October 17, 2011

The impact of self-evaluation

This is a guest post by Joey Till, who teaches math to 7th graders in Indiana. With a large amount of students on free and reduced lunch, Till is dealing with reluctant learners on a daily basis. Till has made the conversion to a Results Only Learning Environment this year. 

Giving Grades. . . Without Really Giving Grades

Each student and I have a quick 2 - 4 minute conversation about what they learned from the project and how they contributed to their group (if it was a group project).  The student and I talk about their grade and what they deserve. We together come to an agreement on what they deserve, (and) with the exceptions of a few cases the kids are usually dead on.

It has been amazing to see the positive things from these conversations, as opposed to handing back a piece of paper with a grade on it.

When kids have to look you in the face and say they did poorly because they didn’t do their best, you can really see the disappointment in their face. Almost every kid has shown improvement. In some cases, major improvements.

On the other hand, it is so nice to see the grin when you tell a student how great they did, especially kids that have struggled with Math in the past. I have really seen the confidence growing in many of my students, which in a Math class is always an issue.

These short conversations have been invaluable with my students. I really feel like I have a better handle on what they know and don't know through these conversations. I also feel like I know the students much better than I ever have at this point in the year. 
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2 comments:

  1. JoeyOctober 28, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    Hello Mark,

    Had parent teacher conferences the other night and I was very curious as to see the attitudes from the parents. I did not have one parent that was upset about no homework or tests. They were just curious about one major concern "Is my child learning?"

    Funny, we all just want the same thing, the kids to learn. I just assumed since the idea is so radical, in a good way, they might have concerns.

    I was really surprised more parents were not against ROLE's, since that is the opposite of how they learned and that is how school has been run for seems like a hundred years.

    Most parents were very receptive and interested in the idea. Most of them thought is was a good idea because the kids have choice and we are connecting what they need to learn to their interests. They saw the benefit of that. As long as their kids are learning, they were satisfied It seems that this is more important than the method.

    I was pleasantly surprised.

    Joey

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  2. Mark BarnesOctober 28, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Hey, Joey,

    Thanks for sharing this. I got a similar reaction from parents my first time teaching the results-only way. Some parents struggle at first, because they don't see the assignments with numbers or letters, so it's difficult for them to see the learning. It's so sad that we connect learning to a number or a letter.

    I find that I have to really emphasize the narrative feedback. Once I show them how much more detailed the narrative is over the numbers, they love it. Plus, I love sharing that my students use the feedback to return to activities and improve them -- demonstrating mastery. They rarely do this when they get a project back with a "C" on it.

    Incidentally, if you're ever pressed about homework or tests by parents, I recommend referring them to Alfie Kohn's research at www.alfiekohn.org.

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