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?
In chapter 12, and its exploration of ways to evaluate in a thinking classroom, I had to chuckle when it described rubrics. " 75 % of students spent less than 10 seconds looking at the rubric when returned to them. " I found the deep evaluation on the tools we use for evaluating fascinating! As he mentioned, coconstructing a rubric is nothing new, but emphasis on keeping it simple made so much sense. I agreed w/Liljedahl, sometimes the indicators get me so darn confused! The arrows vs. the labels were also such a simple yet powerful move. I attempted reflections and coconstructing rubrics w/students, but they always seemed so teacher directed. By the end of the process, it felt like I was doing all of the work. The process really aligns w/all of the other moves, and it seems like something I can try immediately. I also want to try to have the rubric up at my vertical stations so students can evaluate themselves right after they are done a task.
ReplyDeleteSince we have been trying to begin w/our small group thinking tasks. My formative assessment could use a 3 act task to measure perserverance. This is valuable right now because some of the content we have been covering has been pretty challenging. So, I'll begin w/the t-chart and proceed w/the process from there. Then, I would like to work on being more transparent w/the pacing of our units. I wonder if that is part of the issue for many students. The instrument for navigating learning was really innovative! The research sharing how students who could explain subtopics in a unit doing better than their peers who could not list topics was pretty telling. I thought of my class, and would bet that many of my students have already long forgotten all they learned about equivalent fractions.
I am sure there is a document buried in the depths of the illustrative site that does this, but for now I'll try a small step of being explicit about outcomes expected in units of study.
I found the ideas in chapter 12 around evaluating what we value really interesting! This idea of evaluating the competencies that are vital for students in a thinking classroom reinforces to students that these skills are important. I liked the idea of co-creating the rubric and keeping it simple, without all the headings and different stages in between. Having students use the rubric to self-evaluate as well as the teacher is so important.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Co-creating rubrics is something that I am interested in giving a try.
DeleteIn chapter 12, I found it interesting that it discussed how rarely students use rubrics as a way to think about improving their work. I agree with what was talked about. I notice in my classroom that instead of helping them to aim higher, they can actually make a student feel disconnected from their learning process. This mirrors my experience in my math classroom, where I regularly provide rubrics and detailed feedback but find that students rarely pay attention to them. Even when we review the rubric as a whole class, many students don't use them to guide their efforts, which has left me frustrated. I like the idea of simplifying the language on the rubrics and rethinking how I utilize them. Such as having students help to create them and then self-evaluate. This really made me think.
ReplyDeleteIt is realy interesting, isn't it? I still haven't found the best way to get buy in either! When I've shared rubrics and even done a whole self-reflection process it seemed long-winded and not really that valuable. I'll keep experimenting, I guess!
DeleteI really liked the idea of the continuum.
Delete“We need to start evaluation what we value.” This quote really resonated with me because as much as we talk about developing perseverance and grit, I agree with Liljedahl that we don’t really evaluate on that. While I have my students self-reflect, there can definitely be more done to further cultivate these risk-taking behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI found it impactful that merely changing the headings to an arrow, changed student mindsets. As teachers, we never want evaluations to define who we are… why would we want that for our students? With using the arrow as the descriptor, students can see that they are on a continuum and the goal is just to improve where they are. I’m looking forward to implementing this immediately with co-constructing a competency rubric with my students and calling their attention to ways they can improve their actions.
As we look towards formative assessment, I’m excited to take my feedback a step further. While I do individual conferences, I’d like to try students doing the work by figuring out where they are and where they’ll be going with the navigation figure. The more students have ownership, the more effective and impactful the feedback becomes.
The section about rubrics and how little students use them hit home so hard right now!! Not related to Math, but I was thinking about how much time my class had just spent going over rubrics in our Writing process and then using them to self-edit. The majority of the kids absolutely didn't use them. They checked boxes of things they said they had done (like make sure ever sentence had a capital letter at the beginning) however they didn't actually do those corrections on their paper which was evident. So when reading this, it was apparent and sort of validating that using traditional rubrics like this is not helping students to evaluate their work in a meaningful way and certainly not improve it.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to try some of the ideas like simplifying the rubrics, adding visuals like the arrows and creating them with students! Reading some of the comments in the discussion above I am seeing this may be a process to come to getting good buy in from the students and also really being able to create an effective tool that is meaningful for them.....but I'm up for the challenge ;)
Honestly I want to use the K-1 communication rubric in my 3rd grade classroom. I need to do a lot more self reflection and checking in on student partnerships with regard to collaboration. It is clear that anyone should be able to work with anyone but we are not there yet. I like the idea of reduction in language for rubrics and self evaluation. Additionally a continuum seems like it would be helpful if practiced with students to evaluate their own part in collaboration around work.
ReplyDeleteAlso I like the idea of having work more public on a daily basis. Then the students know they are responsible for some outcome and that it is okay to try things out with out always finding the correct answer. Taking it slow and assessing one competency at a time seems like a good option.
Trying to use navigation instruments seems like a good idea but it also feels a bit daunting to me to get going with students. There are so many parts to develop for each skill however working with teams it could be done together. Also, it reminds me of making action walk walls where the were exemplars on the wall that should students what they were aiming for. How is this different?
I like the idea of grading based on all the data while also ignoring outliers. Students have knowledge and can show in many ways over the course of a unit. This chapter challenged me to think about testing in a different way though too. I am going to have to think on this a little more before I buy in and talk with my team a bit more too.