Why I don't do RRR days anymore (kind of)

 Previous posts

1. Everyone needs a little R, R, and R. 
2. R, R, R update

RRR was a plan/activity/what not that I came up with many years ago. I presented it to my team as we embarked into Standards Based Grading and it was incredibly useful. In the past two years, however, I have all but stopped using it. In fact, last year I did not have a single RRR day for my kids. So, what changed? 

The original idea behind the RRR day (originally rest, reach, and remediate) was to allow students who were comfortable with material to get enrichment, students who had missed work to catch up, and students who needed individual support to get it. This is, as any teacher will tell you, no easy task on the best of days. With ~30 students in a room it can be quiet difficult. So, as we worked with my original framework, we experimented with a few things:

• making a list of activities students needed to do for each standard - This was always outside of normally assigned work. The problem with this is that it put exponential amounts of work on us to create these new materials. 
• making a list of options for students for each standard - This was easier in that I would provide a choice of a general activity (e.g. make a comic strip of our most recent story), but still required extra work on my part. It also sparked questions and, on occasion, confusion for students. 
• RRR days on a schedule - Originally I really wanted to do these days every other week. The problem I found was that some students developed a sense of entitlement that we'd have this day and they didn't need to pay attention or work any other day because they could just get me to explain it to them on this day. For other students, the entitlement came in the form of wanting a "day off".*
• Extra Grading - This was a major issue. I would find myself grading entire assignments just to move a grade from a 99 to a 100. Again, some sense of entitlement came out when, a few times, a student would say that I was preventing them from having a 100 or ruining GPA because I wasn't giving them a perfect score on RRR work: "But... I did the thing. That's a 100 right?"

* I don't use the word entitlement easily. It is a word often used against my generation. I want to be clear that I always try to give students the benefit of the doubt for as long as I can. Once a pattern becomes apparent, however, I will take appropriate action. 

So, I got rid of it. I started by saying that we'd have an RRR day when the grades showed we needed it. This didn't go over too well for some students. I found myself battling between letting certain students have a "free day" so that I could work with others and give them the support they needed. I was suddenly trying to manage behaviour while trying to do good work with students who needed it. 

And so, last year, I decided I would not do a single RRR day. Not a single one. Now, let's break that down. Let me address some of the very questions I got when I announced this to students:

1. So does this mean we can't redo any work? No, not at all. There will always be opportunities for resubmission and opportunities to try again. It will, however, look different. 
2. What about free days? I think I may have laughed out loud. I'm not super proud of that.... but I did. I don't do movies 99% of the time. The exception to this is that I occasionally do a movie short and sometimes I'll show an episode of Class of the Titans (NOT Clash). Even then, they don't take the entire period. This is not a slight on teachers who do show movies. I have on occasion shown one. It is a reflection, rather, of what I think I can do better. I can do a better job supporting the students in my room. That is what I'm always working on: how better can I support the students I see in my room. 
3. But XX does RRR days!?!?! And that's fine. My teammates can still do RRR, and some do. For me, I feel I can meet my students needs better in a different way now.

But... how did I address all the concerns that RRR is meant to address? Well...

• I always reserve the right to let students resubmit the exact same assignment at any time. If a student needs to fix something, or understands something new that they didn't before, of course I'm going to let them redo an assignment. I reserve this, however, and this is not available for every thing every day. This is simply for my sanity. 
• Instead... I ensure that I make plans to reassess things as part of class. If I notice that a majority of students did poorly or missed something I will adjust and reassess again shortly after (see post: the fault in our plans)
• Sometimes I'll even say, "check your grades. If you are missing or would like me to reconsider your grade for Standard XX, make sure you turn this in. 
• I set my focus on accommodations. My focus is becoming more and more centralised on what accommodations I need to make for any and all of my students. Some of these include small group or one on one instruction, alternative formatting, student choice, representation, etc. 

Ultimately I am doing a little bit more to make sure that students are accommodated in my class. By doing that and regularly reassessing through my lessons, we don't need to set aside a day for them to catch up and I ultimately have less work overall. Now, if we needed one, I would have no problem doing so. But I've found that I can accomplish RRR without needing to set aside a day 99.9% of the time simply by focusing my day on accommodations. If you're sensing a shift in the way I talk about things and how I go about things, you are correct. It's a shift I've always been pointed towards, but now I am actively on this path and I haven't ever loved my job more. <3

Standards Based Grading - I can take a grade for anything!

I thought I'd share quick ideas today on how to take standard grades without making formal activities or having loads of paperwork.

I try very hard to not take grading home. Firstly, I have 6 animals and they do not appreciate paperwork in the way I think my students would like. Secondly, I have a few chronic conditions that can make completing work difficult. So, I have to be careful with my time. I try to take grades whenever I can. This benefits everyone:

• grades get updated regularly.
• students who may not perform well all the time get may opportunities to reassess.
• students' grades reflects real levels of proficiency repeatedly through the year. 
• I get grades updated before the end of the school day and can go home a little lighter. 

So.... here are 10 ways you can quickly and easily input grades during class or informally:

1. During a running dictation (or scrambled eggs or QR code dictation), include some commands. Watch your students and, as they complete those commands, you can give a grade for what they do. This could cover listening, speaking, writing, comprehension. 
2. During a running dictation (etc.) listen for who is speaking in Latin, reading the sentences out loud. You can easily give them a grade for reading or speaking. 
3. Students who ask questions in the target language can receive a grade for interpersonal interactions, speaking, gesturing, etc. 
4. Students who use appropriate rejoinders in class can receive grades for interpersonal interactions, speaking, listening, comprehending, etc. 
5. Students who complete a brain break that is in the target language might receive a grade for listening and comprehending. 
6. Students who complete jobs in class using the target language can receive grades for interpersonal interactions, presentational interactions, speaking, listening, comprehending, etc.
7. Use group work and class discussion specifically to listen for your students who may not present well on paper and vice versa. Fill in grades as you can. 
8. Turn student work into a listening assessment. You can use student images or monsters created and use them to create descriptions in the target language. Students draw the image they hear and then you can project and discuss. This can be a listening, comprehending, TPR, discussion, etc grade.
9. If you have a great convo with a kid in the hall or outside of class in the target language, give them a grade for it! They've earned it!
10. A student who shows understanding non-verbally whether through action, picture, or writing should receive a grade for their ability to understand. It isn't output, but it is skill. Give them that grade as you can. Use that skill to build up their confidence! Applaud them!

Other Posts on SBG from PBP

1. RRR Update
2. Reflections on being a first year teacher again
3. SBG - Making it work
4. SBG - Mid Semester
5. The Fault in our Plans
6. Serpens

R, R, R - No Failure Classroom - An update

One of the things that Rachel and I really believe in is the No Failure Classroom. We've posted on this a few times and, today, it made an appearance in another blog that Rachel and I participate in. If you are interested, you can find these posts here:

1. Everyone Needs a little R, R, and R
2. Growing a Latin Program Part 2
3. No Failure Classroom at Work

One of the things, mentioned in two of these posts, is the R, R, and R day. Since its first implementation last year, we have changed the way we do this somewhat. In this post, I'd like to discuss these changes. 

