Where students take a test can make a difference in their ability to perform “I didn’t do very well in the library, I was distracted,” one of my sixth grade students told me a few days after completing a math progress monitoring test in the school library. An uncomfortable testing environment can lead to distracted
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously remarked that “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”—and the same is true for middle level education. No transformative educational meal was ever created based on fear. I understand that fear is a natural emotion in the schoolhouse; however, we must not let our fears dictate the nature of our
Read More… from Assessments: A Key Ingredient in Our Practice
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Developing student efficacy and engagement. Four Ways to Help Students Take a More Active Role in the Feedback Process. Much has been written about feedback in recent years that most educators are acutely aware of the powerful influence it can have on student learning. Educators likely know that there is wide variation in the effectiveness
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Supporting students’ cognitive development. As a first year teacher in a seventh grade classroom, I had several experiences that made me question my practice, try new strategies, and learn from my students. One particular problem seemed to reappear frequently throughout the year: students seemed to understand content during whole-class work, but then had difficulty transferring
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Diverse ways for students to show their thinking. The need for effective assessment is an important topic for both school administrators and classroom teachers. Practical ideas and fresh concepts are essential, and meaningful assessments require both of these elements. The following six assessment strategies may be used in any middle school classroom where student achievement,
Read More… from Assessing Assessments: Six Useful Strategies
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It’s time we get on the same page Although based on a ridiculously small data set, my scientific opinion, given the available information, is that teachers are almost completely pacifistic, choosing discourse and debate over confrontation and conflict when a difference of professional opinion occurs. The one exception: the subject of letter grading. Try to
Read More… from A Discussion on Grading? Let Me Get My Helmet
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