Written by After my last post, Justin was astute and kind enough to point out a flaw in my HMW question: it was so specific that it was answering itself. The first order of business then was to re-craft my question in time for the face-to-face at the WE Global learning centre in January. My question now reads:
How might we use self-assessment and reflection in primary music classes in order to maximize student ownership and motivation?
The reflection activity I was in the process of conducting before the face-to-face went really well. One of the side effects of working with my class to be more reflective and goal-centred is that they are more focused during class time. Here are a few examples of goals that my students set for themselves:
We are currently preparing the second solo for our digital portfolios. This time, students know what to expect, and we have revisited their goals in preparation for next week’s recording sessions. I can’t wait to see how they do! I plan to use the same self-assessment tool I used last time, even though it wasn’t perfect, so I can compare their assessments more accurately. Re-thinking this tool is something I want to focus on for next year.
At the beginning of my cohort21 journey, attention span and reporting were issues that I raised in searching for my question. I have explained above that attention span has improved, but I can now say that my report card comments for this class (just finished on Friday!) were easier to write because I felt that they were grounded in evidence and student ownership. This is really making me feel great these days!