Basic Premise

Not much has changed from our last post in regards to the reasoning behind offering this day. Ultimately what it boils down to is:

Comprehensible

Compelling

Caring*

1. We want our work to be comprehensible. Sometimes, students do poorly on an assessment because something was incomprehensible. This can be as simple as the instructions. It can also refer to the stress level, health, etc. of our students. A student who has a cold will often find things harder to understand. 
2. We want our work to be compelling. Students may perform at a lower proficiency level because something isn't compelling. Having a day like this allows students to show their skills using something they feel is compelling. 
3. We want our work to be caring. This speaks to both comprehensibility and compellingness and everything else under the sun. We want students to succeed. Having R, R, and R days allows our work to be caring in the ultimate way. Our classes aren't about a "gotcha" moment or "tricks". It is truly about acquisition and proficiency. 

* Credit to Rachel Ash for the three Cs

What We've Changed

Since last year, a few things have changed. Rachel and I are teaching upper level classes now, while our colleagues teacher the first years. Rachel's and my kids are now in their second year of R, R, and R. Our understanding of Comprehensible Input and the no fail classroom has improved and been updated. Knowing all that, a few things have changed. 

Latin I

In Latin I, much stays the same. Students are given particular activities to complete and meet about specific stories and activities. Latin I classes have R, R, and R days with less frequency than the upper levels, but we all reserve the right to have one whenever we feel we need one. 

Latin II+

In Latin II and above, we've decided that students should choose how they show their proficiency in the standards. This means they come up with their own way, rather than choosing from a list of assignments. I will be honest and say some kids have had a hard time struggling with this. When this comes up, I have a set of questions I start to walk through:

• What does the standard say?
• What do you think that means?
• What ideas do you have that you think will show your proficiency level in this?
• What have we done in class that has applied to this?

I also always allow them to redo or resubmit previous work. I will be honest and say most do not choose this option. Most students choose a different assignment that they want to do.

I did provide a FAQ for my students who were struggling with what to do on R, R, and R days*. What I have found, however, is that this kind of work requires students to rethink how they think of grades and class. This is good, but can be a process with ups and downs. Some days students seem to have a very good grasp of the process, and others they need a lot of guidance and sometimes get frustrated.

* Please note that these are based on our standards and may need editing for your use.

What's changed in general

One of the things that's changed in general is what we allow kids to do when they don't have work. I still stress that this should be community building, and most kids take advantage of that. I keep a box of activities ready for my classes. But, we also allow kids to work on other work or put their heads down. Here are the things I keep in my box. 

• Minotaurus and other board games 
• decks of cards
• puzzles of varying difficulties

I do spend money on these, but not as much as one might think. I only bring games that I have at home already, or ones that I made (I'm currently working on checkers sets using old fabric, paint, and bottle tops). I get everything else in bulk (cards) or from the dollar store (puzzles). I do spend some money on plastic bins to keep my puzzles in good condition. The box itself was a gift. 

Other Considerations

If this is something you decide to implement, I'd take a few things into consideration. There is no one answer to these, but I've attempted to provide my own thoughts on each issue. 

1. How often should I have a regular R, R, and R day? I honestly base this on the class. I have been giving one every other week this semester, but, given a few factors, we won't be having one until next week. It really depends on where you and your class are. 
2. What about special R, R, and R days, for example if everyone fails a test? We operate on the 80% rule. If 80% of a class doesn't make 80% or better, we take the burden on ourselves, rather than putting a retake or remediation on the shoulders of the kids, and work with the entire class. We had one such incident last year, which you can read about here. 
3. Can kids turn in work anytime? Or just on R, R, and R days? Personally, I don't offer work unless on an R, R, and R day. If a parent emails, I talk about these days as well. If a student comes to me, however, and asks specifically, I always take the work. This happens rarely, as most kids get the work done on the R, R, and R day. 
4. What about kids who take poor advantage of the system? We've always maintained the right to lessen these in frequency or to not have them should a student or a class take advantage. One of the reasons I am not having one this week is due to this very reason. We will have one later, but I am lessening their frequency since students do not feel like they need to take good advantage of the time that often.

Final Thoughts

Of course, however, I always bear in mind that kids are kids. One of the big reasons many teachers do not accept late work or offer retakes is because of the argument, "but this isn't how the real world works". And yet... it is exactly how the real world works. We receive and lose opportunities based on what we do and how we do it. We offer this day to our kids to allow them to show us what they couldn't do, be it on account of sickness, emotion, absence, or lack of understanding. These days take pressures off of kids who already feel overwhelmed at school - just like when adults take a "mental health" day (for example). When we miss a payment, or we fall on hard times, often we get a grace period, a fee (and a second chance), or, if we can work it out, forgiveness. That's what really stands behind these days: a chance for students to learn how to, and demonstrate, better skills, and get the help they need, just like we might in the "real world".

Standards Based Grading - a mid semester update

It's now been three months with grade books and assessing strategies completely aligned with Standards Based Grading. So far, we've posted three times in particular about how we are using Standards Based grading:

• Making SBG work in a traditional grade book
• Setting up our new grade books with SBG
• Everyone needs a little R, R, and R

For this mid semester update, I want to focus on the reactions we've had to what we are doing and the things we're noticing in our students. 

Grading Procedures and Schedules

Doing this the way we are, by using Active Grade in conjunction with our county grade books has resulted in a few road blocks that we are over coming, but also some interesting things we otherwise wouldn't be able to do. 

1. Extra Time - Yes, doing it this way requires extra time from us. It takes me longer because I enter grades into Active Grade (which does all the math for me, so I think it's worth it) and then transfer them to our county grade book. What I have done is that I separate my schedule out and grade one class a day and transfer grades once per class each week. A student or parent can log onto Active Grade at any time, but since our county grade books only update at night anyways, we can do this once a week. We are all handling this in our own way, but this is what I've found works for me. It also keeps the pile of work to pass out from stacking up and getting mixed together.
2. Saved Comments - Using Active Grade allows me to put in specific comments per student, per standard, per assignment. These comments are saved online for my or their viewing any time. Unlike a traditional grade book where the grade is input and nothing else, I can pass messages to students and save them so that when a parent or student comes to me with questions, a record is saved. Since it is done by standard, comments have moved away from things like, "you missed 5 questions" to "you should try the following extra exercises to help with this" or "you got this grade because you...." They are more detailed and personalised. 
3. Student Perspective - The by far most difficult part of this, I feel, is changing the student perspective. When I presented the idea both to my former students, and to this year's students, they were on board, but they struggle to understand that the numbers mean different things. Whenever I pass back a test, or quiz, or assignment I get a barrage of, "what does 4 mean?", "I missed 2 questions, what grade is that?", etc. I have to remind them that they  need to check Active Grade and familiarise themselves with the proficiency guidelines. Some are becoming familiar and appreciate how things are being done, others are trying to master this new territory, but need more guidance. 

