My Best Work...

I have done a lot of online assessments before I took this class, so I was not too surprised at many of the assignments and readings in this class.  I have used a CMS before so I did enjoy looking at others and then staying with what I use.  I really liked the Infograph assignment.  This was one tool I have not used before so it was fun to create my “Supporting Formative Assessment” Infograph; however, I did not consider this my best work.  I have to be honest; I was not looking forward to the Minecraft/gaming part of this class.  I don’t really like these types of games and I really didn’t think I could even use this type of assessment in my class.  I was, for a lack of a better cliché, a fish out of water with this assignment.  So, since I had no idea what I was doing…I really had to learn something totally new, and that is why I think my Minecraft assessment was my best work.

For my assessment, I could have made a more detailed looking castle and I was disappointed that had to ask for help to create a mote.  I could have also added more information about the play Macbeth.  But with this assessment, I had to start from scratch with no real direction and a hope to just pass the module.  I got lost in the training part and didn’t really finish the training because I couldn’t find my way back.  I then started to panic about what I was going to do for my assessment.  The whole Minecraft idea is very Medieval to me so what I thought about for my assessment was either Beowulf or Macbeth so I picked Macbeth.  I have always images in my head about what that castle would look like so this started my Minecraft assessment.  This was the strongest part of my video, describing how I would create Macbeth’s castle and how I would hope my students would add to it to make it better. I tried to add some symbolism and fun details and I think they turned out pretty good.

This assessment supports the way I learn best…by doing.  I had no prior knowledge of how to use Minecraft or how to even make my own creation.  Knowing that I HAD to do this assignment, I was forced to learn the basics of Minecraft.  After a lot of trial and error I started to get into the activity.  I knew it wasn’t perfect, but that wasn’t the point.  The point was that I did something until I felt comfortable doing it, and I had a vision of what I could eventually do.  This supports my learning in that I am very hands on and like to practice things until I get them right.  I think what I really took away from this assessment is that I shouldn’t be afraid to learn something that I normally wouldn’t do.  I can use different forms of assessments to get my point across.  All I need to do is leap and go for it.  I need to look at assessments I might not consider, just because I might be hesitant to try them doesn’t mean that my students would be.  I need to learn to keep an open mind about assessments.  My students will appreciate the different ways I can test them because not all of them do well with the usual paper, pencil tests.

Revised Assessment Screencast

Below is my revised assessment screencast!

I believe that Schoology is the best option for this assessment as it is easy to use, the tests can be randomized and differentiated, and teachers and students can get instant feedback.  I love how in Schoology students can take the quizzes at school or at home.  The quizzes are progressive and students must receive a certain score in order to go to the next quiz.  These quizzes will not be graded, but rather they are there to show students where their weaknesses are and what they should be reviewing in order to (hopefully) do better on the next actual test.  Since I can view the data from the scores, I can then reteach certain concepts to individuals or to an entire class.  This is a powerful tool for teachers as we can modify instruction to fit the needs of our students. I know that paper/pencil tests have their place, but for review and relearning these assessments are convenient for both  the teacher and the student.

My Digital Sandbox...

Sandboxes are great places to play and create.  If you don’t like what you have created, then you can destroy the creation and start over...and it is all in great fun.  As we all know, what we create in sandboxes can fall in an instant or survive with some guarded effort.  A sandbox is a great metaphor for what I have learned about digital assessments in this class AND what I will do with digital assessments in my own classes.

As all teachers know, what works in one class might not work in your other classes!  I think this also goes for assessments.  There have been times in my classes that I gave an assessment and it worked really well one year, so I decided to use it the next year and it totally flopped.  Assessments in this case are like building sand castles.  There are so many things that can and will go wrong.  What I have learned is that there isn’t a “one size fits all”  type of assessment.  Like the sand castle once you think you have built a solid one, something or someone comes along and steps on it and you have to start over. For me the initial shock of losing what you thought was the perfect product is discouraging, but then I reflect and realize that no matter what type of assessment I have, there is always room for improvement.  

This class has made me step back and really look at HOW I am using my digital assessments. When I create a “test,” I need to create  for all types of learning and I need to create ways for students to improve.  I think digital assessments are perfect for this. I have to admit the reason I started digital assessments was to cut down my grading time! It is awful to admit, but having a site like Quia or the test part of Schoology do part of my grading has been awesome, but now I need to look at the content.  I realize I need to revamp a lot of my assessments.  So in a sense this is like the rain washing all my “sandcastles” away in my sandbox.  I still have the base (the grains of sand), but now I need to really reflect on how to build my castles back up using my new knowledge on assessments.  I need to take those granules of sand and create assessments that will fit all my learners.  I also have come to a realization that some students need to relearn and practice so building those assessments are just as important as the graded assessments.  Students need to do this on their own time or spare time in class.  This is what I have been doing with my grammar assessments.  I have now created a solid foundation of what I want these non-graded assessments to look like, now I just need to keep it up and create them for all my classes.

Digital Portfolio Reflection

Portfolios as a Reflection

I have always liked the ideal of portfolios as a way to show students their progression in their writing.  At one time I brought up the idea to my department that we should start the portfolio in the 9th grade and continue it to 12th grade.  It started out strong and now we no longer do it.  It makes me sad because it would be such a good idea to show students how far they have come. I think they would put into perspective what students have learned from 9th grade to 12th grade.

I do think I will implement a digital portfolio in my classes.  I like the idea that students can use the technology to keep projects, papers, and other class assignments.  Like we have done in this class I would have students either  embed or add the assignment to a blog and then reflect on that assignment. I would also add a part where other students would be required to comment on other student’s blog posts.  I think it would be a good final assessment for students to create a screencast of the blog posts as an overall reflection of the work they have done in the class.  This way they can verbalize their strengths and weaknesses on the assignments they have completed over the semester. I have read so much during this class about self-reflection and teacher comments that this would be a good way to do both.  For students, “...[self-assessment] is in fact an essential component of formative assessment” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 143). I think it is important for them to step back from just recieving the “grade” to reflect on what they have LEARNED! Students could record their self-reflections about the assignments and then I could give them comments on their progress during the semester. For Teachers giving feedback can, “... [maintain] student motivation and self-confidence while not ignoring student errors” (Shepard, 2000, p. 11). Students, although they don’t always say it, appreciate feedback on what they have done.  They want to improve and know HOW to improve so it is important for teachers to do this for their students.

My CMS is Schoology and I did see this summer where Schoology was offering a digital portfolio option.  I was so excited, until I investigated further and found that you have to have the paid version of Schoology to get the portfolio.  I did Tweet my frustrations to Schoology when I found out! So, I will have my students use some type of a blog for their digital portfolios as a way of keeping what they have turned in during the semester.  But more importantly I want students to have a positive digital image and a school portfolio is a perfect way to do that.  At the beginning of the year I always give a lecture about having a positive digital image as they head to college.

Bibliography

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2010). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(1), 81–90.

Shepard, L. A. (2000). The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture. Educational Researcher, I 29(7), 4–14.