I am all done with doing regular grades. SBG is the only way for me!
This was a natural extension of my switch to flipped-mastery instruction, since I’ve already moved away from grading homework as a separate category. Students just have to learn from the video lessons, to get the basics for each unit. For several years, I played with various methods and blogged here already about most of them. But now (thanks largely to Ms Byars and her #sblbookclub last summer), I’ve got something much better!
This was a natural extension of my switch to flipped-mastery instruction, since I’ve already moved away from grading homework as a separate category. Students just have to learn from the video lessons, to get the basics for each unit. For several years, I played with various methods and blogged here already about most of them. But now (thanks largely to Ms Byars and her #sblbookclub last summer), I’ve got something much better!
I call this document a Mission Tracker. I handed out a paper copy at the start of each unit (roughly once per month). Each row is a learning objective, but I call them “missions” because that word has a clearer meaning for students. Each column represents a level of understanding, which increases from left to right. “You get it” is the measure of proficiency: a reasonably high level of understanding that I hope all students reach. (I will address students on IEPs later on.)
The checkboxes identify an assessment that shows achievement at each level, and can be checked by me or the student after accomplishment -- on a quiz, in a reflection, or another task. I usually wrote them deliberately vague, to allow multiple formats of demonstrated learning.
For the basic level of understanding, students had to learn from the flipped video lesson about fundamental info like key terms, concepts, etc. Then I gave the same kind of formal in-class assessment that I’ve used for years. Depending on the accuracy of student answers, we could check one or more checkboxes. Sometimes, a reassessment is necessary – not necessarily the whole quiz, only for the item(s) that need fixing. I called this a “reboot”, like NASA does with its space missions.
Achievement at the other two levels requires something different, depending on the mission. For Mission 4 in the example above, we spent several days of reading, discussing, and analyzing leadership traits. As the assessment to show clear understanding (“You get it”), I made a GoogleDoc for students to copy and complete independently. Insufficiently thoughtful responses required a reboot, but actually I got very few of those – many submissions were really strong!
The checkboxes identify an assessment that shows achievement at each level, and can be checked by me or the student after accomplishment -- on a quiz, in a reflection, or another task. I usually wrote them deliberately vague, to allow multiple formats of demonstrated learning.
For the basic level of understanding, students had to learn from the flipped video lesson about fundamental info like key terms, concepts, etc. Then I gave the same kind of formal in-class assessment that I’ve used for years. Depending on the accuracy of student answers, we could check one or more checkboxes. Sometimes, a reassessment is necessary – not necessarily the whole quiz, only for the item(s) that need fixing. I called this a “reboot”, like NASA does with its space missions.
Achievement at the other two levels requires something different, depending on the mission. For Mission 4 in the example above, we spent several days of reading, discussing, and analyzing leadership traits. As the assessment to show clear understanding (“You get it”), I made a GoogleDoc for students to copy and complete independently. Insufficiently thoughtful responses required a reboot, but actually I got very few of those – many submissions were really strong!
I devoted very little class time for the “totally get it” level. That is the highest Bloom’s Taxonomy level of application / synthesis / evaluation. I don’t expect every student to attempt or attain that level for every mission. They are similar to the “extra credit” tasks that many teachers provide, but I haven’t in years. Missions 5 and 6 had multiple requirements but Mission 4 offered two choices, either of which would show deeper understanding of leadership traits. Again, I made a GoogleDoc … but also announced the option of an oral response.
Now I bet you’re thinking: How do these checkboxes and levels translate into letter grades?
Great question, which I will answer in tomorrow's blog post!
Great question, which I will answer in tomorrow's blog post!
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