Assessments

1. Terminology - I have really had to change my terminology when considering assessments with SBG. Students have commented how my assessments (see bullet point 2) are more like their quizzes in other classes rather than tests, so we've changed the name from quiz or test to quest. Students aren't panicking and appreciate the brevity, clarity, and content of the assessments. Students are also understanding now how each assessment is broken into sections by standard. It makes it clearer for them, and reminds them, what we expect them to be proficient in and gives a nice guideline of what they need to work on, should their proficiency level be low. 
2. Structure - It occurred to me as I was writing my first test that, if I'm grading by proficiency in standard, I really ought to separate the test by standard, so I began doing that. Rachel was thinking along the same lines and we've both found it very helpful for students and for us. Organising the assessments this way speeds up grading tremendously and allows for easier commenting on proficiency. Grades are no longer about missing a certain number of questions, but rather about how proficient someone is in a certain skill.
3. Teacher Perspective - By assessing standards repeatedly and in multiple ways, I view assessments very differently. I no longer view them as this end all activity that students must make a certain grade on for us to move forward, but rather a checkpoint. What standards are they proficient in? What standards do we need to practice more (see our recent posts: The Fault in our Plans and Robert Patrick's Guest Post)? It is like a little reminder each time of where we are, where we've been, and where we are going.

Student Voice

1. Confidence - Students seem somewhat more confident when it comes to their voice, their concerns, and their needs. Students know what is expected of them more clearly and so they know what they need to do or what they need to ask for. 
2. Student Choice - Without a textbook, student can have a real say in what they are learning. This year in Latin I, I've decided that I want them to read longer readings and really learn how to communicate in Latin (based on our standards) at a deeper level. To that end, I gave students choices for the Spring semester. All were longer readings (novels really), but they had a wide span of content from science and history to legend to fantasy and adventure. The students really appreciated being able to make their own choice, which means they will enjoy what we do next semester - making for happy students and happy teachers. 

I'd love to hear if you guys are trying Standards Based Grading and how it is going for you. Are you seeing these things? What else are you observing?

The fault in our plans

I have the awesome privilege of working with three other amazing Latin teachers. As we continue on this journey of untextbooking and Standards Based Grading, we are documenting a lot. We document everything from amazing lesson plans we fall in love with to assessments that really speak to what we are doing to student feedback to lesson plans that fail. Today is a post about a plan that failed.

Robert Patrick and I administered a Latin I midterm. What we discovered after the midterm was that we, as teachers, had not prepared students for the skill we needed them to have for the midterm like we thought we'd had. In this post, I am going to separate things out as follows: What we did, what we learned, and how we fixed the issue.

What We Did

The idea for this midterm's format was based on a great assessment in another teacher's classroom. The midterm would consist of a listening section where characters we'd been reading about were read to students and students had to identify the character. In preparation for this, we gave student a list of descriptions and asked them to identify each character listed and make a picture for them. We also created a series of kahoot games to help them review shorter descriptions. Below is the script made for teachers at the very beginning.

For the midterm, we read the shorter descriptions and students were to write down the name of the character. We provided a character bank, but while there were 9 characters (Chaos was left out), there were 20 blanks, providing for multiple examples of each character.

What the midterm looked like for this section

What We Learned

It became very apparent to us that students were not prepared for this portion of the exam. I think a lot of things ran through our minds: Did they not study? Did I misread their comprehension? Did we not spend enough time discussing in Latin? What we discovered was that while this skill is necessary and is one we thought we had been preparing for, it differed from what we are doing in class enough that students needed more practice specifically in this skill.

Listening vs. Listening with visuals

I realised after our first of (honestly) about four discussions on this that we had been speaking Latin, regularly, to our students, but each time we provided some kind of visual:

• teacher created images
• student created images
• text
• cloze passages
• parallel universe passages
• questions
• false statements

Even when we do TPRS stories and TPR, visuals accompany listening skills. Students perform actions, demonstrate items, hold stuffed animals, watch the teacher for visual clues, and have vocabulary written on the board and referenced. All of these things are great activities and help build skills, including listening comprehension, but they do not prepare students for listening without visual aids. 

Fixing the Issue

The solution to this issue, we determined, is two-fold. First, we must re-administer the midterm. Second, we must prepare students better for this skill in the future.

The Midterm

We decided to re-administer this portion of the midterm. Students had the option, if they scored 16/20 or better to retake. If they scored less than 16/20 they were required to retake. In preparation for this retest we decided on two days of review to build the skill, in group levels, and individually. Robert Patrick put together my descriptions into their long form again, but only what was on the midterm, and recorded audio of these descriptions. On day one, students were placed in groups randomly and told that by the end of the period, they should be able to complete this activity on their own. We played the audio one by one and told students how many indicators each set of audio had. The audio played the description three times. Students identified the character and all of the indicators/descriptors each character had. On day two, we'd repeat this activity, but students would do it individually. On day three, we'd re-administer this portion of the midterm.

Example

1. Play recording (created by Robert Patrick)
2. Identify character - Saturnus
3. Identify 9 indicators
   English - Titan king, his mother was Gaia, his father was Uranus, he had a sister, his sister's name was Rhea, he had six sons and daughters, he feared his sons and daughters, he ate five sons and daughters, he ate one rock
   Latin - rex Titanius, mater erat Gaia, pater erat Uranus, deus sororem habebat, nomen sorori erat Rhea, sex filios et filias habebat, filios et filias timebat, quinque filios et filias comedit, unum saxum comedit

Preparing for the Future

We are still working on ways to foster this particular skill in the future (and are putting an all call for ideas!) So far, we've come up with some ways to practice this skill daily, weekly, or every once in a while.

• extended TPR (longer instructions)
• review of previous day's story (what kids remember happening)
• character/item descriptions (much like the activity in the midterm)
• listen and draw (teacher reads description, students draw what [s]he says)

Conclusions

This, I feel, was an important process for me. I am already seeing my thought processes change because of Standards Based Grading, and for the better. While this plan was, originally, a failure, it has really guided my thought processes even more to be even more critical of what I am teaching and how. It also points to a skill that, often as Latin teacher, we overlook. We are really good at using readings and visuals, but we miss the listening part by itself. Robert and I have discussed ways to ensure that our students are proficient in this skill. I know that I am now looking for ways to incorporate it into my daily practice. 

