gives enormous momentum to the entire extended essay process. Unfortunately if a student fails to meet the strict deadline they will be allocated a supervisor after all students who have met the deadline have been accommodated. This may seem harsh however is in fairness to those students who have been conscientious and met this key responsibility.
Jennie Jahnke
Date for your diary: CI @spire://09
Planning is now well underway for our special evening of celebration of academic achievement and creative innovation entitled CI @spire://09.
While this event allows us to celebrate our annual achievements that one would expect from a traditional awards ceremony, @spire is a very different concept where our creative vision is placed as central to the event. Music, Theatre and all aspects of our cutting edge visualisation will make this an evening to remember.
Our students are presently responding to calls for expression of interest to take key roles in the presentation, roles that allow our young people to really shape how QACI is represented in the community.
October 23 is a very special night in the life of our community as we celebrate who we are and what we have achieved in the year. It is a night a symbolism and entertainment where we showcase the best of what QACI has to offer. We also celebrate the achievements of individuals who through the support of their peers have achieved highly both academically and creatively.
Soon students will be asked to nominate themselves or their peers for the CIVA Awards.
Please date claim CI @spire://09 to be held on Friday October 23, commencing at 6.30pm. Next week more specific details re bookings will be released.
Next week is exam week
It is very important that both parent and student alike ensure that the Academy’s assessment policy is followed in regard to absence from an exam. It is most important that when ringing the Academy to inform of an absence that it emphasised that an exam is going to be missed if this is the case so the appropriate safe guard can be implemented.
Absence on the day of the test / set date for commencement of orals/group presentations
1. (a) parents /guardians should speak with the Principal or Deputy Principal to discuss relevant circumstances on or before the date of the assessment item and if applicable
(b) supply a medical certificate on the first day of return to school explaining the absence.
In either case it is the student’s responsibility to make contact with the relevant Teacher to make arrangements for completing the assessment item on the first day back at school or as soon as possible.
2. (a) if the Teacher received a blue approval form, stating that the absence is legitimate and a valid result can be obtained from the late test, the student’s result should be recorded as part of the overall semester’s assessment and a note made on the profile explaining the circumstances
(b) if NO legitimate reason exists or the student has failed to follow the appropriate procedures a non submit result should be recorded and included in the overall level of achievement. In this case the completed assessment item should be viewed as a diagnostic tool for feedback purposes.
If no attempt is made to complete missed assessment the student may be considered not to have completed the course of study and may not be eligible for a result in that subject. This decision will be at the discretion of the Principal based on evidence available.
Creative Generation Awards for Visual Art and Design
On Wednesday the Brisbane Central and West exhibition was opened at QACI. There were some stunning works. From over 500 entries from students across Queensland the judges were given 140 short listed pieces to create a final exhibition of 40 works to tour Queensland as the Creaticve Generation Excellence Awards. Of the 32 pieces from Brisbane Central and West, 4 pieces were from QACI students. Congratulations to Roo Murdock, Jess Brain, Rachel Tan and Sheridan Eccleston for being shortlisted. Whilst they were not in the final four selected, their works are truly first class.
We look forward to the first week of term 4 when all our Year 12 works, over 200 in all, will be curated for the IB exhibition, exIBit.
YEAR 10 Laptop Logo fix continues
In an email to parents some weeks ago I highlighted a fault with the lids of the laptops which Apple were undertaking repair of at no cost for a limited time as a special service to QACI. This is a time consuming process which has been continuing over the last few weeks and fitting in with student need to use their laptops throughout the day. Next Byte staff will again be onsite next week to complete the remaining screen replacements. There are 30 year 10 students remaining. This will occur next Tuesday and we will require every Year 10 to make their laptop available for a double check in Session 1 and those with faults will be fixed in the remainder of the day. This will be the last week that Apple will do this so it is very important that students do not forego this opportunity. All students were reminded by email to have their laptops to Level 7 before the first exam on Tuesday morning.
P&C meeting Wednesday
7.00pm Level 4 – entry via the car park and take lift to level 4.
An issue I will be discussing at P&C is the change to some software licence agreements and the implications of this for future user pay costs.
