Thursday, January 30, 2014
Our conversation is starting with a discussion of Kevin and Brandon's ideas - trusting us to try new approaches with the understanding that we may not always succeed.
Tom has tried some new things since our last meeting - while he lectures, computers closed for the 3rd quarter. This raises the questions: is this punishing those who can listen and take notes, those who can manage themselves with a computer in front of them vs those who can't? Are students any more attentive when taking notes on paper?
Dylan is trying something for 3rd quarter: In his poetry unit, he is collaborating with the students to self-assess their work as they engage in a dialogue with Dylan about their work. A third of their quarter grade will be based on their self assessment.
To truly have students demonstrate what they know, they have to have choice. This raises how to assess different types of assignments? If you gave students a choice of doing a presentation or a test, how do you grade that? Do you give students the option to choose one, or to do both?
How about grades? Is it possible to motivate students without grades? How do you hold them accountable?
More questions than we have answers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Comment on behalf of group 6: The math department has been thinking on the project vs. traditional text question for a while. We think it most fair to work towards having both for each unit of mastery-this will increase differentiation too. Last year, I gave my students a choice between a project or a traditional skill/more narrow problem solving test. Most chose the traditional test, but I was happily surprised by those who chose the project-based assessment. They worked really hard and were proud of themselves. It didn't make a difference in grade which assessment they chose, so it was great to see them just challenging themselves because they thought they were up to it.
ReplyDeleteHi!
DeleteWould you mind giving some examples of projects students completed? I have been wondering how that can work in math.
It seems that maybe the students are willing to put more time and work into projects because they know the reward will be greater, both personally and grade-wise.
Sound REALLY motivating to me, thank you!
Miriam
History Day is a perfect example of motivating without grading. In process, points are awarded for finishing steps, but the finished project is not graded. Because it's displayed publicly, they have vested interest in doing a good job. Another example is "composition competition," my plan for teaching grammar and usage. After doing certain task, students need to answer questions in front of the class; after they have answered five questions successfully, they get to pick a "prize" from the prize table (mostly things I have gotten at the rummage sale or the dollar store.) If they are not graded, they seem more willing to try things because they can correct them.
ReplyDeleteScott and I find that students at the lower middle school grades are self-motivated in their non-graded classes. During their afternoon rotations (extended English, etc...) they are excited to complete writing activities with the knowledge that a grade will not be attached to the assignment. Students do not feel 'pressure' in these classes and the results are pretty impressive.
ReplyDeleteRojean, I agree. For the last sixth grade tech rotation that I had, I essentially challenged the kids to create a script using Scratch that accomplished a list of seven expectations. They worked the entire 90 minutes to do it without any kind of reward, simply the satisfaction of accomplishing the challenge. Our next goal is to re-create Number Munchers, a childhood favorite :)
Delete