Everyone needs a little R, R, and R

I am very excited to write this post. This is something that I've been working on since we decided to switch to Standards Based Grading: R, R, and R, or, Review, Reach, and Relax.

My original idea was that every once in a while, we'd give kids a chance to get some review, do some extra work that they needed or wanted, and connect with each other in a way they may otherwise not. Since then, we've all been working on ways to make this work well inside a classroom.

What is it?

What it isn't:

• a free day
• a day to work on other classes' work
• a day to check out
• a sleeping day

What it is:

• an opportunity to get extra work and prove proficiency
• an opportunity to make up missing work
• an opportunity to get tutoring
• an opportunity to go beyond requirements and prove proficiency
• a brain break

Set Up:

We began by creating a document with each standard at the top of a page. Then, as we go through activities and content, we add possible review, and reach activities to help students demonstrate proficiency. Here's the Latin I list of activities.

For relaxing activities, we all offer whatever we have. Rachel has more games than I, but what I offer is: card games (regular cards and Crazy 8s), various puzzles, the lego Minotaur game, or books in Latin, on history, and on culture to read. I am trying to expand this whenever I stop by the dollar store or Target and look at the simple game and puzzles they have. I also bring in books, and am looking at games made for Latin as well.

How it works in real time:

We've so far done this two ways. Rachel gave an entire day to Latin II to work and I gave half a day to Latin I. I'm breaking these down a few ways: procedure, observations, changes.

Latin II - Full Day

Procedure

Rachel and I posted all the standards we had activities for on the board and asked students to check their grades. If they had less than an 85% proficiency rating overall, they were required to work to bring up this grade. If they had better than an 85% proficiency rating overall, they could choose to better their grade or relax with some activities. 

Observations

These are observations of my own:

• Most, if not all students met the requirements.
• Because of their grades, few students chose to better their grade.
• Students chose a brain break and really got into it, making for a great bonding experience
• Because of the variety of activities, everyone had an opportunity to do something.
• Students seemed to appreciate the opportunity, and were very open to this new way of doing this.

Changes

Rachel and I discussed a few things and I am making these changes for next time.

• More activity options for each standard
• More relax activities to make smaller groupings
• More time between R, R, and R days instead of the planned once every two weeks.
• Take students to a computer lab and go over how Active Grade specifically works so that they can use it properly and not just as a "viewing" of their grades.

Latin I - Half a period

Procedure

We began our day with a review of a story we'd read. I was out the previous day and so this was a great way for me to see if students understood. Then, I explained R, R, and R day and my requirements. The main difference here is that I did not offer all standards or activities and I added a requirement. Students must have a proficiency grade of 85% overall and if they had a 0 or 1 in any standard (50-60%), they had to work on that standard, or a similar one. If they met both requirements, they could better their grade, or choose a relaxing activity. The other difference is that, in these classes, I did review grades and pulled students who were missing grades and asked them to complete an assignment.

Observations

• Most students met at least one requirement, if not both.
• Students were very open to completing or re-doing assignments, more than I've seen in the past where make up work or tutoring is extra and outside of class.
• Students found assignments easy to complete quickly.
• Students chose a brain break and really got into it, making for a great bonding experience.
• Because of the variety of opportunities, everyone had an opportunity to do something.
• Students seemed to appreciate the opportunity, and were very open to this new way of doing this.
• Half a period seemed like an appropriate amount of time to do this in for Latin I.

Changes

These are changes that I either wanted to do this time, but couldn't, or things that I noticed as the day went on. Between the Latin II day and the Latin I day, I did have time to bring in a few more books, Crazy 8s, and a new puzzle, so I even could implement the smaller group change.

• Take students to a computer lab to go over Active Grade so they feel more comfortable using it.
• Schedule another R, R, and R day in 2 weeks or so. 

Final Thoughts

I am really happy with this activity. I think, after doing it twice, and typing up this post, that it serves a lot of great purposes. My hope is that the more we do this, the more benefit the kids get. 

1. Allows me to check in with students
2. Allows students to really understand grades and proficiency levels
3. Allows students to have a brain break.

Extra Extra! Read All About It! One Sentence Stories

As we progress through our first year of complete Standards Based Grading, I find myself being more critical of the assignments and tests I give. I also find myself trying to find new ways to assess things, while still keeping the affective filter low for my students. One of our county standards is that students can write simple sentences appropriate to their level in Latin. In Latin II and above, this isn't such a big problem because they already have experience with this through timed writes and they can write for longer. In Latin I, however, I need to ease them into writing and prepare them for timed writes, which we plan to start in a week or so.

To achieve this, I've started including some basic writing and transcribing activities like:

• Dictationes
• Sentence Frames - mad libs for Latin. Here is an example.

I wanted one more activity, with a little more freedom, to review vocabulary and see what skills they'd already picked up (while not grading those skills for accuracy). So, we did an activity called

One Sentence Stories. 

Process

I set this up very simply by creating a document with instructions and also an approved list of words. I expanded this list to include est (is) and et (and), as well as the new words we'd learned that day on the board. Students were to write a single sentence that could tell a story, much like a newspaper headline. While their sentences could be simple and didn't have to be "above the fold" quality  (if you will), they needed to be interesting and make sense. Students then accompanied them with a detailed picture. The picture gave the assignment a visual quality and a fail-safe which allowed me to understand what they were saying even if the sentence wasn't perfect. These were graded on a 5 point scale as follows:

0 - student wrote English sentence, or only submitted a picture

1-2 - Student wrote an English sentence with a Latin word or two

2-3 - Student attempted a Latin sentence, but used names instead of Latin words or the sentence didn't make sense

3-4 - Sentence mostly made sense, but had an extra word (or was missing one)

4-5 - Sentence made sense and may have had the extra verb "est" (see observations below)

Observations

1. Students got very excited with this activity. The vocabulary list provided assistance, but also kept the assignment simple enough for those still working on vocabulary acquisition.
2. Most students worked with what they were given. Some wanted to know extra words or constructions. I told them to "work within the confines of what we know."
3. The most, by far, common mistake was that students would put "est" (is) and another verb. This is a reflection of how English works. In English, we often use a helping verb along with
   
   another for present tense. In Latin, however, this is not the case. I've seen this mistake year after year, so I am not at all surprised by it. I did not cause a huge deduction on account of this because it is a common mistake for beginners to make. I do, however, want to draw their attention to it. 
4. Students were excited to be using vocabulary outside of the context of our stories.

Conclusions

• This was a great way to get kids thinking outside the box. They weren't tied to the mythology we'd been reading and were able to enjoy the vocabulary in a new way. 
• There were lots of grammar mistakes, but I know these to be later acquired for a Latin I class.
• I know which vocabulary the students know really well and which they don't. 
• My purpose was to see if they were able to use Latin vocabulary to create simple, meaningful sentences. They were. 