QACI P&C Monthly Social Barbecue – Next Friday Night
Join us for a social drink and bite to eat to celebrate the end of term on Friday 18 September from 5.30 to 8.30 on the QACI deck. It is casual affair with great conversation and the chance to link up with other parents. BYO your barbecue picnic and drinks.
Sarah makes next Round of Dance Final - A message from Sarah
Good afternoon QACI!
Firstly, a huge thank-you to all those who voted for me in ROUND 2 of the online dance comp 'MyMutation'. All your votes really counted, because I won the 2nd round!
Similar to round 2, ROUND 3 requires the public vote! This is the final round, and the winner will be chosen from the Top5!
To vote: follow this link and click the 'Vote' tab, then click the Green Thumbs up on your favorite dancer in the top 5 - YOU CAN ONLY VOTE ONCE A DAY, and MUST fill out a Voting form to register your vote – click the 'Prize' tab to get the form. All voters will be in the draw to WIN a SONY HD Handy Cam!
Voting closes Sept 13th and the Winner is announced Wed 16th!
http://www.youtube.com/sydneyoperahouse
Thankyou Sarah Mc Creanor
Date |
Topic/Audience |
From |
Is a return due? |
| 8/09/2009 | Yoga sessions available | Mrs Kepczyk | no |
Upcoming Events
12/09 – Language Tour to China departs
14/09 – Year 10/11 Exam block commences
16/09 – P&C meeting 7.00pm
18/09 – P&C social at QACI 5.30pm to 8.30pm
30/09 – QTAC applications close for year 12
5 /10 – Term 4 commences (no student free day)
5/10 – Mock Interviews Year 12 Visual Arts
7 /10 Year 12 IB Art show, exIBit opens
8/10 Year 12 Film showing – Final works
8/10 Year 11 Extended essay proposal posting
14/10 Term 3 reports issued to year 10 and 11
17/10 Year 11 YES (semi-formal ) benefit
17/10 Queensland Music Festival Choral Competition
19 /10 Pupil Free Day
23 October – ASPIRE – QACI awards night
Giving an A
Extracts from “ The Art of Possibility”- Zander and Zander – Harvard Business School Press 2000
At the University of Southern California, a leadership course was taught each year to fifty of the most outstanding students out of twenty-seven thousand in the school, hand-picked by each department. At the end of the semester, the grader for the course was instructed to give one-third of the students A’s, one third B’s and one-third C’s – even though the work of any member of this class was likely to surpass that of any other student in the university. Imagine the blow to the morale of the eager and hardworking student who received the requisite C.
Not just in this case, but in most cases, grades say little about the work done. When you reflect to a student that he has misconstrued a concept or has taken a false step in a math problem, you are indicating something real about his performance, but when you give him a B+, you are saying nothing at all about his mastery of the material; you are only matching him up against other students. Most would recognize at core that the main purpose of grades is to compare one student against another. Most people are also aware that competition puts a strain on friendships and too often consigns students to a solitary journey.
Michelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within. If we were to apply this visionary concept to education, it would be pointless to compare one child to another. Instead, all the energy would be focused on chipping away at the stone, getting rid of whatever is in the way of each child’s developing skills, mastery, and self-expression.
We call this practice giving an A. It is an enlivening way of approaching people that promises to transform you as well as them. It is a shift in attitude that makes it possible for you to speak freely about your own thoughts and feelings while, at the same time, you support others to be all they dream of being. The practice of giving an A transports your relationships from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility.
An A can be given to anyone in any walk of life – to a waitress, to your employer, to your mother-in-law, to the members of the opposite team, and to the other drivers in traffic. When you give an A, you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of measuring how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves. Your eye is on the statue within the roughness of the uncut stone.
This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into.
“What would happen if one were to hand an A to every student from the start:
Roz and I predicted that abolishing grades altogether would only make matters worse, even if the Conservatory could be persuaded to support such a plan. The students would feel cheated of the opportunity for stardom and would still be focused on their place in the line-up. So we came up with the idea of giving them all the only grade that would put them at ease, not as a measurement tool, but as an instrument to open them up to possibility.
“Each student in this class will get an A for the course,” I announce. “However, there is one requirement that you must fulfil to earn this grade: Sometime during the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May, which begins with the words, ‘Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because…,’ and in this letter you are to tell, in as much detail as you can, the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade.”
