40 Alternative Assessments for Learning When people think of assessment, pencils and bubble sheets may be the first things that come to mind. Assessment does not always have to involve paper and pencil, but can instead be a project, an observation, or a task that shows a student has learned the material. In the end, all we really want to know is that the skill was mastered, right? Many teachers shy away from alternative assessments because they take extra time and effort to create and to grade. The project card and rubric can be run on card stock (one on each side of the page), laminated, and hole punched with other alternative assessment ideas. Here are 40 alternative assessment ideas to get you started! Alternative Reading Assessments 1. Create a bookmark to match the theme of the last book read. 2. Put together a group of 5 things from the story of the week. 3. Students can make a stuffed animal that matches the theme of the story read. 4. Summarize the story by designing a business card (this will be harder than it sounds). 5.
14 Bloom's Taxonomy Posters For Teachers 14 Brilliant Bloom’s Taxonomy Posters For Teachers by TeachThought Staff Bloom’s Taxonomy is a useful tool for assessment design, but using it only for that function is like using a race car to go to the grocery–a huge waste of potential. In an upcoming post we’re going to look at better use of Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom, but during research for that post it became interesting how many variations there are of the original work. While a handful of the charts below only show aesthetic changes compared to others, most are concept maps of sorts–with graphic design that signifies extended function (power verbs), detail (clear explanations), or features of some sort (Bloom’s Taxonomy tasks by level). The follow simple, student-centered Bloom’s graphics were created by helloliteracy! The following “Bloom’s pinwheel” comes from Kelly Tenkley and ilearntechnology.com:
Differentiation - tools, tips and resources Differentiation is an important aspect of education. Students learn differently, have different needs, different backgrounds, different skills, different ability levels, different interests and more. As educators, we try to create engaging lesson activities that provide a variety of learning experiences and allow students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. Differentiation should occur in both how students learn and gain knowledge and skills, and in how they demonstrate and are assessed on what they have learned. “In the practice of education, differentiation is defined as working to address the abilities, interests, and needs (both perceived and real) of individuals. Differentiation provides students with opportunities to approach curriculum from their strengths, as varied as these might be.” Here are some resources, tips, and tools on differentiation: Digital Differentiation - ideas and tools for differentiating with digital resources
Two Handy Web Tools to Create and Draw on Maps Somebody sent me an email earlier this week asking for web tools to create and draw on maps. Below are two of the tools that I know of but you can also check this collection of map tools I have published a few months ago it also features some other good applications to use while working on maps with your students. 1- Scribble maps Easily draw on maps and then share them with friends, completely for Free! Simple enough to be used by children, but powerful enough to be used by GIS professionals - Scribble Maps is the easiest way to draw and share maps with friends. Watch the video below to learn how to use Scribble maps Quickmaps allows users to draw a quick map.
Teaching Critical Thinking I just came across a 2007 article by Daniel T. Willingham “Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?” Critical thinking is very commonly found in lists of learning outcomes for general education or even at the institution level. In practice, it’s very difficult to even define, let alone teach or assess. The article is a nice survey of the problem. I just came across a 2007 article by Daniel T. The approach I've taken in the past (with the FACS assessment) I've simplified 'critical thinking' into two types of reasoning that are easy to identify: deductive and inductive. For example, solving a complex but familiar physics problem by applying a multi-step algorithm isn’t critical thinking because you are really drawing on memory to solve the problem. Applying a multi-step algorithm is deductive "follow-the-rules" thinking. In the quote above, the creation of a new algorithm exemplifies critical thinking--this is precisely inductive thinking, a kind of inference. A Model for Thinking
How To Use Bloom’s Taxonomy To Write Learning Outcomes By: Scott Davis Business Analyst, Pearson It is often quite difficult to relate inputs to outcomes in the world of education. Traditionally, much work has been done to develop and provide inputs into the process of education. These inputs, such as a textbook, an assessment, a learning technology or platform, a course, a qualification, a high-stakes test or professional development for teachers are put into the hands of an educational leader, a skillful teacher, or an eager student. And, for all of the investment, expertise, and care that go into their creation, that has typically been where the involvement ends. If we are going to really understand how we might be impacting student learning we must do two things. It may be difficult to know where to start in writing a student learning outcome. The committee identified three domains of educational activities or learning (Bloom, 1956): The domains are further subdivided, starting from the simplest behavior to the most complex. Bloom, B.
Introduction to Cooperative Learning | An Overview Of Cooperative Learning David W Johnson and Roger T Johnson Without the cooperation of its members society cannot survive, and the society of man has survived because the cooperativeness of its members made survival possible…. It was not an advantageous individual here and there who did so, but the group. In human societies the individuals who are most likely to survive are those who are best enabled to do so by their group. (Ashley Montagu, 1965) How students interact with each another is a neglected aspect of instruction. In the mid-1960s, cooperative learning was relatively unknown and largely ignored by educators. Definition of Cooperative Learning Students’ learning goals may be structured to promote cooperative, competitive, or individualistic efforts. Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared goals. Types Of Cooperative Learning Formal Cooperative Learning 1. 2. 3. 4. Informal Cooperative Learning 1. 2. a. b. c. d. The question may require students to: a. b. c. d.
