Earlier this week, I recounted my first day of performance based assessment design with a new group of teachers and administrators. If you happened to read, you might remember that someone in the room that day shared a beautiful question, and the exchange that followed altered our design approach in significant ways. In essence, the question challenged us to consider how we might craft a performance based assessment that could help teachers develop closer relationships…
Over the last several years, I’ve spent a good deal of time facilitating performance based assessment design with quite a few teachers in quite a few different places. This is challenging but very rewarding work, particularly when we’re able to replace tests with assessments that inspire kids to do things that matter for audiences that value their efforts and the products that emerge from them. I typically begin these sessions by asking teachers to reflect…
I’ve been working with the English Department at Starpoint Middle School for ten years, and those who know me well appreciate the high regard that I maintain for this particular group of teachers (and their colleagues at the K-5 level). Very few educators have the opportunity, talent, or tenacity to accomplish what this department has over the last decade, slowly and with very careful intention. I’ve watched them design (and redesign and map) their own curricula, sharpen their…
Standards based grading entered my little corner of the world on the winds of a perfect storm: teachers were acquainting themselves with a new set of challenging standards, they were eager to create a culture of learning after witnessing how our historic fixation on performance was influencing their kids, they recognized inconsistencies in their assessment and grading practices, and their report cards did not align well with their curricula. In short, their grades were meaningless at best and…
When I think back on initial conversations that took place surrounding standards based grading in the schools that I serve, I remember that the same questions kept rising to the surface. Establishing clarity and resolving dilemmas on the spot was critical, but often, issues were raised by representatives of grade levels or buildings, and I knew that the potential for the responses to reach everyone quickly and consistently wasn’t as high as we needed it…
Anyone can write, but few people write exceptionally well. Myself included. I’ve been blogging for nearly eight years now, but I’ve always defined myself as a teacher who writes rather than a writer who teaches. I make no apologies for this, and in fact, if I had waited until I felt confident in my writing skills to share my stuff with others, I never would have grown as a writer. I wouldn’t have learned half…
Some may have noticed my absence from this space for well over a year. This was an intentional break inspired by my growing disappointment in how most people were choosing to engage online about the Common Core and its related instructional shifts, the New York State teacher evaluation system, and standardized testing. These are contentious issues. They are also important ones. I needed to be able to do my own learning and work away from…
I just wrapped up my first Google Hangout book study with Michelle Helmer, Lauren Ormsby, Karen Kondrick, Margie Sweetman, and Erin Wheeler. We’re exploring Ron Berger, Leah Rugen, and Libby Woodfin’s text, Leaders of Their Own Learning: Transforming School Through Student Engaged Assessment. I’ve worked in several Expeditionary Learning schools over the years. It was there that I became acquainted with learning expeditions and student-centered formative assessment approaches. So much of this work aligns with my personal vision…
Read anything awesome over spring break? I did. My favorite read was actually a reread, and I have a feeling I’ll be referencing it deep into the future. Sunni Brown, Dave Gray, and James Macanufo wrote Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rule-Breakers, and Changemakers. If you’re responsible for helping people generate ideas and solutions in any capacity, you will love this book. You might also love the app, which I spent this morning test driving as well.…
A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to attend EdCamp Buffalo for the first time. This was something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. Having an entire afternoon to sit down, connect with, and learn from local people who are so passionate about teaching and learning and leadership is a rare indulgence. I’m very grateful to Colleen Brown, Melinda Callihan, Rob Fetter, Mike Fisher, Kristen Frawley, Rebecca Tharp, and Patrick Wirth…