A personalized environment gives students the freedom to follow a meaningful line of inquiry, while building the skills to connect, synthesize and analyze information into original productions
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"Personalized" vs. "Personal" Learning - 0 views
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While I wanted to highlight this entire paragraph, I thought this was the one that stuck out the most. This was a really concise way to describe personalization and I just wanted to note how directly this section of the article addressed the entire issue of what this really is. -
Yes! This mantra can guide my new PBL course in the fall; writing it down now.... -
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Technology was strikingly absent from these conversations
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This was surprising to me. When I think of personalization, I tend to include technology in it. This idea makes total sense, though, because if a student doesn't view tech as necessary or it isn't part of it, it shouldn't be forced.
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I always picture personalized learning with technology too, but then I think about what is the point of teachers? Parents could just home school their kids. I'm still kind of confused about the teacher's role in personalized learning. -
Honestly, this makes me happy to hear because a lot of educators are quick to jump to technology without evaluating what is truly needed. -
I am also surprised by this. Society now demands that students understand how to use technology, and I think as teachers we feel pressured to use the latest and greatest website/tool in our classrooms. I agree with Jared that if it isn't necessary or the student wants to use different tools for his/her work, they should be able to. -
This was shocking to me. Technology seems to be a huge part in every day learning for students. It's refreshing to know that it's not necessarily the best route to go. -
This surprises me as well; technology is such and integral and inescapable part of our lives, especially those of our students, that I would think this would be high on the list. -
I, too, was very surprised about how technology was absent. I guess it does make sense because if a student does not want to use technology then they do not have to. It would be totally up to them.
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We don’t need personalization as much as we need to promote and give opportunities for our kids to do personal learning
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I couldn't agree with this more. I think that a lot of personalization is actually allowing students to learn at their own pace, but in order through a prescribed curriculum. It may be more valuable to allow students to do some learning of what they want how they want.
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How do you envision this working for you in your classroom? How do we get kids to do personal learning?
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I think the key words are "promote and give opportunities for our kids to DO." At all levels, kids are going to have more success from doing instead of just recreating or reenacting someone else's work/ideas. This is something I have worked on improving every year since some of my very first lessons taught.
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having my students read the literature at home and come into class ready to discuss it
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Haha! As a former ELA teacher, several of my colleagues and I argued this exact point a few years ago. That's funny.
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And in band, we have always lived with a model of teaching during small lesson groups and then assigning home practice to gain mastery of a skill. I spend valuable teaching minutes teaching home practice strategies and reflecting on those strategies at lessons. I want kids to set goals and practice the lessons on their own at home.
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they’ll master a set of skills mandated by people who have never met them
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skills are acquired sequentially
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context
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I'm concerned that teachers are not teaching enough deep learning in the general education classroom in grade K-4. There is so much focus on getting 120 minutes of reading but it mainly goes toward the daily 5 and not enough connected learning to the world. How do we incorporate deep learning into the daily 5?
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good question! One way might be reading multiple books/articles on the same topic. More cross-curricular including SS and SCI topics
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I agree! That this can be tricky. The Daily 5 is a model and teachers need to figure out how to fill the model with meaningful material that accesses the whole child. I like the idea above about integrating other subjects into the reading block and I actually think that the Daily 5 model is a good way to do that!
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of what deep learning now requires in a connected world.
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better test scores. And, if that’s what we value as the most important outcome of schooling,
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I had terrible test scores as a child and I get test anxiety about if I have enough time to finish the test. How can educators think that test scores are the best outcome for students?
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However, in order to navigate the system of accountability in the U.S. educational system, many school district leaders require public school educators to teach a specific curriculum that will be evaluated on standardized tests, while at the same time telling teachers to be innovative and creative within their classrooms.
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How can we use personalization when so much pressure is put on teachers and students to meet the core standards and to do well on standardized assessments?
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Agreed. And while there are elements of PL that can be used within the current structure of our school system, I am not exactly sure I an visualize just how every student is learning and being assessed.
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This is exactly what I was referring to in an earlier comment - as teachers we do what we can in the paradigm we are in. I think part of the goal of courses like this is to create within our current confines. -
I agree with all of the above comments. For the sake of conversation, however, I would like to question how constraining our current structure truly is? Although we do use the common core/curriculum to tell us what we need to teach students, the core does not dictate how we teach them. I wonder if we sometimes create more obstacles for ourselves because, at the end of the day, it is perhaps easier to follow along in a manual than to create 25 separate lessons that involve more personalization.
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I love the idea of personalization however I feel if my principal walked in and saw all of my students doing different activities she would NOT be happy. She would ask me what learning scales everyone is working on and I am not sure I would know how to respond.
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Personalization promises better student achievement and, I believe, a more effective delivery method than any one teacher with 25 or 30 students in a classroom can compete with. It’s a no-brainer, right?
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So what does this mean? We will have more teachers? Or we will look to the students to act as teachers at times?
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Certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education, but meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology
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This surprises me as there is such a push for technology in the classroom today!
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Not to mention how you are pushed into using it over paper-pencil when your district is 1-1. I worry about what message it is sending to my students when I struggle so much with reading their handwriting!
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It's a good reminder! Old-fashioned, face-to-face discussions and creative construction of meaning (i.e. brainstorming) still works!
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But technology can be a powerful tool for learning, creating, collaborating and such. Here is a simple example. Reading this article with other classmates and seeing their thinking pushes my thinking. How about connecting to an expert or author on Skype? That would create a learning opportunity far better than just reading about an author. Just saying, tech can be more powerful than the traditional methods of learning!
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I agree there is power in learning with technology. However, the kids today have lost the simple art of communication in person. We need to focus on building more relationships out from behind the screens. The Skype idea is something my school implements and is an awesome learning experience we couldn't have otherwise. However, the students need to know how to have the eye contact, confidence and ability to be prepared talk to someone. This is taught and learned away from a screen.
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I babysit for many families and have seen the impact technology has on their home lives. Technology is so readily available. Children in today's society relay on technology in many ways and parents relay on it to entertain their children. With this said, I believe we will continue to see technology playing a key role in our schools. I feel that there is a time and place for technology to be used. Some people have commented that their schools are 1:1 with technology. As a kindergarten teacher and educator, I feel that technology has a time and place. However there are important skills that I strive to have my students learn without technology such as social skills and writing skills. It will be interesting to see how technology continues to be utilized in schools.
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But most kids love technology!? I guess it doesn't have to be a requirement, but it should always be a option!
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ed-tech community to describe a student moving through a prescribed set of activities at his own pace.
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This is what is often explained to teachers when personalized learning is brought up.
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If a course is truly personalized, shouldn't the student be creating the pathway and goals while the teacher guides rather than prescribing the activities? -
So this reminds me of ST Math or Reflex Math. Even though the students is self-paced, it would not be considered "PL" in the truest form because the teacher is still assigning the content.
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I agree Kathleen! We individualize the content the student is deficient in by assigning skills but there is no student choice. Just some 'fun' in learning through the online program.
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“We often say we want creativity and innovation – personalization – but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance,”
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“personal” learning is something they do for themselves.
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personalization only comes when students have authentic choice over how to tackle a problem.
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Yes!! When there are authentic choices, student buy-in and motivation increases. I like how the author included the phrase 'tackle a problem.' In the workplace, our students will be expected to sovle authentic problems adn this is a great way to build those critical thinking and resilency skills.
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Yes!! I agree with you 100%. Nothing can prepare our students more than allowing them the opportunity to authentically tackle problems.
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As you both said, I agree with this statement 100%. I think it is awesome to allow students to authentically chose how to handle a problem. In kindergarten, I teach the importance of problem solving. I give my students prompts that allow them to become respectful leaders. I think problem solving is a great life skill that students can benefit from no matter their grade level!
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the prevailing narrative seems to be that we can’t engage kids without technology,
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I've noticed with my own students, that their excitement and engagement with technology has decreased as they increase the amount of time the are using technology in their gen. ed. classrooms. Since they are using technology to use programs that place them in a prescribed path after taking a placement test, they are loosing interest because they have lost the authentic connection to the content. The technology instruction is redundent and unpersonalized. They are missing the personal interactions with the teacher, discussing ideas with group members, and the choices provided in authentic learning. Students in my classroom are now more engaged through group work or hands on learning than technology.
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Has anyone noticed this in their own classrooms as well? I believe technology should enhance instruction, not replace it in the elementary setting.
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Yes, I could see how this would be the case. We use a program similar to what you're discussing. As a district, we're supposed to be utilizing this online tool, but how effective is the tool if the students are no longer engaged with it?
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I definitely see this. I have trouble keeping my student's attention if I do not have the work projected onto the Smart Board.
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monitor students’ progress
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This frame of thinking challenges me. As a special education teacher, we monitor progress on reading fluency weekly. We need to follow a research-based curriculum and every week my students are tested and we I evalute their graphs. This information is legally required. How can I impliment a true personalized learning experience for my students when I am required to teach a research based intervention? Has personalized learning been applied successfully in a special education setting?
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This is a really good question and one that I am wondering about as well. Although I teach in a general education classroom, we too have to follow certain guidelines and use research-based curriculum. I wonder if personalized learning is only feasible for students who are at or above grade level?
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our thinking about what we want our kids to learn and our changed roles in that process matters
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I love this article and what the author seems to be struggling with is what I struggle with. For the students enrolled in beginning band, I cannot make it a totally free learning environment. I can offer choice and give kids some freedom in choosing which exercises demonstrate learning targets, but what I want kids to learn is not really the student choice. Is it enough to say that band itself is an elective and if kids chose to explore band, then that is part of a personalized learning model?
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I am all for student involvement in making some of their own choices as they learn, but maybe I can't look past the needs of my content area to imagine a change in paradigm for all learners
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but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance.’
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We do function within a system...the question is how to negotiate that system to personalize for our students.
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I think this is the hardest thing for both the teachers and students - it is easy to talk about PL, but once rubber hits the road it is very complex to make it work within the traditional confines of the school day and grading structures.
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There seems to be a big contradiction, at least in my mind, with matching personalized learning to the need/desire to tie everything to particular standard and grade. Our current system and expectation of a grade seems to limit the true sense of personalized learning.
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choice
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Ah- now I understand that if the choice is created and given by the teacher, it might not be personalization. Our district uses E 20/20 in some extreme cases and it generally does NOT meet any student's learning needs.
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I think this is where the disconnect is, many my district will do online learning but it isn't personailzed because it is driven by the program that the district uses and students just fly though he program to get done. In the end I don't think they learned anything from their courses. If it were personalized they would take more ownership in their learning.
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resource rich
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That's a good point. There are often so many other experts within our own schools and communities who could be valuable resources for our learners.
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agency
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changing just about everything
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Makes me think of the directive "we can no longer teach what kids can simply Google." So, learning becomes more inquiry-based and connected to real-life purposes.
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I recently heard that if a student can google the answer then we are not teaching them the higher order thinking that the industries are seeking now in their future employees. Google tends to give the surface answers and not the think out of the box answers unless they take the time to really dive into resources (which most won't take that time).
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drive their own education
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For me it keeps coming back to this: who drives the learning - the teacher or the student?
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Do they know how to identify what specifically does drive their own education? We do a lot of modeling before asking the students to do different work. I think this is going to take some brainstorming as to HOW to help kids see what helps them learn.
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You’re “free to expand as a standardized individual.”[
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Ha! We have the "individual vs. society" discussion in my class each year and many students notice the irony of trying to be an individual by doing something that conforms to someone else's norms (i.e. dying your hair blue...like millions of other teens trying to be individuals is a classic 9th grader example).
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This is a great point! It is hard to fit in and stand out:) It is hard to excel in school if you risk doing something different.
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I love reading your comments, Julie! That might be a challenge with personalized learning as well. Students struggle to be their own learner and achieve their personal goals - yet at this age, so many kids are drawn to the social dynamics of groups and trying to stay close in their developing friendships. As a fourth grade teacher I see students experimenting with the individual vs. group struggle on a regular basis. This will certainly be a challenge to stay on top of!
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caring teacher who knows each child we
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I think the core of PL is this - knowing the who/what/why/how for each student, this is true even within current school structures.
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I agree! We need to care about our students as people, not just as learners and I think that this will create great success for not only the teacher but for our students as well.
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While I agree, it takes MORE than caring! If caring is all it took, I'd be golden, but figuring out how to implement it for 50-100 kids is where I struggle. I hope to learn this by the end of the course.
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not created by them
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construction of meaning
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learning with and from one another.
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collaboration and takes place in a community.
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I am grateful to read this...my students report each year that some of their biggest "ah-ha" moments come from their peers. I know I learn so much each year from my students; there's no way I can be the "sage on the stage" when we're all in this learning thing together!
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a textbook is still a textbook. You want to really engage kids? Give them opportunities to learn personally, to create their own texts and courses of study, and to pursue that learning with others in and out of the classroom who share a passion.
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moving ownership of learning away from the teacher and more toward the student.
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the best thing we can do for kids is empower them to make regular, important, thoughtful decisions about their own learning, what they learn and how they learn it,
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we cherish our commitment to individualism yet experience a “relentless pressure to conform.” Each of us can do what he likes as long as he ends up fundamentally similar to everyone else:
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Personal learning entails working with each child to create projects of intellectual discovery that reflect his or her unique needs and interests.
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I'm sure this is an aim for most teachers. How to do it for EVERY student is what I hope to learn!
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preoccupation with data data data data data. Elsewhere, I’ve written about the folly of believing that everything can and should be reduced to numbers.[
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For many educators that’s not the true meaning of “personalized learning.”
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While I agree it isn't the true meaning, nor the widely accepted meeting, however I think it is the reality for what teachers can do in the current structure. When transcripts, grade scales, grade books and class sizes are currently where they are, this is the compromise or baby step towards the largest goal.
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“personalized learning”
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I think there is a difference between the technical definition and the operational definition. When you read about innovative schools who do all kinds of things, the easy criticism is that they can do what we can't. There is truth there, but the reality is that we need to try to do what is best for all of our students regardless of the status quo, especially when the status quo isn't working at the highest level.