SBG - Putting it in Action

In 2014, I posted my first post on Standards Based Grading. I had done my research and wanted to make things work within the confines I felt I had at the time and, while it worked, and my students and parents were happy, I still felt like I wasn't fully committing to SBG. This year, Rachel, I and our colleagues have made the decision to use SBG fully, along with untextbooking. So, here is our update.

After doing my research (shared at the end of the post), I took a look at some examples of how it was being done. The issue I ran into is that we are required to use a certain percentage spread in our gradebooks. So, I got a little creative. I knew I wanted to incorporate our county standards as well as some national standards. So, what I came up with was this:

1. Final Exam - remains the same; most counties dictate this anyways, so I did nothing to it. In the gradebook it will read "final exam".
2. Summative Assessments - county/state standards; these are the things that we have to justify if someone were to ask what we were teaching. We don't teach a textbook; we are held to the standards. Most of the time your school will have these ready for you on paper or online. If your county doesn't have them, you might look at state standards. 
3. Formative Assessments - commonly called "classwork"; ACTFL can do statements; I have really been pushing myself towards using the standards more often. I want kids to have useful tools for evaluating themselves and I want my evaluations to mean something. 

When I presented it to my colleagues, we were all in agreement that this would work as long as each grade counted just enough to make a difference. Nothing gets to kids more than working hard on an assignment and not having it count at all in the final grade. When we broke it down, the standards came out to Summative Assessments being about 4% each and Formative Assessments being about 3%. This is just enough to count and make a difference. 

Tracking Tools

We all have different ways of tracking kids progress, but we all agreed to record our grades and notes into a program called Active Grade. Here's a good analysis of Active Grade. We settled on Active Grade because it let us put in actual assignment grades, but grade standards within the assignment. We also liked it because it allows students to see their progress. It is completely customisable to your grading preferences and I've found it easy to move between classes, transfer students, and enter grades.

In addition to this, we all have our own methods of tracking kids in the moment. So far I've discovered that using SBG makes grading a lot easier, even though I may be assessing more than one standard:

• I can easily use Active Grade and assign some high flyers a single assignment and give them a grade for moving ahead without penalising others.
• I can quickly make marks in a notebook on student comprehension and activity and quickly translate that to the Active Grade gradebook.
• I can separate tests into the standards they work with. Students, parents, and myself are all clearly aware of what skill eat item tests. If I do it before giving the test, grading is simplified as well.
• Students can come in for very specific help, knowing exactly which skill they need help with. I can easily track that if I wish as well.

On Monday, we are going to have our first check in meeting where we'll see how we are all doing with Standards Based Grading. So far, I've gotten good feedback from the kids which I'll share in my next post on this. There are, however, a few things we're going to try and address over these next few weeks. My next post will not only be an update on how things are going, but about the problems we've come up with and how we've addressed them. My question to you all is this: Would you try SBG? Why not? What's your biggest concern about SBG?

Research Links and Resources

• Holding Ourselves to a Higher Standard - By the Iowa Academy of Science
• Seven Reasons for Standards Based Grading - ASCD
• Getting Started with Standards Based Grading - Active Grade
• SBG Implementation: Setting up the Gradebook - Always Formative
• The Tyranny of the Curriculum - TED talk
• Standards-Based Grading - Thinkthankthunk

Retakes - The Redux

Last week, Rachel posted her thoughts on retakes for assignments/quizzes/exams. Her post got some great responses and questions, and, since I differ slightly on how I do retakes (and as a part II to my Standards Based Grading post), we thought it would be best to post an alternative view.

I largely base how I do retakes on the fact that I want my classroom to be a "No Failure Classroom" and I constantly tell my students, "it doesn't matter to me when you get it, or how many times it takes you to get it, it matters to me that you get it." No failure means to me that there is no failure on any level. There is some extent to which my students have to take control of their own learning, but I find that the more opportunities I offer, and the better relationship I have with my students, the more willing they are to take that control. Retakes are a huge part of this in my classroom.

Just like Rachel, I have some rules (if you will) for retakes:

1. Retakes can be submitted at any time within a large unit and on case by case when the unit ends. 
1. E.G. - I am giving smaller, more frequent tests this year and each larger unit has between 2 and 4 tests. Students can make up those tests any time, no questions asked, while we are still in that unit. 
2. I.E. - After the unit ends, I generally will look at students grades to see why they are asking for a retake. For example, I have a student who has generally struggled, but has come to tutoring regularly and has made improvements in class. (S)he and I have worked together to come up with a plan to help him/her get caught up and show proficiency. 
2. In order to retake summative assessments, students must attend a tutoring session prior to the retake. Students who fail a summative assessment must attend tutoring, no matter what. 
3. Students may turn in their old test to get a new one based on the questions they missed, or they may retake the entire test. 
1. I give the same assessment. The information that I want them to know hasn't changed, so the assessment doesn't change. If they turn in their old test, I only ask them to retake the questions they missed. If they do not, they retake the entire test. 
4. If 80% of the class does not make an 80% or higher, the entire class retakes the test. Those who make a B or better have the option, it is required for all others. 
1. Nota Bene - I never re-assess a class without some sort of review. Usually I take the first ten minutes of class the next 2-3 days to review and then re-test the third day.

Here are my observations: 

• Just like Rachel, students relax. I've taken the pressure off of having to be 100% perfect all the time. Just like I have off days, so do they. Sometimes it takes kids a little while longer to get it, and that's okay. 
• Some students take advantage of the system. When that happens, I reserve the right to take away their retest opportunities until they earn my trust back. What I find happens most of the time, however, is that a student will be honest with me prior to the test and say, "I didn't study" or (and this is more often the case), "I had an AP test today and had to choose which one to study for". 
• I can quickly and easily see who needs more instruction and who is taking instruction seriously. Students who come to tutoring, take it seriously, and use the retake system have benefited. 
• With the conjunction of this and the untextbooking I'm doing this year (posts to come), students who, in the past, have said things like, "Latin is hard", and "I don't get it" are now coming to me with things like, "this was awesome", "wow, I can actually read this!", "look at how much I wrote". 

