Assessment Time!

So many students live in fear of the word ‘assessment’ because we are afraid of performing poorly.  I think for a lot of kids growing up, myself included, your self-worth was reflected in the grade at the top of your test.  That grade was going to influence what my teacher thought of me, my parents thought of me, and what I thought of myself, because more than anything I wanted people to think of me as smart.  Students are so focused on the number, the prize at the end that they are missing out on the actual learning experiences.  I believe this line of thinking kills the love of learning.  

We need to start teaching students that assessments are not something to be afraid of, they are opportunities to shine and show teachers what they have learned.  Drake, Reid, & Kolohan (2014), discuss the benefits of involving students in the assessment process. Effective peer and self-assessment rely on being assessment literate (Drake et al., 2014).  This to me seems like a team effort between both students as well as teachers.  Teachers and students need to work together to make sure not only the content is understood, but what will be expected of them assessment wise as well.  Dr. Eddy White (2009), created a slideshow on what it means to be assessment literate, and notes that above all thing the goal of assessment should be to improve both learning and teaching.  By having students involved more in the building of assessments hopefully it will make students more comfortable and less afraid to fail.  The image on the left was taken from Ed Prep Matters and it outlines how students do want to be involved in assessment building! By doing simple activities such having the class work with the teacher to create a rubric or the guidelines for a project can make everyone aware of what is required of them in order to succeed.  There are plenty of resources available, like education.com for teachers to become assessment literate and how this process can make their students more active learners!

Drake et al., (2014) also discuss peer-assessment as a way of creating assessment literacy.  By teaching students how to give appropriate, articulate feed back, (Drake et al., 2014) students begin to recognize ‘what about this was well done?’ ‘what could be done better?’  which in turn helps them be able to turn around and evaluate their own work in order to improve.  This helps students understand that learning is a process and there are always things that can be improved upon, there is always more we can learn, and more ways we can push ourselves.  It teaches students to become reflective, critical thinkers, connecting their work to their outcome, (Drake et al., 2014).  Although the comic above by Charles M. Schulz is meant to be humorous, it draws attention to the fact that it is important for students to understand where their grades are coming from, especially if we want them to take these experiences and improve on them for the future.  

I’m sure that many students have heard the words “pass your test to the person behind you to mark” but this is not true peer-assessment.  Students are one of the best resources a teacher can use!  Feedback is so valuable in becoming an active learner, so we should teach students to take advantage of it from a young age.  As adults we constantly rely on the input and feedback from our peers in order to present our best work, so why shouldn’t students do so as well.  Unfortunately, likely every student can think of an assessment experience that was less than positive, however by incorporating students into our assessment practices we can help students get to a play where assessment becomes a reflection of growth that they are not afraid of, instead they are eager to demonstrate what they have learned. 

References

Barnes, S. (2014).  Report Shows Need for Better Assessment Literacy.  Ed Prep Matters.  http://edprepmatters.net/2014/05/report-shows-need-for-better-assessment-literacy/

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Schultz, C.M., (2015). "C". http://www.peanuts.com/comics/#.VjlcEa6rSt8

White, E. PhD. (2009). Assessment literacy for effective classroom-based assessment.  http://www.slideshare.net/ewhite/assessment-literacy-effective-classroombased-assessment-presentation-907377

Witte, R. H. PhD. (2010).  Assessment Literacy in Today’s Classroom.  Education.com. http://www.education.com/reference/article/assessment-literacy-todays-classroom/

Knowing Your Students

Charlotte (2012). http://fabulous5thgradefun.blogspot.ca/2012/08/getting-to-know-your-who.html 

Teachers and students are together on average 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, 10 months of the year so it is pretty easy to get familiar with one another.  What we as teacher need to do is use this familiarity to provide students with the best possible learning opportunities.  Getting to know your students can be vital in order to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and influence the way you teach them, (Drake, Reid, & Kolohan, 2014).  Although there are some parts of the curriculum that we will be teaching year after year, every student and how they learn will be different.  In order to maintain a growth mindset teachers need to be willing to evolve their techniques rather than just giving lessons or assessments the same way over and over because they ‘worked’ a few times.  

Getting to know students interests and experiences can help us make students more interested in what is being taught, especially if we can take those interests and create a connection to the curriculum.  I think these is sometimes a stigma around teaching in that people think our approach is “we’re just going to give you the information and if you can’t learn it, that’s your fault.”  Getting to know what our students like and dislike, what they are good at, what they need help with, and what teaching methods works best, will show people that our intent is for students to succeed, not to just throw curriculum at them.  

The benefits of actually learning about your students are endless.  We don’t even have to keep the learning restricted to just in the class.  Drake et al., (2014) discuss how learning about students’ home lives, including social, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds can help us enhance their experiences in the classroom.  We can find ways to create a classroom environment that adheres to everyone.  For example if we know students come from a lower SES area we can do our best to provide snacks, for students from different cultures we can find ways to include their diversity, and even more we can find ways to make all these unique attributes connect to curriculum to make learning relevant and interesting.  

THIS BLOG by Education World outlines some amazing thought on the value of actually getting to know your students.  The allow us to recognize changes in emotion which can help to see if students are having good or bad days. They let us see them as unique personalities, which can be beneficial in seeing who works well together and defusing problems. Additionally, it tells students that you care about them as people, which can help you gain respect in the classroom.  