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It’s had an enormous effect on media, business, politics and journalism, and its effect on education
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To his point, I think this statement is taken out of context to conflate tech and learning. Districts spend a lot of money on tech but not enough is done to change how teaching happens or tech pedagogy.
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new dispositions to take advantage of it for learning.
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I believe this is the major gap. Many taking this course are already jumping in (or did a while ago) but I think we too often ignore where others are in relation to that change. There are still teachers who refuse to integrate anything but a few substitutions for what they have always done, instead of real change.
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That's when teachers who believe in this change of learning need to use student work and proof of student motivation in order to get other teachers on board!
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I would say, as educators, we fall into this trap when using technology. We need to look at what purpose the technology we are using is providing. Would it be more effective or simpler to understand without the newest technology? I'm not against technology, but sometimes we get so excited about what we found out on the internet that we don't keep an objective eye when choosing to implement it into our classrooms.
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not be trained to wait for opportunities that someone else has selected for delivery
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I think this connects well with the notion of dispositions - we need to create a system that supports learners who know how to learn - the whole candles to light instead of buckets to fill - but schools typically operate as bucket filling stations. A lot of students, families, and teachers need to support for this transition.
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surely lost our way
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I completely agree - I HATE hearing the word 'cool' when a learning about a new resource or tool. Things being cool doesn't lead to learning or engagement.
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By assigning the lecture at home, we’re still in charge of delivering the curriculum, just at a different time
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I think this is the current status of innovative teaching and learning for a lot of teachers. Flipped = Engagement = Innovative = Personalized etc. Really though, I think the good intentions are there, but the time, energy and resources aren't to move beyond intentions for a critical mass.
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goals and practices
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resemble standardized tests. When we hear a phrase such as “
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This makes PL a tough sell - it isn't worth the time if it doesn't help the existing goals, but it isn't really PL if the goals are already defined.
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reductive rubrics
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I see a lot of SBG and SRG teachers explain how they can measure every discrete skill in an ELA standard with the right rubric, I feel that fits the cliche - seeing the forest through the trees. Every aspect of school can't be all or nothing - it is like the polar opposite of high stakes testing; a similar but different problem.
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Personal learning tends to nourish kids’ curiosity and deepen their enthusiasm
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That's what I strive to do but the linear curriculum can really hold the teacher and student back.
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t is clear that all children don’t learn the same way
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How do we as teachers make sure that all students needs are met and that they are all able to gain the same amount of knowledge? I feel that there are so many different types of learners and sometimes as a teacher am overwhelmed by the different kinds of learns in my classroom. I struggle with how to meet each students needs to make sure I am doing my best as an educator.
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I think an important piece is to help students (and parents) understand the type of learner they are. Students who know what works best for them (auditory, visual, reading silently and hearing it read out loud, etc.) can begin to take steps towards helping their learning and success.
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I wonder if schools will ever start grouping students by learning type. For example, if there are 3 sections of second grade, one teacher might teach to the auditory learners, one the visual learners, and one the hands-on type.
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I like the idea of grouping students by their learning styles. It would really hit that personalized learning. However, what would happen if there was an unbalanced separation in learning styles. Do you think that schools would accommodate or would it be too expensive? I see this working really well in both special educ classrooms and regular educ rooms.
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a textbook is still a textbook. You want to really engage kids? Give them opportunities to learn personally, to create their own texts and courses of study, and to pursue that learning with others in and out of the classroom who share a passion.
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I love this part of this text. As a kindergarten teacher, I believe it is important for students to have that exploration and discovery time in the classroom. They need to learn at a young age to be their own teachers. It has amazed me during our center time this past year what five and six year olds are able to discover and share with me!
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Yes! I think this can work at any level for learners. Why would we want to limit a learner to stop at a certain point and not stretch themselves in a direction that will better them as a students. I believe this is where students discover their interests and strong points with a little bit of freedom.
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engagement”
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industrialized form of education that pumps out cookie-cutter students
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These words used here could easily offend someone who has been in education, those who have created good lessons with ways to reach various children: "industrialized," "pumps out," and "cookie-cutter students." Not a great idea at the beginning of an article if you wish for veteran teachers to read and learn from ideas presented about personalized learning - might seem like another buzz term because there have been a lot of them throughout the years!
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tware
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“’Personalized’ learning is something that we do to kids; ‘personal’ learning is something they do for themselves.”[4]
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“It’s so much cheaper to buy a new computer than to pay a teacher’s salary year after year.”[11]
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This is what I fear for the future of education! Going one-to-one and seeing the push for technology in lesson planning worries me that education is not going to need the person in the future!
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Articles: Preparation - 1 views
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what are the most important parts of your topic for the audience to take away from your,
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With the presentations I am currently preparing I have tended to give too much information which has caused the message to get lost. Reading this reminds me that I need to focus on the one or two key objectives I desire the participants to walk away. Less is more.
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Simple can be hard for the presenter, but it will be appreciated by the audience.
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This statement reminds of when we ask students to synthesize their learning. We are asking them to pair down what they have learned into a short statement. I need to do the same thing with my presentations. What is the key idea I want people to walk away with.
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And it is not enough to simply have an “agenda” or “road map” slide in the beginning that illustrates the organization of your talk. If you do not actually have a solid road of logic and structure, then an outline slide will be of no use.
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Ugh. I totally do this. I have an agenda slide at the beginning of each of my presentations but sometimes we get off course. I know as a participant that would really bother me. I am going to stop doing my typical agenda slide and try to find a more effective way showcase the structure of the day.
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I agree. I do this as well, and I think it is sometimes reinforced by different educational theories. Right now my school is working with the Fisher-Frey Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. One of the major components is "Purpose Statements." All of our lesson must have these and they must guide the lesson. In and of itself - that's great. However, I think we use that as a crutch sometimes to be the structure rather than help guide the structure. -- Wendy -
Agree with these things totally...as chronic bullet list maker though, this is hard to start to do and keep doing!
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“so what?!” or “your point being…?”
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This is a great reminder of what we need to continually ask ourselves. I feel like I should print this out and tape it to my wall.
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I say this to my student whenever they write thesis statements, so it makes sense that I need to say it to myself as well.
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Good stories have interesting, clear beginnings, provocative, engaging content in the middle, and a clear, logical conclusion.
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When I tell a story I feel like I need to keep the three components of a good story in mind. I tend to try to tell the story quickly so I leave out parts which in turn confuses the audience.
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Remember, even if you’ve been asked to share information, rarely is the mere transfer of information a satisfactory objective from the point of view of the audience.
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I'm think about this when I create web videos for flipping my instruction over literary theory with AP English seniors. Yes, I have information I need to transmit to them, but what is the essential idea(s) I need them to know to be able to do Marxist or Psychoanalytic literary theory.
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What time of the day? If there are other presenters, what is the order (always volunteer to go first or last, by the way). What day of the week? All of this matters.
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This is something of which I also have to be more cognizant. Realistically, my students aren't going to be listening to my lectures at home at 4 p.m. They are going to pull up my presentation at 11 p.m. (or even more realistically 1 a.m.) after 8 hours of being talked at at school, 2-4 hours of being talked at at practice or work, and another 1-2 hours of reading and (hopefully) thinking about other course's homework. They are going to be fried.
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Interesting point, Wendy. That might change the calculus for how you design your presentations.
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A data dump also occurs when data and information do not seem to build on the information that came earlier in the presentation.
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Do not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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This is my biggest problem, but also my biggest fear -- they won't get enough content to understand how to apply the idea(s) in class the next day.
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I struggle with this also, Wendy! Especially in education, it seems like we feel the need to "prove" our premise with data and studies. -
What a relief to read this! It's like permission to do what I intuitively wanted to believe as truth, but couldn't unless/until someone else told me it's ok...
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the core idea for every successful play he produced could be written as a simple sentence on the back of a business card. Try it. Can you crystallize the essence of your presentation content and write it on the back of a business card?
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I can see this being a benefit to helping students learn literary theory. The theory they felt the most comfortable with at the end of the year was New Criticism, which has a formulaic "tag-line" - form + function = meaning.
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McKee says rhetoric is problematic because while we are making our case others are arguing with us in their heads using their own statistics and sources. Even if you do persuade through argument, says McKee, this is not good enough because “people are not inspired to act on reason alone.” The key, then, is to aim to unite an idea with an emotion, which is best done through story.
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Story is about an imbalance and opposing forces or a problem that must be worked out.
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This really resonants and works well with how I plan to use my (hopefully) better presentation skills. If I can present literary theory as a "problem that must be worked out," then I can hopefully interest students in it more.
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Yes! It's a great formula, almost like a trick you can pull out of your bag, that ensures you'll get a result you want. Conflict sells - just look at the news.
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Identify the problem. (This could be a problem, for example, that your product solves.) Identify causes of the problem. (Give actual examples of the conflict surrounding the problem.) Show how and why you solved the problem. (This is where you provide resolution to the conflict.)
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t’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.
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Wow! I will say - it has to totally depend on what is asked of you. I was asked to fill 90 minutes. I broke up the presentation into 4 mini ones, with interactive, kinetic, visual, audio, etc. connection opportunities...human to human.
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Problem Your solution Business model Underlying magic/technology Marketing and sales Competition Team Projections and milestones Status and timeline Summary and call to action
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I wonder if there's a corollary for education? I'm thinking about my own needs here, but does this make sense: Problem - Issue in literature that needs analyzed Solution - specific literary theory Business model - structure of theory? Tech - tenets of theory? Marketing/sales - why they should use it? Competition - different branches of theory Team - historical background of theory Milestones - good theorists do "blank" Timeline - restated steps of theory? Summary - ?
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What is the real purpose of your talk? Why is it that you were asked to speak? What does the audience expect?
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These seem to me to be the most important take aways for me today. Time thinking and brainstorming about the true purpose of the presentation--without technology! I think that we have been conditioned recently to turn to the computer first for information and then figure out what to do with it.
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"Purpose" is a very important and nuanced term. You many times have several purposes, including overt ones (inform your audience of x, y, z) and covert ones (convince them to dot his job they don't want to do, try to cut down on the number of rumors flying around)
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If your audience could remember only three things about your presentation,what would you want it to be? (1)__________ (2)__________ (3)__________
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These three things that you want them to remember can be founded at the same time as the initial preparation that happens without technology. If it is important to be remembered, what will make the audience make a connection to it and actuallyremember it.
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Yes, absolutely. And, they should be ingrained (engrained?) in your memory, so that if (in the middle of your presentation) you aren't meeting those items, you can shift on the fly.
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10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
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I absolutely love this way of thinking! easy to remember and makes great sense. This is something that I will be able to share with other staff members that I work with that is simple and valuable at the same time to help them improve. 10 slides, 20 Minutes, 30 point font!
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I agree! This is an easy way to remember and share with others the rules of making a clear and engaging presentation.
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Visuals should be big, bold, clear, and easy to see. Allow graphic elements to fill the frame and bleed off the edges. Use visuals in an active way, not a decorative one. Aim to carefully trim back the details. Make your presentation—visuals and narration—participatory.
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These are great to work from, very succinct and simple to do. Another thing that will be great for me to share with others that is simple and easy to do, while continually improving things along the way
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#4! Efficiency. Yes. Otherwise we can blather away without purpose. The 'Curse of Knowledge'.
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50-minute presentation
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Even though this is not Reynolds' main thought here, I appreciate the fact that he mentions that a part of preparation is knowing how much time is available to communicate with the audience. To avoid the information attack, it is wise to limit the amount of information being shared in a manageable amount in the time alloted.
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How much background information about your topic
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Just like with any teaching, I have found that audiences vary greatly in their prior knowledge. It is a challenge to share background information without boring those who already know it.
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really helps solidify and simplify my message in my own head
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I really like this idea of planning on a white board or on paper. Like Reynolds, I can see that I would feel freer to think outside the box since it is "just" a planning step.
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you also arouse your listener’s emotion and energy
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In the professional development that I am asked to lead, teachers need to hear the stories of students. I can see that without the stories to back up the information, I will not be able to tap into the energy and emotions of the audience members.
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Karen, this is so important! The hardest part for me as a professional development person is to develop those stories that resonate. Too many times I've seen myself and my colleagues fail here.
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down-to-earth language that was conversational yet passionate
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This is so descriptive of the language to which an audience can relate: conversational yet passionate. When speakers are "pie in the sky" rather than down to earth, the audience thinks, "They don't understand what I do every day." I've thought this myself during a presentation!
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find out the age of the oldest person in your audience and divide it by two. That’s your optimal font size.
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What a great idea. Average age divided by two equals the minimum font size allowed. As I think this through, I find that as a visual learner, I DO tune out the speaker if they have all their information on the slides.
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if your presentation is not based on solid content, you can not succeed.
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This is why I fear not having all my notes on my slides! I want to express so much information so that I am deemed the credible expert. I fear I might get caught up and freeze in mid-speech and then fumble without knowing what to say. Alas, I just reminded myself that I simply need to chunk down the ingo - more slides, each with less info rather than stuffing all the info into one slide.
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without making the effort to make the information or data applicable to the members of the audience.
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Ahhh! I'm called out. The example I sent in for this class of my presentation is demonstrative of this point.
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Do not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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Do not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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thing
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not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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I have seen pretty good (though not great) presentations that had very average delivery and average graphics, but were relatively effective because the speaker told relevant stories in a clear, concise manner to support his points.
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This reminds me of the idea behind - "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ― Maya Angelou ....Stories evoke FEELings, that's why we love them so much; we resonate, we see ourselves in the storyline, connecting to it. The point here that we illustrate the points we're making through story means the story provides not only the support of our point, it also is the PROOF!
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We fear what we do not know. If we know our material well and have rehearsed the flow, know what slide is next in the deck, and have anticipated questions, then we have eliminated much (but not all) of the unknown
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Great point. In addition, confidence is the natural byproduct, natural consequence of doing the act, of doing, of doing what you fear. We tend to think it's the other way around - that we must first find/create/elicit confidence within us and THEN do the doing. Nope.
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“Forget PowerPoint and statistics, to involve people at the deepest level you need to tell stories.”
