Learning Target Alignment - Volante

The second of the principles from Volante's document is that of learning targets. As obvious as this one should be, we often fall short of communicating the "why" and the "how" of an assignment to our students. We know what we want them to do, but failure to communicate this results in lack of understanding, lack of confidence, and feeling of inadequacy from the student. Often students fail in our eyes by no fault of their own. Papers are marked up and when they get them back, students finally understand what we wanted in the first place, at which point it is too late.

OK, so how do we set things up so that we all gain? We have filtered the essential learning outcomes from the curriculum guides mandated by the province and have created a comprehensive cintinuum that flows from grade 5 to grade 8. Step one complete. The problem is we need to realize there are more steps after this one.

Damian Cooper talked about tiered assessment, a way of allowing all students to reach their potential by setting them up in a way where they have assignment expectations laid out in the detail needed for various levels of independence. The worries I have about handing out the same assignment guideline to all my students is that my less-motivated (or less capable) students do not attain the expected results because they need a more step by step approach. They need to be told exactly what to do - there can be no room for doubt if they are to succeed. The same is true for the very strong students who are selling themselves short by working to the guidelines - instead of to their potential. They need the freedom to allow their work to take them in new and unexpected directions - regardless of what I may initially have had in mind.

As meticulously guided students become more confident and interested in the inquiry process and their own ideas, they graduate to the middle tier of assignment criteria and are less dependant on being told how to think and organize their work.

If I understand the learning target alignment correctly, I believe it means to align what needs to be done with the current level of achievement of each student to be sure students are guided to the required extent. The student's comfort level is not fixed as they graduate to the next level when they are ready. Every student receives the required teaching but how far they go with it depends on their level of readiness, which grows with the student.

Damian Cooper: Talk About Assessment

I had the privilege of attending the Damian Cooper seminar today. It was engaging, fun and enlightening. There are many things I already knew; but knowing them and putting them into practice are two different things. Several aspects of his presentation made me think about the way I work with my students in my classroom and that some of them need to change in order to maximize their success as independent learners.

Assessment is our school goal for the year and I have really taken it to heart. I know what I want my formative and summative assessment to look like. Now, when I plan my projects and courses, having this assesment in mind will be what allows me to structure my units purposefully. Some of the ideas shared today come to mind when I consider these points about assessment.

1. Work With the End in Mind: My friend, Syd, has been telling me this for years and I have always had the intention of working this way, although intentions and reality do not always agree. Now that I can better imagine what I want it to look like in my classroom, I know how to go about planning it.

2. Tiered Assessment: We want all students to demonstrate proficiency of essential tasks at or above grade level independently. I love this definition because it is a reminder of our ultimate goal. Tiered assessment allows us to ensure we are reaching all students where they are at, and give them the challenge they need individually to proceed to the next level of their own learning. This requires a design that will give them all the guidelines they require to do so.

- One for students who are able to follow guidelines given and attain learning goals.

- One for students who are intrinsically motivated. They have fewer guidelines because these students are able to create their own challenge and take ownership of their learning. They simply need to be given their wings.

- Finally, one for students who need the motivation to complete the work, or who struggle with the required tasks. These students need more detailled how-to guidelines. This will help break down the task into manageable parts so that they will be able to succeed.

3. End of Unit Assessment: Another great project that was shared today was the End of Unit Assessment. This hands-on assessment measures success by the student's ability to use the skills focused on during the course, which includes a personal reflection that confirms learning. This will be one of my goals for my future units in several subjects.

The day held many Aha! moments for me. Overall, I think that I am on the right track. I have things to learn and put into practice to ensure that I am assigning things for a reason and that my evaluations are measuring something worthwhile. I loved the way Cooper summarized this idea. "I won't accept crap, therefore, I cannot assign crap." In other words, if the student's success is my goal, then I want to be sure that the assignments I choose are also worthy of their time.

I am anxious to continue to grow in this area, because as I do, so do my students.