Daybook Defense

The daybook defense is  way to assess student learning through selection and reflection of daybook assignments.  It is more than a simple notebook check where students and/or teachers are just looking for an item to be present or in the correct order. With a daybook defense, students are combing back through their work to find evidence of progress and learning. Here is a sample daybook defense assignment:

Take a few minutes to look through your daybook. Use sticky notes to find examples of the following points. Label each sticky note and adhere it to the page so you can reference it later.

Find an example of:

1. A relevant and strong connection you made to something you read
2. Where you were confused
3. When you showed understanding of an idea or concept
4. An "a-ha" moment
5. A favorite daybook passage
6. Something you wished you understood better

After you have marked and labeled these passages in your daybook, take a few minutes to reflect (through writing) why you picked the passages you did. One the next available page in your daybook, spend the next 10 minutes writing your daybook defense. This is when you can show your understanding of what you have been able to accomplish this year in this class. Use the daybook as "evidence" of your accomplishments. You can write in paragraph form or bullets, but try to address each of the six sections you marked in your daybook.

Here is an example of a daybook defense shared in a blog from a college student: http://understandmylingo.wordpress.com/daybook-defense/.

Happy writing and reflecting,

Chandra