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This is a cure and remedy for the problem of audience - of having an audience that you anticipate to be difficult, or having an audience that you don't know anything about, don't know their background of knowledge of your topic, if any (or an audience of all mixed awareness). The remedy, as I have found, is to strive for communicating to human universals. If I can propose any point I'm making as having a root anchored to a purposeful and meaningful WHY, then I'll elicit feelings that will hook the audience, and this strong, empathic connection may even lead to their forgiveness of me if I screw up in content, or it may lead to their overlooking something I lack technically.
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you want to position the problems in the foreground and then show how you’ve overcome them,” says McKee. If you tell the story of how you struggled with antagonists, the audience is engaged with you and your material.
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Also, it's like more proof - if we can illustrate how this idea we're presenting is a natural part of the resiliency process, people will buy in. We're always looking for solutions that work, and we want to hear them first hand.
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you should not fight your natural inclination to frame experiences into a story; instead, embrace this and tell the story of your experience of the topic to your audience.
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I fight my natural inclination often, as if my meager story, my own personal experience, isn't worthy enough. Yuck. Truth is, I deal with very difficult subject matter in my talks, and people want a way out of these predicaments I address. I'm grateful to Garr and Robert McKee for, in a sense, making me feel like I can give myself permission to trust my own journey and share it like a beacon of inspiration and hope.
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The best kamishibai presenters did not read the story, but instead kept their eyes on the audience a
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Eye contact. Bam. So simple! I try to engage in every person's eyes. I know that when I'm at a concert or a lecture, whatever, when the speaker/artist looks in my eyes amongst all eyes in the group...I'm spellbound. I feel special. I'll recall that experience, that moment, that person with warm regard and impactful, resonant significance.
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in a voice that was human, not formal.
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HUMAN voice, not formal. This is relieving to hear. Even when it's a formal presentation, I can be human first. I need this.
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powerful man simply shrugged his shoulders and said “...ah, doesn’t matter. My point is...” He moved forward and captivated the audience with his stories of the firm’s past failures and recent successes
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I need to hear these real life stories of how people gracefully handle presentation glitches.
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(1) He knew his material inside and out, and he knew what he wanted to say.
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He did not let technical glitches get in his way. When they occurred, he moved forward without missing a beat, never losing his engagement with the audience. (4) He used real, sometimes humorous, anecdotes to illustrate his points, and all his stories were supremely poignant and relevant, supporting his core message.
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it was, above all, authentic
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If you do not believe it, do not know it to be true, how can you connect and convince others with your words in story form?
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a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting
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I love these sort of anecdotal, formula claims. Helps cement the concept with clarity.
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first, that they don’t know their material well enough; second, they think that more text is more convincing. Total bozosity.
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Force yourself to use no font smaller than thirty points.
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it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well
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70More
Articles: Preparation - 1 views
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I usually do not even have to look at the whiteboard or legal pad when I am in PowerPoint, because the analog process alone gave a clear visual image of how I want the content to flow. I glance at my notes to remind me of what visuals I thought of using at certain points and then go to iStockphoto.com or to my own extensive library of high-quality stock images to find the perfect image.
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I wonder how long it took him to reach the point in which he didn't have to refer back to them due to the planning analog? Or does it come so naturally it happens the first time?
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If you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it more relevant and memorable by strengthening your core message with good, short, stories or examples.
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When I think about presentations that have stuck with me, I was able to empathize with that specific presenter because their content was told in this story format!
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I would agree. Sometimes I think people when presenting may make it too hard on themselves trying to involve a story so that the audience can relate. It's got to be your story that is normal to your life. You don't have to make the Oscar's with your first presentation. Now after saying that, I still struggle doing this part sometimes.
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The best kamishibai presenters did not read the story, but instead kept their eyes on the audience and occasionally on the current card in the frame.
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Through the readings thus far, this is a common theme. Know your content and share the story to make those connections with your audience.
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Back to the preparation and knowing your content. I would categorize myself as one that dreads giving presentations but actually really enjoy it once a successful presentation has been given and the successful ones come back to preparation and knowledge.
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10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.
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I think that being mindful of this rule when planning will make a big difference in my presentations. In another class I will be creating a Pecha Kucha presentation and that format also has a strict rule of 20 slides, 20 seconds each!
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I've always taught in the classroom about avoiding too much text/info but setting a standard such as 10/20/30 where the font is 30 makes it more standard.
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This sounds like an excellent approach, 10/20/30 Going to try this and see what kind of effect is has.
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This exercise forces you to “sell” your message in 30-45 seconds
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The elevator test has really stuck with me since reading about it in the first lesson. I like this and plan to use this in my classroom as well.
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Keep it simple
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It's so easy to say this to ourself and especially our students but as simple as it is to say it, ha, it's so hard sometimes to narrow things down in regards to presentations. The 3 things to remember will be a great aide for me to use.
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My tech department usually says KISS. Keep it simple - stupid. We are referring to ourselves as stupid. Don't put too much into something - keep it simple for the audience.
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caffeine
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Use visuals in an active way, not a decorative one.
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It's been nice seeing all the visuals and pics and how they all can tell a story. It's really a simple process and a reminder that I need to include more into mine instead of the usual PPT clipart/objects/etc. Much more telling and relating to the audience.
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I would agree with the first comment. If and when I do put a picture on a powerpoint, often times I am looking for a picture that might match the content. Really, the picture should embody the content.
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Knowing your audience well should seem intuitive to educators as we always think about the various learners in the classroom, but I know that as I have transitioned to working with adult learners, this is a bit more complicated!
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I need to remember to have my audience somehow engage with the content or they won't be able to answer this question. Then I have wasted their time.
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Story telling is such a great way to grab and keep your audience's attention. People are more apt to listen when they can relate to what is being talked about. Stories are a great way to invite your audience to get involved.
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I especially enjoy when students share their stories! I always tell them they have just made my next presentation better as I have a new story to add :)
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Remember, even if you’ve been asked to share information, rarely is the mere transfer of information a satisfactory objective from the point of view of the audience.
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Such an important point considering how often presentations are used to transfer simple bits of information. We've all experienced innumerable meetings that transferred information better suited for a handout or quick email.
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Great content is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one
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A great point here because we've spent so much time considering many of the surface aspects of presentations, but at its core has to be relevant and engaging content. Presentations that lack good content are like blockbuster movies that lack good writing: all style and no substance.
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Can you crystallize the essence of your presentation content and write it on the back of a business card?
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Being able to pass the elevator test is a must for good presentations, but I think the Belasco test is better for the early stages of preparation. If you can't pare the essence of the presentation down to one sentence, then your initial purpose is too complex to convey to the audience. Such a simple step could save hours of time and effort in the long run.
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Documentaries do not simply tell facts; rather, they engage us with the story
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while we are making our case others are arguing with us in their heads using their own statistics and sources. Even if you do persuade through argument, says McKee, this is not good enough because “people are not inspired to act on reason alone.”
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Even the best stats available don't alone make a good presentation. I can totally relate to watching a presenter unveil his or her argument as I sit and try to take down that argument point by point. Good stories can't really be argued, which is why they are more powerful than reason alone.
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Make your presentation—visuals and narration—participatory.
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In my new role as a PD facilitator, this is something I need to grow in. Easier said than done, but when the audience has a role in the presentation it is exponentially more effective in delivering its message. I've sat through enough passive and mindless PD sessions that I owe it to my colleagues to at least encourage their participation.
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I guarantee it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well.
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I find this to be the most convincing part of the 10/20/30 rule. Depending on the level of audience participation and how the presentation fits in with the rest of the lesson or activity, 20 min. won't always be feasible. However, torturing the audience with countless bullets and tiny text should be avoided (And yes, I'm a hypocrite because I'm as guilty of this as anyone).
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I like this idea. Think of the three most important points of your presentation, and make sure you emphasize them.
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I find the analog approach stimulates my creativity a bit more as I said. No software to get in my way and I can easily see how the flow will go.
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I can see how a powerpoint would be prepared more successfully on pencil and paper rather than on a computer. First of all, doing the presentation with a pencil and paper would offer fewer distractions (you wouldn't flip from window to window). I also believe you would be able to be more creative without a program that already sets the background format up for you. You would have a blank page to start with and could brainstorm the design of your slides.
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EXERCISE If your audience could remember only three things about your presentation,what would you want it to be? (1)__________ (2)__________ (3)__________
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I like this idea. Think of the three most important points of your presentation, and make sure you emphasize them.
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I agree, excellent idea. Trying to decide if it would be three ideas per day or per unit? I think I could start with three "big ideas" per day. Good challenge!
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9. The art of story telling
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9. The art of story telling
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9. The art of story telling
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I can think of some of the best presentations I have been to and they all have storytelling involved. Many might be about former students or teaching experiences. Some might be jokes or inspirational stories, but they all have stories. This is definitely something I want to work on!
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In your own presentations, look for contrasts such as before/after, past/future, now/then, problem/solution, strife/peace, growth/decline, pessimism/optimism, and so on. Highlighting contrasts is a natural way to bring the audience into your story and make your message more memorable.
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This seems like a great way to tell a story and attainable for any content area. In math, I could connect our current content to previous content with a story. I could talk about problems that my students in the past have had with the current lesson and how they overcame it. I feel like this could be a starting point to a story, if you don't have one.
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10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
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Who is the audience?
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I think in class it is important to get to know your students. Building the relationship with the students and understanding their background definitely helps the teacher to design a lesson/presentation that will reach the students.
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The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories, most often personal ones.
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It is often hard for students to give an interesting presentation and I think it is because many of them lack the "history" to have stories to share. I co-coach our Academic Decathlon team and as they work on their prepared speeches we often tell them the best speeches are tied to "real life" not a researched topic. Now I know why....they have stories to share!
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We do not tell a story from memory alone; we do not need to memorize a story that has meaning to us. If it is real, then it is in us. Based on our research, knowledge, and experience, we can tell it from our gut. Internalize your story, but do not memorize it line by line. You can’t fake it.
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I think this is what makes good teachers! When the teacher teaches what they love, they just naturally have stories; they do not have to read from a slide as they are telling about something they really know, love and want to share!
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What is the purpose of the event?
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My presentation will be to the younger students and their parents about our 1 to 1. The students want to get the info quickly and get their new chromebook. The parents want this over so they can go home!
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A data dump — all too common unfortunately — is when a presenter crams too much information into the talk without making the effort to make the information or data applicable to the members of the audience. A data dump also occurs when data and information do not seem to build on the information that came earlier in the presentation.
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Did a data dump the last time I presented. Had so much information in too short a time. Learning to be a better presentor.
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Really ask yourself the tough questions throughout the planning process. For example, is your point relevant?
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So What? I never really thought about that before. I definitely do not put myselves in their shoes enough to say - what is the point of all of this. Need to follow this!
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Good stories have interesting, clear beginnings; provocative, engaging content in the middle; and a clear conclusion.
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Sounds like my English teacher. Introduction, middle and conclusion. Guess I had forgotten about that.
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28More
Organization & Preparation Tips | Garr Reynolds Official Site - 3 views
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pen and paper.
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white board -sticky notes- mind webbing on the computer or on paper-free thinking or brainstorming with a partner-tape recording or writing down It helps to keep a list of pre writing activities handy.Start with the three big ideas. make sure they are stated concisely!
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Keep it simple! You don't want someone to turn off or to walk away overwhelmed. The elevator test: If you don't have enough passion or interest in you subject you will fail this test and your presentation would probably fail also. Follow your heart!
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and reduce anxiety and nervousness, then confidence is something that will naturally take the place of your anxiety
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Yes, confidence will improve, but some of us have that natural anxiety when presenting in front of a group.
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n. When you remove the unknown
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What a great quote! I feel this is why I become a better teacher every year. The unknown is gone so I can be confident in what I am teaching my students.
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Simple is not easy but I think it is most important. If it is too complex your audience might even remember the wrong thing - for instance what you said not to do.
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The best presentations do include a story! I need to use this in my presentations.
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Story telling! I love to read and to hear a good story. I need to remember to use this! I have to agree that the best presentations I have heard lead me down the path of a story.
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it is useful to think of your entire 30 minute presentation as an opportunity to “tell a story.”
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one entire wall
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Confidence. As soon as I look at the audience I freeze. In front of my students or a small group I am fine, but I struggle with a larger group no matter how much I know my subject.
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Stories are easy to remember for your audience
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I agree! When a topic or new skill is presented with a story, I tend to remember it better!
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What are their expectations of you?
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What a great way to think about things! Instead of thinking about what I want to teach the audience, I can think about the expectations of the audience.
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A data dump — all too common unfortunately — is when a presenter crams too much information into the talk without making the effort to make the information or data applicable to the members of the audience.
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I have been in many presentations that felt like this! An audience wants to know the "why." I think it's important to include why the information is applicable to the audience.
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It may be cool, but is it important or help your story in a very important way…or is it fluff?
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I have been guilty of "adding fluff" to a presentation. I like the idea of asking yourself "so what?".
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if your presentation is not based on solid content, you can not succeed
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you have your key points and logical flow
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We all need a plan to follow and an order to follow to achieve anything. Presentations are not an exception.
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100More
Articles: Preparation - 5 views
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What is the purpose of the event?
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I think this is great advise. Every presentation needs to be designed to meet the needs of the audience. -
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A data dump
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Data dump has been a problem for many presentations that I attend and many presentations that I have facilitated myself. I am going to be much more aware of this.
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Don't you just love the term "Data Dump"? It's a good mental image to go along with the quality of the product :)
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If your audience could remember only three things about your presentation,what would you want it to be?
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I am going to do this activity and the elevator test in the next presentation I work on. This is great advice.
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Even more than that, I like leading with it. It is kind of like "objectives", without the stuffy language. Telling your audience "Here is what I'm hoping to do with this presentation" near the beginning (maybe right away or maybe after an intro activity) is a good way for setting the stage and focusing the audience.
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This exercise forces you to “sell” your message in 30-45 seconds.
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This is very similar to what the book, "Talk like Ted" stated. This is also something that I need to focus on.
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often personal ones.
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Good presentations include stories.