Aha Moments on the Road to Better Teaching By Myron Dueck Change can be difficult. We find ourselves entrenched in old habits, and, therefore, much of what we do is simply what we have always done. A home-improvement friend of mine suggested that I get someone unfamiliar with my home to point out things that could use a little TLC. He suggested two changes for my home and, after I recovered from the subtle sting of criticism, I appreciated the analysis. Grading Smarter Starts with Awareness For many teachers, what stands in the way of change is not a lack of willingness but a lack of awareness. With that idea in mind, here are a few epiphanies I’ve had throughout my career that have helped me to see the need for change and enact it effectively. Improving Unit Plans I never noticed that my learning targets were hidden from sight and actually quite nebulous should anyone succeed in uncovering them. Based on Rick Stiggins’ work, I highlighted what students needed to know, reason, demonstrate, and produce. Improving Grading
32 Characteristics Of High-Performing Classrooms 32 Characteristics Of High-Performing Classrooms: Spotting The Holes In Your Teaching by Terry Heick Instructional design is the strategic creation of learning experiences through intentional planning, sequencing, and data-based revision of learning. This process includes both the ways content is accessed, and the learning needs and objectives (and how they are determined) themselves. This puts instructional strategies, literacy strategies, curriculum mapping, standards unpacking, assessment design, digital literacy, and a dozen other facets of education beneath its umbrella. With that in mind, we’ve created the following 32 characteristics of higher-level instructional planning to help you spot the holes in your teaching. Technology Integration Cognitive Demand Lesson Planning Assessments Curriculum Mapping Learner Choice Classroom Management Student Support Image attribution flickr user flickeringbrad; 32 Characteristics Of A High-Performing Classroom
Bloom’s Taxonomy & The iPad The iPad – A Device To… Create Despite Steve Jobs having declared the iPad as a device for consuming media, students at Zeeland Public Schools (ZPS) continue to create engaging papers, presentations and multi-media products to demonstrate their deep understanding of the curriculum. Pic Collage, Story Creator, Corkulous, Scribble Press, Videolicious, Educreations, Evernote, Haiku Deck, and iMotion HD are just a small sampling of the amazing apps students at every grade level are using to synthesize their understanding. Consume Not only are students creating on the iPad, but teachers are generating their own products for their classes to consume. Collaborate & Communicate Collaboration and communication go hand-in-hand, and the 1:1 technology initiative at ZPS fosters these skills. Critical Thinking Metacognition and critical thinking reach new heights as our teachers challenge learners to evaluate their own work, that of their peers, and even that of people in other countries.
Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Comprehension Package The intervention package teaches students to use reading comprehension strategies independently, including text prediction, summarization,question generation, and clarification of unknown or unclear content. For effective-teaching tips to use when introducing this strategy, consult the guidelines presented introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach. Materials: Overhead transparencies of practice reading passages, transparency markers Student copies of Be a Careful Reader! Preparation: Prepare overheads of sample passages. Step 1: Set aside at least four successive instructional days to introduce students to each of the following comprehension strategies: Day 1: Prediction,Day 2: Summarization ("list main ideas"),Day 3: Question Generation,Day 4: Clarifying. Step 2: After students have been introduced to the key strategies, the group is now ready to apply all four strategies from the Reciprocal Teaching package to a sample reading passage. Jim's Hints
The Question Game: A Playful Way To Teach Critical Thinking The Question Game by Sophie Wrobel, geist.avesophos.de The Question Game: A Playful Way To Teach Critical Thinking Big idea: Teaching kids to ask smart questions on their own A four-year-old asks on average about 400 questions per day, and an adult hardly asks any. In A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas, Warren Berger suggests that there are three main questions which help in problem solving: Why questions, What If questions, and How questions. Regardless of the question, the question needs to be phrased openly and positively in order to achieve positive results – a closed or negative question only raises bad feelings against each other. Why questions help to find the root of a problemWhat If questions open up the floor for creative solutionsHow questions focus on developing practical solutions Learning Goal: A Pattern Of Critical Thinking Introducing The Question Game Evaluating Learning Progress
Bloom’s Taxonomy Re-imagine & Digital Blooms: different ways to approach learning I’ve long been a fan of Bloom’s Taxonomy…not necessarily for all the ways it has been pushed into different fads throughout the years, but instead for the way that it helps me (and my students) think about the learning process. It helps me approach the learning process in a more holistic way, ensuring that I don’t camp out in one way of thinking and evidencing learning for too long. I think it is human nature to get excited about one way of thinking and suddenly everything we do falls into that. It can be a little bit like the new car that you purchased, you begin to see that car everywhere because you have a new awareness of it. I’ve noticed myself doing the same in teaching. Bloom’s Taxonomy helps me to keep myself cognizant of all the different ways to approach learning. A few years ago, I created some different versions of Bloom’s Taxonomy for my students. You will notice that my images don’t have the traditional Bloom’s pyramid. And the digital version: Remember: Understand: Apply:
Reciprocal Teaching From Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology Elizabeth Foster and Becky Rotoloni The University of Georgia Review of Reciprocal Teaching Introduction Mrs. Mrs. What is Reciprocal Teaching? Reciprocal teaching is a cooperative learning instructional method in which natural dialogue models and reveals learners' thinking processes about a shared learning experience. Reciprocal teaching is based on Vygotsky's theory of the fundamental role of social interaction (dialogue) in the development of cognition. Effective reciprocal teaching lessons include scaffolding, thinking aloud, using cooperative learning, and facilitating metacognition with each step. Whole class introduction or reinforcement of reciprocal teaching is appropriate, but this should serve as opening and closing activity. Palincsar, Brown, and Campione (1989) define reciprocal teaching as a dialogue between teacher and student. Mrs. Predicting Vignette Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. We think that: Ms. Mrs. The students in Mrs.