1) Differentiation shouldn't be viewed as making a task easier, but making a task understandable and achievable.
Do you want your mechanic to refer to the manual when fixing your car, or hope that he/she can remember everything learned in mechanic school?
2) Before we can assess or grade a students work, we must understand the learning targets ourselves.
This means unpacking the standards into cohesive instructional units in order to meet the needs of each child.
3) Assessments need to be true indicators of a child's knowledge. It may take a variety of testing formats to truly learn what a student has mastered.
"Good assessment is never kept a secret. It begins with the end in mind. Students never feel the need to ask, "Is this going to be on the test? because they have a clear picture of what's on the test already. We are never coy with assessments or their format." p39
We didn't get to chapter four, but we can catch up next week. Remember that we'll meet on 5/11, Monday at 3:45-4:00.
La Brisa
2341 John Hawkins Pkwy # 111, Birmingham, AL 35244
(205) 403-8336
We've got a few people that we need to get online with us, but I'll go ahead and set the timeline for readings and discussions.
1st Reading through page 54
Give special attention to the research that supports student self-assessment and formative assessment.
Meeting date: May 4, 2015 (Monday)
2nd Reading: pages 55-136
This is the fun part where the standards based grading argument heats up! We should probably meet off campus where we can enjoy the discussion/argument on a patio somewhere.
Meeting date: May 11, 2015 (Monday)
3rd Reading: pages 137 - 198
Another fun section for argument (I mean discussion) is the late work section!
Meeting date: May 14, 2015 (Thursday)
As you can see, we're experimenting with the "blended learning" model. Face to face and/or digital interaction work in unison for this learning experience. If you are unable to make one of the meetings, I will be happy to give credit if you will respond in the comments section with your opinion on the sections mentioned below:
May 4 - Self assessment and formative assessment
May 11 - Standards based grading
May 14 - Grading of late work
This is a great book. I hope you enjoy it!
FAIR ISN'T ALWAYS EQUAL
Bookstudy Group - 4/23/15
Well, let's get started! There are eight of us in the study group. The first thing we need to do is log into your Google account and make a comment below so that everyone can see who is participating.
Once we get everyone identified, I'll post the agenda for our meetings (online and face to face). The online portion will be used to refer to for dates, times, and some guiding questions to try to develop some conversation points.
So, please log into your Google account and comment below.
