I think my principal has watched this video. So many things mentioned in this video are heard in my school on a daily and weekly basis: benchmarks, standards-based, assessment, rubrics, portfolios.
I liked how Dr. Au described how we are responsible for creating thinkers. Our current state tests attempt to measure our students’ ability to think, but as Dr. Au said it is really difficult for a standardized test to measure thinking. Our math teachers are really concerned about the math portion of the graduation test this year because of this. Every time a portion of the GHSGT shifts from QCC to GPS the scores drop considerably. Having students write on a math test seems crazy to our students.
Several of the comments reminded me of a current professional learning workshop I am involved in called Assessment for Learning. It does not suggest going as far as the teacher in the video who said he did not know what her was teaching tomorrow, but it does stress that we should be using assessment to guide our teaching. (Assessment for learning versus assessment of learning) I did wonder about the teacher’s method of only assessing certain students in a given time period. I would fearful of missing something important.
The video’s discussion of rubrics was nice to hear, but rubric seem like a fad or just based on a particular teacher’s desire. When I student-taught I heard about rubrics for 5 months, but in my first school I don’t know that anyone in the building could tell you what a rubric was. In our school we use rubrics like is suggested in the video, giving them to the students ahead of time, referring to the rubric, etc. My students look at me funny if I don’t give them a rubric before we start a project.
I really like having the students grade themselves using the rubrics. Sometimes (especially in my AP class) they are tougher on themselves than I would be. I think that has a large part to do with what Dr. Au mentioned about motivation. My AP kids, for the most part, are highly motivated. My regular US History kids, not so much.
On a personal note, I noticed that some of the classroom scenes were shot in Chapel Hill. I lived there for five years while my wife was in graduate school. Not that I recognized any of the teachers, but still, kinda cool.
I also wondered about the teacher from the video only assessing certain students on some days. I feel the same way you do. I would be afraid that I might overlook a student who might be struggling and they might not get the extra support they need. I have tried to use rubrics some. However, I don't have as many opportunities to do that in P.E. I do use one for my volleyball unit because it is a fairly extensive unit. I have found that the students do respond better when they have a clear idea of what I am going to be grading them on. (Although some of them seem to worry more if they are struggling with some of the skills listed on the rubric).
ReplyDeleteI realling like the distinction made between assessments for learning vs. assessments of learning. For a while, I was only aware of the latter term. I am still kind of new at the assessments for learning, but practice makes perfect.
ReplyDeleteI think that having some type of system to make sure that you are able to assess all students over time is the benefit Dr. Au shares about selecting a few students each day for assessing. One way to think about this might be to have a checklist. To avoid missing something, important, what would happen if you ask questions of your students that have them identify the "smartest" connection or strategy they have used for that particular week. In other words - engage students in the process of assessment. The system is not as important as finding a way to assess all students. I can imagine that could become very challenging with six to seven classes each day. As we think about rubrics, there are definitely some pros and cons (research supporting both positions). I worry that rubrics may limit creativity or may not always allow for the range of ways students express their learning and understanding. However, I find the clarity of expectations with rubrics to be valuable for learners and teachers. It is certainly a conundrum. The quality of the rubric may make an important difference.
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