Marking Mania
Final Reflection for #EDUC471D100
It’s after midnight and officially December 9th. All final papers for EDUC471D100 were due on December 8th at midnight. Now I have the honour of evaluating my students’ unit plan or term paper. They had a choice. They could apply what they have learned about curriculum development and factors that influence curriculum development by designing a unit or lesson plan. Or, they could have delved deeper into one of the topics in the course syllabus with a research/term paper. It was one way to personalize their learning, but the students had designed and mutually decided on three curriculum competencies to be evaluated on. Therefore, my students are being evaluated on what they have learned in EDUC471D100 and must demonstrate three curricular competencies, which reflect the core competencies, in their final paper. This is what brings all of our papers together.
It was only by today when I finished sending their evaluations for their IGNITE presentations from the last two weeks and evaluated their summative journal reflection. Admittedly, I’m a FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT girl, but the course is ending and I must assess what they have learned so far. The whole goal of the course was to focus on learning and competencies. I’d use formative assessment throughout the course and modelled what BC’s New Curriculum intends in the context of this course. Teaching this course is a friendly reminder to me that education is complex, many variables influence student learning and success, and there are no quick and simple answers. I do possess an expertise and realize that I am motivated by student learning and their success.
I blog about the courses I teach to make teaching and learning visible. With each class, I am learning. This class has humbled me. I have learned that I am making a difference one student at a time. I provide hope and understanding. I am open to discovering student strengths and wonder what is possible. I am so lucky to have students who are willing to play and learn with me. It’s exciting. This is my only opportunity to realize the potential of BC’s New Curriculum. I also realized the influence of my dissertation to my practice. I have a core belief that students have to experience what they are learning. It’s not about reading a paper, memorizing a few facts, and regurgitating it on a final paper or exam. It’s about doing it. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING at it’s finest and my students modelled that too with student-led participation activities. They rose to the challenge.
Take a look at the picture above. This was one of the student-led activities. It was a staring contest, which could have lasted all class but we had to move on. It was a tie. Prizes were given… by the student facilitator. I was so impressed by the creativity and innovation of some of the activities, but also I was so proud of students who “stepped out of their box” to public speak, took and adapted with immediate feedback, and submitted notes for all of us to share online on Canvas. We were an amazing learning community. Our job was to support each other with our learning. We were outstanding and I love that we could have fun with our learning experiences together. It’s a crazy and challenging opportunity to teach and facilitate a course that was not grade or mark driven.
Their job was to meet expectations. My job was to provide students with formative feedback to help them meet expectations. This required trust, mutual respect, and a relationship. I recall that this was a new concept. Learning was a choice and we co-created our knowledge. This was not going to be an “easy A” course if you were not invested in the course. Yet, if you were engaged and actively contributing then the “A” would come relatively easy. I always believed in this concept as a secondary mathematics teacher, but also as an athlete (aka. competitive curler… LOL). When you focus on the outcome, then you are likely to fail or lose. When you focus on your job, your role, and doing your best, then the grade or win will come. I’ve seen this over and over again.
I look forward to reading their final papers and deliberating their final grade for the course. As mentioned, if they focused on the learning and demonstrated their learning well, then the grade will come. What I do appreciate greatly are the kind, thoughtful, and unsolicited emails from students saying thank you, mentioning that it’s been one of their favourite courses, or wishing me happy holidays. It reminds me why I got into education almost 25 years ago. I was tutoring ABE Math at Kwantlen College while I was attending UBC. I loved it. I would help someone with their math and the adult learner would always say THANK YOU or “I get it, thanks!” That’s what makes teaching and learning so rewarding. I have come full circle and I am ready for my next step in education.