This weekend, I was engaged in a very passionate discussion on Twitter about the use of marks and feedback. Inquiry doesn’t really lend itself well to marks, but the report card program insists that we give them. The big question is how do we do so?

• Do we focus on feedback based on co-constructed Success Criteria? How do we get these young learners to help construct this Success Criteria? Is it okay that it’s more teacher-directed at the beginning? Do we start small and build from there (e.g., maybe even one piece of Success Criteria at a time)? How do we make this Success Criteria accessible to all students (e.g., those students that can’t read and those students that have difficulty understanding the language)? How might visuals help, and how can we use these visuals?
• When and how do we use marks? Do we use rubrics, even in Grade 1? How can we make these rubrics based on the process and not just the product (e.g., based on the sharing that is done during a recorded podcast)? If we don’t use marks until report cards, how do we help the students and parents understand these marks? Do we share these marks with them prior to report cards, and if so, how?
• Does this approach change depending on the grade? How do we make the decision of which grades to introduce marks prior to report cards and which grades not to? Should this be a grade team decision? Who’s involved in this decision (e.g., teacher, parents, students, admin, support staff)? What roles do each of them play?

All of the big questions seem to have many little ones that stem from them, and I don’t have the answers here. I’ve tried different approaches — from Success Criteria to rubrics to a combination of the above — and I think that they all have value in different ways. Throughout the month of September, I’ve collected much documentation on my students (from photographs to video recordings to work samples to self-assessments), but as some of our units come to an end (e.g., the Daily and Seasonal Changes one in Science), I have to make a decision about assigning marks: if to do so and how to do so. What would you do? How would you do it? Why do you think that this is the best approach? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the complex topic of marks and feedback.

Aviva

“Students learn at their own rate.”

“They’ll get there when they’re ready.”

I’ve heard both of these comments many times before, and I agree with them (to a point). I also believe that as teachers, we can make a difference. Our whole class won’t progress at the same rate, but if a student is not making gains, then how can we change our programming in response to this? You see: I do think that these changes we make, matter.

Every day, I make changes to my program.

• I re-look at my guided groups to focus on different skills based on what I notice the students can do and what I notice the students can’t do.
• I see that pictures and storybooks are not helping all of my students with vocabulary development, so I look at the use of concrete objects to help increase vocabulary and build schema.
• I increase the amount of small group and partner “talk time” because the students need these oral language opportunities to support them in both their reading and their writing.
• I reconsider my mini-lessons for Writer’s Workshop based on what I see the students doing and where I think they need to go next.
• I pay attention to student interests (and their intersection with curriculum expectations), change my provocations to align with these interests, and hopefully help inspire reading and writing opportunities.
• I think about my full class teaching times. How long are my lessons? How much talking time am I doing (compared to the students)? What’s necessary, and what’s maybe not necessary? How can I make these lessons shorter, more engaging, and/or more productive? (These questions often change based on what I see the students doing, what I hear them saying, and how involved they are in the lesson.)
• I think about my use of technology. How will I use it? How will the students use it? When is technology the best option, and when is it maybe not the best option?
• I look at problems that occurred during the day. What happened? Why did it happen? What could I do to ensure that it doesn’t happen again?
• I watch video conversations and listen back to podcasts. What did I say? What did I not say? Did I give enough wait time? If not, how could I change this for the next time? Did I focus on the student and his/her contributions enough? How were my follow-up questions? How could I improve them? Did the students learn what I wanted them to learn, and if not, how will I change this for tomorrow?

I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. Sometimes I’m not as patient as I could be. Sometimes I forget about the importance of visuals, and don’t provide enough when they’re needed. Sometimes I need to scaffold the learning more. Sometimes I just need to take a few extra minutes to stop, wait, and let the child work through the problem on his/her own. But every day, I look back, I reflect, I make changes, and then I go back and try again the next day.

On this Wednesday night, as I take a few minutes to think, here is what I know:

• My students will learn.
• They will improve.
• They will become stronger readers, writers, mathematicians, and thinkers.

I say this because that’s what assessment for learning is all about: observing, thinking, changing, and trying again to help ensure that all students meet with success. Will this “success” look the same for all students? Probably not. But there will be growth because I’ll keep making changes and working collaboratively with colleagues to help ensure this happens: this is my promise to you! Whether an educator, administrator, or parent, what’s your promise to your children? How will you fulfill it? Let’s share and celebrate our promises!

