Student-Centered Strategy #3: Involve Students in Creating Rubrics

Involve Students in Creating Rubrics

Students who are involved in the process of creating a rubric have a better understanding of the standards, gradations, and expectations of the assignment. Students also feel like they have a “voice” in the classroom.

Here are some ways to get your class involved in the rubric creation:

• In the beginning, introduce your students to a rubric by sharing a rubric and reviewing it step-by-step to ensure they understand the expectations.
• After sharing a rubric, ask your students for their comments.
• Be sure to keep all relevant rubrics visible at all times (either on a bulletin board or a handout for each student).
• As students come more familiar with the purpose and layout of a rubric, ask them to assist you in designing a rubric for the next class assignment.

Let it show in your classroom environment. Here’s a sample: 

Hooked on Kahoot!

It was really neat to see AHS teachers using Kahoot! during the NCED Cloud/Canvas PD yesterday. Hopefully everyone saw just how easy (and engaging) formative assessments can be. Kahoot!'s quick pace, suspenseful music, and instant scoreboards keep competition lively and learners engaged. Students will definitely ask to play again and again.

Kahoot! is one those tools that you can learn about today and use tomorrow...but if you need more help, click here a step-by-step guide. (I talked to a math teacher after school who already created one to use in class.) Teachers can use it for pre-assessments, during instruction, or at the end of a lesson to gauge understanding. 

Here's an idea: Your students can also benefit from creating their own Kahoot!s as a means of review. Students who truly understand topics should be able to craft meaningful wrong answers, too. Further, Kahoot! creation can work well as a component to a research project. Students or groups could present information and then Kahoot! the class. 

https://getkahoot.com/

Flubaroo

How many of you have used Google Forms to create quick, online assessments for students?  If you have, you probably know that after students complete the form you receive a spreadsheet filled with student responses.  Are you looking for a way to dig through that data?  I have a tip for making that Google Form work better for you (just in time for end of semester assessments)...it is called Flubaroo.

http://eddatatech.edublogs.org/files/2013/05/Flubaroo-2cyl21t.jpg

It is a free tool (it's actually a Google script) that can help you grade multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank assessments created with Google Forms. In addition to correcting your quiz, Flubaroo computes the student's grade and provides teachers with a summary of class data, inclduing identification of low-scoring quiz items and a distribution graph of student scores.This is a great alternative to other sites that may be slow or connectivity may not be reliable.   

Click here to access the Flubaroo website that has more details, a sample form, and a 3-minute video tutorial.  Please use Google Chrome as your browser.  It doesn't play well with Internet Explorer or Firefox.  If you want help trying this out, I am happy to help.  Just email me and I can set up a time to walk you through the process.  

Isn't this awesome for formative assessments?!!

~Chandra

Hit the Target

Students who can identify what they are learning significantly outscore those who cannot.
~ Robert Marzano

One of the most important things in getting students to take responsibility for their learning is to give them a clear vision of what they are going to be learning so they can begin to make meaning out of it. Empowering students by using LEARNING TARGETS is an effective way to motivate them. Learning Targets are usually I CAN statements that clearly outline a path for students to take to achieve mastery of concepts, skills, and knowledge essential in a particular class or discipline. 

Learning Targets should be the following:

1. Written in student-friendly language
2. Reflective of the skills/knowledge/concepts they are expected to learn
3. A daily statement that is referred to at the beginning of class and revisited at the end
4. Tied directly to assessment

Examples of Learning Targets:

I can introduce myself to another person in French.

I can explain the impact of third parties on an election outcome.

I can identify the parts of an ecosystem and explain how they relate to each other.

Resource:

http://www.educationalleadership-digital.com/educationalleadership/201103/?pg=68#pg68

Check this out!

	Look inside >
Knowing Your Learning Target

Blog post contents and resources from:

Lynn Fisher

AHS Social Studies Teacher 

AHS Literacy Leadership Team

When the cook tastes the soup...

"When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative.  When the guests taste the soup, that's summative." 

~Robert Stake

That quote is the best way to remember the definition and importance of formative assessment.  My last post gave some ideas for pre-assessing students, which is a form of formative assessment.  Here are some links to help you with formative assessment during a unit:  

• "What Are Formative Assessments and Why Should We Use Them" (from Scholastic)
• Formative Assessment Activities (LearnNC)
• Formative Assessment Tools and Strategies for the 21st Century (from Idaho State Department of Education)

And don't forget about NC FALCON (North Carolina's Formative Assessment Learning Community's Online Network), accessible through your NC Education Moodle account.

