Reflect after reading Chapters 12-14:
How do we check for understanding in a thinking classroom? What might formative assessment look like?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
I found it interesting that they said feedback was important, but what was more important was students organizing the feedback. We organize our lessons into the different concepts that we teach, so it makes sense that we would want students to organize their feedback of the concepts. They use one big rubric of the skills that are covered and then come up with a linked assignment where students can check where they understand or don’t understand. However they don’t just mark correct or incorrect. They should indicate if they got help, made a silly mistake, or worked with someone to come up with the answer. This is one way to check for understanding and can be used as formative assessment. Also, instead of using a point system you want to analyze skills to figure out what a student's understanding is. Using an outcome based assessment seems like it would help me look at where a student is at with a quick glance if I use same rubric for notes on what I see in student work individually and together in groups.
ReplyDeleteThese three chapters required a lot of deep thinking for me, and I will continue to ruminate on the information and how I might implement each strategy into my classroom dynamics and evaluation system. In chapter 12, I was nodding my head often about my agreement with how rubrics created by teachers do not help students move their learning forward. I was thinking about the writing rubrics we have from Lucy Caulkins and wondering how my students use them to improve their writing. My guess is that they are not very useful, which led me to start thinking about new ways to create a rubric with the help of students that represents their language and uses the three-column continuum structure with no middle section. I also loved that the main evaluation tools for developing thinking classrooms were focused on behaviors which improve thinking - perseverance, collaboration, and willingness to take risks. I would like to think more about how to apply this idea to all of the subjects I teach not just mathematics.
ReplyDeleteChapter 13 reminded me of a past practice I used - providing my students with a document of the learning targets for an entire math unit and having them self- evaluate how they were doing throughout the unit. This would match with the subtopics shared by Liljedahl. My document did not include specific questions or question numbers and they did not use a set of symbols, which are two things I could see adding to guide my students in seeing where they are and where they are going better (and aligns well with our PLC+ practices too :)). I love that Lildejahl calls them navigation instruments, which then becomes a tool for teachers to use as well in evaluating our students' growth. So many ideas and truths shared in chapter 14 resonated with me, including having students show attainment of a learning target with two consecutive data points and using the document to assess students' growth, rather than one final test. I think creating a document like this with our new math curriculum could be especially useful.
One final thought - this is going to take some extra work to create these documents and to change my system of how I evaluate, so I need to be gracious with myself and not expect to do all of it at once. BUT I am excited to get started with these strategies.
Well I have to start with, I agree with Julie when she said,"These 3 chapters give us a lot to think about." I feel excited and super challenged as each chapter really attacked areas of our craft.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12's goal to me was to overall create a student teacher rubric. At first was like are crazy hahah, but then I started to warm up to the idea as a read on. Over all it's a great idea it once again forces me out of my comfort zone. So now with my students I look forward to creating a co-rubric. In my co-rubrics I would want to use the 12.3 model and use pictures. That way we could evaluate quickly and the meaning would be very clear (now I just need to find the time to create them ") )The research really shows the more they are a part of the process the more of the processes they are willing to learn on their own. Here in the chapter they made a point of stressing what we are trying to create in the process which is a persevering, collaborating, and risk taking student.
So what I'm getting from their research is that a co-rubric approach will help me to increase their thinking behaviors. And further change my focus from looking at student work to looking at student actions! I loved their suggestion of using the age old T chart to go over areas of struggle.
What I liked about chapter 13 was how they were focused on making a clear road map for students. How students get lost easy in the big idea and don't focus on the little skills that get them to end result. So we have to discover together (formative assess) what they know as well as what they don't know. Having them understand what their missing (sub group) will help and why it's important for learning the overall goal of the lesson. It's making them self-evaluate their thinking process and then significantly improves their content knowledge.
Finally, in 14 we hit the big one how best to assess. I feel fortunate our math program has a lot of formative as well a summative assessments built in that are looking for students to be building process knowledge as well as student content knowledge in all different ways.
These chapters like I stated at the beginning give me a ton to think about and strive to apply and work on!!! Let the games begin! ")
Wow. You guys weren't kidding. I read these last chapters over break and have been thinking on them for weeks. I have ideas of where to go, but haven't really gotten to the action steps place just yet. That said, I am making those micro-moves in the right direction, too. It's a journey, right?
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated Chapter 13's focus on a road map and the importance in involving students in not just their learning journey but their assessment journey, too. What do I understand? What can I do? What am I still working on?
One thing I've been pondering is through my equity lens thinking in terms both of culturally responsive practices as well as my neurodivergent learners. For instance, with all the focus on partner and group work in support of learning (I'm in full support of this!), what about the kids who aren't comfortable speaking? I'm not saying it can't be done, but I'll have to be more intentional with these kids maybe...or allow nonverbal or intentional pairings to support their learning. One of the K/1 rubrics referred to "shares" and "doesn't share" and "doesn't share" doesn't always mean "has nothing to share" so I'm still thinking that over, too.
All in all, such good stuff to think about!
I am really glad that you brought that up about the culturally responsive practices. So many things to think about and differentiated for our learners...
DeleteLisa, in response to your thinking on considering our culturally responsive practices, I have been re-implementing some of my old GLAD strategies, such as having students be numbered head/spoons. If I draw a number for a specific group, that person is the voice of the group, but the whole group is the brain, so the voice can ask the group to provide suggestions on how to respond before speaking. It has helped a lot in the past to encourage all students to be more engaged, while also helping my students not comfortable talking to practice using their voice in a safer environment. More recently, I have just used an extra set of cards (Ace through 9), and whichever group I draw puts their heads together to develop a response and chooses a speaker.
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