Benchmark 4
Deadline = August 6
Chapters 7 & 8
Key Questions:
There are four key questions to
answer for each assignment. Please post your response to each of the four
questions. Remember to post your responses and respond to at least
one other member by each deadline.
FOUR QUESTIONS:
- What was new for you in these chapters?
- What did you read that you know is true and can relate
to based upon what you have seen in your experience as an educator?
- Did something interest you that you would like to research
further to obtain more information and a greater understanding?
- How will this change what you do daily or how can you
implement what you learned from these chapters?
Chapter 7: Are opportunities for using student look-fors built into lessons (as opposed to assuming students will "just do" it)? Could you provide this easily in your lessons?
ReplyDeleteI do not think that all lessons have built in look fors unless the teacher has made a point of involving the students in the learning process. With that said, I think it is very easy to add them in as check points almost similar to chunking an assignment, the instructor can then easily see which individuals need extra practice (differentiate) for the next portion of the lesson/following day lesson.
DeleteOften we think students will just do the assignment, but they do not understand what they are doing. Providing students opportunities to have specific look-fors involves them in the lesson. I agree with S Hardie, that it is a good check point to see who understands or who needs extra practice.
DeleteKaren Harrell. These two chapters made me really look at my PGP lessons. I need to restructure a few things that we have been doing for the past few years - especially as I focus more on a learning target rather than the objective. On page 119 I will go back to looking at quality "look-fors", what evidence do the students show that they learned. The last paragraph on the page talks about students assessing their own work, I need to put that into better practice with the PGP students. Clarifying questions will help students think through the skills they are working on and encourage them to assess what they have learned. Chapter 8 on formative feedback was very reassuring. Again, with my PGP students I maintain dialogue journals where we talk back and forth through "letters". Through these letters I can see what the students have learned and I am able to give them feedback individually on what they have learned. I have seen students respond to questions and then ask more questions that lead to research in the next class session. Chapter 8 just supports what I have felt for a long time. Feedback to students is very important and guides them into their self directed learning. In the PGP classes, the students also give each other feedback and usually that is the one that impacts them the best - especially when a student asks a question that we have to go and do more research. Good feedback, whether from peers or from the teacher should move a student forward in their learning. (So should feedback from an administrator propel a teacher forward.) Enjoyed reading the scenarios.
ReplyDelete1 What was new/interesting for you in these chapters?
ReplyDeleteI really liked the scenario that illustrated effective writing responses to student papers. How many times have one of us received or given a paper with the punctuation marks/revising of sentences completed for them? The idea of simply pointing out a paragraph and informing the student that periods etc. are needed is so empowering for not only the student but also the teacher in helping to facilitate a life learner.
2 /3What did you read that you know is true and can relate to /something interest you?
The quote,” Improvement is only potential until it is realized through effective feedback and an opportunity to actually work on closing the gap- to work on approaching nearer and nearer to the learning target.” Chapter 8 It really has become apparent in this book as well as reflecting back on my lessons how important it is to not only have those long view learning targets but also to include the students in that process. Even as adults, we look for feedback to help us improve or even go beyond the expected. Without feedback and then the opportunity to self correct/grow many times we lose interest or give up. As educators, we strive to have ALL students willing to self correct/grow and without correct and constructive feedback and then the time to utilize it the opportunity (lesson) that we created in our classrooms is wasted.
4. How will this change what you do daily or how can you implement what you learned from these chapters?
Therefore, my lessons will take on a more ‘laid back’ approach. (This is the less stressful sounding) Many times I start the year with such big plans and then throughout the year all the Reading testing, benchmarking, 8th grade retests begin piling on. So this year a goal will be to main stream my learning targets and slow down in order to allow the students the opportunity to correct mistakes, discover for themselves their own potential, and even grade ‘less’ yet with more productive feedback.
