Question #1:
When reflecting on the idea of Urgent vs Important, it quickly became evident that up until this year, I rarely separated the two. I am notorious for marking all things school-related urgent on my to-do list. In fact, despite having my plate full, I always seem to be adding to my workload, thinking that somehow doing more will make me a better teacher. I have heard wonderful things about Cohort 21, so when the opportunity came along to sign up, I jumped on the opportunity to participate. After the first face-to-face session, it quickly became obvious that I had it all wrong. I realized that it was time to start prioritizing and reflecting on what is most important to the success of not only my students, but to me as a teacher.
One goal that I have always wanted to work towards is authentic and efficient assessment practices in an upper elementary classroom. I hope to gain a better understanding of the ways in which technology can aid my assessment practices and apply the practices to my program throughout the year.
Question #2:
The strand that I chose to focus on was Pedagogy and Wellbeing (JK-6) because it is of great importance that after multiple years of disruption, that my students leave my classroom feeling competent and confident. My hope is that I can help students learn how to reflect on their learning so that they have a vested interest in their own success, rather than looking for external rewards. After learning remotely for the past two years, it quickly became obvious that the students who thrived in the remote learning environment were the students who were motivated to learn because they genuinely wanted to build their knowledge. My hope this year is to provide students with the opportunity to reflect on their own learning and to foster an environment where students are knowledge-builders because THEY want to be.
So glad you joined Cohort 21! Looking forward to your posts.
@roneill – Looking forward to your first post before our Nov 20th 2nd F2F – Please reach out to your facilitator should you need any help @nblair
Great first post. I really liked your comment “My hope this year is to provide students with the opportunity to reflect on their own learning and to foster an environment where students are knowledge-builders because THEY want to be”. There are great colleagues in this season that can support you getting in front of the right research, examples, and most importantly getting you in front of the right question!
See you soon,
Garth.
Such great reflections. I also found that the students who thrived during remote learning were the ones who were intrinsically motivated. I love the idea of students becoming the knowledge builders they want to be! This is definitely something I am working on in my classroom as well! I look forward to hearing more about what you are doing in your classroom at our next face to face!
Hey @roneill!! We need to be friends! I am a fellow grade 5 teacher and am looking into assessment this year as well. I’m new to being a classroom teacher (only in my second year; spent years in the library prior to covid) and would love to pick your brain and chat more about internal motivations for student learning. Can’t wait to connect on Saturday 🙂
Also, @cventrillon and @etenhagen are going to be amazing resources on this subject, having both taught Upper Elementary for a number of years.
Hi Nicole,
Thanks so much for reaching out! I would be very happy to team up and share some ideas regarding assessment in upper elementary classrooms! I’m looking forward to connecting. In the meantime, feel free to reach out via email, [email protected] if you have any questions in particular that you would like to chat about.