One of the things I’m really passionate about is reframing assessment away from something we do to student, to be something, a conversation really, that we do WITH students. The biggest change that I have made with respect to this is that I try to gather as much assessment data as I can in real time — because that data is crucial in planning and knowing what the next step in instruction should be.
This is a change from what I used to do as a teacher. I used to teach, and teach and teach, and then assign, assign, assign and then grade, and grade and grade, and then hand back. Sometimes, I would hand back while it was still useful! But more often than not, I was gathering data that by the time I had actually looked at it, the time for its real usefulness had long passed. Now, I gather assessment information as my students are interacting with the information that we are exploring together. Yes, this involves direct instruction sometimes, and yes, this involves inquiry work and research in others. It all depends on the day. But what doesn’t depend on the day is the importance of gathering information about where my learners are, so that I can understand where they need to go next. This means that I’m constantly giving feedback, interacting with learners and their work, and evaluating and analyzing the information that I’m gathering.
How do I curate this information? Well, I used to write A LOT of sticky notes about things that weren’t all that useful. I gathered a lot of data. But it wasn’t data that really had an impact on instruction — it was usually information about what students were doing, or at least looked like they were doing, rather than how and why there were doing it. Now, I try to gather data about what the learning of the day is, and how my learners are interacting with it.
I employ a few different digital tools to gather this learning in real time.
1. Google Forms on my iPad or phone. It is quite simple to set up a form to gather informal observational data about student learning with respect to outcomes and standards. This is a quick snap shot that I can then easily transfer into a spread sheet to analyse how a class is doing with respect the learning objectives.
2. Google Slides and Google Keep. Setting up a Slide deck for each learner is somewhat labour intensive, but it is easy to manage and add information to using Google Keep as students are working. I snap photos or make notes in Keep and can then easily add it to a slide deck to collate into an digital portfolio for a learner.
3. Notability or Goodnotes. These are both user friendly apps that you can set up notebooks for students, where you can add photos and then annotate.
4. gotLearning. This is a newly launched web-based platform designed to easily capture learning and then easily record and leave feedback for students. I love it because it is much easier to leave feedback and dialogue back and forth with students on their learning than Google Classroom.
Those are just some of the tools that I use to gather student learning. Ultimately, you need to find a tool or system that works for you. But what is most important is really reimagining the cycle. You don’t have to be stuck in the teach-assign-grade loop. You can know where your learners are in the moment, and easily dialogue with them or other stakeholders about progress. You can do this without constantly gathering in papers to mark. This allows you to be present in the moment with your learners, to provide targeted feedback as they are working, and allows you to plan responsive instruction.
The Learning Lab 