Where Do I Begin?

"Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction."

~Carol Ann Tomlinson

Pre-assessments are not just used the first week of school.  We must regularly use pre-assessments (and other types of formative assessments) in all curricular areas:

• to make instructional decisions about student strengths and needs
• to determine flexible grouping patterns
• to determine which students are ready for advance instruction

As the graphic above shows, discovering prior knowledge allows the teacher to present new information at an appropriate level for the students.  Below are some methods to pre-assess.

Carousel Brainstorm - Chart papers containing statements or issues for student consideration are posted around the classroom.  Groups of students brainstorm at one station and then rotate to the next position where they add additional comments.  When the carousel "stops", the original team prepares a summary and then presents the large group's findings.  A Carousel Brainstorm is an active, student-centered method to generate data about a group's collective prior knowledge of a variety of issues associated with a single topic.

Yes/No Cards - Students make a card with YES on one side, NO on the opposite side.  Teachers ask an introductory (or review) question.  Students who know the answer hold up the YES card; if they don't know they answer they hold the NO card.  This is an effective strategy to use when introducing vocabulary words/phrases.

Think-Ink-Pair-Share - A way to get students to reveal what they know or believe about a topic is to begin by having them commit their thoughts to writing.  To assess what the group knows, have students discuss their ideas in pairs, and then to share them with the large group.

Other Examples of Pre-Assessment Strategies:

1. Questioning (consider using Costa's Levels of Questioning-an AVID strategy)
2. Predictions
3. Entrance or exit cards
4. Interest surveys
5. KWL charts
6. Graphic organizers
7. Student Interviews
8. Self-evaluations
9. Teacher observations/checklists
10. Anticipation guides or journals
11. Game activities
12. Concept maps
13. Writing prompts and samples
14. Teacher prepared pre-assessments
15. Picture interpretation

Also check out:
"6 Traits of Quality Pre-assessments" (Byrdseed):  http://www.byrdseed.com/six-traits-of-quality-pre-assessments/




Source:
NCDPI ELA Team (K-12)

Review Games

I love healthy competition. (Ask AHS math teacher, Mr. Reeder!)  If you would like to create a few review challenges for your students, I have a some sites with templates to help you out.

PowerPoint Games

http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/ppt_games.html

http://teach.fcps.net/trt10/PowerPoint.htm

http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games/

http://teach.fcps.net/trt4/FETC03/fun2.htm

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was always a hit in my class.  Click here to look at my old Middle Ages/Canterbury Tales version (you must download from the Dropbox link in order for it work properly).  I would randomly select students to answer questions.  As a class, they had the three traditional lifelines (phone a friend, poll the "class", and 50/50) to help them reach the $1,000,000.  The game could be over in one question if they were not careful.  Let me know if you need more suggestions for making it work for your class.

Reading Practice Google Site

It is that time of year when people are starting to prep for end of semester/year testing!  With the addition of Common Exams, I figured more people may want some reading practice passages or videos for review since reading affects every subject.  I have put together a Google Site with exercises for a range of reading skills.  It is definitely a work in progress, so don’t be surprised if you see changes to the links or layout.  I tried to compile sites that allow for self-study.  Please preview all the links before assigning them to make sure the level is appropriate for your students; many of the practice items do not specify a target grade level.  Most examples are appropriate for middle school while the high school may have to hunt for what is challenging enough.

Here is the link:  https://sites.google.com/site/readingstudyhall/ 

Feel free to add to your class's Moodle or Edmodo sites!

Using Technology for Feedback

In college, my professors said to never use red ink, but to use something less harsh like green or blue.  I was also encouraged to always find something good to say about a piece.  So as an English teacher I spent hours (and money on green pens) trying to provide feedback that the student author could understand and use to improve his/her writing.  Without fail, many students skimmed through the pages with feedback, only to study the page with the grade.  I recently found this video of a teacher who uses podcasting for feedback.  Check it out:

I could see this working by using OneNote's audio insert option or Vocaroo (a free voice recording service) and uploading in the response file of Moodle.  If you want to give your green pen a rest and try it out, let me know how the students' writing is improved (or not).

~Chandra