Monthly Archives: January 2016

Continuing my research on assessment. I would like to clarify my findings on 3 different ways to assess.

“Of” learning is for me the most common form of assessment. It focuses on asking what has been learn and focuses on quantifying  the knowledge or methods learned by the student.

“As” learning is a method of assessment that uses the student to reflect on the efficacy of the instructor and the course. The questions are tailored to evaluate the courses therefore giving feedback on what should changed or improved to best suit the learning.

“For” learning is a form of assessment that includes the students. The goal is to make the student more active in the learning and ultimately to become a self-regulated learner. Assessment for learning is more concerned with showing areas of strength and weakness and finding ways to improve and self evaluate improvement.

A little north of Squamish just past the Quest University there is  an entrance to the Garibaldi park. The park is free access and at the end of a 11.5 km trail there is the Elfin Cabin.

The cabin can sleep 30 people and offers heat and gas to boil water.

It is the perfect escape for a weekend in the snow.

More info at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/garibaldi/

This year I am trying to find the best method to assess my students as a teacher. It seemed to me that assessment is always heavily discussed around teaching and that every teacher has his own view on the matter.

I was first questioning where do we need to assess and what is it good for?

Most experts who write about assessment start by saying that assessment is integral part of teaching and education but rarely explain why.

That maybe is because the answer is pretty simple. Without assessing the learning how do we know if we learned?

This answer is satisfying enough for me therefore accepting the need to assess I started looking at what good could come out of assessing.

Experts and research show that students need to be involved in the assessing as this leads them to understand what they have learned and what they still need to learn.

“Classroom assessment that involves students in the process and focuses on increasing learning can motivate rather then merely measure students.” Stephen Chappuis and Richard J. Stiggins

After spending time observing a jewelry class I found that students often reproduced given ideas but rarely innovated. I also found that when given time to research new ideas they spent most of the time browsing aimlessly and did not make significant changes to their work.

It seems that a majority of student are too used to following instructions and they stay in that mold.

I want to bring more curiosity to my students. Therefore I am going to post different points of interest and culture on my blog along with assignment and handouts. I will also bring artifacts to class. Artifacts can be Hawaiian fish hooks, gold flakes from the mine or pictures of exotic gardens.

I am hoping those small incentives will help develop a sense of curiosity leading to more diverse projects.

After spending time in high school classes, I found the level of involvement was different than during my previous experiences teaching rock climbing.

While teaching rock climbing I always had the undivided attention of the participant and 100% participation. My students always had interesting questions and rarely doubted me.

The high school classes I have been observing are not the same. Many student stare at their electronic devices all class, never ask questions and are not concerned with producing any work.

My teaching methods used to be an up front lecture with hands on exercises and Q and A at the end.

I think my student are more like tourists than active members because they do not have responsibility or commitment to the class. When I was teaching climbing the students wanted to learn and they payed for the class. They were already committed.

However, in high school settings students are more like observers and nothing forces them to take part. I think that if I can change this mentality and make them feel like the class is their own, they could build commitment and get more involved.

I also want to introduce a democratic feel where students and teachers have rights and responsibilities. In order to do this I could start my class by involving the students in writing a charter of rights.

In the future I want to distribute roles to my students and ask their opinions on the activities they want to do and how they want to do it. Roles could be things like taking attendance or being in charge of the 3D printer or even collecting feedback from the class.