Reflect after reading Chapters 12-14:
How do we check for understanding in a thinking classroom? What might formative assessment look like?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
I am so glad I got to these chapters before starting our bookclubs in Language Arts. These concepts would apply to any content area. I love the ideas about creating the rubrics with the arrows and having students help to create what a book club discussion should look and sound like. I did implement a self assessment instructional practice with ELA standards for some units. Students kept track of their own knowledge checks to assess where they needed help. When asking the students if knowledge checks made them feel more prepared for the test, they emphatically said yes. The other thing that came from this self assessment practice is that students who had test anxiety told me they were much less anxious about the unit assessments, because they had been successful on their knowledge checks. I wish all of the education world would read the last chapter about grading systems. Coming from middle school, where we had to enter grades and final grades were taken as the average, always struck me wrong. I was that teacher that went in and objectively changed grades. I couldn't allow a student who worked so hard in class and made HUGE improvement by the end of the grading period, receive a D because they had a rough start. Also, the zero grade for not turning work in. Don't get me started on that one. Motivation and responsibility are totally separate than evaluating knowledge acquired. I love how the students grade is based on where they were successful. It also seems like it would give students motivation, even if they have had a rough start. It's got my mind spinning about how I can take the self assessment I already have in place and make it look more like the performance grids in this chapter. I've gotten so much out of this book study.
ReplyDeleteI found the ideas in chapter 12 around evaluating what we value really interesting! This idea of evaluating the competencies that are vital for students in a thinking classroom reinforces to students that these skills are important. I liked the idea of co-creating the rubric and keeping it simple, without all the headings and different stages in between. Having students use the rubric to self-evaluate as well as the teacher is so important.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12 might just be my favorite chapter. Like Diana, I too can see how these types of rubrics can be used across content areas, not just math. The idea of keeping rubrics simple with 2 columns initially for K-1 and also keeping them mostly visual resonates with me! I really like the example of a collaboration rubric on pg. 216, I could definitely see using this. I like this shift from a rubric as a "collection of discrete levels" to a continuum. I also like the insights about how feedback is important, but the findings are that what makes the most impact is how we help students retain and organize feedback. Something that I am still processing and thinking about is how to shift grading. Chapter 14 made me think and reflect a lot on my grading and test taking practices!
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ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the idea of using observational rubrics that are created based on a t-chart students contributed to. Observational rubrics are accessible to all students and allow students to take charge of their learning based on where they are and make changes. The arrow is so much more encouraging. I can see myself using my looks like sounds like class expectations in the fall and turning them into a rubric, what a great way to support students with class expectations.
Grading is something I struggle with so often. Do students simply get a point for the right answer and no points for the wrong answer. I have been struggling with this with my most recent math assessment. I have students that miscounted the total number of base-10 pieces and were off by one 1 even though their work was right. They understand the concepts and are meeting the standard but with the right/wrong style of grading they are receiving “credit” for what they do know.
I'm definitely going to echo the comments here and say that the idea of using and modifying rubrics is really resonating with me too. I think we all, to some degree, gather student input to gauge what learning should look like in certain settings and what it should not look like. Furthermore, it would make sense to include them on how they should be evaluated based on their competencies while working on a task or another content area, such as the book clubs that Diana mentioned. We already can see how students are more likely to "buy in" to what we do when they are involved and this seems to be a great way to have them be accountable for their thinking. It makes me think about other areas, like writing especially, where we can modify the rubrics we use to have them be more useful for students. I found it interesting how it was noted that teachers couldn't even put the rubrics they use back together in the correct way when tasked with doing so. I can't say I would be able to do so either with the way they are typically formatted.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminds me of the level of engagement scale we looked at on our ELA day. I feel like that could be a great competency to start with, especially given where the kids are now that school is coming to a close.