“The best teachers are those
that show you where to look but don't tell you what to see.”
- Alexandra K. Trenfor
- Alexandra K. Trenfor
California State University’s assignment template not only lists the ideas and techniques to teach students reading and writing, it also has covers ideas for assessments. “Viewed broadly, formative assessments can help teachers adjust their instruction and modify the climate of their classrooms while students can adjust tactics they use to learn” (Popham). I especially enjoy Appendix H, Pre-writing strategies that include: Brainstorming, Clustering and Mapping, Discussion, Freewriting, Informal Outlining, Questioning, Quick-writes and Scanning. These are all invaluable, captivating ways to get students to read and write.
Appendix D offers Vocabulary Development Activities. The Frayer model is just one out of many examples. This model allows students to: define the key concept, describe its attributes, compare and contrast it to other related concepts, provide examples of it, and explain why the examples are appropriate. The other valuable strategies in this appendix include self-assessment charts that students can view to see which words they have difficulty with and the teacher can also see where the student is struggling.
Appendix E includes: Using classroom discussion strategies to foster rhetorical literacies. The number of examples and strategies are numerous. Studies show that well organized classroom conversations can significantly enhance academic performance. Frequent opportunities to collaborate and converse with high-interest, real-world topics can get students talking. “Such plentiful occasions for talk –about content, structure and rhetorical stance – cultivate students’ curiosity, motivation and engagement, develop their thinking through sharing ideas with others, and prepare them to participate fully in university-level academic work.”
Appendix J is about Collaborative scoring of student writing. This is also a powerful tool for bringing an entire department together around the "topic of student writing and the best ways it can be fostered. When teachers see how a large number of students respond to a writing task and talk with other teachers about the writing, not only of their own students but of everyone else’s, it can strengthen a program." This is a superior idea, keeping in mind the way that students are learning. Teachers foremost attention should be on the way students are grasping the material.
As I go
through this document, I am astounded at all of the great opportunities for
teaching and assessing, truly a wealth of information. One of the
most valuable charts in this piece of work is advising students on what they are
learning and why. The following chart is one that I will post in my classroom.
- Where Am I
Going?
- How Am I
Going?
- Where to
Next?
Teacher
|
Clarify
and communicate learning goals and success criteria to students.
|
Create
an instructional environment for tasks, activities, and discussions that generate
evidence of learning.
Observe
and analyze evidence of student performance and procedures that would improve
it.
|
Give
feedback to students that clarifies for them what they need to understand
and/or do
to
close the gap between current performance and learning goals.
Provide
support for process-oriented and self- regulated learning.
|
Student
|
Understand
the learning goals and the success criteria.
|
Gain
a clear picture
of the gap between what learning goals are expected and what progress toward them has been achieved. |
Using
the feedback
they have received regarding their progress so far, envision their next challenge, plan steps to meet the challenge, and monitor progress toward learning goal. |
