Teacher Inquiry

As a part of the "Rethinking Assessment" class I have been taking through Boise State we recently filled out an inquiry memo reflecting on the formative assessments we've been collecting analyzing, sharing, and interpreting over the course of the semester.  As I answered the questions, I came to a few enlightening conclusions that I thought I would share. Feel free to add or respond!

Pedagogical Connections: What have I learned about my teaching from the formative assessments I have collected, analyzed, shared, and interpreted?

This go-around on the field notes, I focused on more summative assessments. However, as was brought up in class, I’ve grown to see even summative assessments as formative tasks leading in to the next unit or year of study. In the tasks I reflected on over the last month of class, I have noticed continued shifting toward a more metacognitive, student centered approach to teaching. I am finding my guidelines are more flexible and thus allow more student choice and freedom. I give students ownership in the choices we make in the classroom. I think in the past I have been maybe TOO organized and structured? I do believe students need direction, but I have been exploring ways to guide exploration rather than define it. 

Lessons on Learning and Learners: What have I learned about learning and learners through the formative assessments I have collected, analyzed, shared, and interpreted?”

Little by little, I have been trying to shift my teaching to encourage a student-centered learning environment where I participate as a guide, coach, and facilitator to that learning. The field notes I have taken over the last several week are evidence, I think, of my attempt to allow students to explore and evaluate their own learning and the purpose of learning. I have began implementing an “endless revision” concept in my classroom. Students can revisit, revise, elaborate on, or completely redo any task they wish- be that formative or summative. I am really trying to develop a community of learners in my classroom rather than a group of students alienated by status and competition. I have tried to help my students view even summative tasks as opportunities to show off their knowledge in a safe environment where they can try again if they fail. 

Researcher Commentary: What surprised me? (tracking assumptions) What intrigued me? (tracking positions) What disturbed me? (tracking tensions)

As I have provided more choice in assignments, I have been surprised at a few previously disengaged students who have begun “creeping out of the shadows” so to speak. Maybe I have also adjusted the way I read and respond to student writing and speaking, but many students have really begun to turn a corner in my class. They are noticing little nuances, key points hidden in subsurface layers, etc. They have yet to start speaking their opinions in class, but I am seeing evidence of this emergence in their writing. I have become disturbed and maybe slightly stressed by wanting to change the face of education for everyone! While I know I have always had good intentions as a teacher, I don’t think I was always meeting the students where they needed to be met. And while I know I am nowhere close to having all the answers, I am daily excited (and sometimes overwhelmed) by the new ideas and strategies I am constantly seeking out. Somehow over the course of the last few months, I have stepped into my teacher-researcher-writer shoes and really begun investing in creating the best possible classroom environment for my kids.  

Cite Connections to Course Readings and Conversations: How does what I have learned speak back to what others have written or said about assessment, learning, teaching, and/or the relationship between any and all of them?) “Speak back to” might mean to confirm, challenge, extend, refine, or more.

Recently I have been really motivated to dive in to more reading about assessment, good instructional strategies, teaching approaches, differentiated instruction, etc. I love the idea of cultivating a classroom where students see learning (rather than grade) as the ultimate goal. While I recognize grades are often a focal point for students and parents, I want to encourage students to consider the true purpose of school. One of my favorite Earl quotes from her final chapter was, “There is no doubt that teachers will have to work within systemic guidelines, but when day-to-day work in classrooms is about learning, teachers go deeper and think about assessment and how they can intentionally move assessment so that it provides them, and their students, with insights about what is being learned and how to move the learning forward better and faster.” I feel the reading, conversations, and reflections of student work I have been doing over the last few months has really helped me see dissonance in my own teaching and that realization has energized me to make beneficial shifts and changes to the way I teach, assess, and communicate with students about their learning.