Alberta Assessment Consortium Fall Conference 2015 September 24 & 25

Written by Lindsay Brooks, Instructional Coach

I had the opportunity to attend the Alberta Assessment Consortium’s annual conference.  The AAC advocates, promotes and supports sound assessment practices in Alberta schools.  The keynote speakers were Ruth Sutton and Rick Wormeli who are very knowledgeable speakers. It is from them that these reflections stem as great reminders for “evidence of learning.”

Making meaning and making mistakes

Effective lessons and assessments will create meaning making. Making meaning of information is way more powerful than regurgitating info. Kids need to actively create and be involved in the learning and the process of learning. They need to make mistakes, to be able to make edits and learn. Recovery from a mistake or is what teaches. When we edit or correct mistakes for students it robs them of learning opportunities. We need to allow our students to make mistakes and make meaning.

Mastery/Evidence

Teachers should be getting together to articulate what constitutes evidence.
What is the standard to what mastery is being assessed, what evidence will show mastery? Peer editing is a useful tool because it promotes and leads to mastery.

Students need opportunities for “re-do’s” to allow for mastery and the opportunity to present evidence that they have learned something.
These “re-do’s” need to cover the same outcomes. When we consider driving tests, if a student fails their learner’s permit on the first try, they must wait two weeks to “re-do” the test. There is no restriction to the number of times that someone may attempt his or her drivers test. The average is not taken of the tests. Why would we do this is education?

Assessment

Assessment is inseparable from instruction. You cannot instruct without assessing. According to Ruth Sutton, “formative assessment should be renamed to feedback for learning.” Comments and feedback push the learning forward, grades do not. If it is formative then leave the grade out as scores and grades are communication (an accurate report of what happened) not rewards or compensation. Assessment is not a spreadsheet -- it's a conversation.

Grades don't motivate students to learn, they motivate students to get grades.

Formative assessment is meant to be risk free and should not be put in the grade book for parents to see. We need to ask ourselves are we assessing for short/long term retention? Are we continuing to assess throughout year or just at end of unit? We need to remember that summative assessment is post learning.

Assessment needs to be revelatory - reveal a story

Integrating and Promoting Well Being in Science Math and the Arts

Written by Allen Davidson, Assistant Superintendent of Employee Services

CASSA – Conference July 2-4 Montreal, QC.

An integrated approach to student wellness across subjects. Well-being is best-understood and developed with attention to knowledge of brain functions and the importance of active lifestyle, skills for social functioning, and emotional self-regulation. It also involves a positive sense of spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice and personal dignity.

This session highlighted our responsibility as educators to consider the wellness of our students when designing and preparing for learning. All Principals with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic School Division (20,000 students) are required to submit Mental Health Literacy plans. They shared one example of a school that gathered data on students who were having chronic behavior issues which resulted in staff developing Morning Mindfulness Session for students to attend: 

·      Morning Mindfulness Club/Session (10-15 min). – Students identified as needing mindfulness preparation were involved in stretching, breathing, discussion/sharing circles, etc. These sessions, all supported by brain research, were designed to ready students for the rigours of the school day. Result: Eliminated/Reduced explosive behavior in almost all of the identified subset of students. Students start the day with a positive space to create environment for learning.

Resource:

Carney, Patrick (2015) Well Aware – Developing Resilient, Active and Flourishing Students. Pearson, Canada. (link here)

The presenters also directed our attention to the Brain Science that tells us what we must know about the Brain and it’s functioning when we put challenges (intellectual, emotional, physical, etc..) in front of our students. They focused on Dr. Dan Siegal‘s Brain Hand Model here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0T_2NNoC68

Sustainability – Integrating Visual Arts with Technology using GIS

by Allen Davidson, Assistant Superintendent of Employee Services

Barb Boerchers, Middle Years Consultant, River East Transcona School Division presented an overview of a learning opportunity that brought students and teachers together as co-learners to engage in a multidisciplinary project. Teachers and students researched Canadian artists, current environmental issues, connecting them to past landscapes and creating an action plan for the future. Information was then integrated (synthesized) and mapped through a Geographic Information System (GIS) from ESRI ArcGIS online which mapped student writing, artwork, and action plans to an interactive map of Canada.

Here are a few of the great links to resources used to both front load and support learning through this work at the Grades 6-9 level.

·      Chris Jordan - Running The Numbers: Portraits of Mass Consumption

·      How wolves change rivers

·      The Life of a Plastic Bag

·      Group of Seven Art

·      Trash Island

·      Sign Up for Free with ESRI to get your students mapping their learning and developing Geographic Literacy. http://esri.ca/en/content/gis-classroom

CASSA STEAM Keynote Address

Written by Allen Davidson, Superintendent of Employee Services

From CASSA – Conference July 2-4 Montreal, QC

Theme:  SCIENCE • TECHNOLOGY • ENGINEERING • ARTS • MATH (S.T.E.A.M.)

The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Natalie Panek.  Panek’s passion for science and exploration have lead this Calgarian to become a Mission Systems Engineer (Rocket Scientist and Explorer) at MDA Space Missions after internships with NASA. Follow Natalie on Twitter @nmpanek. 

During her inspirational message Natalie touched on the key learning opportunities and competencies that she sees as integral for engaged learning. First she highlighted the need for Perseverance as she recounted 4 rejections from the NASA space exploration internship program. After her 4^th rejection she decided to pick up the phone and call NASA herself. It only took two minutes on the phone before she was offered an internship! Natalie reminded us we as educators must encourage the young people in our lives develop perseverance and resiliency accept failure and learn to pursue our goals relentlessly. Next she discussed the concept of Peak Moments and ensuring our young people are able to recognize and pursue these in their own lives. She discussed her important Peak Moments as those times where she was engaged in a project or undertaking where she was full of life including her work on the U of C Solar Car Project and her NASA internship teams. In Foothills we know this as ‘Flow’ where students are intellectually engaged in authentic tasks provide appropriate challenge for the skills and competencies that students have. The takeaway here is that as educators we can help our students identify what the conditions for peak moments are and how to evaluate if students are moving toward or away from those conditions and how to pursue those Peak Moment conditions.

Panek then addressed Teamwork and the skills necessary to be part of successful teams where she has achieved her own advances and breakthroughs in S.T.E.A.M. She emphasized our obligation to develop the skills and competencies required to be part of an effective team including dealing with frustrations through self-awareness and self-regulation. Communication was a competency that Panek has come to understand is important for her work on teams but also helping others understand the importance of the work she is leading. By example, she discussed Science Communication and how essential clear communication is to gain support for fostering research in robotics technology to advance sustainable space exploration through recycling and re-purposing of abandoned satellite technologies. Relatedly, Panek outlined the importance of Multidisciplinary Understanding throughout all the research and design projects she has been a part of. She recounted the rich history of the arts throughout NASA’s history. Further, she discussed how it has become imperative for her to have perspectives from multiple disciplines as she considers the broader social and ethical impact of her work in environments beyond the earth.

Finally, Natalie Panek left us with the need to ensure our young people have innovators and pioneers in S.T.E.A.M. for Mentorship opportunities. She reminded us that societal obsession with reality TV personalities like Kim Kardashian was overshadowing our awareness of significant female leaders and role models like Ziya Tong and Jessi Combs.