In writing their letters, I say to them, they are to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the year as if those accomplishments were already in the past. Everything must be written in the past tense. Phrases such as “I hope,” “I intend,” or “I will” must not appear. The students may, if they wish, mention specific goals reached or competitions won. “But, “I tell them, “I am especially interested in the person you will have become by next May. I am interested in the attitude, feelings, and worldwide of that person who will have done all she wished to do or become everything he wanted to be.” I tell them I want them to fall passionately in love with the person they are describing in their letter. Page 25-28
In this letter, the young performer focuses her gaze on the person she wants to be, momentarily silencing the voice in her head that tells her that she will fail. She emerges like the graceful statue from within Michelangelo’s marble block. The person that I teach each Friday afternoon is the person described in the letter. The student reveals her true self and also identifies much of the stone that blocks her expression. Chipping away at the stone that encases her becomes our task in the class. Our job is to remove the extraneous debris that stands between her and her expression in the world.
Dear Mr. Zander,
I got my A because I had the courage to examine my fears and I realized that they have no place in my life. I changed from someone who was scared to make a mistake in case she was noticed to someone who knows that she has a contribution to make to other people, musically and personally… thus all diffidence and lack of belief in myself are gone. So too is the belief that I only exist as a reflection in other people’s eyes and the resulting desire to please everyone… I understand that trying and achieving are the same thing when you are your own master – and I am.
I have found a desire to convey music to other people, which as stronger than the worries I had about myself. I have changed from desiring inconsequentiality and anonymity to accepting the joy that comes from knowing that my music changes the world - Giselle Hillyer
Small wonder that I approach each class with the greatest eagerness, for this is a class consisting entirely of A students and what is more delightful than spending an afternoon among the stars? Most members of the class share this experience, and some even report that as they walk down the corridor toward the classroom each Friday afternoon, the clouds of anxiety and despair that frequently shadow a hothouse American music academy perceptibly lift. page 30
Often people are quite uncomfortable with the idea of granting the unearned A because it seems to deny the actual differences between one person’s accomplishments and another’s. We are not suggesting that people be blind to accomplishment. Nobody wants to hear a violinist who cannot play the notes or to be treated by a doctor who has not passed the course. Standards can help us by defining the range of knowledge a student must master to be competent in his field.
It is not in the context of measuring people’s performance against standards that we propose giving the A, despite the reference to measurement the A implies. We give the A to finesse the stranglehold of judgement that grades have over our consciousness from our earliest days. The A is an invention that creates possibilities for both mentor and student, manager and employee, or for any human interaction.
The practice of giving an A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standards against these students. In the first instance, the instructor and the student, or the manager and the employee, become a team for accomplishing the extraordinary; in the second, the disparity in power between them can become a distraction and an inhibitor, drawing energy away from productivity and development.
One of the complications of working with standards is that those in charge – be they teachers, school systems, CEO’s or management teams – often fall into the trap of identifying their own agendas with the standards. How often in a business situation does a manager find himself at his wit’s end when he discovers that work has not been done by others the way he would have done it himself? A common response is to deliver the ultimatum, whether explicitly or implicitly, “Do it the right way – my way.”
Not only does this latter message tend to squelch innovation and creativity, but it also trains students and employees to focus solely on what they need to do to please their teachers or their bosses, and on how much they can get away with. The mentor’s disappointment with a student whose style and interests vary from her own is often what is measured in the grade she gives. Instead of providing real information to a student on his learning, it tells him by how much, in the eyes of the authority, he has fallen short. page 33
In the realm of possibility, the literal or figurative giving of the A aligns teacher with student, manager with employee, and makes striving for a goal on enlivening game. Within the game, a standard becomes a marker that gives the pair direction. If the student hits the mark, the team is on course; if not, well, How fascinating!” The instructor does not personally identify with the standard; nor does the student identify personally with the results of the game. Since the teacher’s job is to help her students chip away at the barriers that block their abilities and expression, she aligns herself with the students to whom she has given an A, and lets the standards maintain themselves. page 35
The freely granted A expresses a vision of partnership, teamwork, and relationship. It is for wholeness and functionality, in the awareness that for each of us, excess stone may still hide the graceful form within. page 36
Zander R and Zander B, 2000, The Art of Possibility, Harvard Business School Press