Now, I'd like to respond to some of the concerns you raised in comments or questions you had:

1. What sorts of things are students allowed to retake/submit? I allow any and every assignment and exam (except finals) to be resubmitted. To make it easier on myself, this year, I am taking assignment resubmissions in class. (You can read about this here). 
2. How many times can a student retake or resubmit? As many times as they need. I am probably more likely to allow a student to retake/resubmit after we finish a unit if they show consistent work. A student who comes in to tutoring, asks questions, and actively seeks the opportunity is more likely to get sympathy after a deadline than a student who does not. I always try to listen to the student and hear them out, but I am quick to shut it down if I see them taking advantage in a bad way. 
3. Why not re-write the assessment to prevent cheating? If I need to, I will. But, 99.9% of the time, the information and requirements I have haven't changed, so I do not change the exam. I am not giving multiple choice exams, so it is hard for students to memorise a list of letters and retest in 5 minutes. With the added requirement of tutoring, it also helps ensure they are learning and not memorising. 
4. What is the cutoff grade for retakes? My students ask this every year. I do not have a cutoff. Some teachers only let students who make a failing grade retake. While I can see the reason they do this, I have had students come to me in tears because they lost privileges at home because a B or a low A isn't good enough. While for me, an 80% is good enough, I know that isn't always the case, for parents or students. I want students to be able to go home and say they did their best, even if it took 5 tries. If student A makes a 70 the first time and is just as upset with his work as Student B who made an 88, I think they both deserve the opportunity. 
5. Why the deadline? Since I am giving smaller, more frequent tests, students have multiple opportunities to prove their proficiency. Similarly, all my tests are cumulative and include material from previous tests. If a student does poorly, but progresses and starts making consistent grades, I have no problem breaking my deadline and re-assessing or changing the grade to reflect proficiency. The deadline is to help keep my and my children's sanity and also to make sure grades are in on time as required. 
6. How much credit can a child earn on a retake/resubmission? I give full credit where full credit is due. If I mean what I say when I say that I am grading based on standards and not on a set of assignments and that I truly only care about my students learning, then I cannot justify taking off credit when they get it perfect, even if it is after 1 or more attempts. 

I personally think re-testing is a key part to a successful classroom. I'd like to finish with a story. 

A student who has been struggling made a deal with me this past unit. (s)he and I agreed that, since the tests are cumulative, if (s)he came to tutoring every day for a week, and then retook our most recent test, if (s)he made a 90% (A) or better, I'd go back and change the previous grades to reflect this. The student came in every day and sat with various tutors, asked questions of both them and me, and retook the test. (S)he not only answered all the questions, where before many were left blank, but answered the bonus "What were you prepared to tell me that I did not ask" with detail, proving that he/she not only knew the words, but the story itself. All in all, the student made the A and the grade jumped. I've never seen such a grin, nor have I been prouder. Now, of course, I expect this level of work and if this student were to get into a bind again, I'd expect daily tutoring. But, if the student proves that (s)he knows the material, why shouldn't their grade reflect it?

Reconsidering Retakes

As a once over-achieving (okay, currently too. I need A's to live, okay?) student, my first instinct when I heard of teachers instituting a test-retake policy was to exclaim "But that's not fair!" because I remember my teenage self way too clearly and I'd have been appalled that someone else would get a second chance after I'd studied and "earned" my A.

Some of you are just as appalled when you think of retakes.

And you have good reason. I have seen retake policies grossly abused and mishandled. If a teacher allows students to retake anything they like AND the retake is not just over the same material, but is the exact same exam, students just fail the test and retake it after they've seen the questions. I worked at a school where retakes were school policy, not teacher policy, and teachers were not willing to do more than hand the same exam out. If you are forced to do something you don't agree with, if it is going to create more work for you, then you are likely to do the minimum to make your superiors happy.

However, I believe I am making retakes work in my classroom.

Before I go into how I offer retakes in my class, though, I want to go into why. Latin, like any language, like other subjects such as math, is a cumulative class. I am currently, with my Latin I's, laying a foundation. If there are gaps in the foundation, most likely the entire structure will crumble when I try to build it higher. So I really need my students to understand everything. Every piece of Latin that we do needs to be comprehended by my students before I can move on to the next. If I just keep pushing students forward with no incentive to revisit material they didn't master before, they will eventually topple over, and I will lose students to the murky "Latin is hard" realm. I need them to learn the material if they miss it the first time around.

So, I offer retakes. With many provisos.

1. Students must ask for a retake within one school day from the day they receive their graded assessment.
2. Students must attend a tutoring session during which we review the material covered and their assessment to find out what was understood and misunderstood and make sure students understand what the assessment is asking.
3. I then write a new assessment over the same material, with new questions and some previous questions (so they can't count on them not being on the retake). This is the assessment students take to replace their previous grade. They are never allowed to take the same test or quiz twice.

What I see in my classes as a result:

1. Mostly relaxation. Students are not stressed about quizzes or tests because they trust that they will be able to get the best grade they can.
2. Instead of students "cheating the system" by just failing whenever they like and then retaking, most students are still earning 90s and above on my assessments. I've assigned, graded, and returned three assessments, and only five students out of 190 (I have large classes this year) have bothered with a retake so far.
3. I get to work closely with struggling students without having to chase them down myself. I help them work on study habits, correct their misconceptions about the language, and generally get to know them.

I see retakes as more emphasis on mastery, which is what I look for in my classes. Miriam, in her previous blog post, talks about using Standards Based Grading (or as close to that as we can get with our required traditional grade books) and a retest policy for the same purpose. Mastery requires a good foundation, and retakes help me achieve one.

The Power of Study Guides and Data

There are few questions I despise more than "Will we get a study guide?" It isn't that I won't or that I hate study guides, but sometimes I feel like kids only ask that so that they don't have to listen during class. Having been a student for the better portion of my 25 years of life and having been a teacher during this age of testing and data overload, I feel as though I've been on both sides of the fence. Last and this year, I started something new with my testing practices and I'd like to share the successes, and failures, with you.

My testing has evolved over my short time in teaching from giving straight up paper tests to online testing. I started with paper testing and paper study guides, then moved to paper study guides and online tests, and this year I am doing online tests and online study guides. I hope to provide some tools and reasoning that you can take back to your classroom and school and give you a heads up about struggles you may face if you decide to go digital.

Paper Tests
 
This seems to be everyone's starting place and is a comfortable place. Even in my second year of giving online tests, I still feel more comfortable with a paper test. Maybe because it is physical and it isn't just pointing and clicking. One of the reasons I feel like I like paper tests is that it requires more than pointing and clicking, it seems like there would be less room for mistake, but many times students will mark incompletely, mark two, or just skip a question. I can't go back while grading at home and ask "which one did you mean" or, "You skipped #5, what answer would you have marked". I also think the argument, "well they didn't bother to double check, so why should I ask them" is invalid, especially if we are only grading on student knowledge. I ultimately abandoned paper tests for the most part due to the things listed below. I will sometimes still give a paper test to a student, especially if they have computer anxiety, consistently do not test well despite proving good study habits, or if they are retaking at test for me.

Positives of paper tests

• I automatically have to take time to grade each and may catch mistakes not seen before.
• Easy to hand back for review or grading
• Easy to put pictures, charts, etc. with little formatting problems
• Good for students who take extra time to think, require an aural test, feel rushed at a computer, or who like to doodle while testing (yes, I was one of those)

Negatives of paper tests

• cannot get immediate feedback and data must be hand entered
• Lots of extra work for teachers whether grading, looking at demographics, or collecting other data
• not good for students with general test anxieties, students who are intimidated by writing, or who cannot write well
• Easy for students to make a mistake by skipping, double answering, etc.
• Students must wait days/weeks to get a grade back and, if they did poorly, cannot immediately work on areas needing improvement.

