This week in chapter three, the major topic addressed was the backwards design method in dissecting the curriculum and how KDB plays a huge role in this method. The backwards design has four steps: Two pre-steps, Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3. This method is a way of dissecting the curriculum as a teacher with emphasis on early planning assessment. The majority of this post will have to do with the planning of assessment throughout the curriculum and the importance of it.
The backwards design method made a lot of emphasis on the student and how important it was for the student to understand what is expected of them with learning goals and success criteria. As a student who learned visually while in elementary school and high school, I needed to know what was expected of me in a picture in order to be successful in school. However, many times while in school, the outlined assessment material (ie. a rubric) was not in my level of language and the teacher never took the time to explain it. I was not a strong reader growing up, and I still struggle with this task as a University student. So, as a young student I had no idea what was expected of me because I could not read the assessment outlines. Eventually, I just did my own thing and hoped for the best. In most cases I had my mom and dad read it to me and hope that they understood it better then myself.
Because of my struggle to read, I had always asked myself the question in school, what do I actually have to do on this assignment? And how in the world am I going to do it? And I would answer it with "Mom will know what to do." But then this leads me to some new questions now.... what is the education system doing now? and how is it different? Do people like myself still struggle? or are some finally able to succeed with better understanding?
To lift my spirits, the text introduced some 'new story' methods that I believe are excellent ideas for students like myself. The text is addressing the importance of assessment incorporated into the teachers curriculum design, as well as incorporating the process of students co-constructing the rubrics or assessment tools to help them develop the skills of self-evaluation (Drake, Ried & Kolohon, 2014). It is important to note that the text was keen on addressing that student should be aware of what is expected of them and assessments tools be created at a level of their student language. This means that students (like myself) who were unaware of what the rubric says, will benefit from having a run through of each criteria and become aware of their expectations. It is exciting to see that what the 'new story' brings will benefit students like myself and they will hopefully avoid having the same struggles I went through.
What really caught my eye in the STAGE three process, was that they incorporated the three types of assessment new to me this year (AaL, AoL, AfL) into their day to day activities charts. It is prominent that teachers are becoming more concerned about the needs of the 'new story' student and how they understand the information given to them. They are moving towards a new direction that not only uses quantitative assessment but qualitative assessment as well. Some fun qualitative examples they mentioned were photo collages, diary, scrapbook, puzzle, letter... etc (Drake et al. 2014). Not only are teachers allowing students to engage more in their personal learning they are helping them to develop a 21st. Century skill, creativity.
The approach of integrating assessments in to curriculum has many benefits, that I myself would have benefited from in my younger years. To begin, it would have been beneficial to have been given feed back throughout the course so that I or my fellow peers could develop the skills in order to succeed properly in the class. I will never forget my high school history class where I had various tests that I studied diligently for and never got higher then a 70%. I loved history and I could not understand why I was getting these low marks. When I would ask for help, the teacher told me to look at my rubric for help, and guess what, I couldn't understand the rubric nor did he have the time or interest in helping my misunderstandings. It is sad to say that, because of this teacher, I no longer enjoy history because of his invaluable feedback and lack on interest in me as the student. This is where the assessment tools AfL and AaL would have been helpful for me, because they would have addressed where I stood as a student and what I would need to work on to improve my understandings and skills.
Another benefit of this design, would be that students learn how to self-evaluate their work. I was not taught this method in high school, nor was I interested in self-evaluating my work because it frightened me. Self-evaluations can be tough because no one enjoys evaluating their work in fear that it is not what was expected of them. However, it is so important for students to know this skill because it teaches them how to read a rubric and follow guidelines so that they not only understand what they are putting forward but they understand what is expected of them. Having the student actually participate in creating a rubric helps guide the student in the process of self-evaluation because they created what is expected of them.
Overall, it is clear to me that integrating assessment into the curriculum, is very important to the process of learning. This reassures me that maybe there is potential for those like myself.
Image by Line upon Line Learning
Retrieved from
http://homeschool.rebeccareid.com/2014/01/12/inspiration-sunday-understand-to-teach/
Thanks for reading,
Missemilyp
Resources
Drake, S., Reid, J., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Toward a New story of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. In Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st-century learner. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford Univrsity press.
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