What was new for you in these chapters? I feel like these two chapters really gave me specific opportunities to design better lessons with look-fors and provide immediate feedback. Again, I found the charts and scenarios to be very meaningful. I use lots of rubrics in my classroom as an opportunity to provide look-fors in student work. This year when I use them, I want to spend more time focusing on each section as one instead of as a whole. I feel that way I am able to provide immediate feedback and see the results.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you read that you know is true and can relate to based upon what you have seen in your experience as an educator?
ReplyDeleteDid something interest you that you would like to research further to obtain more information and a greater understanding? In chapter 8, something that stuck with me was the actual definition of effective feedback at the beginning of the chapter. I feel that as educators this is all of our goal "to provide feedback that students actually use to improve their further learning." Seeing all three views of feedback was very helpful especially the the long view.
How will this change what you do daily or how can you implement what you learned from these chapters? One of the things that I want to improve this year is really taking the time to provide meaningful look-fors in my lessons and immediate, effective feedback. I want my students to be able to use feedback and feel that they are learning and moving forward.
ReplyDelete1. I really enjoyed reading the specific details about student look-fors in Chapter 7. I have used rubrics and checklists regularly in my classroom, but focusing on one part of the rubric or having more specific look-fors will be something to add to what I have already done.
ReplyDelete2. The specific feedback examples and scenarios provided in Ch. 8 are so true. So many teachers simply go with a “Nice job!” or “Way to go!” as feedback. The editing example rang so true…I don’t know how many times I even went with editing feedback like the scenario as the majority of the feedback without adding in the specific content based feedback that is needed for true understanding and improvement.
3. As with some of the other sections, I think that taking the time to look at my lessons and creating specific student look-fors is definitely something I want to do.
4. I really want to work on having at least one quality student look-for in each library lesson. Some of the familiar research lessons will have more, but when you have a short time with a class, quality is better than quantity. I want students to actually know exactly what the target is when they begin the individual research project/assignment.
I like your goal of having on student look-for in each library lesson. I am going to try this also! Maybe we can share our thoughts at the end of the semester.
DeleteJoyce, you are so right regarding providing feedback in the same learning cycle. Students need to know where they are so they know where they need to go. Last semester one of the teachers was taking classes at a local college and one of her professors didn't give feedback on any assignment/project until after the final/official grade was given for the semester. She was so unsettled and frustrated about it all. I think it is so vital to give our students the opportunity to improve and make strides toward mastering the learning target.
ReplyDeleteStudent look-fors were interesting because, instead of being a rubric (which is evaluative and often a check list), they were more for the student to check in with their learning. I think it would be easy to ass these into my lessons, especially since they go so well with learning targets. Both ask students to analyze their learning and adjust as necessary. I like both of these because they ask students to take ownership of their learning, which increases achievement.
ReplyDeleteWe talk a lot about formative assessment and feedback at WAIS, especially in the IB MYP. As the book states, it is so important for the feedback to be meaningful and timely. I really liked the examples in this chapter. Sometimes I feel like a fall into the “Great job!” trap because of time—this chapter had great examples to help me remember my actual formative feedback.
These two chapters were probably the most important chapters for me thus far in this book. I think the idea of identifying “student look-fors” is very powerful. The term was new to me earlier in this book but the idea was something I have done off throughout my teaching career. When teaching a discovery lesson, I think watchful teachers who monitor their learners keep an eye on the students’ progress and where the students might bog down. I never thought to share these look-fors with students. I know this would have helped me as a learner even an adult learner.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter on formative feedback isn’t really new to me. As an ELA teacher who worked with readers who were having difficulty, it was terribly hard sometimes to not give too much feedback because some of the student’s writing skills were so low. It has always reminded me of Goldilocks – not too much, not too little, but just right! And it should be timely! I know as a learner I absolutely hate when it takes the teacher/professor weeks to return something and I know kids have less patience than I do as an adult. In the classroom and the library, when I “grade” something that is my highest priority job at the moment. If you wait too long, then the students don’t even feel vested in that learning anymore. They have moved on to something else!