Check back here for ideas on how to easily and efficiently inform instruction by formatively assessing student mastery throughout the learning process.
Students Can Be Our Tour Guides...
Inspired by Brookhart, Moss, and Long's article in Educational Leadership titled "Formative Assessment That Empowers".
As educators, we are not able to do the learning for our students. Our charge is to, as much as possible, maximize the number of opportunities where learning CAN happen. Formative assessment has the potential to be an excellent vehicle for this. Empowering students to learn definitely takes more finesse than any blog post could ever capture... BUT a turning point exists when teachers and students establish shared communication. It is certainly helpful for students to hear what the teacher desires for their learning. But when the dialogue becomes mutual, students feel empowered. This empowerment sparks a love for learning. A love that may desperately need to be rekindled.
Informal formative assessments have a leg up on the summative, more formal assessments. The latter can often be perceived as judgemental and competition-driven. When conducted cooperatively, formative assessments are not about the right answer. Rather, they are relationship builders that inspire action and ownership of learning and...ultimately fuel student growth.
A tour guide assists people with navigating through unfamiliar territory. They are very knowledgeable of this territory and provide direction. They offer advice when it comes to sightseeing, and they serve as translators or interpreters. Normally, we think of teachers as the guides. But what if turn that idea around? What if we considered the students as the tour guides...
As you work to continuously evolve your formative assessment practices, consider the opportunity to let students, like Johnny (or Janie) below, be your tour guide through their learning journey.
Student Tour Guide Sample:
Read the following through a lens as if Johnny/Janie were your student and you his/her teacher.
"Hi Ms. (or Mr.) Smith. I'm Johnny (or Janie), your tour guide. On behalf of JoCo 2020 Tours, I would like to welcome you to my learning journey. I have several years of experience in this subject (math), Kindergarten through 4th grade, and I'm ready to start a new year in 5th grade with you. But first...
I have some personal concerns I'd like to discuss as we start this school year. First, I ask that you remain patient until I arrive at my learning targets. I've struggled for a long time in math. Sometimes I need a little more time to process and make connections than my peers. Be patient, and feel free to laugh with me along the way. Second, please take note that after K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade math, I've had varied experiences. There are things I still don't understand, and so I'm starting to strongly dislike math. Maybe you can change that???
Also, about warm-ups: The 10 minutes allotted for warm-up questions will take roughly 15 minutes for me. I possibly need some support in getting settled when I enter class. I have some thoughts on things that worked for me last year in this area.
During collaborative conversations with my peers, please hang around to hear my conversations and thinking with my classmates. Small groups are a good place to learn about me because I'm more open about my thinking when there are less people around. I rarely raise my hand to ask questions among the entire class. So if you want to hear my thinking or see if I get it, small group conversations is the best place to find out.
For your viewing pleasure, you can take a look at the book I just checked out from the media center. There, you'll also enjoy learning about Pokemon... which I LOVE!
I would like for this school year tour to try different approaches to learning about multiplication and division. While I know this is part of what we're learning, and you probably have a way you're prepared to teach it, I still do not understand the connection. I remember a classmate explaining it one way last year that made sense. Maybe we can check that out when those topics come up...
I'd like to have a brief goal-setting meeting with you tomorrow. The feedback you give me needs to be in the form of specific questions, because I don't always know what 'study harder' means.
With the exception of getting settled when I enter the room (which, again, I have thoughts on), I'm a pretty well-behaved student. I assure you that you are going to like your 180 days with me!"
Consider:
Although parts of this speech seem like a stretch, many are not. Imagine having students guiding us through their own learning journeys. Every student's journey is different, but incredibly important to the learning process.
- What are their previous experiences?
- What was successful for them in the past?
- What are their social and emotional struggles?
- What has worked in the past to help them with those struggles?
- What are their goals?
- What are their personal interests?
- How do they normally participate in class?
- How do they feel most comfortable to participating?
- What concepts do they struggle with?
- What strategies have helped in the past?
- What are their current perceptions? Fears? Goals?
These are integral parts of teaching, as they allow us to reach students as learners. They help build relationships, give students ownership in their learning, and ultimately fuel student growth. The only question is... are we ready let students be our guides?
To learn more about one district's efforts to empower students through formative assessment, visit the link below:
Brookhart, S., Moss, C., & Long, B. (2008, November). Formative Assessment That Empowers. Retrieved October 1, 2017, from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/Formative-Assessment-That-Empowers.aspx
Note: Unless otherwise noted, most posts on this blog are submitted by a team of writers, authors, and editors.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, most posts on this blog are submitted by a team of writers, authors, and editors.
Comments
Post a Comment