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Some of the best presenter I have heard, have this key concept mastered. Good presenters and also good story tellers.
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Yes, they have the ability to tell a story, capture our interest, and make us feel entertained.
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Organization & Preparation Tips
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I put all 5 of my sticky notes within this article as I could not get them to work in the Planning or other articles. I am not sure what I was doing wrong but when I would try to add a sticky note, it would kick me out of the article. Does anyone have suggestions as to why I could not get that to work but COULD get diigo to work within this article?
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This sentence reminds me of "The Elevator Test." What is the central point? Could you explain it in the time is takes for an elevator ride versus a 50 minute presentation? That's the core idea the audience needs to take away.
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Do not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
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I can see how a presenter might unintentionally do this. The desire is for the audience to have a full understanding, but data overload might be the unintended outcome.
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too much telling means too much tedium. It's important that the audience have the opportunity to reflect and apply what they are learning.
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That is, rather than diving right into PowerPoint (or Keynote), the best presenters often scratch out their ideas and objectives with a pen and paper.
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I like the brainstorming idea using post it notes. I read where writing down lots of ideas, even the crazy ones, may lead to one great idea.
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True, you may never have to, but practicing what you might do in such a case forces you to get your message down and make your overall content tighter and clearer.
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This is the essence of the presentation. Great practice to be able to say what it boils down to in just a few minutes.
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I struggle with this a little bit. Once I've boiled it down then I just want to present the boiled down version as time is such a precious resource.
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If you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it more relevant and memorable by strengthening your core message with good, short, stories or examples.
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If I might get on a soapbox here, I would suggest a strong YES. The power of analogies and personal anecdotes is mighty. It helps with sermons, sales pitches, online lessons, and in-the-classroom lessons.
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I think people do remember the message if it is tied to a story they found interesting or entertaining.
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The key, then, is to aim to unite an idea with an emotion, which is best done through story. “In a story, you not only weave a lot of information into the telling but you also arouse your listener’s emotion and energy,” he says.
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In your own presentations, look for contrasts such as before/after, past/future, now/then, problem/solution, strife/peace, growth/decline, pessimism/optimism, and so on. Highlighting contrasts is a natural way to bring the audience into your story and make your message more memorable.
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This may be an easy way for me to look for a 'hook' into bettering my presentations. Analyze what my major points need to be and then look for a contrast to present around.
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I like this idea. The article talks about the human brain being hardwired to notice differences. Appeals visually and intellectually to the viewer.
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The stories and the connections they made with the audience caused these relatively small points to be remembered because emotions such as surprise, sympathy, and empathy were all triggered.
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If you do not believe it, do not know it to be true, how can you connect and convince others with your words in story form? Your words will be hollow.
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Your presentation's story needs to be real - not forced or memorized - to be convincing.
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These pitches are so lousy that I’m losing my hearing, there’s a constant ringing in my ear, and every once in while the world starts spinning.
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Nothing profound in my comment - I just like Kawasaki's sense of humor! :)
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"Profound" is overrated... I enjoy comments like this as well as his humor as well :)
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Find out everything you can about the location and logistics of the venue.
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This is really important. I presented recently at an international conference. I arrived to find that the meeting room did not have sound and there was not an air mouse/laser available. Language was also a barrier. I decided that morning to use power point of pictures scrolling as a background and ditch the presentation I had worked so hard on. The pictures told the story and people tweeted their questions and someone translated for me and I answered. It was not best practice and yet it worked. I really had to water down the content to the very basics which did challenge me and energize me.
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Eh... best practice, best schmatice. What is truly "best practice" anyways? This is a great example where different strategies work in different situations. Your flexibility to do this on the fly, is really amazing. It's extremely tough to scrap something you have prepared when that moment arises.
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presenter crams too much information into the talk
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A data dump
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I have been guilty of this for so many years! This is what I want to work on...simple, simple, simple. I also want to consider the document concept vs the power point usage.
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Could you sell your idea in the elevator ride
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I use this a lot when we need staff to present our mission, new initiative or accomplishment at Wilson.
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sharing a story
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This is why I believe Ted Talks work so effectively. They are short and power point is not the focus but a tool to deliver the message.
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And... that really should be the purpose of all Power Points. It seems TED Talks could be better described as Power Points done well.
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nervous
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Sometimes nerves can add to the energy level of the presenter. I can see a passion and excitement and know if the person speaks from the heart, I will get the message. A little nervousness is a good thing in my mind. It is a big responsibility to be given a large number of people and 30 to 90 minutes of their time.
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sit down and really think about the day of your presentation. What is the real purpose of your talk? Why is it that you were asked to speak? What does the audience expect?
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I need to start asking myself this question more often...sometimes I get caught up in the overload of info. that I feel like I need to share that I never even ask this important question!
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This is true for all educational situations, not just presentations. This is also easier said than done. It seems like every Curriculum guru chimes in with this item, and yet has somewhat lousy presentations. One of the hardest parts for me is that I truly don't know what the audience expects. Or, what the audience needs. And often it is different than why I was asked to speak.
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I usually use a legal pad and pen (or a whiteboard if there is enough space) to create a rough kind of storyboard.
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f you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it more relevant and memorable by strengthening your core message with good, short, stories or examples.
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Story is an important way to engage the audience and appeal to people’s need for logic and structure in addition to emotion.
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Identify the problem. (This could be a problem, for example, that your product solves.) Identify causes of the problem. (Give actual examples of the conflict surrounding the problem.) Show how and why you solved the problem. (This is where you provide resolution to the conflict.)
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Love the math connection! It's great when we can find relevance in various material!
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This reminds me of the saying they don't care what you know until they know that you care. Caring for me in this context means knowing the audience and respecting their needs. The Iowa teaching standards would also reflect here. Great teaching (standard 4) must be backed up with knowledge (standard 2)
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We are wired to forget what our brains perceive as unimportant to our survival.
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To do that she must engage their emotions,” McKee says, “and the key to their hearts is story.”
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The biggest element a story has, then, is conflict. Conflict is dramatic.
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Man vs Man Man vs Self Man vs Society Man vs Nature Conflict is what makes the world go round and learning occur. Cause and Effect!!!!
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ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.
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Clarity in planning with this graphic organizer will provide clarity for the audience. It drives me crazy when a slide has a ton of text!
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participatory storytelling that combines the use of hand-drawn visuals with the engaging narration of a live presenter.
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crystallize the essence
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This is a great phrase! I love the visual it give me when thinking about acquisition of learning.
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whiteboard
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I like the whiteboard but I prefer paper. Whiteboard is too easy to erase and sometimes what I thought was a bad idea later on turns into a great one. If its on paper then it's easier to see what I dismissed earlier.
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Dakara nani? (so what?)
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I like this because it also prepares you for the disgruntled or negative nancy audience member that is trying to pick holes in your presentation.
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Humans are predisposed to remembering experiences in the narrative form; we learn best with a narrative structure.
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What makes life interesting is “the dark side” and the struggle to overcome the negatives—struggling against negative powers is what forces us to live more deeply,
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Is this why America is obsessed with reality tv? There's always conflict & a dark side filled with emotion.
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normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting
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And, if you have then actually rehearsed with an actual computer and projector (assuming you are using slideware) several times, your nervousness will all but melt away. We fear what we do not know
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Simplicity takes more forethought and planning on your part because you have to think very hard about what to include and what can be left out.
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Many times I try to share too much information. It does take planning and take some thought which also takes time to keep it simple.
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The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories
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Stories catch the audience's attention. Many times people can place themselves in the stories or can relate to a similar story.
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A good storyteller describes what it’s like to deal with these opposing forces such as the difficulty of working with scarce resources, making difficult decisions,
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(1) He knew his material inside and out, and he knew what he wanted to say. (2) He stood front and center and spoke in a real, down-to-earth language that was conversational yet passionate. (3) He did not let technical glitches get in his way. When they occurred, he moved forward without missing a beat, never losing his engagement with the audience. (4) He used real, sometimes humorous, anecdotes to illustrate his points, and all his stories were supremely poignant and relevant, supporting his core message.
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I think this sums up an effective presentation. Know the material, use eye contact, keep going, and use stories to illustrate points and engage the audience.
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AnswerGarden - 0 views
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PLE Articles - 1 views
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Not every student is ready for this responsibility, so teachers need to have strategies in place to guide and support these learners. In addition, teachers must pursue training and be knowledgeable of how to utilize PLEs to enhance learning and ensure that students are using this e-learning tool in a meaningful way
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It is not enough just to have PLEs and use them in the classroom, a teacher needs to be able to provide intervention, conferring, and reteaching strategies to help the student understand the expectations. They need to know how to use the tool correctly.
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Having the opportunity to collaborate with, visit schools supporting PLEs, or receive support from other professionals already comfortable with implementing PLEs would prove valuable on my journey to create learning environments to best meet my student needs. I so agree with your comment of teacher role. -
This is a very powerful statement. I agree it is not just enough to have PLE's and use them. It is very important to have time to collaborate and have some professional development. Using PLE's teachers will be in a different role than in previous settings and will need the tools to support their students through this learning journey.
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Some instructors empower students to use their own mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones as a means to create PLEs. Others utilize sites such as Symbaloo or NetVibesas a foundation to help learners create and maintain their personal learning environments. Below is a video that shows how a 7th grade student uses Symbaloo as a PLE in her science class:
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How do students learn how to use their PLE? Do they take a class to learn how to correctly and effectively them or does each classroom teacher teach bits and pieces of it? -
I think this depends on the students. Some kids can naturally figure out how things work and others will need a tutorial. Ultimately the kids will choose a PLE that they feel comfortable with or already know how to use.
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Teachers, she explains, are no longer the primary or even the best source of information available to students, and our work must increasingly attend to supporting students in developing their skills and motivations for becoming themselves networked and sophisticated online learners.
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Are schools going to provide training for teachers so they know how to use all of these PLE tools? I feel I would want to fully understand how to use all of these online tools before I teach my students how to use them.
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We also need to teach our students to think and learn on their own. They are used to being provided with resources, graphic organizers, and other tools to guide their thinking. This is a big shift in processing and responsibility for our students. Because they have never done this in earlier education, some will really struggle to adapt. -
You pose great questions, "are schools going to provide training for teachers so they know how to use all of the PLE tools?" I agree educators will need more training to properly implement PLE's into their classrooms. The statement that teachers are no longer the primary or even the best source of information is a huge shift in thinking. Our jobs as educators will be to support our students on their on learning pathway.
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as an instructor, you can make a webmix quite interactive.
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Using this in a classroom would be helpful to catch students up who have been absent.
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Yes! Or to be able to access it on their own if they are absent. There isn't an excuse to not be current or up to date if resources are always at their fingertips.
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PLEs place a large amount of responsibility on students and thus requires a high level of self-management and awareness.
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This definitely seems more geared towards middle and high school students. Are their ways to create PLE's in the elementary classroom?
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I read in one of our assigned readings/videos that a PLE sometimes looks like the homescreen on a smart phone. So an elementary student may have a variety of educational games that they have found/been provided that they would use for practice. Other kids' PLE may not involve technology at all, but instead be a manipulative, like counting blocks. I know my own children (by birth) have been practicing multiplication with their Pokemon cards? My first grader couldn't handle using the iPad for sight word practice and had to go back to flash cards. He learned what was acceptable and regained access. While this classroom isn't necessarily PL, I would think the same concept applies?
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We also discussed that as they begin to work in inquiry circles next week and to collaborate on their digital research projects, they can create, publish, and share their topic webmixes with their peers so that they can collaborate and discover information sources through this form of networking/information sharing–I find this possibility exciting for the students, and they seemed impressed by this concept as well.
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This networking in inquiry circles sounds like a wonderful way for students to share their learning. It would also give students a way to have a voice for those you are more hesitant to share in the regular classroom. I have a lot of questions about how it all works. How do we prepare students for this work? Do they have basic grammar structures so their writing makes sense? I am unfamiliar with the websites being used. Do we need to have inservices to get all teachers "up-to-date" on what students will be using? And lastly, what constitutes a finished project? How do students know when they are done?
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we are in a new era where information is abundantly available and professionalism is far more about the effective manipulation– access, evaluation, & application– it only makes sense to reorient learning toward facilitation of students’ “active role in the learning process” and teachers’ provision of the right balance between structured lessons and autonomy; let’s never forget it is an ongoing balancing act.
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It is very clear the teacher and student roles are making a major shift. While we are changing the roles in the process, as educators, we need to have a unified understanding of what the balance needs to be or we will be giving students mixed messages. Students can quickly determine how to access what they need once they are given the tools but evaluation and process will require some lessons for the students AND the teachers.
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you can create tiles that link to challenges, quiz questions, polls, discussion forums, chat pages, and other types of content and media that will facilitate more student involvement and creativity
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Versatility and Opportunity which will allow for student work and communication in a personal learning environment with classroom connections.
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Personal learning environments (PLE) are a new approach to personalized learning that allows students to direct and manage their own learning experience while pursuing educational goals.
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Every Wednesday my district has a late start for students while teachers are receiving PD. Just this morning a discussion at my table involved brainstorming how to move students past doing just what's expected of them. How do we get their thinking to move past, "How many paragraphs/sentences do I need to write?" PL could be a tool to develop that independent learner.
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I agree, this will be the hardest step for our students! They are used to the traditional model of education with clear expectations and guidelines always structured and provided for them. We are trying to increase opportunities for students to be independent and accountable for their own learning and many are resistant. They know how to "play the game" of the traditional model of a school, so change can be intimidating.
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Instead of a teacher providing resources that everyone uses, students can utilize their PLE to acquire information using preferred apps and resources such as blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, Ning or Delicious. The development of PLEs represents a shift in focus from teacher centered classrooms to more learner centered classrooms.
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As I have been talking to my kids about PL, I heard (and have feared) someone say, "So we're doing the teacher's job?" I think, like most changes in education, it's going to take some convincing/educating the parents as to what PL is and the role of the teacher. Of course, I feel that it's all about how it's presented. If you get the kids to understand their role and the teacher's role, you may not have these issues.
