Reflective Journal #3

After studying unit 2B I have realized how important setting clear targets is in order to get the most of our students’ learning also by establishing a clear assessment process. When we define targets in a student-friendly way our students know what we are expecting from them so their learning process benefits.

As I have said before, I have been a teacher for just a few months so I’m learning a lot and I’m trying to put in practice as much as possible in my classes.

Create student-friendly learning targets

In this cooperative activity we (Goretti and Mónica) have selected two learning targets from the law and follow the process described in the image below to rephrase them in order to be “student-friendly”. Then we will share the impact we noticed of using the student-friendly definition with our students.

Learning targets from the curriculum

Standards for Primary education in the area of Music. (From “REAL DECRETO 1513/2006, de 7 de diciembre, por el que se establecen las enseñanzas mínimas de la educación Primaria”)	Standards for Secondary education in the area of Social Sciences (from “REAL DECRETO 1631/2006, de 29 de diciembre, por el que se establecen las enseñanzas mínimas correspondientes a la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria
“To investigate the possibilities of the sound and the movement as elements of communication and to use them to express ideas and feelings.”	“Understand the basic technical elements that characterize the art forms in their social and cultural reality to value and respect the natural, historical, cultural and artistic heritage, taking responsibility involved in their conservation and appreciating it as a resource for individual and collective enrichment.”

How could they be rephrased using Student Friendly Language?

Music: We are learning to use the notes of the scale and the rhythms to create melodies that express different feelings such as happiness, annoyance, joyfulness… as we do with words. We can also create choreographies based on the character of the music adapting our movements to the rhythms and the dynamics.

Social Sciences: We are learning the main features of Romanesque and Gothic art (architecture, sculpture and painting). Then we can reproduce stained-glass windows, churches, cathedrals and gargoyles and explain their main characteristics.

The impact of using the student-friendly definition with our students: 

The standards given by the official curriculum are way too difficult to understand. When we converted them into student-friendly language, our students had a much clearer idea of what they were learning. We think it was even better when we showed them some real examples: concerning Music, samples of how melodies and choreographies can express different feelings and as regards Social Sciences,  several pictures of both Romanesque and Gothic buildings, sculptures and paintings

Connect clear targets to assessment quality

Having clear targets is essential for teachers when establishing a connection between the targets and the assessment methods. By having clear targets the teacher knows exactly what to teach and what to assess, so he/she can choose the best instructional activities in order to achieve those goals. However, it is not just about teachers but mainly about students: only when our students know what we are going to teach and what is expected from them, they can be responsible for learning, understanding and acting upon teacher’s feedback. Moreover, and taking into account the essential role of parental involvement in our students education, having clear targets may be useful for parents helping their children at home.

A clear example I had in my classes was when I started teaching Social Sciences in 1º ESO. I knew I had to start teaching the day before so the first week the classes were a mess. However, and after asking the students what did they want to know about the topic, during that weekend I started to organize myself establishing clear targets with its correspondent explanation and activities, so the following week everything changed. I began every lesson telling the students what we were going to do that day and explaining what they were expected to do so since that day both students and myself were more focused and it was easier for us to work on the unit. Every day I wrote on the whiteboard the main targets, letting them know what they were expected to include in their Greece Projects, so most of them were a great success.

Reflective Journal #2

After having completed this unit 2A, and as I have mentioned before, I have realized some aspects of my teaching that I need to improve. Thus, during my next unit in the school I will start working on some of them: at first, I am going to start by giving more feedback to my students; then, I am going to introduce some peer-assessment; and finally I am going to introduce a performance task in order not to have just an exam as summative assessment.

However, I wonder when can I give that detailed feedback? Is there any way to do it during a class by establishing a differentiated classroom? If so, which kind of activities could I implement to give feedback to the students while they are working by themselves on something else? Because when I tried to do it in the past the noise level increased greatly so it was difficult for me to talk to the students when at the same time I had to control this noise level and it was also difficult for some students who really wanted to work on the proposed activity.

Reflect on your learning

After studying Unit 2A, I have a clearer idea of the differences between formative and summative assessment as well as the importance of a balanced assessment system. The revision of the assessment records of one of my unit plans has made me understand in a better way which aspects I do need to improve (e.g.: include peer assessment and increase self-assessment to improve my formative assessment and create a performance task in order to have a more complete summative assessment)

In the same way the assessment of my feedback practices has helped me to realize that I should promote more students’ self-assessment and peer-assessment as well as involve them more in their learning process.