WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?
What is the evidence?
O.K...maybe I have tend to be a bit too dramatic...maybe my brain did not literally explode. I did have an "Ah Hah" moment thanks to Karen Naber.
If I take an honest look at what I have been doing, I can cite what I am trying to do to help kids achieve. The tricky part is when I know they are there and the evidence....this is all about assessment. As teachers, we assess our kids every day all the time and constantly are "re correcting" the ship. However, very few of us (O.K....I could just be talking about me here), for the amount of time we put into assessing, have had much formal training on how to assess.
Karen Naber put on a day long in service that squeezed a semester course into a day. It was tied to student learning objectives and the new teacher evaluation and most importantly....good assessment. All of this is new and controversially. If I could get passed my emotions I would have to ask myself a question..if I can get better at assessments, would I be a better teacher and would my students do better? The answer, of course, is yes..
Here are just a few take aways. Always, start with the standards. Take time to "deconstruct" them. Look at the verb of what they want students to do and then look past the verb at the extent of what students should be doing. Make sure you do not bite off more than you can chew...make it doable. Be transparent. Once you develop and give a good assessment, talk to others and do not be afraid of honest and thoughtful feedback. Give a good pre assessment. Honestly look at the data and let it inform you on where you need to be going. Use the best methods possible to get there and don't keep it a secret. Make sure your goals for your students are ones they can use in life, other classes and the class they are in. When you do the assessment, try to have many different levels so every kid has the chance at getting better. Don't just do "pass fail". Most importantly, show up, do not quit and stay positive. Good assessments are not biased, they are reliable and valid.
I think one of my targeted assessments is going to be looking at how I can help kids write better lab conclusions. I want to develop a really good rubric for one specific part of a lab...the conclusion. It will follow "Claims, Evidence, Response and Rebuttal". Each lab will have some level of inquiry. It is a skill required in science, life and other classes. My plan is to have students do labs in groups, but to do the conclusion separately. Once I put my brain back together, I will try to figure it out a bit more....
No comments:
Post a Comment