Aviva

On both Friday and Sunday, I blogged about some changes that I had planned for this week. Friday’s blog post discussed my plan for using Explain Everything with the students. At our recent PA Day staff meeting, we were encouraged to give this app a try, as our Grade 4-8 students will be using it as part of the Transforming Learning Everywhere initiative. Sunday’s blog post discussed another change. After a phone conversation with a parent, and my own reflections on math in the classroom, I decided to make some changes to my math program with the hope of giving students a deeper understanding of the concepts and skills.

Now that Monday’s come and gone, I’ve put both plans into place, and reflected some more. Here are my first thoughts:

Explain Everything Plan

• While I thought that the screenshots would help the students navigate through Explain Everything, I wish that I introduced them in a different way. When observing the students in action and listening back to some recordings, I noticed that the students wanted to investigate the tools on their own. They pressed the different buttons: they wanted to see what everything did. They problem solved along the way (e.g., “The writing isn’t erasing this way. Let’s try this instead.”) They accidentally found things out (e.g., by holding down on a button, they saw the different options that appeared), and then they wanted to teach each other how to use these features. While this learning may not be academic learning per se, it is still learning, and this exploration, problem solving, and sharing should be encouraged. I wish that I just had the students open the app and investigate it. They’re not going to break it, so why not let them see what they can do with it? Students need this “play time.” It’s how they learn. Then I could give them a specific activity, and show them the screenshots to help out when needed. Some students may not even need them. I think that this was a time that I went for “direct instruction” and “play-based learning” may have been the way to go.
• I had recording problems. When I tested out the app, I could pause the recording and record again to add to it. For some reason, when the students tried to do this, one recording kept on replacing the other one. Due to time, our last rotation was a short one, so very few groups had a detailed recording to share. All of the other work was also replaced, so students couldn’t go back and see what others shared. Does anyone know why this happens? How might I change this setting?
• I’m so glad that I showed students the drawing and writing options. I was thrilled with the number of Grade 1’s that added ideas in writing in addition to sharing orally. To help develop our writing skills, I’m really encouraging students to write more, and this was one time that I didn’t need to encourage them, but still had my most reluctant writers sharing lots.
• All students were very successful with the app. Since they had options for sharing orally, in writing, through drawings, or any combination of the above, everyone could find a way to participate. Having so many opportunities to share definitely helped the students out when we moved onto our Shared Writing activity about the seasons. I saw many more hands up than usual, and had many more ideas shared. Success!
• As such, I will be using Explain Everything again, but maybe I’ll start from the beginning, and give students some investigation time. I’ll let them see what they can do. Maybe I’ll give them a list of requirements (e.g., you must have a picture, you must include writing, you need to record your thinking), and let them problem solve to meet them. This way, when I give them a more specific task to do, they’ll have learned more about the tools in the app, had a chance to discuss how they work, and can then focus on the talk related to the task. What do you think? Any other suggestions?

This is the chart we made together. Click on the image to hear some of the recordings in yesterday’s DailyShoot Blog Post.

Math Plan

• I liked how a Learning Goal helped focus our math discussion yesterday. Students also seemed to be talking more about math as they were investigating/exploring the different problems. I wonder if the Learning Goal helped with this as well.
• I found that the Learning Goal was more teacher-directed at this point, but the responses from the students seemed to indicate that this was their first time creating a Learning Goal. Hopefully as we use Learning Goals more, and students become more comfortable with the language, they can take more ownership in the creation process.
• I found that I needed to ask a lot of questions to get the students to focus on the math and explain more of their thinking. I wonder if this is because it’s the first time that they’ve done an activity like this. Maybe the need for these questions are normal, and as time goes on and students develop a better understanding of math, they’ll need less guidance. It’s almost like a gradual release of responsibility model.
• Based on my observations, I’m going to continue emphasizing the Learning Goal, having rich discussions about math, and using Success Criteria to further narrow the math focus. I’m also going to use more books and songs to get students to see “math” in the everyday. I found a great book about real world math on BookFlix (through our Virtual Library). A wonderful friend also sent me some math song books on “math in our world.” The visuals and the singing should definitely help students as they continue to develop their understanding of math. What are your thoughts on this plan? What else would you suggest?

Click on the image to hear our math discussions in yesterday’s DailyShoot Blog Post.

I’m sure that the coming weeks will bring many more reflections and changes, and I’m excited to see where we go next. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and ideas, and certainly welcome any suggestions as I continue to work with my students now and plan ahead for the future.

Aviva