It was an inspiring and productive Saturday at The York School for our second Cohort 21 Face-to-face session. Working through the Design Thinking process allowed me to better synthesize my action plan and come up with a more solidified question. While it’s not quite finalized, it is more focused than 
when I started the day. My goal is to move away from heavy content and allow my students to steer their learning and the direction we take the course. Though this sounds terrifying to put the trust in them, I recognize that I need to set up parameters so that they have the tools to be successful. My approach is to have them take on their culminating project in March/ April….. RECORD SCRATCH….
That was the post I started writing at our last F2F in November and have been struggling to finish it until now, nearly 8 weeks later. The reason for my struggles stem from the fact that I couldn’t envision executing the question that I came up with at our last F2F. Though great, it did not resonate with what I really want and need to do. So after a m
uch-needed break and some thinking about my practice, I came to the conclusion that what I really needed to focus on is using more FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT tools. After a much-needed chat with @ddoucet and some guidance on how to go about my new plan (Assessment types), I flipped everything up in the air and am now focusing my attention on my students learning and meeting them where they are at and helping them get to where I want them to go. I am an Outdoor Education teacher after all!
I’ve been able to use several e-to
ols to help assess where my students are at and where we need to go. Tools such as Kahoot! (now requested daily), Socrative, Padlet and balls of knowledge (used at our F2F as balls of compliments) have allowed me to see if what I’m saying is a) actually being heard and b) allowing my students to make the connections that I want them to be making.
I’m feeling much more excited about my teaching and other ways in which Cohort 21 will help me with my profession and get me to focus on one or two things that will help make me better. Isn’t this what it’s really all about???
What formative tools do you use? Do you struggle with making course content more of a priority then your students learning?
Fantastic! Love how your AP changed mid flight.
Try – http://quizizz.com/ is a student centered version of Kahoot. You will love it.
Read this – http://learninginhand.com/blog/quizizz
J
Thanks for the blog Justin – will definitely look into this new tool.
Alaina,
Your blog reinforces so well the Cohort 21 message; – changing direction and/or focus with your action plan in mid flight is a positive step towards reaching where you really want to go. And how great is it that your students are engaged with your chosen formative assessment tools!
Thanks Jan, I’m feeling much better about the change and am finding it more beneficial for my practice.
Another suggestion of an assessment tool good for outdoor ed might be Plickers. https://plickers.com/
In a non-computer environment, each student would have a physical card (looks like a QR code) and holds it up, turned differently for their 4-option response. It’s basically a Dylan Wiliam ABCD card. You, with your phone’s camera, wave it across the crowd to pick up the responses and get instant, quantitative input.
But there are limitless options, and your new focus (rrrrrrrrrrrrip) is a good one!
Thanks Adam – this looks like a really easy way to get a quick snapshot of student learning. Thank you!
Alaina,
I love the new focus for your action plan! Also, perhaps selfishly, to benefit from all the ideas now floating around the comments section of your blog.
You might also want to check out DocAppender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfDOzKO1JvQ) (@ddoucet is a big fan), as you can create “tickets out the door” that then get curated / collected for each student. It is a great way for students to see and measure their own learning over the course of a unit / term / year!
A solid formative collection is definetly being generated from this. I have used doc appender before for my Community Service stuff but haven’t used it for feedback – great idea!
Sounds like you have found a stride that will carry learning forward for you and your students. Looking forward to hearing/reading more about your journey.