Instead of Standardized Testing, Consider Portfolio Assessment
Since learning is so nuanced, so too should be the means in which we assess it. Let’s offer students the opportunity to be seen as whole
people who can demonstrate different skills and knowledge in a plethora of ways over a period of time.
Student Self-Assessment Practices That Work
Self-assessment is a valuable tool as it gives students the ability to really consider their learning and equally
as importanly, share that understanding with the teacher. Once we understand what students know and can do, both demonstrated in the work and their ideas about the work, we can adjust instruction and/or class pacing as needed. The more adept students become with this tool, the better tailored class time and assessments can be.
How you Communicate with Learners is Key to their Success
There are many ways to communicate learning with
students. Whether providing comments on Google docs, sending Voxes or short videos, teachers
have many means to effectively communicate with their learners. We need to know our students
well enough to select the best means for each one. Know how your students like to hear feedback
and then do your best to provide it in that manner.
A better way to report learning
What is the function of a student report card? What does it seek to communicate? How effectively do most student report cards share information about individual student achievement? What if we rebranded our communication loop? What would that look like?
Changing The Way We Think About Assessment
Changing The Way We Think About Assessment Written By: Starr Sackstein It seems like a blur now, the beginning of the summer. Almost like a dream when I had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most amazing people for a wonderful project. The three-day writing journey was one I’ll never forget and one that […]
Deepen Reflection, Deepen Learning
Teachers can learn a lot from asking students to reflect and self-assess against the standards and we do the students and ourselves a disservice by not making it an expectation. Perhaps writing a reflection like this isn’t appropriate for every class, maybe a video or voice recording would be better.
Compliance Isn’t Mastery of Learning
As every new year begins, so does the adventure. After you’ve had time to reflect on this past school year, what will be your five goals for next
year?
Teaching Students to Understand Standards
What good are standards if students don’t understand them? Students need to understand the expectations, in a language that makes sense to them, so why not have them rewrite them?
When Students Design the Assessment, Everyone Wins
Sometimes we throw ideas into the wind in our classroom and hope for the best. Even when we are intentional there are times that we just don’t know what will happen when we pass the baton to the kids. But this is a risk we must take because keeping control for ourselves, grossly limits the […]
Report Cards Don’t Adequately Communicate Learning
Grades don’t communicate learning, even the students are starting to see that. Read on to see one student’s take on report cards and why they
fail at assessing student learning.