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This needs to start in elementary for it to be truly effective; I don't think we can expect secondary students who have not been taught how to learn in this environment to suddenly run with personal learning. While many of them think it sounds great, they haven't been conditioned to independence in their learning. They want everything provided for them and often don't know where to start when set off on their own. We need to teach students how to learn in this manner in order for it to be successful.
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those policies are not going to change.
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This is a systematic problem that needs to change in order to make PL work. Restricting access is not the answer, and I believe we'll get there as a society. If we want real life, the students need to understand when it's acceptable to do what. I already know my students will struggle with this issue, but if they're engaged in their PL, they may not need those distractions. As with any classroom management issue, expectations will need to be established and enforced when violated. We read that adults even struggle with using technology appropriately in the workplace, so of course this will need addressed with students.
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On that thought, will our lifting those access restrictions at the elementary through secondary grade levels assist learners beyond the K-12 walls with using technology appropriately? Would it reduce the occurrence of workplace and adult inappropriate use of technology which seems to be sadly common place today?
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We have so many problems with restrictions on our devices. At our school, teachers have the same filters as the students also! They give us no passwords for administrative access or even the WiFi. How can we teach students to think critically when using the web if we simply restrict everything? Especially when it comes to teachers, this seems a bit demeaning. People will always use resources inappropriately. Unfortunately, that's just the way it works. Why restrict everyone due to the poor actions of a few?
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ong have educators, from Aristotle to Dewey to Sizer, called for “learning by doing” and “student as worker,”
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I feel that this is where we are at as educators as well. We need to "learn by doing" because a lot of us are doing a job we were never trained to do...and I'm not even that old! I currently have a student teacher, and she's amazed (and a little scared) at what we're doing with our students with blended learning and also standards based grading. She hasn't even graduated and she knows nothing of either of them! Get ready, honey! :)
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The notion of a PLE for students, grounding them intentionally in an environment of information tools and productive applications, is a great way to seek, develop, and structure that balanced approach.
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As much of this as we can implement in our class is a step in the right direction. We can only control so many variables of the school day, and that's ultimately what is holding a lot of us back from implementing true PL.
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Because you can link to an infinite variety of web pages and you can embed media
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We do SOOO much on Google Drive in our school, I'm interested in seeing how we could use them together or if this would be separate.
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The concept of PLE is not a way to replace classroom learning,
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This is an important declarative to use when persuading teammates or administration to support the personal learning environment in your school. Like any differentiation piece, collaboration, individual student consideration of needs, and building a rigorous, yet attainable structure to learning is included with that design. Creating the PL to include technology students are frequenting, motivates students buying in to the idea at first.
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I agree with this statement about not here to replace classroom learning but to enhance it. I also agree with your comment about how it is an important declarative when bringing the topic to co-teachers or administration. Education is always changing and administrators will want to listen if you have a way to enhance student learning.
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parents, email conversations, Facebook posts or even twitter hashtags. These interactions among their learning community reinforces learning and combats the often negative stereotypes associated with traditional learning techniques. Because PLEs are learner controlled, they are easily adapted to the learner’s day-to-day activities and interests both inside and outside of the classroom
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This all sounds great! I could easily believe my students would enjoy these social network interaction learning communities. However, it does form a question connecting to student safety. I'm wondering how districts already implementing PLEs are assuring students they are responsible for will be involved with a secure/safe learning experience?
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my main priority is for students to have a tool they can use to organize their information streams and to create their own topic webmixes, and from what I’ve seen so far, Symbaloo definitely will meet those needs. As we begin venturing into our research the next two weeks and students begin developing their Symbaloo webmixes, I’ll continue to collect feedback from students on how this learning tool is working for them and how they are using it for themselves as well as within their groups–I’m excited to see what will happen.
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This grabs my interest! Not quite ready to plunge into this just yet, but could envision how this could greatly enhance students' research connected to problem-based learning situations I propose as extended learning projects with classroom teachers.
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ymbaloo EDU
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In taking a glimpse at the Symbaloo EDU page, I was glad to find out it's compatibility with tablets. My students have personal Chrome Books, we often find certain apps and programs that aren't available to use with these.
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ruth be told, I could stand to be more savvy in my own organizing of online learning and networking: I’ve been slow to use tools and develop skills for managing online resource, such as the use of vehicles like Symbaloo, Evernote, or Diigo, and I want to take inspiration from the 7th grade student in the video above to move forward in this way and learn and practive better these skills and with these tools.
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I often feel the same - slow to utilize the tools available. It's always well intent, but priority address other items at hand. I'm hoping this evolves as I develop more understanding of PLEs and their use for enhancing learning opportunities of those I instruct.
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Not to mention, once we master one tool...another one pops up! I try to stay current in technology through classes and our PD opportunity, but it is tough to stay on top of things. I think the best way to do this is to stick with one tool and work to know it well. Otherwise we fall into the trap of "jack of all trades, master of none!"
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Learning isn’t germane to structured classroom environments alone; it occurs in both formal and informal settings.
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I think this statement is very important for the heading why PLE's are beneficial. Showing learning can take place in both formal and informal settings. Often with the push to meet the standards and standardized tests teachers feel the need to focus on the formal learning setting, however the informal learning setting can actually prove to be more beneficial in my opinion.
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Ten Tips for Personalized Learning via Technology | Edutopia - 0 views
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Immediate Feedback
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Providing timely and helpful feedback has been a career-long struggle for me (especially as a high school writing teacher...those essays!) Kelly Gallagher's work on assessment and feedback has really helped me in my turning the feedback responsibilities back over to the students,which aids in more timely and authentic feedback. Now my challenge is using data to drive further personalization and instruction...so much to manage!!
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One thing we plan to try in Orbis this year (our project-based learning class where students are doing projects for the workforce) is to structure in a few days where we invite in experts from the workforce to provide feedback to students. For example, if a student team is working on a marketing project for a particular business, we will invite a marketing expert from a marketing firm to meet with the students and give them feedback on their work. I'm excited to see this in action! How could this look for your classroom? -
Immeadiate feedback is essential for learning but I do understand the struggles with this. Therefore using technology when appropriate to provide timely feedback is a essential.
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Let Students Drive
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I do this out of necessity! My high school students know so much more about technology than I do!
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Why wait days or weeks to deliver and grade a quiz to find out which kids missed important concepts? Teachers here routinely use remote-response systems (clickers), colorful little gadgets that allow each child to enter her answer to a practice question so that the teacher can instantly see who got it right or wrong. Computer software programs, too, can give kids practice questions, quickly diagnose trouble spots, and allow teachers to customize subsequent lessons for each child's needs.
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This has been a challenge, especially as I moved to a district that is very rapidly growing and my student roster is upwards of 160 now. It seems impossible to give timely feedback (let alone IMMEDIATE) or meaningful feedback to every single student. I've had to enlist technology to help me deliver feedback on some of the lowest level skills so I could focus on giving feedback on the higher level and more complex skills. It's a journey! -
That is a great point! It can certainly get tricky! I like using some quick google forms exit cards too that allow some easy formative assessment to see where students are and where we need to go next.
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When they plan each unit of study, different members of each grade-level team design the activities for higher-skilled kids, lower-skilled kids, etc.
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Deliver Instruction through Multiple Forms of Media
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I think this helps engage students. Instead of the same old teaching the same way all day long it allows for some variety instead of boring them. As I have started some learning progressions I have found videos, songs, interactive games rather than just doing teacher led activities the normal practice routines. -
This has been very valuable for Physical Education teachers within my district to engage students. Although not all schools have the projectors mounted in the ceiling with screens on the wall. Those that do reap the benefits though.
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We all still remember the abc's by singing them. Students can retain more information by doing that sitting and getting.
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how to use the technology, what to do if you have a question, how to behave if Ms. Lowe isn't standing right there
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Give Students Options
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I like this option idea as in PE not all students want to actually perform their skills for evaluation, some may want to write out the critical steps to perform a skill and others may even want to simply explain it to the teacher or a peer.
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Pretest Students' Knowledge Before Each Unit
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I think this has great value for the teachers and students so that learning can meet the students where there at and the teachers can plan accordingly.
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I agree! I think it could help even with PLC's and creating learning pathways to help students get to where we'd like them to be.
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You know what? If something doesn't work, it's OK,
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I truly believe this is so important...it helps kids see us as problem solvers too. Just yesterday we were working with a group of 2nd graders and trying to use scratch...well apparently our ipads are too old to use scratch so we had to improvise and change the lesson so students used our model on the board and then they wrote out their answers on paper. At the end we discussed how it's ok when tech doesn't work and how can we keep working to do our job. Great discussion with these kids...they've grown up with all of this:-)
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ollie-afe-2019: Educational Leadership: The Quest for Quality--article - 6 views
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I thought this quote was interesting. I always believe that having more than one data point helps a teacher see more of a rounded picture of that student. Relying on just one assessment isn't fair to the student. I believe we should look at multiple assessments, formative assessments, check points to help our students grow. JN
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assessor needs to have a clear picture of what achievement he or she intends to measure. I
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When we were rolling out the Iowa Core, we really emphasized how content, instruction, and assessment were part of the "curriculum". Each piece playing an integral part in student learning.
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I think we as teachers need to make sure we are focused on what essentials we need to assess. We have the mindset that we must teach the content, and not the process. JN
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Do the results provide clear direction for what to do next?
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Students learn best when they monitor and take responsibility for their own learning
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I really like this idea of having students take responsibility for their own learning, and putting the learning target in language they can understand would definitely help!
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I agree that students do learn best when they take on the responsibility but I also think this is the ideal situation and often does not happen. How do we motivate more students to do this? -
I agree with this, but it seems so foreign to students. I think we need to plan on a lot of modeling to shift the responsibility to them.
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Student friendly learning targets! I believe involving students in tracking their own learning targets is very powerful! It's high on the Hattie scale. JN
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f we don't begin with clear statements of the intended learning—clear and understandable to everyone, including students—we won't end up with sound assessments.
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While this seems like a straightforward idea, in reality, making a learning purpose clear and understandable to everyone - students included - can be difficult. Especially in English, the skill were teaching is not clear cut. CCSS Reading Literature 11-12.6 asks students to "Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant." However, there's no "right" answer to this skill. Student analysis of "what is really meant" could encompass a huge range of ideas. Crafting an assessment and teaching/learning opportunities that clearly delineate "proficient" analysis from "poor" analysis can't always be put into clear and understandable language. How can you quantify the qualitative? -
There is truth in the challenge. But I know I have been guilty of knowing what I was looking for but not clearly communicating it to students. Then they are left to guess...which means they are likely to guess in at least some ways incorrectly. I think the more modeling we do, the more "anchor papers" we provide, the better students achieve our expectations. Putting those expectations into words and examples is its own challenge, but a worthy one. -
It is nice to hear from other high school English teachers about the difficulty of measuring such subjective skills. I always struggled. One strategy I did find helpful was assigning paragraph writing as an assessment and scoring them 1-5, with a 3 being adequate and a 5 outstanding Then we would do several together and discuss what constituted a 3 and the differences between 3-4-5. That did seem to help, and students personalized the challenge of getting at least a 3 to show competency and reaching for outstanding.
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t also helps them assign the appropriate balance of points in relation to the importance of each target as well as the number of items for each assessed target.
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minimizing any bias that might distort estimates of student learning.
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This is where I know as an English teacher, I can get bogged down in the details. All of my writing assignments have an assessment category for "M.U.G.S." as we call them (mechanics, usage, grammar, spelling), but those aren't actively taught and retaught every unit. We just expect students to have a certain level of proficiency at this point. However, that isn't always the case. There are MANY students who have not internalized the "rules" of writing. Their mechanics (punctuation) seems haphazard, grammar atrocious, usage nonexistent, and spelling like they fell asleep on their keyboard. However, a complete lack of those skills might not prevent them from being able to distinguish "what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant." I have to be careful to not allow my internal bias against poor writing ability to distort an accurate estimate of a student's learning and demonstration of the skill.
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When I read through this about minimizing bias it made me think of the old ITBS/ITED tests and a student we had that was new to this country. The student was very bright but he did not perform well on the test because of bias. One example I recall was he had no idea what a fir tree was as where he was from there was no such thing.
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Will the users of the results understand them and see the connection to learning?
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This is also where I struggle. Our department uses the online program Turnitin.com to give students feedback on written assessments and grade almost all work. This is partially to alleviate issues with plagiarism, but mostly because it gives students and teachers a one access point to communicate feedback. The program allows users to submit rubrics that students can see. We've started assessing rough draft using the final rubric so students can see where their work is in the rough draft stage so they know which paper criteria need work. They also can view my feedback on the paper that tells them how to fix what they need to fix. My frustration is when students aren't willing to go back and look at the feedback on the paper or rubric so they know what learning skills they still need to work on. How can we motivate them to look at the results, see the connections, and make the progress in learning?
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That is a great point! How do we motivate kids to go back and look at the feedback and make changes. Many of our kids just want to know what do I need to know to pass the test or assignment and once they pass that's all that matters.
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You have mentioned before that kids always want to know what they have to do in order to get an A or pass...but that's what I want to know when I take a course. I want/need to know what the expected outcomes are. I feel that kids have so many classes, tests, and assignments that if they don't ask those questions or think in that kind of a structured fashion that they will crash and burn. I get that we want them to LEARN and be passionate, but especially in required courses, the passion just isn't always there and the class literally is a box to check off.
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From a formative point of view, decision makers at the classroom assessment level need evidence of where students are on the learning continuum toward each standard
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This is another area where I personally struggle. The time and flexibility needed to be truly responsive is astronomical. I currently teach 4 of the 10 sections of English 10 at Indianola High School. As a class cohort, we try to be within a day or two of each other in content delivery. However, if my students don't get a concept, it's difficult to take a day to reteach since that throws off my alignment with the other teachers. It also means that I would have would have different periods at different places. I'm hoping the flipped and blended learning opportunities will help with the time and organization issues I currently have. If I can break groups up into smaller cohorts based on skill, then use flipped/blended methods for each group, I can (hopefully) accomplish more within the time frame. It makes organization more complicated, but allows more flexibility.
