Improving Student AND Teacher Engagement

Today is report card writing day. I am one of those teachers who generally hates marking. I try and give mark-free feedback along the way as much as possible to keep students working on improving rather than obsessing about marks. But when it comes to report cards, a mark must be given, along with supporting evidence.

In my recent LTO positions, the "regular" teacher has left me more "traditional" units which overlap with their time in the class. I have also had some planning time LTO work where I rotate from class to class for 30 minute blocks of time, which has made more hands-on projects very challenging in terms of storage as well as set-up and take-down. This has left me with less freedom to do hands-on activities.

I really believe in the idea that we learn best by doing, by trying things out, by making mistakes and learning how to adjust and problem solve our way through a challenge.

This spring I have focused on making much of the learning hands-on. For science, the students created their own building companies. They created a name and logo for their companies. They had to apply their math to create and follow a budget for supplies and to draw out accurate building plans. They had to apply their understanding of internal and external forces. They had to determine and delegate smaller jobs to bring their project together, and so on. I incorporated building and safety permits, fines for noise and safety violations...you get the picture.

For language, they created and filmed book trailers or highly detailed book posters. For social studies, they took on roles throughout the study of first contact, and are working on building either a Fakebook profile or news article about a specific person or topic.

What I'm finding is that the more hands-on the activity, is, the more the students are engaged. They enjoy sharing their work and take a greater pride in sharing it than any more traditional paper-and-pencil tasks. This was not a surprise to me. What was a pleasant surprise is that the marking is becoming much more enjoyable to me as well.

My tea is nearly ready as I sit back and watch a second batch of book trailers. Netflix has nothing on my students in 5A!

Feedback and Finals: The Problem with Culminating Tasks

In the field of education, one of the big buzzwords right now is "growth mindset". In essence, it asks students and teachers to visualize themselves on a learning journey in which mistakes can lead us to interesting places and new opportunities for learning; where a positive attitude is vital and reflection and improvement are key.

And yet, we still have final exams and unit tests.

Of course we can't spend forever on a specific topic, but to end the learning with a judgement activity that gives no feedback other than a mark does little to inform a student or contribute to further learning.

Perhaps I am still fixated on my high school's motto from many years ago, which was "Know the Reasons". I certainly live with that idea firmly implanted in much of what I do. However, it seems to me to be an important concept for continued learning, reflection and critical thinking which are sometimes found lacking in wider society (not to name any recent political campaigns or such, but I'm sure we can all find a real-life example in which critical thinking was found to be lacking).

So how can we approach summative assessment while encouraging students to continue to reflect on their understanding beyond "the test"?

Some teachers allow for re-tests, although this is becoming unpopular in some circles. Many teachers opt for summative projects rather than tests or exams. Some incorporate a self-evaluation into the culminating task. Are there other ways to approach this?

We've all seen it: student x gets back the test, looks at the mark at the top, then tosses it in the recycling bin never to be read or seen again. All of the notations and feedback on the paper are ignored, and an opportunity to learn from the assignment is lost.

This happens at all stages of a particular strand or unit, but is most common after the summative, perhaps because the student knows it will be a long time before they see that concept revisited. However, this is a valuable time in which to receive feedback because it is likely to address the student's highest level of understanding yet for this topic, skill or subject.

How do we get students to buy into such reflection?

The learning cycle is a lot like using a lint roller: every time you go over an area, a little
more stuff sticks. That also applies to reviewing all tasks. The mentality of "I'm so glad it's over, I never want to see x again!" is hard to overcome. Part of the issue may also be the idea that since the course has been passed (or not), the learning on that subject is no longer necessary or worth pursuing. When students see the report card or credit as the goal rather than the learning itself, the idea of review after the last task may seem pointless to them.

When students see the report card or credit as the goal rather than the learning itself, the idea of review after the last task may seem pointless to them.

Some schools have a period of time in which students can go over their final exam or assignment with the teacher. Other ideas might include a class discussion over the classes website, Facebook page or other online discussion venues, or a scheduled drop-in time where students can meet with their teachers. Some teachers build a reflection component into the final task itself. Although it can also be argued that a little more time and feedback could aid in reflection, taking time to do so at all is still a positive step.

I am curious about how students in classes wherein a growth mindset is strongly and embraced by the students might respond to such opportunities to receive more feedback and review/reflection when compared with classes who continue on a more traditional path. I welcome your insight in the comments below.