I have been reading all of what Shawn Cornally (shawncornally.com @thinkthunkthank) has to say on assessment and standards based grading.
This week . . . my plan was to try a different angle with this week's assessment in Algebra. I gave the assessment Thursday . . . graded the assessment but only made comments and circled areas of weakness or mistakes.
No points, no percentages, etc.
Then, I emailed each student so they knew how they did on each problem (standard).
Friday (today), the next day, I gave the assessments back to the students. Then, I had the students do the following:
1. If they got the problem correct . . . then they created 1 problem on their own and worked the problem out (showing me that the first time was not a "fluke").
2. If the student got the problem incorrect . . . then they created 2 problems on their and worked them out (giving them multiple opportunities to show success).
The student could ask questions, but only about the original assessment from Thursday (the one with comments/circles) which helped students focus on their weaknesses and make connections to help them create and complete their own problems.
Things went really well overall. Good discussions, students seemed to make progress and better overall understanding.
Issue: How do I put this in to the gradebook as a percentage? Do students who got the problems correct on Thursday earn a higher percentage than those who needed Friday to find success? Or, does it really matter when they show success? Success is success, right? Do I make another assessment as a final follow up - maybe only the ones who needed the Friday strength day?
Pros - I love email and the ability to give immediate feedback to students. This has been an issue for me in the past and something I want to improve upon this year. Also, the assessment style I used took the focus off the points and percentages and rather on knowing the material - win in my book!
Cons - it takes a lot of time to email each student individually (but I think it was worth it overall).
Well, once again, I think you are incredible. First....do you know how to set up " canned response" on your gmail. That would save you some typing. Second....Let's talk assessment. Shouldn't we be assessing if they learned the skill? Would you expect a football team to win without practice? You just set up an AMAZING way to for these students to PRACTICE and WIN! Kieron, you are the best! Robin
ReplyDelete