There are tons of resources on line as well that can aid teachers to developing positive relationships with their students.  THIS WEBSITE by OLE Community has made a list of creative ways to get to know your students and build a strong environment.  The image on the right is from a website call Teachers Pay Teachers that offers resources.  A sheet as simple as this can help build a bond.  

From a students perspective I know how valuable these bonds can be to build with a teachers.  In high school I had some issues resulting in a suspension, but because I had already developed ties with my teachers they were all really kind and understanding.  No one made me feel like I was a bad kid, just made a bad decision.  One even said that if anyone gave me a hard time to let them know and she would take care of it.  These responses made me feel really respected and made me more determined to do well in class, especially in the ones of the teachers who reached out to me.  I hope that by getting to know my students I will be able to develop these relationships that inspire children to succeed and give them the best possible learning environment.  

References

Charlotte (2012). http://fabulous5thgradefun.blogspot.ca/2012/08/getting-to-know-your-who.html 

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Education World (2012).  The secret weapon: Getting to know your students.  The New Teacher Advisor.  http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald013.shtml

OLE Community (2013).  56 creative ways to get to know your class.  http://olecommunity.com/56-ways-to-get-to-know-your-class/

Teachers Pay Teachers (2012).  "Getting to Know You"- learn about each student in your class.  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Getting-to-Know-You-learn-about-each-student-in-your-class-246790

21st Century Learning

        As times change, it is the responsibility of education to change with it.  We embrace new teaching practices, new technology, and especially new curriculum.  One of the topics brought up in "Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment," (Drake, Reid, & Kolohan, 2014) is the concept of 21st-Century Skills and how they are to be woven into the classroom.  The picture on the right shows the Stratford High School rubric expectations in regards to 21st-century learning.  This shows how these concept can be adapted to meet different requirements in the school.  Among the list of competencies discussed in the text were creativity, cultural and ethical citizenship, and computer and digital technologies, (Drake, Reid, & Kolohan, 2014).  Specifically these three skills stand out to me because I think they really embody our evolving world of education.   

        Firstly, creativity can be discussed in regards to design thinking or problem solving, as mentioned in the text.  One of the challenges students of the 21st Century will face is that of originality.  We as university students are already coming up against this, not only for plagiarism’s sake, but simply being able to make our work stand out.  When we all have access to the same information, how do we make ourselves unique?  If we’re now being measured against not only our immediate peers, but being compared to students from around the world, we truly need to stress to students the importance of creativity in work.  Uniformity may have been the educational trend in the past, even looking at standardized assessments, but with a world of information at our finger tips, we need to show students how to make their own unique impression on that world.  Take this blog assignment for example, we are each given the same guide lines, the same access to information, however, how we design our page and how we write are going to be what make us stand out.  We need to start instilling this drive to be unique to students at a younger age, because they are the ones who will be growing up in the technological world.  

        Also listed in needed competencies was cultural and ethical citizenship, as well as computer and digital technologies.  I am going to focus on these two topics together as I find they intertwine.  As I mentioned before, with our technological advances we have an entire world of information on a screen right in front of us.  As technology develops, I feel that we as educators have a responsibility to use it.  Not only does this tie to the idea of digital literacy and making sure students can safely and effectively maneuver through an online world, but it also gives students pictures of the world they could never have seen before.  The internet has given us the ability to see through the looking glass, so to speak, at the other side of the globe.  By expanding our educational resources we can actually connect to people and issues on the other side of the world! We can use this information to teach students on issues anywhere in the world, whether it be Asia, Africa, or even in our own backyard.  We can use this new information to really teach children what it means to be a cultural and ethical citizen, in our community and our world.  

 This video was created by the Australian Institute  for Teaching and School Leadership discuses the  benefits of integrating technology and 21st-century  learning into the classroom.

 Although this video is designed for the Australian  curriculum system it brings up some important  points, such as how opening ourselves up to these  advancements will create life-long learners in  students.  This blog also outlines how Ontario  school boards are adapting to meet 21st Century  Learning Expectations.   Mentioning how one of  the key aspects is to prepare students for an ever  changing, technology-based world.  

When I was in eighth grade, my classroom was lucky enough to be the first in our school board to receive a Smart Board.  I personally believe that having this resource benefitted me as a student as we were able to use technology to enhance our learning.  Not only were we able to to easily connect to the internet and keep up to date on many news stories, but we were able to be given information in a new and creative way.  Whether it was having visual aids in math to being able to access interactive maps for social studies, I believe this technological advancement really impacted my school.  By embracing skills of the 21st-century we have the ability to open students minds to a whole new landscape of education.  We can give them the opportunity to grow and advance into a new technological world that did not exist in years prior.  By teaching 21st-century skills students can have the chance to succeed in making a unique, global impact.  

References 

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2012, May 7).  21st Century Education (Video File). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA1Aqp0sPQo. 

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

EduGAINs. (2014). About 21st Century Learning in Ontario. http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/21stCenturyLearning/about_learning_in_ontario.html

Stratford Board of Education. (2015). Stratford High School 21st Century Learning Expectations.  http://stratfordhigh.stratfordk12.org/Content/21st_Century_Skills_1.asp