"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking." — Voltaire
What question guided your inquiry and action plan?
‘I Loved Her First’ – Heartland
How might we expand assessments to improve student agency and meaningful and timely feedback loops?
‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ – The Beatles
How might we share and celebrate student understanding to engage students in their own learning?
‘The Final Cut’ – Pink Floyd
How might we share and celebrate student learning to increase student agency and engagement in their own understanding?
In all honesty I am still not sure about the final wording (and maybe it doesn’t matter) of my question. I took a course a few years ago with Ron Richhart, Creating Cultures of Thinking. I learned a lot in this course but one thing that stood out for me the most was when they underscored that the culture of our schools and classrooms are living in the messages we send. A simple, yet important belief. With this in mind, much of my work this year in Cohort has focused on ensuring that we are, in fact, assessing what we value.
According to research out of Harvard’s Project Zero, there are 6 dispositions that we need to prioritize in classrooms – open-mindedness, truth seeking and understanding, strategizing, skepticism and, the two they deem the most important are, curiosity and metacognition. Both areas that have to be intentionally embedded in our assessment practices. How are students to gain a true awareness of their own thought processes and understanding when they are waiting for their teachers to tell them their levels of understanding? How will they feel comfortable to take a risk, make a mistake or go out on a limb if they are constantly worried about the “right” answer or what the teacher is looking for?
I will continue to walk the talk and place value on learning and the process of understanding rather than work completion and product. I will continue to include feedback that acknowledges effort and actions versus just ability. I will continuously try to capture thinking and not just outcomes. This is where my question came from!
What did I do and what impact did it have?
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” — Herbert Spencer
I started reading…a lot. Articles, books, quotes, feedback. I read about the importance of assessment in a student’s learning journey.
I took a critical look at my own assessments, surveyed the students, focused on their social and emotional learning and tried to “mix it up a bit” with different types of assessments.
I co-constructed rubrics and expectations with my students, provided lots of feedback in different forms and shared my Cohort 21 Action Plan with them.
My ideals about assessment being integrated, including choice, connecting to big ideas, not only focused on content – seemed like good ideas, but were actually more difficult to write, mark and get buy-in from the students and other teachers. Change can be scary – I get it. The biggest impact of this action research was how I was able to work with my students to become partners with them in assessing their efforts. We shifted our focus from what was done to what can be done.
Here are a few links to my ideas and assessments:
Thinking Routines as ways to elicit deep thinking, assess what we say we value in the learning process. What I like about these routines is that there is no right answer, students need to think deeply and don’t know what the teacher is looking for.
Google Survey – to elicit student responses about assessment.
Road Maps in Math – red, yellow and green lights
Websites Self-Check – self-assessing the examples created, as well as their own
The power of non-examples – My Favourite No
Moving our table with curriculum expectations and levels to the bottom of the assessment (instead of right at the top) – small shift but speaks to what we value I think
Flipgrid as a tool for assessment – example math assessment
Started playing the song “Celebrate Good times…” at the beginning of the assessment and referred to them as Celebrations of Learning. I also had them share 5 things they are grateful for before beginning, to put that assessment into perspective (this really helped the worriers) – Thanks for these tips, Garth (students love it!)
Open Dialogue with students
Informal feedback
Importance of the language we use
Students at the center vs. the teacher
A focus on mindset and SEL in our assessments – Observation checklist for a Geometry assessment
Quick exit ticket ideas
The power of drama as a quick check in – just starting to explore this idea (tableaus, choral share…)
Things I would like to further explore:
Doc Appender (connect with Les McBeth)
Watch the video, The Classroom Experiment by Dylan William
Loom as a tool
The Single Point Rubric
Choice Boards
What did I learn in the process?
“Change is the end result of all true learning.”― Leo Buscaglia
I learned that the more I research and reflect, the more questions I have than answers. I learned that I am a lifelong learner that cares deeply about teaching and learning. I learned that I will keep pushing boundaries, asking tough questions, critically reflecting on my own practice and collaborating with colleagues. I learned that some things are easier said than done. I learned that I cannot do it all. I learned that I need to show myself grace.
Resources that I have used:
The Schools Our Children Deserve, Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and “Tougher Standards” Alfie Kohn
Social Studies: Innovative Approaches for Teachers, Nancy Maynes and Jennifer Straub
Creating Culture of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools, Ron Ritchhart
De-Testing and De-Grading Schools: Authentic Alternatives to Accountability and Standardization, Paul Thomas and Joe Bower
What is my big takeaway?
"Action comes about if and only if we find a discrepancy between what we are experiencing and what we want to experience." —Philip J. Runkel
I have strong beliefs and opinions about education, teaching and learning. My biggest takeaway is that as long as I keep putting my students in charge of their learning that I cannot go wrong. Teaching and learning as a reflective practice. Making sure that it is a collaborative relationship and that I am not the “keeper of knowledge” but a facilitator on their learning journey. On this journey, I think I have come to realize the students need tools to be able to measure their own success, they need to be able to understand what they understand, and have a toolkit of strategies to use when they don’t.
Like Catlin Tucker says, as teachers we need to continue taking risks, failing forward and embracing change – all of which I welcome!
What questions do I still have?
“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”— African Proverb
Are my individual small steps enough? Or do we truly need an overhaul of the system we find ourselves in?
Can change be small and incremental or big and bold?
How can I cast myself and my students in a different role? (these get engrained very quickly, hard to move past the traditional roles)
How can I include my students in the co-construction of assessment?
If success looks like students that are innovative, passionate, self-efficacious, creative, joyful, etc…Where is this reflected in our assessments?
How am I positioning myself to make thinking more routine in my classroom?
What is celebrated in my classroom: grades, progress, personal growth, something else? How so?