Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Assessment for Learning Poster
http://www.edugains.ca/resources/LearningMaterials/MathProcesses/MathProcesses_AfL-AaL.pdf
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Consider my boat Rocked.
Shift in my thinking #1: always make it meaningful.
I will definitely be on the lookout for 'adult uses for math'. Some I have already tried are http://www.worldometers.info/ , https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ as well as census data in tinkerplots. I'd like to try Google Earth (http://realworldmath.org).
Shift in my thinking #2: that every student gets what they need.
Assessment should be about individual growth, shouldn't it. We need to compare what the student did before we started the unit, to what they can do after learning took place. If a student could already make a pattern by changing 3 attributes before we start a lesson on patterning with 3 attributes, then maybe that student shouldn't just get an 'A' because they have reached the goal we have set out (maybe the bar should be set a bit higher)?
We do need to find meaningful ways for all students to show what they know. The hard part is deciding “when enough is enough”. Can we truly allow a student to spend as long as they need to – until they have mastered the task? Maybe it's more about finding a task that “gives students what they need for growth” than making sure they are 'at level'.
Shift in my thinking #3: don't focus so much on evaluation.
I need to focus more on learning and less on grading. Pushed by students and parents and administrators – this is so hard to accomplish. If we spend more time taking note of REAL and authentic expressions of THINKING in our classrooms it can be very hard to turn around and tack a grade on it. I use a lot of rubrics – I guess what I need to do is less focus on the level number and more focus on what is written inside the little box I have circled “student measurements are approximate, needs to work on ruler skills” or something like that.
Shift in my thinking #4: stop categorizing students as levels.
Have I ever said “oooh my level one's could never do that task” or “Josh, your work is always a level 4, do you feel like this is your best work”? Guilty. How about “We are grade 5 students here, we need to give grade 5 answers” yeah. I do try to resist doing this sort of categorizing, and I am slowly weeding it out of my vocabulary. Ever since I started this course I have tried using more open ended questions and parallel tasks, and taking student responses as 'their best attempt'. The neat thing is that these types of REAL problems engage students, and inspire them to do their personal best. The fact that they don't find the work too easy or too hard really helps them be themselves too (in fact sometimes kids who I may have targeted as 'my level ones' have surprised me with brilliant answers, where a paper and pencil worksheets would have previously left them in the dust)
Shift in my thinking #5: Group work is great, but it can't be the only way we do things.
Is it fair to give everyone in the group the same grade? I use group work for many things, but I really should use it less for my culminating task. If I want kids to make a thermos to measure temperature and capacity – it is just easier to have groups so that I don't end up with 30 thermoses. In the future, my group work will be more formative and less for evaluation.
I will definitely be on the lookout for 'adult uses for math'. Some I have already tried are http://www.worldometers.info/ , https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ as well as census data in tinkerplots. I'd like to try Google Earth (http://realworldmath.org).
Shift in my thinking #2: that every student gets what they need.
Assessment should be about individual growth, shouldn't it. We need to compare what the student did before we started the unit, to what they can do after learning took place. If a student could already make a pattern by changing 3 attributes before we start a lesson on patterning with 3 attributes, then maybe that student shouldn't just get an 'A' because they have reached the goal we have set out (maybe the bar should be set a bit higher)?
We do need to find meaningful ways for all students to show what they know. The hard part is deciding “when enough is enough”. Can we truly allow a student to spend as long as they need to – until they have mastered the task? Maybe it's more about finding a task that “gives students what they need for growth” than making sure they are 'at level'.
Shift in my thinking #3: don't focus so much on evaluation.
I need to focus more on learning and less on grading. Pushed by students and parents and administrators – this is so hard to accomplish. If we spend more time taking note of REAL and authentic expressions of THINKING in our classrooms it can be very hard to turn around and tack a grade on it. I use a lot of rubrics – I guess what I need to do is less focus on the level number and more focus on what is written inside the little box I have circled “student measurements are approximate, needs to work on ruler skills” or something like that.
Shift in my thinking #4: stop categorizing students as levels.
Have I ever said “oooh my level one's could never do that task” or “Josh, your work is always a level 4, do you feel like this is your best work”? Guilty. How about “We are grade 5 students here, we need to give grade 5 answers” yeah. I do try to resist doing this sort of categorizing, and I am slowly weeding it out of my vocabulary. Ever since I started this course I have tried using more open ended questions and parallel tasks, and taking student responses as 'their best attempt'. The neat thing is that these types of REAL problems engage students, and inspire them to do their personal best. The fact that they don't find the work too easy or too hard really helps them be themselves too (in fact sometimes kids who I may have targeted as 'my level ones' have surprised me with brilliant answers, where a paper and pencil worksheets would have previously left them in the dust)
Shift in my thinking #5: Group work is great, but it can't be the only way we do things.
Is it fair to give everyone in the group the same grade? I use group work for many things, but I really should use it less for my culminating task. If I want kids to make a thermos to measure temperature and capacity – it is just easier to have groups so that I don't end up with 30 thermoses. In the future, my group work will be more formative and less for evaluation.
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