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This is why common formative assessments can be so helpful. If some of your students aren't getting something, it's likely that others aren't either. If you look at the whole team's formative data, it could be that everyone needs to adjust rather than just you.
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And if your class is doing more poorly than another class, you can have conversations about the different instructional practices being used. We all do our best but it's ok to not be the best. Together we can do what is best for our students.
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Do the results provide clear direction for what to do next?
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We receive a lot data but never do much with it. What do other schools do with their data? There are great questions within this paragraph that should be asked when the results are in. MG
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A grade of D+, on the other hand, may be sufficient to inform a decision about a student's athletic eligibility, but it is not capable of informing the student about the next steps in learning.
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SBL and transitioning from all letter grades is a lengthy process but very beneficial for feedback purposes. MG
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I agree with you about the SBL and how it shows a student exactly what they know or what they need to improve on. A letter grade just give them a percentage of the time they have a correct answer. Doesn't give them any information at what they know or don't know. -
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aim for the lowest possible reading level,
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I think this is also interesting because I know there are some tests that do this purposefully to "increase the rigor" of the test. For instance, AP exams notoriously use vocabulary to make the questions harder. This is saying it could be not just separating those who know less about the content, but also those who have different background, cultural knowledge, or just English as a first language. I, too, wonder how the ISASP will do with this.
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Are we challenging our top students and preparing them for their futures when we use low reading levels? Seems to contradict what we are trying to accomplish.
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This is so very important as we are seeing a dramatic increase in student populations that are not fluent in English.
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I have developed a system where I always read math tests out loud. That way students are not missing information due to not understanding the vocabulary.
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Jenn that's an interesting concept of reading the tests outloud....have never thought of doing that in a HS classroom but might help!
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The classroom is also a practical location to give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do, adding to the accuracy of the information available from that level of assessment.
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Most assessments developed beyond the classroom rely largely on selected-response or short-answer formats and are not designed to meet the daily, ongoing information needs of teachers and students.
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I fall into this trap with assessments. I do need to incorporate more questions that focus on higher DOK levels. MG
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You are not alone. So do I. When I have an average of 70+ students to assess on math skills, these are easier.
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Five keys to assessment quality
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To summarize, the 5 keys to assessment quality are: 1. clear purpose 2. clear learning targets 3. sound assessment design 4. effective communication of results 5. student involvement in the assessment process -
Great idea on how to use an annotation tool. I can see this being very beneficial to high school students
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thats a really cool usage! Could see teaching my kids to do this when doing technical reading
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grouping the assessments
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Grouping assessments into levels: ongoing classroom assessment (daily work/observation), periodic interim/benchmark assessment (weekly quizzes/ group work), and annual state/district standardized assessments. I would add summative unit assessments (tests/projects) here also.
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Grouping assessments should give us a better picture of where students are at and help to identify where they need help.
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cannot measure more complex learning targets at the heart of instruction
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Our school district is doing the ISASP this year for the first time. This is a computer based test based on the Iowa Core. I worry how these results will be used to evaluate student mastery of content specific standards. How much effort will students put into the test and are there too many distractors that will bias the results?
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Those are legitimate concerns. On the other hand, what this quote makes me think of regarding the ISASP is that at least the types of questions are not only selected response. So many of the standards in the Core can not be measured by the only multi-choice questions in the previous test.
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Bias can also creep into assessments and erode accurate results.
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On the new computer based standardized tests, ISASP, I worry that there will be skewed results, because this if the first time students have had to take a standardized test online.
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descriptive feedback
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We do need to make sure that our feedback is helpful. Telling students "fix this" or "revise this paragraph" doesn't help them learn, the feedback needs to be more specific and point to the learning target.
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I totally agree with giving feedback about why they missed a question or problem. If you just count it wrong the student might now have any idea why they got the question wrong.
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The assessor must begin with a clear picture of why he or she is conducting the assessment.
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I think a lot of times we default to "for a grade" but there are lots of other reasons to consider.
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I think this is very important sentence. I know I don't do the greatest job of outlining learning goals everyday and explaining value in each. It's same thing for test. Are testing because its end of chapter or because you want to assess learning goals from the chapter that were the most important from the chapter and meet the standards for your class.
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I agree Tom, I am not the best at covering learning targets with students. And maybe standards based learning will help focus my lesson designing and improve student learning. -
I think it is very important that we focus on the learning that is taking place within our classrooms and not on grading. Our assessments should be an avenue to strengthen learning and to inform the teacher what they need to do for learning to continue to occur.
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This reminds me of UBD, or working backwards. The teacher knows the outcome first, and then builds the learning and assessments.
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Selecting an assessment method that is incapable of reflecting the intended learning will compromise the accuracy of the results.
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I thought the assessment brainstorming we did at the end of last week with ways to assess face-to-face vs. online was an interesting way to think of all the ways we can assess. I think as teachers we often default to a couple content-specific norms and it would be good to open up to other alternatives on occasion.
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Many years ago I remember assessing my math students at the end of the year with a multiple choice test. None of my tests during the year were multiple choice, but finals were required and it was the most efficient way to get my grades done :( I'm sure it did compromise the accuracy of the results.
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This means that teachers need to write learning targets in terms that students will understand.
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I was a part of a John Hattie book study this year. In Visible Learning he talks a lot about success criteria being so clear that students can accurately self-assess their work. I think that's a really great goal for any rubric or learning target.
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common assessments.
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I totally agree with this statement that we are assessing more than ever before. I don't think that it has to be a bad thing. However, I could see from a student's point of view that it could be overkill if they don't understand why.
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Teachers have choices in the assessment methods they use
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I don't think so. I think the teacher is to pick the best assessment method for that particular learning target.
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I agree with Jen. I think the teacher would need to use professional judgement to decide what the best assessment method would be. Sometimes it may include all 4 types though.
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inform what decisions?
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This has been a large debate that we have been having at our district. We need some sort of feedback roll out that will say how we have managed the data and what the data is and will be used for.
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I think is important part for a teacher after each assessment to use results to maybe modify teaching topics that students performed poorly on. Maybe need an extra day to cover certain topics more in depth if students struggled with it on test or maybe we have a poorly written question on the test causing students to miss points.
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communicated
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This has been another large debate that we have had. We want to make sure that our assessments are given back in a timely manner but we also want to make sure that they have correct and accurate feedback as well as to help the student know what they did well and where to improve and all of that takes time.
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TIME! It's a four-letter word in teaching! The feedback we give students is WAY more important than the grade, and way more time consuming. How do we effectively give the feedback necessary for student growth in a timely manner? I'd love to hear strategies from others here.
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Summative applications
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I think that this becomes more and more important as we look into SBG. Summatives are what tell you the story of how the students mastered something and if you want to see the evidence along the way, that becomes the formatives.
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Periodic interim/benchmark assessments can also serve program evaluation purposes, as well as inform instructional improvement and identify struggling students and the areas in which they struggle.
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Our math department has been looking at the AAIMS tests for Algebra students which could be used as data to support the learning taking place.
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This makes me think of the concept of scaffolding. Which I have used in my classroom when lesson designing. Now I need to do the same thing with assessing. Assess students periodically both formative and summative.
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minimizing any bias that might distort estimates of student learning.
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As teachers we do have to be careful of bias and making assumptions. When I read through this about minimizing bias it made me think of the old ITBS/ITED tests and a student we had that was new to this country. The student was very bright but he did not perform well on the test because of bias. One example I recall was he had no idea what a fir tree was as where he was from there was no such thing.
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I completely understand this. Teaching writing and reading at the secondary level is so very difficult.
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Creating a plan like this for each assessment helps assessors sync what they taught with what they're assessing
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Knowledge targets, which are the facts and concepts we want students to know.
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As our district moves toward standards based grading, understanding our knowledge targets is naturally happening during this process.
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We are working on Power Standards in our buildings. I think this would fit with those too.
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It all goes back to 1) what do we want them to know and 2) how will we know when they know it. We are working hard on choosing power standards. It is a long and exhausting process but a necessary one. Even after power standards are chosen, we need to break them down into learning targets our students can understand.
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students to track their own progress on learning targets
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I have seen this done throughout a unit of student with a Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light rating for students to self assess their percieved understading of a learning target. This self assessment was revisited frequently and used to drive student to specific learning activities that they needed to work on. -
I think allowing the students to self-assess and set goals is really beneficial. I like the idea of using red light, green light, and yellow light for students to show the teacher their understanding.
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performance assessment or personal communication may be less effective and too time-consuming
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One dilema that teacher face is the factor of time which we all know. I have worked with teacher who have over 200 students in their classes and often default to a selected response assessment item even when a performance based would be more appropriate. It is challenging to assess and provide feedback in timely manner with this many students. This is not an excuse, but a barrier that needs to be explored.
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or making the correct answer obvious
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I would also suggest to make non correct answers plausible and avoid answers that are glaringly impossible. If student select the incorrect answer then teachers could be able to identify misconceptions from an item analysis.
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dependable data generated at every level of assessment.
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I wonder how much professional develoment or preservice teacher training is spent on looking at data to make decisions. There is most likely a range of understanding of what data should be used to design instruction. This is why is it good to have a strong PLC for teachers to work through data and assessment creation (which is really challenging in itself).
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It is amazing to me that data acquisition/analysis and student feedback/scores are largely two separate endeavors. In this day and age, these should be the same step. Without some automation, I don't think this can actually be done. At least not in a meaningful manner.
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track their own progress on learning targets
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I have seen this done throughout a unit of student with a Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light rating for students to self-assess their perceived understanding of a learning target. This self-assessment was revisited frequently and used to drive student to specific learning activities that they needed to work on.
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if students will be the users of the results because the assessment is formative
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Use of formative assessment is vital to the success of students and to inform teachers. this should be a daily practice and done through multiple types of measures.
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n the past, few educators, policymakers, or parents would have considered questioning the accuracy of these tests.
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Is this because educators had more trust among these stakeholders back in the day?
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Assessment literacy is the foundation for a system that can take advantage of a wider use of multiple measures.
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inform students about their own progress
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Shouldn't this be the goal of all assessments? If it serves other purposes great. If this does not become the focus of the assessment, then a student will start chasing points. -
Ideally testing should serve the purpose of helping the teacher and student see areas where they need improvement...
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clear curriculum maps for each standard, accurate assessment results, effective feedback, and results that point student and teacher clearly to next step
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I believe that this is important because highlights the role feedback plays in the assessment process. I think we often forget feedback.
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I agree, feedback is really important. It also needs to be provided as quickly as possible.
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Feedback is most certainly key for something that can be so subjective like writing, but I also think providing feedback on LOT can also improve students understanding. I know that is something I struggle with - leaving the necessary feedback. There's always a time crunch, and sometime students that assessed well receive little feedback even though they could use it too.
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students can use the results to self-assess and set goals.
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We need to model how to self-assess and set goals. I was guilty of expecting that my students knew how to do this.
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Yes. It is indeed a paradigm shift for teachers and students. Modeling the process to students and talking about it will help them get the most out of the assessment process.
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learning targets represented in the assessment into a written test plan that matches the learning targets represented in the curriculum.
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I wonder if the creators of ISASP has taken this into consideration. It would be interesting to learn how they accomplished this.
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I wonder who "we" are when the authors say "we're betting." I don't think it's the teachers, for we know the limits of testing.
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cultural insensitivity.
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I'm willing to let ISASP run its course though - I think it is vastly improved from the old ITBS. At least it does have open ended questions and require students to process and write instead of the good ole A, B, C, or D.
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Making decisions that affect individuals and groups of students on the basis of a single measure
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The idea that a single measure can accurately assess students is absolutely baffling to me. ~KMR -
definitely a scary concept with the large presence and weight placed on these assessments
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it seems this concept totally contradicts what education stands for. Only good test takers like these tests.
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We're betting that the instructional hours sacrificed to testing will return dividends in the form of better instructional decisions and improved high-stakes test scores
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I could not agree with this more. The amount of hours we spend preparing students for a single test is astounding. The time would be better served to actually teaching students content.
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The goal of a balanced assessment system is to ensure that all assessment users have access to the data they want when they need it, which in turn directly serves the effective use of multiple measures.
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Given the requests for data from our administrators and other stakeholders, this is imperative.
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From a summative point of view, users at the classroom and periodic assessment levels want evidence of mastery of particular standards; at the annual testing level, decision makers want the percentage of students meeting each standard.
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It is more beneficial for students to demonstrate mastery of standards than for students to test well.
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assessment formatively
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I feel like we could do a better job of formatively assessing students. When students hear the word assessment, they think quiz or test and they get apprehensive. We need to change their mindset and show them how they can use formative assessments (exit tickets, class polls, one-minute papers, etc) to help them take control of their own learning.
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the use of multiple measures does not, by itself, translate into high-quality evidence
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I happy to say that in our district we are working very hard at using only those assessments that we find useful to both the teachers as well as the students. We have drastically cut back on the number of assessments our students take.
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At the level of annual state/district standardized assessments, they involve where and how teachers can improve instruction—next year.
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I feel this takes us dangerously close to teaching to the test. Is that really what is best for students? Changing everything around in order for them to score well on standardized tests? If the goal is truly to benefit students and how they learn, I am all for it no matter what.
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"I can make good inferences. This means I can make a guess that is based on clues."
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Who is the decision maker?This will vary. The decision makers might be students and teachers at the classroom level; instructional leaders, learning teams, and teachers at the periodic level; or curriculum and instructional leaders and school and community leaders at the annual testing level.
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or summatively—to feed results into the grade book.
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Evan, just curious since you suggested that potentially the answer is no grade book? How would use summative assessments? Would students just keep repeating until they were garnered proficient?
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Effectively planning for the use of multiple measures means providing assessment balance throughout these three levels, meeting student, teacher, and district information needs.
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Reasoning targets, which require students to use their knowledge to reason and problem solve. A reasoning target in math might be to use statistical methods to describe, analyze, and evaluate data. Performance skill targets, which ask students to use knowledge to perform or demonstrate a specific skill, such as reading aloud with fluency. Product targets, which specify that students will create something, such as a personal health-related fitness plan.
