Welcome!
The purpose of this web site is to help teachers help students become independent learners. I want to show teachers the interesting resources that the world wide web provides that will help teachers see how students learn best - through Assessment for Learning (AfL) instruction, tools, strategies, resources and pedagogies.
I encourage teachers to adapt any resources to best fit their needs. The only request that is made is that whatever is adapted be shared back so this AfL community can continue to grow. Please share your thoughts on the blog. Also on the blog is the presentation that another teacher and I did for our school district.
Teachers that promote AfL student learning have classrooms with students who are aware of what they need to do. Students are taught that their learning is theirs and that being challenged or stuck is a problem that can be solved in different ways - through the process of setting "I CAN" goals and self reflecting on how they learn and what they need in order to grow. Click here for an inspirational I CAN show. Click here to view Stiggin's thinking on this subject. Check out this district and the I CAN goals for math! This is absolutely awesome. Click Here.
Helping students become metacognitive - thinkers of their learning - is not an easy task, especially when they have been "taught" to become passive learners.
Utilizing constructive teaching practices wherein you are a "coach" is also a challenging task, especially when you have been taught to be the disseminator of knowledge. The reality is that in this day in age, teachers have to shift away from this type of teaching and move to the students creating the learning. So that the teachers only role is to create the conditions in which students learn. Teachers from Mangere Bridge School in South Auckland talk about sharing assessment data with their students, and how this enables students to develop their own next steps in learning, and to take ownership of the learning. Click Here to view.
In the top 10 countries of the world AfL is standard practice. (What is the top country in the world for literacy rates? Click Here. for the results of my inquiry.) If students are to become 21st century creative thinkers (To hear 2009, Sir Ken Robinson speak on this very subject Click Here .
There are some really cool things that are being done to help foster students to create their learning all over the world. Of the resources at this site, I encourage you to view Cedar Rapids Public Schools in Iowa. They have some incredible resources and have done phenomenal work. You can find their site under teacher resources and data folders. The Indiana Department of Education also is a fabulous resource for instituting data folders to improve student engagement and promote student growth in learning. Perhaps data folders is something that you, the individual teacher, or perhaps your school would like to do. Maybe you could even try it as a seed, then share, and promote district growth, based on the presentations you share and student work you show. There are also blackline masters that you may want to download from the teacher resource page. And really wonderful videos from Australia and Britain that perhaps you can get ideas to try out in your classroom.
Basically all the tabs center around these six Assessment for Learning Principles:
1. Student Friendly Language that is Intentional -taken and adapted from grade learning content skills and made clear to students in student friendly language – WALT, WILT, WIFT….AND…I CAN…They all work together for student engagement and meta cognitive awareness.
2. Building student friendly criteria with students so they know explicitly what is expected. This includes brainstorming a list, then placing into categories, teacher modeling and providing classroom samples in anchor charts and bulletin boards. The language should be that of the students.
3. Providing specific and not general feedback- clear feedback intended to coach a student to a deeper understanding and practice. This should NOT evaluative- please refraining from numbers or letter grades. Don’t be a toxic grader. Promote Growth Mindset.
4. Encouraging open-ended, critical thinking higher order thinking questions (HOTS), rather than closed, one answers.
5. Integrating Self and Peer Assessment - intended for self reflection and goal-setting – Using stems, text frames, learning/reflection logs, evidence, reflection strips, layered reflection opportunities, etc...
6. Moving toward Student Ownership - of their own learning and being proud of what they have learned and sharing that learning to a larger audience- using think-pair-share....I CAN ...Where can you post and celebrate student work and the students' hard work? Yes, We Can. Click Here.
Essentially this site is all about putting the STUDENT at the center of the learning. And coaching the student to move from passive to constructive learner. Click Here for Training Materials.
As you begin the mode of teaching using Assessment for Learning with your students in the center, with you as coach, hopefully you will begin to see your students engaging and becoming more emotionally connected to their learning community. Students will also begin to see themselves as able and capable. Their personal learning goals will begin to strengthen and in doing so, your instruction will differentiate to meet their need to learn in various and unique ways.
If your state or school has not moved to the student being at the center of AfL, perhaps you could begin to use the resources provided, and become a seed for change. Remember....great things start small. I know, in my own personal situation, I showcase student work outside my classroom, causing other teachers to want to know what I am doing to help my students love learning, as well, as perform, engage, and connect to their learning world. Click Here for a great site I just found! I love these!!!
I have also begun presenting in the hopes of getting more and more people to understand and to try, so that their students can also be empowered by this new way of instruction. I guess, it is my hope that student learning AfL will become sort of a "tipping point" here in the United States as it has become in other parts of the world. When it does, I know both our students and teachers will undoubtedly grow as learners, and our country will move back into the rank of being one of the top ten eduational systems in the world!
Do the things necessary to achieve that goal. to watch a video.Click Here. It showcases teachers from Colorado working toward this pedagogical change.
Sarah Reed
Teacher
Louisville, Kentucky
USA
