Love the Formative
Day 41 (of 187) – October 31, 2018
Happy Halloween… Yes, I’m an UNBC Timberwolves FAN!!! Thank you for noticing. That said, I am listening to the fireworks in my neighbourhood of College Heights in Prince George where I am “laying low” on this Halloween night. It the first night in 15 years that I’m not at home in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast with my daughter where she would like to dress up, hang out with friends, and give out candy. I’m here… miles away living in an apartment building. NO ONE is coming by my place to “trick or treat” and that’s OK.
It does not take much to make my day. I did have candy to give out to my class today. The student presenters brought candy too. We had gummies, licorice, and chocolate. A winning combination… especially when my students just finished a midterm exam in a previous class and I’m recovering from my fall from yesterday. Why not soothe the soul with a bit of candy? To top it off, today’s reading summary was about FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT and Assessment for Learning… one of my favourite topics to discuss and do in education but also one of the key underpinnings of BC’s New Curriculum.
Lots of thoughts go through my mind as my students present a summary of the article and facilitate a learning activity based on that article. The article focused much about policies and systems, and how the framework of formative assessment should be found throughout the system to support and enhance student learning. It was a big article, meaning that it wasn’t focussed on the details of how to implement specific formative assessment strategies, but it revealed many of the big ideas of formative assessment and its value to student learning and quality of teaching. At the end of the presentation… “I tried” to clarify some ideas about assessment and what to expect in some of my course assignments, but I think I made it worse. I did not seize the formative opportunities.
One of the underpinnings of my course is EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. I was so compelled to “tell the answer” and I did. I think what I said only made sense to those who had already completed the assignment. I did not honour experiential learning cycle and allowing students to struggle. Well, I did with those who had already completed the assignment but there are still those who still need to complete the assignment. Nonetheless, all was said and done and we had only 10 minutes to get into our collaborative learning groups to design an interdisciplinary unit plan and lesson plan.
After a couple of meetings and carbo-loading with a Tim Horton’s bagel (and some yummy cake), I returned to my office to pack up. I sat there for some moments to “catch my breath” and appreciate my surroundings. I needed to regroup. What was great was… one of my students popped his head in my door and cheered. I think that he was glad I was still here. It was getting late. There were two students… and yes, they were asking for some help. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT and FORMATIVE FEEDBACK. I could not have asked for anything more. With some discussion, I hopped out of my seat to talk about the learning intentions and the assignment. YEEEESSSS!!! Formative in REAL-TIME. Students engaged in the struggle… and the AH-HA… for ME and my students. Love the formative.