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These categories of learning targets seem to tie in nicely with authentic learning.
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balanced system
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balanced system
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Do districts map out these different groups of assessments on a yearly calendar? It would be interesting to see how many days a year are students engaging in assessment and also the types of assessment.
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overflow of testing
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Yes. There is a lot of testing these days One of my friends mentioned that between testing and snow days she hadn't "taught" from MLK day to almost President's day. Needless to say she was anxious about how well students wee going to demonstrate learning when they hadn't had much instruction for over a month.
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schools now make decisions about individual students, groups of students, instructional programs, resource allocation, and more.
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I think that these decisions are made too infrequently. One test may place a student in a group that is not in your zone of proximal development. They may be stuck there for quite some time.
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We're betting that the instructional hours sacrificed to testing will return dividends in the form of better instructional decisions and improved high-stakes test scores
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and to think of the potential impact on opportunities available to students...crazy
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about the overall level of students' performance.
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From my experience, most of the high stakes testing explicitly states that the results should not be used on the individual student decision making level. Oh the irony....
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83More
Implementation in an Elementary Classroom (Articles) - 0 views
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the children “do science.”
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Will the students be taught how theorize, test, analyze, or experiment? Or without telling the students this is what they are already doing? Is there any pre-teaching to the unit about rocks or exploring on their own?
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It seems like in large group sharing, the teacher would want to introduce those important terms. I wonder, too, if the rocks unit was in the curriculum or if it came up in classroom discussion as a new area to explore. When a band listening example led to a lot of student questions about African drums, I made sure to change some of my concert plans and found a new piece of music and utilized the expertise of one of our other band staff members to build on the kids' enthusiasm and inquiry.
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nvite women
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I think this is a great idea to invite scientists who are women! It makes the nation's stereotypes decrease and women in the science field increase.
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I also think this is a great idea. It is interesting in my classroom this past year as we were talking about community helpers.. we had a discussion of can a garbage man be a garbage woman and talked about different roles. It was so interesting that even at a young age some students have already stereotyped different jobs to different genders. I think that the more that students see the more they will be able to be interested in a subject and career. Science is something that is slowly fading and becoming less important in classrooms. It is important as educators to give our students these opportunities.
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thinking about thinking
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The way Mrs. Moore teaches makes sense to me. I can finally see how personalized learning can work without using computers and technology. I think some teachers in my building already do this without realizing that it is PL.
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helping children gain active control over the process of thinking so they learn how to learn, which will serve them well throughout their lives.
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I think Personalized learning is easier to do in a classroom with science and social studies because they are more exploratory subjects compared to reading and math. Anybody have good ideas on how to make reading and math personalized without using technology?
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I like this idea also. I feel like this is a skill that students will use all throughout their lives- at college, in real life, and in their careers.
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I love this. I believe that if students learn how to love the process of learning that they will continue on to be life long learners!!
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I love it, too! If kids are enjoying the process of learning, I think they're more willing to try new things and learn more even in areas that may not be their strengths.
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Ms. Moore understands the reluctance of many other teachers of early grade students to employ this method because it requires “unlearning” many of the lessons of traditional teacher-preparation programs. She must, she says, continually resist the temptation to lead her students through lessons.
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She is exactly right. Teachers have been taught to lead their students through lessons. This process is very uncomfortable for many of us as we have not been taught how to "teach" or "facilitate" this way.
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I think about this when we're always asked to post our learning targets for students. It seems counter productive to tell kids we're going to learn a certain skill when we want our students to discover the skill through the lesson we created... I have found that instead of telling kids fingerings on their instruments for new notes, if I lead them to the fingering chart, they get so excited about using their fingering chart to learn more than that one new note.
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During this first instructional phase, noise and activity levels sometimes reach eardrum-piercing levels and
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Many of us are not used to a lot of noise in the classroom either. Some students may struggle with a classroom that is overly loud. How do we ensure the noise level is comfortable for all to learn?
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The noise level during this phase should be stated in the rubric during discussion. I agree not everyone is immune to loud voices. -
This is something that I know I would/will struggle with when implementing personalized learning. I completely agree and believe that students should be conversing with one another...however, I struggle with all of them doing this at the same time. 25 voices going all at once is sometimes a lot to handle!..and something that I would learn to get used to :)
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Most teachers know the classroom is the perfect place for children to play, but opportunities to provide those benefits are on the decline. Reduced recess, cuts to physical education
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This really hits home for me as I have a daughter who was in PRE K (transitional kindergarten) last year and the preschool teachers are now required to implement so many minutes of reading/guided reading into their curriculum. Are these preschool aged children getting enough play/social time?
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It is scary that we are asking you're asking if preschool is getting enough time.. I hope so!!! They aren't even to elementary school yet. I am told time and time again that kindergarten is the new 1st grade. It seems that the more demands that are put on us as educators, the more play time we have to cut. I am lucky in a way that I have a team of teachers who refuses to give up that free time play at the end of the day. We believe it is so important. I am not sure how many more years we will get away with it but for now, we will let our students be little so that they can play and explore like they should!
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I always laugh when I share with parents that I learn so much from observing their kiddos playing games (either at recess or indoors). It is truly where they have more authentic experiences learning how to communicate and solve differences.
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What about developing the small muscles thru play-dough? In the last few years I have noticed that 3rd graders can barely hold a scissor properly and much less cut a simple figure.
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What about developing small motor skills thru play-dough? I have 3rd graders who can barely hold a scissor properly much less cut a simple figure.
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I firmly believe that students learn by playing!! There are ways to set-up classroom situations where students are playing but also digging into concepts as well!!
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tudents who miss time to play miss opportunities to let their minds soar and connect the dots between what they do at their desks and what surrounds them in the world
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As a kindergarten teacher, I believe that that play is key to learning! This past year I was amazed at what my students were able to connect through play to what we were learning in the classroom. In my classroom, it is key to provide students with those opportunities to play and explore.
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Play IS key to learning! Especially when we can't assume our students are given opportunity to play and create and imagine with other kids outside of the school day.
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But when you're staring out at 20 or 30 students as individual as snowflakes, you may find yourself asking that ever-daunting question: "How?"
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As good educators, we want to make sure that each of our students needs are met. The daunting question that we all ask is HOW?! How do we make each of our student feel cared for, important, and set them up for success? I continue to find it interesting how students have so many things that are similar and different about them. I think this article does a nice job of laying it out and showing what we can do between five minutes and five years!
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when she answers students’ questions straightforwardly instead of asking questions to help the students find the answers themselves, she’s actually interfering with the learning process.
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Yes!! I must remember this always! It's so easy to answer questions for students. However, if I keep questioning them, it will allow them to learn on their own.
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This is something that I am continually trying to work on. It is so easy to help a struggling student but your really are doing them a disservice.
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encouraging and allowing students to discover fundamental principles on their own.
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I'm a visual person and I know I like to "see" things for myself. Allowing our students to discover conclusions will be something that they will remember longer than if a teacher "told" them what happens.
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Yes! I agree! As I read this I remember learning about gravity as Billy Nye threw objects off the top of a building... watching this video was better than listening to the fact ... but participating in the activity would be even better than the video.
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free play is how children learn about themselves and the world around them. And, if they’re not playing, they’re not learning in all the ways that count most.
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For the early childhood ages, this is key and missing in elementary schools. I'm saddened by how academic our kindergarten programs have become over the years.
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A simple take-home survey can give you quick insights about a child's hobbies, interests, strengths, or struggles. Arts and electives teachers in your school could offer insight on certain students, as well.
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I loved receiving a parent survey from our child's teacher at the beginning of the year. It was a great way to introduce our child with details he may have never shared with his teacher. What a great way to set up some personalization at the start of the year.
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I have been doing this since my first year and I love it! It gives me so much valuable information before I start to learn about them but I also feel like if gives the parent a space to let me know things they may not feel comfortable sharing in front of other people or their child.
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I do a parent survey at the beginning of band, and it really helps me get a feel for a family's background experience with band, and also what they're hoping for their kids for the year.
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If you add and master just one at a time, refining the best techniques as you go, eventually you'll have a big arsenal.
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This reminds me to only pick one thing to focus on at a time...which is so hard!
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Thinking Maps, which help children categorize information in visually coherent ways
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I remember in junior high being required to answer the essay/critical thinking questions of our science tests through the use of thinking maps. I didn't realize at the time how much it helped me organize my thoughts. I wonder how I can be begin applying them in my reading and math courses at the elementary level. Graphic organizers are so important to consolidate and organize information.
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I have never heard about Thinking Maps before. I explored the website and definitely see how this can be beneficial for children of all ages.
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Thinking maps! Kids love them and they're great tools for brainstorming and digging in to new learning
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Share planning duties with a fellow teacher
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This is so important! I love planning with gen. ed. teachers because often there are more students than just my IEP students that need the lower level differentiation in the gen. ed. setting. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, but work together to create shared resources. Our problem is, how do we create time to plan together on a weekly basis?
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We run into these same issues! We are five gen. ed. teachers but one of us coteaches with sped. and one of us with ELP. We also cluster group our students...and this is where we hit the wall. Our classroom make-ups are so different and our kids move at different paces. How do we work divide up the work and still respect the pacing in each others' rooms?
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assigns each student a role within the group
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a unique item of jewelry
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What a fun conclusion to the unit!! I wonder how the teacher completes her summative assessment for the unit? The students have their journals but what does she use to prove that students have retained the information and met the state standards?
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As a 4th grade teacher, we work with rocks and minerals as well. It would be fun to create videos of their learning as a summative assessment. Students could also share the videos with their parents when they are finished!
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when I supply an answer or even suggest a method for finding an answer, I’m not truly helping.”
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It's so tempting to scaffold them to the right answer, but I realize that's not helping them be independent thinkers. I find that my students then rely on me to always be there to help them figure out the challenge.
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I agree but others need prompting to be able to focus on the right direction therefore differentiation is needed.
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“Kids are not blank slates.”
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It's easy to assume this, but they've had years of being influenced by their peers already and are soaking in the information they hear. This might be from daycare/preschool or home.
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Agreed...not to mention home life, family make-up, and outside influences. They have preconceived notions when they walk through the door.
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Yes! What a simple, yet profound way to put it. I agree. No matter where a student comes from they do have a background. There is always something to build upon and connect with!
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in their hearts they may not believe it.
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We must give them a chance to experiment with hands on learning opportunities.
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“The first thing we do is begin an ‘I see — I wonder’ exercise,
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I teach in a school with a lot of focus on inquiry based learning, and it's amazing how the kids gain confidence with this kind of thinking and growing as the year goes on. When I play new music, I have kids record what they hear, what they think, and what they wonder. The class discussion leads us to a wonder that we can explore together, and modeling this as a teacher is important.
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Plan assignments with choices.
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This is something we all do, and a great first step in individualized instruction!
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her trust in the inquiry process is tested, when she must practice patience and restraint.
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The learning is probably remembered more if it is discovered by the learner. It would take patience not to tell kids the answer!
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Thinking Maps, she explains, help students gain control of the process by offering them eight distinct ways to organize their inquiries
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I think the Thinking Maps would add some method to the madness! Love this idea and the variety of ways they can be used!
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“I introduce one Thinking Map per week during the first eight weeks
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I appreciate the pragmatic approach to teaching these one at a time, one week at a time. It seems that then it becomes second-nature, which is truly amazing! Using thinking maps is a powerful tool for teaching children how to think and organize their thinking!
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Play is, after all, the way children are wired to learn, especially in the preschool and kindergarten years.
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This reminds me of how kids learn technology or to play video games, by playing with them, by tinkering and trying things. I think that is why kids are more advanced than many adults at using technology, because they have MORE time to "play" with it than adults do.
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guided play is a good alternative.
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This would be like the math games in EveryDay Math. Kids are playing games to learn and that learning is more memorable than a worksheet!
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each procedure needs to be practiced 28 times to stick. When you introduce a new activity, such as independently listening to an audio book, give students enough practice to become adept at it
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28 times to learn a new procedure seems like a lot! It makes me think I might want to slow it down a bit to let kids get adept at it!
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154More
The Quest for Quality - Educational Leadership - 11 views
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In the past, few educators, policymakers, or parents would have considered questioning the accuracy of these tests.
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I was a teacher who didn't question cut scores. In fact they made life easier for me- but there really was no real learning beyond the assessment. This transition to continual learning makes so much more sense! -
This sentence is so true. I remember bringing home ITBS scores to my parents. As long as the scores were in the 90th percentile or better they were pleased. I don't remember them ever digging deeper to ask the teacher what I actually knew or did not know. To them it was an important test and whatever the results said must have been the truth. I'm glad we're not there anymore. -
Very true. We never questioned ITBS or ITED scores - we believed they were the one and only true assessment of a student's abilities. My how things are changing! There are so many factors to consider (region, vocabulary, did the student eat breakfast, did the student get enough rest, etc). -
I can remember as a child being very worried about my ITBS score, I was never a good test taker and I knew how "important" these tests were. I am glad that these days we use more authentic types of assessments also. -
I just reviewed ITED scores with our son. I recently read that ITED scores are closely related to scores one might expect for ACTs. This really worries me as a parent since we have a special needs child whose vision problems have greatly affected his performance in school. He plans to take the ACT test this spring and I know he's not prepared to accept a low score. Convincing him that he needs to take practice tests and study has been really difficult.
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The assessor must begin with a clear picture of why he or she is conducting the assessment.
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Using this with the concept of backward design shows us how many options all fit together.
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I too value the "Begin with the end in mind" method. I find it easier, after establishing learning goals, to determine how I'll assess them then let that direct my method of instruction. -
The "end product" might have different meaning to the student. For example, I teach a cooking class and the end product is often the food prepared. It can be difficult to convince the student that a standard muffin has specific characteristics. We review the characteristics before beginning the lab. In the eyes of the student, if it is edible it's just fine! You wouldn't believe how many times students have mixed up baking soda for baking powder and have been completely satisfied with a pancake that tastes like soap.
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Strangely, after all the staff development, I think some teachers don't know why they are giving certain assessments. Part of this may be that they are philosophically opposed to so much testing but I think there is still a lack of understanding about the concepts being taught: the minutiae are more clear.
