When I first chose my inquiry topic, I chose it with the intention of researching and discovering more about the benefits and downfalls of Fresh Grade. I quickly discovered that there is much more technology to be involved in formative assessment in the classroom. However, I still wanted to reflect on the use of Fresh Grade and how it can help student learning. With the introduction of Fresh Grade students are now developing a digital portfolio of their learning. The idea behind Fresh Grade is to make the learning visible. Kelli Vogstad documents her own journey of using Fresh Grade in the classroom. She sums up the importance of Fresh Grade stating, “It placed the child at the center of the learning process; students were invited to reflect on and talk about their learning in real and informed ways, and to identify and set new learning goals (2015).”
Through a careful, ongoing process the digital portfolio can help give evidence of student learning, show their learning journey, and invite students to reflect on their learning. Vogstad emphasizes the importance of the teacher’s role in this process stating, “To capture and document student learning, I must be a careful observer, listener, and questioner. I have to help students create artifacts that are worth “putting their brains on” to talk about and analyze. I need to be patient and remember that it takes “a lot of slow to grow” (2015).” Fresh Grade is not an effective tool if it does not show what students are learning and how they are growing in that learning. That learning journey can be documented throughout the year using formative assessment. The teacher and students can document ongoing processes and therefore see the progress that has been made. Vogstad discusses how she creates tasks that will help showcase student learning saying, “The tasks behind the documentation have to be well constructed, process-centered, open-ended, thinking tasks in order to invite students to reflect on and talk about their learning (2015).”
Vogstad suggests four types of documentation that could be used on Fresh Grade: two of the same, showing the knowing, celebrating the learning, and communicating the hows and whys (2015). For each type of documentation she provides a brief description as well as real examples of student work. Through Fresh Grade teachers can easily share pieces of work and formatively assess. This can then help inform student’s work later on when they work towards summative assessment pieces.
Fresh Grade also allows students to formatively assess and reflect on their own work. Vogstad discusses the joy of watching her students using Fresh Grade stating, “It is exciting to watch and listen as students talk and write about what they did, and how they learned; what they struggled with, what was successful for them and how they know this is true. Through this language of reflection and analysis, students learn to monitor, assess, make decisions, and goals to move their learning forward (2015).” Students can also go back and compare their learning from the beginning of the year to the end. Fresh Grade is a tool that is changing the way we assess our students and the way they assess themselves.
My own experiences with Fresh Grade have allowed me to see the potential for helping students keep track of their learning journey. Students often display a sense of pride and ownership when they use Fresh Grade. Fresh Grade provides a link between the home and school, giving children an opportunity to share their learning with their parents. Fresh Grade also provides a platform for children to develop their self-assessment skills. They can easily go online and write about their strengths and areas that need improvement. Those comments are visible to the teacher and parents and a plan to meet student goals can be developed. Fresh Grade not only supports teachers and students in engaging in formative assessment, it provides a platform for creating a daily learning plan. Student’s learning is more visible than ever before through the use of digital portfolios. Now students can share their excitement about learning on a platform that can travel with them from grade to grade.
Vogstad, K. (2015, August 31). Digital Portfolios…Making the Learning Visible. Retrieved from http://kellivogstad.com/2015/08/31/digital-portfolios-making-the-learning-visible/