Coda: Break the Fake

"If we expand our definition and consider how we use it to our advantage, we don't have to breathlessly await state test results in hopes that our students showed growth.  We can take matters into our own hands if we are willing to include and use what we see and hear in our classrooms every day as data." (p. 151)
How are students in your class progressing?
How do you determine what your students NEED next? 
How do we plan instruction to get students to the next level?
Are we running from or embracing assessment? 
What's a goal you would like to set for yourself concerning assessment?

Chapter 7: Grading Is Killing Me

Grading is KILLING me!  I've said it and I am sure you have said it.  This chapter has made me think that our students must be saying it too. 
What do you think about the following:
Points for... attempt and completion, growth and improvement, mastery and understanding?

What is your grading philosophy? What beliefs drive your grading practices?  What do you define as rigor?  What new thoughts or ideas do you have after reading this chapter?

Chapter 6: Feedback That Fortifies

Assessing through confering...How much of that are we doing?  What is holding us back?  If we are only giving feedback at the end are our students really learning? 
Who is doing all the talking in our classrooms?

Chapter 5: Annotations: A Trustworthy Source of Data

Who's tried modeling their thinking for their students?  Do any of you use annotations as a source of formative assessment?   If you don't use them, I challenge you to try it out and let us know how it goes.  Don't forget I am here for support.  How has this chapter helped you think more about your practices?

Chapter 4: Off the Field and Into the Classroom

Love the real-life example of workshop and how Tovani assesses throughout.  What do you think about Stiggin's Seven Practices of Assessment FOR Learning?  Would you be willing to use it, or are you already using it?  If so, tell us about it. How about the text-sets?  Don't forget that I have pulled some together you can use.  You don't need to work in a vacuum.  We have to help each other.
I like the way Tovanni keeps reminding us that the students need to be "doing the work" and they need to be effective assessors of their own work too.

Chapter 3: Game-Time Assessment

I must help my students remember that "...meaning doesn't arrive.  It has to be constructed" (p.38).  I have "given" my students meaning so much that they have stopped thinking for themselves.   I have been guilty of doing all the work in my classroom.  How about you?   Don't you hate it when a student says, "Just give me the answer" and aren't willing to do the hard work of thinking?
Are you giving "students the bulk of the class period to work, practice, or apply what has been taught during your mini-lesson" (p. 39)?    "Instead of planning what you will do during that time, plan what you want students to do" (p. 45) is a quote that makes so much sense.  This is a great way to help us think about gradual release.

Chapter 2: Let's Get Personal

Chapter 2 speaks volumes about formative assessment.  WE are the people who "determine what kind of learner each student can be" (p. 32).  Asking students to think about themselves as learners and knowing our students' perceptions of themselves is POWERFUL.  I believe our formative assessment process with our students should begin on this personal level.  Our current "system has beaten them down, and they have given up control...of their learning" (p. 28)  After reading this chapter, has your thinking shifted about formative assessment?  Have you tried anything out of this chapter?  If you have, let us know how it's going.  I would really like you to try the challenges at the end of this chapter.