Online Tests
 
These can be daunting, especially since some state tests require it and it is now the "hip" thing to do. Those of us who don't feel technologically savvy can feel overwhelmed with all the options and sometimes this is more complicated than it should be. I'd love to hear what programs or websites you use. Personally, I like Quia. Quia makes it really easy to create a variety of complex or simple quizzes and breaks down scores in a number of ways. Online testing makes data collection easy as most of the websites and programs I've seen break down data for you. When students take a test I have access to the class average, the middle grade, the highest, and the lowest grades. I also have access to specific question data, as in how many students got it wrong or right. Many people are nervous about online testing in regards to student mistakes and anxiety. I have not seen any massive difference in anxiety levels in students. Many who panic on paper tests were calm at the online test. I did find that if a student was extremely accustomed to a paper test, it took two to three tests for them to become comfortable with an online test. Once this happened, however, it was second nature to them. Many online tests can be set up so that a student is notified if they don't answer a question. They can also choose to skip a question if they don't know it and don't want to try. With this method I give an online test originally and, if the student retests, I give a paper test. This eliminates any mistakes on the computer and also gives a second medium to compare to.

Positives of Online Tests

• Seems to help eliminate some anxiety, especially over time.
• Students get immediate feedback and can, depending on what you choose, see the correct answers or just see what they got wrong. Students can go back and review without waiting for a teacher
• Data is easily organised and, with some sites and programs, downloadable. Data is clear and easy to read and analise.
•  Teachers can control how students take the test from how many questions they see to whether or not they can right click. This can helps with anxiety and security.
• Without the hassle of extra printing or copy and pasting, teachers can create multiple versions of the same test or use a test bank.

Negatives of Online Tests

• Can require some technological knowledge and can be complicated to use the first time
• require the use of a computer lab or laptops
• when typing, student noise is louder
• students may require scratch paper if you allow it. 
• Because grading is automatic, sometimes teachers may not catch their own mistakes. That being said, the automatic collection of data can help fix this and easily point out "bad questions".
• If the internet/network goes down, so does the test.

Paper Vs. Online Study Guides

Having done a variety of these, I thought it would just be best to compare these side by side, simply. Additionally, most of my information about the usefulness of these comes directly from student input. Below I am comparing a traditional Q&A/fill in the blank paper study guide and a reloadable online study guide. I have colour coded it to make it easy to read Blue for student input and Red for teacher input.

Topic	Paper Study Guide	Online Study Guide
Ease of Access	great to have physical copy, easy to leave behind; hard for absent students to get a copy	can’t usually print; easy to find; absent students are included; students can access, if available, throughout the chapter for practice, students can re access for review
Usefulness	students forget work from class, cannot re-do answers, straight memorisation	students must re-do work at home, can play multiple times, can take time to look at wrong AND right answers
relation to test	if put in same format, students might memorise exactly; often difficult to prepare for with; can be misleading (students just look over it and assume they are ready)	often not in same format, students can receive questions from a bank (forces them to have to play multiple times)
“fun” factor	students are easily bored, can only do once, may be intractive in class, but not at home	students can play many times and ways, a variety of activities, very interactive

I am more and more convinced that a traditional paper study guide does not serve students the best way possible. While it is definitely helpful to go over this material in class as a review, students often do not remember how they got the correct answer at home. By providing games and study guides that students repeatedly do, they start to figure things out on their own... and studying becomes less of a daunting task that they put off until the last minute.

So.... what does my data look like? Students' grades, for the most part, increased one letter grades when we switched to online testing with paper study guides, but this was inconsistent at best. The class average remained in the C range. It really depended on a variety of factors that weren't consistent enough to make an argument for it. This year, we switched to online study guides and various techniques including timed writes, embedded stories, TPRS, etc. Most student grades are high Bs and low As with quite a few high As. There still were some students who made Cs and Ds and Fs, but there were much fewer. When I polled students about this combination and our class practices (see future post on weekly schedules), this was the overwhelming response:

1. Students are more motivated to study because it is fun and they see a purpose behind it
2. Classroom techniques this year have really helped them understand and make connections (particularly with the technique called embedded stories)
3. I should give them more time and more opportunities to read after I tell a story.
4. Students enjoy being able to play a game over and over and never get all the same questions.
5. Students like being able to see the right answers, but still be able to play again and try again before the test, whereas with paper study guides they wrote the answer down and that was it.

Online testing may not work for everyone. I still use paper tests and I will continue to use paper tests for a number of reasons. My goal is to reach as many students as possible in as many helpful ways as possible and I think we've hit on something important in regards to comprehensible input, technology, and by using games in the classroom. I know I am looking forward to more results from my students. I also know that I will continually re assess my methods and update them as necessary.

ACL Institute: The ACTFL Latin Reading Test

I am sincerely sorry that I haven't been posting as of late.  As most of you who are teachers know, summer is a time of rest; it is also a time to research and learn, plan and collaborate, and restore your family connections.  I spent a great deal of June traveling with my son, and less time focusing my energy on writing.

I did, however, attend the American Classical League Annual Institute in Las Vegas this summer, and though I was often busy with various duties (I am a board member in the Excellence Through Classics committee), I was glad for the chance to attend several presentations.

Over the next few posts, I'll be writing about some of the presentations that I attended.

ACTFL Latin Reading Proficiency Test

Presented by Sherwin Little and Sally Davis

One of the things that sometimes makes it difficult to be a Latin teacher is the way we're perceived by the wider world and even the smaller world of language teachers.  I can't count the number of times that I have been disregarded with well-meaning smile and a simple, "Oh, well, that doesn't apply to Latin, does it?"

Several wonderful people have been working on at least a step towards unifying Latin and modern language assessment.  A team of teachers and experts, composed of both ACL and ACTFL members, has been creating a reading proficiency test for Latin.  The important thing to note there is it's a reading proficiency test.  Not translation.  It's an important distinction.

Reading indicates a process of comprehension that is holistic instead of step-by-step.  If a student doesn't get a word or understand a point of grammar, can the student still comprehend the passage?  In a traditional translation-based test, both of those setbacks can be worth points off.  In a reading-based test, these setbacks don't necessarily prevent a student from understanding the passage itself and correctly and accurately answering comprehension questions concerning the passage.

Proficiency reflects the skill students display when reading a text they have never seen before.  Can they cope with new textual readings?  Are they only capable of reading simple lists or can they comprehend a paragraph as they read it?  The test will measure student capability and assign it a designation based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Reading.

