Journal Ten
November 4, 2019
#Productive
Reflecting on my experiences at Beattie thus far I am starting to see the importance of reflection and assessment of my student's learning relating to reflective and assessment methods I am learning in EDUC-466. When I approach students and ask them to tell me about their artwork or how they were able to create something, it provides a moment for not only me to see and understand student learning, but for them to see and understand what they have learned as well. Our reflection and assessment is very brief in these lessons as we are mostly focused on making, but learning moments are evident nonetheless. Two weeks ago we asked third graders to create the "perfect pet" in their sketchbooks by combining parts of animals that already exist in the world. As the documenter for this lesson it was my job to ask students to reflect on their learning so I had evidence that our lesson taught something to our students. I started by asking students what they made, they would explain to me for example, "I combined a cat and a whale". Then I would ask the student WHY they chose these animals, what trait did this animal have that made them important in creating the perfect pet? "A whale because it can swim and I like the shape of it's tail, a cat because it's soft and likes to cuddle". This shows me, or allows me to assess, that the student was able to think critically about their choices and reflect them in their creating. They understood what traits they wanted their perfect pet to have and deduced which animals and which parts of them to use to create this pet. This is like a form of didactic assessment method where students are being assessed and learning at the same time. This also provides a moment for students to reflect on why they made the choices they did and make stronger, ingrained connections that can transfer with them in the future. Reflecting pushes for deeper, more meaningful thinking about one's work and helps students better articulate what they have learned.
As an individual this experience has allowed me to begin to peel away the layers and see the fruits of my labor as an educator. It shows me that the experiences I am providing my students has a better chance of sticking with them and transferring with them into the rest of their educational experiences. It also shows me the importance of assessment as it lets me know that I am doing my job and that my approaches are working because my students are learning and making the connections I was hoping for. In future teaching, I have to be methodical and thoughtful about my assessments. Assessment just like learning has to be productive!
For my hashtag this week I chose the word "Productive" to reflect the feeling of assessing student learning. I was able to understand and see the evidence of their learning, which of course, feels great! The image I created is of a fruit tree. This is a metaphor for the students learning and connections they made. These connections were productive, fruitful and yielded many good results. These are words that are also used to describe a fruit bearing tree.
As an individual this experience has allowed me to begin to peel away the layers and see the fruits of my labor as an educator. It shows me that the experiences I am providing my students has a better chance of sticking with them and transferring with them into the rest of their educational experiences. It also shows me the importance of assessment as it lets me know that I am doing my job and that my approaches are working because my students are learning and making the connections I was hoping for. In future teaching, I have to be methodical and thoughtful about my assessments. Assessment just like learning has to be productive!
For my hashtag this week I chose the word "Productive" to reflect the feeling of assessing student learning. I was able to understand and see the evidence of their learning, which of course, feels great! The image I created is of a fruit tree. This is a metaphor for the students learning and connections they made. These connections were productive, fruitful and yielded many good results. These are words that are also used to describe a fruit bearing tree.