Sometimes she has students keep all of the work they did during a unit and grades it as a whole piece. At the close of each class period, students play a brief game to tell what they learned that day in class. Throughout the year, students keep a video portfolio. At the close of a unit, Sue records each student on his own video tape. During the recording session, the student displays his work and discusses it telling what he did, why he did it, and what he learned.
Students then take their video tapes home to share with their families.
Watching a video tape at the end of a school year reveals that throughout the year, students demonstrate a growing confidence in their abilities and a greater depth of knowledge. Sue has one pre-AP class that serves the gifted and talented students. However, not all GT students are in that class. The rest of her classes are heterogeneously grouped and include some GT students, physically handicapped, special education, and other special population students. Because of the growing number of Hispanic students at Magnolia Junior High School, Sue is becoming ESL certified so that she can help her students more effectively.