What is great about this test is that it only tracks progress.  A proficiency test does not assign a grade or measure our students against students in other places in the world.  It simply reflects the skills students have developed under the guidance of a teacher.  I could see this as a great tool for those of us who are being asked to start measuring student progress from year to year as proof of our educational success.

Okay, so what is in the test?  I've been talking a lot of theory and not a whole lot of reality.

The test is comprised of Latin texts at all levels, and comprehension questions in English.  There are no glossed words, just the text and the questions.  When the student answers a question right, the test will automatically probe into a higher proficiency level by asking a harder question.  If a student answers a question wrong, the test will move back into a question that is aimed at a lower proficiency, until it finds an area of consistent comprehension.  This type of test--computer-adaptive--has existed for a while but until now it hadn't been applied to Latin.  

Five years ago when I asked a company's representative--he was at a conference to present over their new computer-adaptive tests in different languages--whether there could be one in the works for Latin, the answer was "there isn't enough demand".  

Luckily, ACTFL is not just about supply and demand.  And perhaps they noticed a trend in Latin instruction that could support such a project.  The test itself is only $10 and is administered on a computer.  Because my district is asking us to start measuring progress in our classrooms, tools like this have suddenly become very valuable to me.

So, overall, I'm very happy about this initiative.  I believe it is a step forward toward a culture of Latinists who read Latin for pleasure, not for the privilege of parsing the words. 

Fighting the -itis: a look at review games

The time of year from the beginning of April through the last day of school can be major crunch time for Latin teachers, or any foreign language teacher. Final exams must be written and revised, year-end paper work piles up, and phone calls to parents must be made. Many teachers assign final projects, assignments, or tests in those final weeks. Students get tired, irritable (well we all do), and willing to do anything to bump that grade up a few points. Even in my two and a half years teaching, this pattern has been easy to pick up on and easy to become a part of. This year, I wanted to do something different. We spent 3 weeks prior to the last two weeks of school doing Project Based Learning (which I plan to post on after some more experiments) and the last two weeks reviewing. In this post, I plan to lay out some very basic, yet completely customisable review games as well as my rating of each. Some schools have already let out, some (like mine) have one week left, and some have a few weeks left. I hope that, either way, you find some things you can use and I'd love to get some ideas from you as well!

1. Progressus -- This game was introduced to me by my father, Bob Patrick, although I am not certain if it is his originally. The rules are fairly simple. The goal is to get all students into the "safe zone" which you designate in the classroom. Each student gets asked a question. If the student gets it right, they go into the safe zone where they wait. If they get it wrong, the question is asked of the safe zone. Those students not in the safe zone do not get to collaborate and mus answer on their own. Students in the safe zone are allowed time to collaborate (I give 20 seconds). If they get it right, they are safe. If they get it wrong, they go back to their seats and must earn space in the safe zone again. I have found that many students really enjoy this game. They get exposure to many questions in one class period without a lecture or simply filling out a review sheet. They can see what other students know, learn from them, and are often surprised and just want they do know themselves. The game can go on a whole period (and often does), but if you offer an incentive and let kids know the day before, most of the time they will review and come prepared. I don't like this game for every chapter test, but I do enjoy it for a cumulative review. 
2. Speed Dating -- I learned this game from this website. I love many of the games and ideas this website has to offer and I encourage you to give it a look! I am able to adapt most of the activities to a spoken method classroom as well. In this game, you have students fill out a time card. One person for each time slot (I do 1 pm- 8 pm). I often require that they never use the same person more than once except in odd circumstances. The teacher calls out a time and students move to that partner. The teacher asks two questions with time to answer between each one (I give two minutes). I like this activity because it gets the kids moving and talking to people they normally would not. Students bounce ideas off each other, ask each other questions, and work together to get the answer. You can simply do this as a review or collect it for a grade. I have found that most students enjoy this game, but those who prefer a passive role in the classroom will complain about moving or working with people they don't like. This game takes the whole period, but you can review a lot of material in that time. 
3. Mala Malis -- The lovely Rachel Ash made Apples to Apples for Latin and I took the time this year to print out the cards and use it to review vocabulary for my kids. Next year, I plan to let my kids make their own decks as an assignment to review vocabulary from the previous year. The rules are the same for basic Apples to Apples. Each player gets 5-7 red cards (which all have vocabulary on them). One person chooses a green card (with another word on it) and the other players put down cards they think make the best, funniest, most logical, etc connection to the green card. The person who chose the green card, chooses their favourite and a new leader is chosen and a point given. This game give the students an opportunity to make their own connections to vocabulary and imagine new uses for words. It gets them thinking. I like to use this game in stations where students rotate and play many games in one class period. I have yet to find a student who does not enjoy Apples to Apples... in Latin or English.
4. Jeopardy -- This is often the go to for teachers doing review. Most students recognise the game and can easily follow along. You can do a variety of questions and it includes a "betting" aspect which makes the game more interesting. I rarely use this game. Some students want to play the game just as they do on TV and argue with students who don't answer in question format. Some students argue about how many points one can "bet", etc. For me, there are too many places where students can get upset over minor details. Set-up can take a while too: choosing teams or choosing students to go first, etc. I enjoy being able to put questions into categories, but find it difficult to to make them harder and harder each step without overdoing it or underdoing it.
5. Volo/Nolo -- This game came from a website that Rachel Ash led me to. I like that this game comes with cards and instructions already to go. The game was easy to play and the students really enjoyed it. For upper level courses, I changed the "volo/nolo" part to a "spero/dico". This way they had to practice indirect statements. I'd love to see other versions of this game that practice sentence construction in a controlled way!
6. Simple Silly Sentences -- This game is also from this same website. While students also enjoyed this game, many found the directions a bit hard to follow. That being said, it was easy to explain and once they understood it, they really enjoyed it. This game is really easy to modify for upper levels, and since it includes animals, the kids really enjoyed making the sentences and getting the points.
7. Vocabulary Boggle -- This is a game that I got from Patrick Yaggy. Very similar to the idea of Boggle, this game review vocabulary and, like Mala Malis, gets kids thinking about ways vocabulary words are used and how vocabulary words go together. Students are put into groups and the teacher chooses the vocabulary list. Students are given a set time (I give 5 minutes) to place words into categories (i.g. Dinner cena, vinum, cibum, mensa, triclinium). After this, students compare lists in the group and for each unique word and category, students get points. I find that it challenges students to start thinking about how words play off each other. They want to beat their group mates, so they get creative with their categories. 

This is not, by any means, a complete list. These games are the ones that I used this year and have used most often. I fully recommend that you check out the links listed. They are very cool websites with lots of ideas! I find that these seven games are very easy to play with all levels and every level can get some sort of review out of it.

So, I'd like to ask you for some feedback here (shameless begging really). Did you have a different experience with these games? Are there games not listed here that should be? I am always looking for new ideas and I'd love to feature some of your suggestions too!