GenParenting

Parenting resources for all who love and care for children

Students Own Their Own Learning Assessments

Students Own Their Learning Assessments

This post is ninth of a series based on excepts from my book on Student-Engaged Assessment: Strategies to Empower All Learners by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke (2020). You can purchase the book from Roman and Littlefield for charts, examples, and worksheets on how to engage students to become owners of their learning successes.

Components of Student Owned Assessments

Components of students owning their learning assessments include:

  • Learning intentions and outcomes are clear from the start. Learners understand what and how they will be learning and why it is relevant and worthwhile.
  • Student owned assessments respect and respond to the student’s needs, interests, and abilities. For example, Bruno is excited when he learns he can pick which era and which president to research for his project. Bruno plans to present his research in a game format that he intends to align with the learning goals and rubric.
  • Social and emotional skills are the foundation for progressing successfully towards personal mastery. For Murray, as he develops self-regulation, he notices that his grades also get better.

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Teaching Engaged Students

Teaching Engaged Students

This post is eighth of a series based on excepts from my book on Student-Engaged Assessment: Strategies to Empower All Learners by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke (2020). You can purchase the book from Roman and Littlefield for charts, examples, and worksheets on how to engage students to become owners of their learning successes.

Teacher Examples of Engaging Students in a Classroom

Mr. Kee likes to introduce a new lesson with a story that cultivates interest and attention, raises curiosity, or presents a mystery about the topic. Sometimes, as he uses an image or object to introduce a new concept, he also models a think aloud. One time, he showed a picture of an ending or outcome of an occurrence for students to ask questions about what it is and how it came to be. Another time he asked his middle schoolers about the Little Red Hen’s process of decision making.    [Read more…]

How Parents Can Support Learning at Home

How Parents Can Support Learning at Home

This blog is a parallel commentary from the parent perspective on Mary Ann Burke’s December 7, 2021 post “What Does an Engaged Classroom Look Like?” from her series Student Engagement Assessment: Strategies to Empower All Learners.

How to Create Learning Goals from Academic Standards

When talking with your children about creating learning goals, a good approach to take as a parent is to make sure that your children initiate the learning goals. They can choose to reflect on a class in which they excelled, or they may choose to take a closer look at a class in which they need improvement. The key here is to remember to nurture and instill the growth mindset as children move forward towards their goals. [Read more…]

Student Learning Goals

Student Learning Goals

This post is seventh of a series based on excepts from my book on Student-Engaged Assessment: Strategies to Empower All Learners by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke (2020). You can purchase the book from Roman and Littlefield for charts, examples, and worksheets on how to engage students to become owners of their learning successes.

Sample Student’s Learning Goals and Assessment Plan

Students can personalize their learning goals to make them more relevant, achievable, and interesting. The chart below illustrates how Davi, a second-grade student, personalized his learning goals and plan in each of his subject areas. These goals combine his understanding of what he needs to learn at his grade level as well as his specific interests. As appropriate, this may start with peer feedback. Then Davi meets with his teacher to discuss his progress and in due course, with his parents at student-parent conferences. He continues to modify and revise his goals for each cycle after receiving feedback. [Read more…]

What Does an Engaged Classroom Look Like?

What Does an Engaged Classroom Look Like?

This post is sixth of a series based on excepts from my book on Student-Engaged Assessment: Strategies to Empower All Learners by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke (2020). You can purchase the book from Roman and Littlefield for charts, examples, and worksheets on how to engage students to become owners of their learning successes.

How to Create Learning Goals from Academic Standards

In the classroom, clear and actionable goals are a good start to supporting student learning. Students can then deconstruct standards and big picture goals into their own individual learning aims and intentions. The level of challenge must be feasible for the students. If the goals are too easy, students will get bored and complete their assignment quickly. If the goals are too hard, students become discouraged leading to low-quality outcomes, or none at all. [Read more…]