Evaluating and communicating about student work can be the hardest part of teaching ambitious, fragile young adults. Everyone is afraid of being wrong and feeling stupid, yet students have to take academic risks every day, whether it's asking a question, trying out a new word, or taking that killer test Magistra wrote for them.
But teachers know that every mistake is another step toward understanding. And so, I do my best to take the pressure off, keep the focus on the quality of students' work, the (almost) eternal opportunity for revision, and individual goal-setting and progress tracking. Students in my class know that their formative assessments are tracked but not set in stone; that they will never be made fun of for a misunderstanding; that everyone learns better when questions are asked right away; and that I will always be clear in my evaluations.
One of the most important aspects of Standards-Based Learning is letting every student know what their skills appear to be so far and what they need to do in order to reach or exceed the target. We must provide feedback as frequently and clearly as possible to students so that they can achieve their own academic goals as efficiently as possible. It's also very helpful to provide students a means for tracking their own progress toward the targets.
This year I'm using a number of strategies to communicate student scores including “instant” moodle homework feedback, scales at the top or bottom of an assessment, progress tracking sheets for student use, and jumprope score reports.
But teachers know that every mistake is another step toward understanding. And so, I do my best to take the pressure off, keep the focus on the quality of students' work, the (almost) eternal opportunity for revision, and individual goal-setting and progress tracking. Students in my class know that their formative assessments are tracked but not set in stone; that they will never be made fun of for a misunderstanding; that everyone learns better when questions are asked right away; and that I will always be clear in my evaluations.
One of the most important aspects of Standards-Based Learning is letting every student know what their skills appear to be so far and what they need to do in order to reach or exceed the target. We must provide feedback as frequently and clearly as possible to students so that they can achieve their own academic goals as efficiently as possible. It's also very helpful to provide students a means for tracking their own progress toward the targets.
This year I'm using a number of strategies to communicate student scores including “instant” moodle homework feedback, scales at the top or bottom of an assessment, progress tracking sheets for student use, and jumprope score reports.
Here's a sample of my jumprope score reports.
You can see from my jumprope score report linked above that I separate habits scores from academic scores. Each habits of learning score is attached to a particular assignment, so that I can make sure to evaluate student behavior based on actual student behavior (e.g., an assignment was turned in late, incomplete, or was not revised when requested)
Students receive feedback from me on every formative and summative assessment because the targets are listed there on the assignment. Toward the middle of each unit I ask students to self-assess using their progress tracking sheets and their own experience of their understanding. I check in on that self-assessment and check it against my own records and what I know about each student. Then at the end of the unit students receive a standards report generated by Jumprope. At that time I remind students of my eternal revision rule, and I get a few retakes. (More intrinsically motivated students have probably already taken their retakes before the progress report comes out!)