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four categories of learning targets are
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These targets could define four different assessments given quarterly. Don't we give informal assessments that cover some of these targets? -
I like checklist type information because it helps me to evaluate and plan my own instruction. I can use these criteria to make sure I plan for all these targets in my instruction.
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Do the results provide clear direction for what to do next?
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I would love to see our inservices allow for time to have such reflections on our assessments and allow us to redirect our planning. How much more would we see student growth if we not only reflected and redirected but also shared our observations with colleagues who also have the students (cross-curricular and at the next level) to have growth be specific and continual rather than a 9 month experiment that restarts from Ground Zero the following year!
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Yes! There's so much research that values reflection, and yet it's something that one almost feels "guilty" doing on contract time.
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Selecting an assessment method that is incapable of reflecting the intended learning will compromise the accuracy of the results.
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This shows how important it is to set your learning targets and then make sure your assessment gives you the information that you are seeking in regards to those targets. -
Without proper training, I'm sure this happens all too often. Teachers often teach and test based on their own experiences and not based on best-practices. -
If you can't determine an assessment to match your learning target, could it be that your learning target needs revision?
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I couldn't agree with you more! Some teachers refuse to open up to the latest in best practice, assuming that '36' years of teaching for example, has given them enough info to have 'all' the answers. And if the assessment is too difficult to create to match the target, why yes, revise the target. It seems we need to think outside the box, and to remind ourselves to keep updated and in touch with the world.
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I think many times, the catch here is the gradebook. Many stakeholders(parents, students, administrators, etc.) have very rigid expectations for grading and equate assessment and grading. Teachers don't know how to manage both effectively, and tend to default to the needs of the gradebook for survival. -
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I have found it useful for another person to look at the assessment. Especially someone in a different curriculum area.
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That sounds like a good idea. Why, specifically, do you use someone from a different curriculum area? I can think of some ideas, but I don't know if they are the ones you are considering.
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After defining inference as "a conclusion drawn from the information available,"
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So.. if my rubric says " requires deep thought" and I define or give examples of deep thought would that be better. I am struggling with the use of those words in my rubric- my participants have had not difficulty with the words, I just feel it isn't as specific as maybe I should make it....
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a student might assess how strong his or her thesis statement is by using phrases from a rubric,
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Connection to rubrics in my group during the first week-are the phrases strong and promote further progress in their learning?
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I like the phrase "using phrases from a rubric." I think I'll borrow this idea and phrasing!
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If we don't begin with clear statements of the intended learning—clear and understandable to everyone, including students—we won't end up with sound assessments.
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I remember once writing a test item that had a term in it that my sophomore biology students didn't understand. Some asked me what the word meant, but what about those who were too embarrassed to ask? -
This helps solidify the Iowa Core characteristic of effective instruction--assessment for learning and why it is part of the Iowa Core.
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I can relate this to my children and the way that my husband and I differ on how we give directions. For example, he may say, "Your job is to be good." To a three and a five year old, "be good" is a very vague term. I might say something along the lines of, "Your job is to listen without interupting me, use good manners like saying, 'please and thank you,' and to sit down while we're eating dinner."
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Figure 2 (page 18) clarifies which assessment methods are most likely to produce accurate results for different learning targets.
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I have seen this chart from Stiggins work before and have found it to be quite useful. This reminds me of why we need to take the written portion to get an Iowa Driver's license, as well as taking Driver's Ed. or taking the Driving portion (of the test) to get a Driver's License. We need to know both the factual "stuff" (like what a STOP sign means), as well as the skill of being able to actually drive a vehicle.
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new levels of testing that include benchmark, interim, and common assessments.
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And I wonder how much Professional Development teachers (new and old) have been given to support them as they face the new assessment expectations. I think too much is taken for granted...teachers need training if all of this testing and data is to make a real difference for our students.
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Totally agree!! Teachers need to know not only how and why they are collecting data. But how to use the data to make instructional decisions.
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the use of multiple measures does not, by itself, translate into high-quality evidence.
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and the students themselves
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I think that we often forget about this part of the equation! I remember all too often getting a computer generated page back with test results that I couldn't understand and I'm sure that this is still happening nationwide. We must not forget that our jargon must be translated to the student and the parent so that all stakeholders are on the same page.
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test plan.
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This takes me back to DWALA training from Heartland AEA years ago. Anyone else remember this?
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We do sometimes, especially when placed into a different level of programming at the end of the school year.
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noise distractions
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I once had to ask that they stop mowing the grass just outside my classroom window while my students took the FCAT Reading test in Florida...minor details like this can make a HUGE difference for the kids testing! I couldn't believe that my administrators hadn't considered all of the details.
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This can be major for some students - I took a professional knnowledge test years ago in an auditorium and the monitors were talking softly at the front but it really carried - they had no idea and I didn't say anything but noise doesn't normally bother me so I know it bothered others.
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assessment literate
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Agree. . .another reason for TA for teachers regarding how to not only gather data, but understand how to use it.
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Clear Learning Targets
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When I first read Stiggins and Chappius' works, it was clear that targets need to be static... not moving! We can't expect students to hit a moving target. -
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aim for the lowest possible reading leve
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This really surprises me. I've never thought to write a test at the least possible reading level. With my ESL students, I always make sure the words aren't new to the students but hadn't thought about the level I was writing the test at.
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Use a reading score from a state accountability test as a diagnostic instrument for reading group placement.
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hmmm... we do this for Instructional Decision Making groups in Carroll. It's only one piece of the puzzle, but at the beginning of the year, we rely on the ITBS Reading Comp score to place students into groups.
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I have done this myself at the high school level. No other data exists for my use in connection with students I don't know and time constraints.
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Seven strategies of assessment for learning.
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This is one of the most practical resources on assessment that I have read in a long time. I recommend it to all!
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cultural insensitivity
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I witnessed this first hand when the demographics in one district changed dramatically over the course of about two years. For younger students, pictures in an assessment were used. Several of the students had never seen a rose, but they knew it was a flower--but flower wasn't a choice.
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This is so true! One night my husband and I were watching COPS and they were in NYC. A little boy pointed to the very small grassy area in between four apartment buildings that made a square and said, "He just ran through that meadow." I looked at my husband and said, "That kid would flunk the ITBS because he doesn't know the true definition of a meadow...for him, the small grassy area is a meadow. But for our region, a meadow is described totally differently and looks totally different." Test writers do not consider regional vocabulary enough when putting together an assessment. It is still 'one size fits all.'
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There are some obvious things when it comes to cultural sensitivity. There are also some things a person preparing a test just might not know since their culture is different.
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access to the data they want when they need it,
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students
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learning continuum
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Learning progressions that Margaret Heritage talks about in Assessment for Learning.
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The classroom is also a practical location to give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do
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I agree - multiple opportunities. We need to consider the various learning styles that we are teaching to each day and how each will best be able to show proficiency based on a product meaningful to the learner.
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the reason for assessing is to document individual or group achievement or mastery of standards and measure achievement status at a point in time.
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Mastery is what we want as teachers, and using an accurate assessment done frequently should show us how far students have come in their achievement.
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Choosing the Right Assessment
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I agree as well. This would be a good tool to share with my home school parents.
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Great reminder for all of us, especially English teachers, that we can, and should, be using various forms of assessment. I'm hitting PRINT right now and posting this on my wall in and in my planning folders!
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Specific, descriptive feedback linked to the targets of instruction and arising from the assessment items or rubrics communicates to students in ways that enable them to immediately take action, thereby promoting further learning.
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Whenever I read the word "specific," I can't help but to remember my third year of teaching when the English 9 teachers would share an old reel-to-reel converted to VHS instructional video with the class. Several minutes into the video, the narrator would tell the students: "Specific is terrific." This type of feedback is really the exception rather than the rule, isn't it?
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This is really good practice, but extremely time consuming. We need to include as much as possible, but it may not always be feasible or possible to do it all the time.
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build balanced systems, with assessment-literate users
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Wouldn't an RTI model with all its components (e.g., universal screening, progress monitoring, etc.) implemented with fidelity, meet this criteria??
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Creating a plan like this for each assessment helps assessors sync what they taught with what they're assessing.
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In the case of summative tests, the reason for assessing is to document individual or group achievement or mastery of standards and measure achievement status at a point in time.
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The point where my assessment breaks down is that my formative assessments are almost always for individuals rather than for groups. Aside from ITEDs, no one beyond my classroom seems concerned with assessment data.
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inform instructional improvement and identify struggling students and the areas in which they struggle
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If we can identify students at-risk earlier through regular progress monitoring, we can move away from the "waiting to fail" model.
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Students learn best when they monitor and take responsibility for their own learning.
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When we begin a project in desktop publishing the students and I brainstorm the different skills and techniques they can demonstrate and use in the project which in turn becomes their checklist or rubric. They feel more ownership and may need to revisit a skills that other students - they often require more of themselves as well.
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I think this is very true and I also believe that the learning is at a higher level.
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For each assessment, regardless of purpose, the assessor should organize the learning targets represented in the assessment into a written test plan that matches the learning targets represented in the curriculum
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Or....we need to be sure that students are learning what is going to be assessed. And what is going to be assessed is aligned with the intended learning target. I think too often in classrooms, the teaching is first, then the learning, then the alignment with the assessments or definied learning targets.
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So we need to decide what is going to be assessed first before we create the curriculum. I think often as teachers we do this the other way around. Seems like it should be simple, but sometimes I find myself creating my curriculum before I have decided what I might need to assess.
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Teachers should design the assessment so students can use the results to self-assess and set goals.
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Annual state and local district standardized tests serve annual accountability purposes, provide comparable data, and serve functions related to student placement and selection, guidance, progress monitoring, and program evaluation.
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But, in my opinion, what's being taught isn't necessarily what's being evaluated.
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As a "big picture" beginning point in planning for the use of multiple measures, assessors need to consider each assessment level in light of four key questions, along with their formative and summative applications1
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Summative applications refer to grades students receive (classroom level)
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I wish we could get away from grades and move to a benchmark checklist. When the student is proficient in one skill or concept they can move on to the next.
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At the level of annual state/district standardized assessments, they involve where and how teachers can improve instruction—next year.
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It is great when this data is used to improve instruction. I was teaching in Texas whe Gov. Perry took over from George Bush (late 90s). The annual testing there was used to determined which schools received the most funds for the next year. High scoring schools received more money; low scoring schools received less money. Sadly, the low scoring schools generally needed the funds so much more than the high scoring schools. I had friends teaching in downtown Houston who told me how many of their students came to school with just a plain tortilla for lunch. They needed more funds, but since they received low scores received less funds. The students from the suburbs (such as Sugarland where at that time the mean income was $100,000/year, attending private tutoring (paid for by parents) several afternoons a week so their test scores would be higher. I literally saw students and teachers who had nervous breakdowns due to the pressure on the testing results. I agree we need assessments; I'm just concerned about how some of those assessments are used.
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Feedback to students can use the language of the rubric:
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Although it may seem as though having more assessments will mean we are more accurately estimating student achievement
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Although, there are times when we need to dig deeper to find out exactly what area needs strengthening. Take reading comprehension, for example, so they are low in that area, what does that mean-many, many components make up that area.
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The assessor
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This term, "the assessor", in and of itself has got me thinking. While the instructor might be the one "giving" the assessment, might the "assessor" at times not be the instructor? Could the state or the district be the assessor in some cases? Could the student be the assessor?
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Devil's Advocate at work here....in a perfect world, our assessments would inspire students to WANT to improve, but in reality, can a rubric really do that in and of itself? -
I have yet to see a student use a rubric to improve a project. I think the idea of it is good, but the self-motivation is not there, or I don't know how to motivate them myself.
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Given the rise in testing, especially in light of a heightened focus on using multiple measures, it's increasingly important to address two essential components of reliable assessments: quality and balance.
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Agreed. Now, if multiple measures are indeed so important, why are we still so mired in the standardized tests to judge success?
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I believe that this article "The Quest for Quality" really gets at the heart of the importance of having "focus lessons" daily and more long-term learning targets for both teachers and students. Being specific and purposeful about what and how we want students to learn (skills and academic (vocabulary) is essential to genuine learning and performances.
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Knowledge targets,
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Reasoning targets
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Performance skill targets
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Product targets
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It also helps them assign the appropriate balance of points in relation to the importance of each target as well as the number of items for each assessed target.
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Is anyone besides me starting to feel overwhelmed? I guess this could be done as a districtwide assessment project, but what this article is really starting to accentuate is how little time teachers have for pondering once a school year begins.
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This key ensures that the assessor has translated the learning targets into assessments that will yield accurate results. It calls attention to the proper assessment method and to the importance of minimizing any bias that might distort estimates of student learning.
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A mechanism should be in place for students to track their own progress on learning targets and communicate their status to others
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My comment here concerns this whole paragraph. I think we need to provide time to students as well as teachers for analyzing the results of assessments, and for using the results to make their projects better. As it is, no one has time to revisit the object of the assessment. Time constraints have all educational participants roaring along at breakneck speeds
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Who is the decision maker?
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I think this question is crucial. If the decision-maker and the purpose of the test are punitive rather than informed, no wonder people don't want to be assessed! of course we need to consider this as people who are decisionmakers and quit using tests scores to punish students--we don't like being punished for results and neither do they.
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applying data to decisions for which they aren't suited.
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Assessment literacy
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A detailed chart listing key issues and their formative and summative applications at each of the three assessment levels is available at www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200911_chappius_table.pdf
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cultural insensitivity
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Are results communicated in time to inform the intended decisions?
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to know what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate uses of assessment results—thereby reducing the risk of applying data to decisions for which they aren't suited.
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The point where my assessment breaks down is that my formative data is rarely shared with others. We don't look for trends or patterns or discuss needed changes in content or instructional delivery.
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I believe that this article "The Quest for Quality" really gets at the heart of the importance of having "focus lessons" daily and more long-term learning targets for both teachers and students. Being specific and purposeful about what and how we want students to learn (skills and academic (vocabulary) is essential to genuine learning and performances.
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