Gretchen Brinza
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Phase 2

There isn’t a better time to take risks like there is now.  This fall, I will be starting a new teaching assignment at Alcott teaching 5th/6th grade science.  I am motivated to take risks with my teaching and learning but more importantly, I am excited to share them with my administration, my students and their families.  Since I am unaware of many factors at this time, I will tentatively focus my efforts on both grade levels of students until I get to know my students better, the curriculum I will be teaching, and the access to technology that I will have. I do know that I will have various opportunities to learn both my students and their families, especially as the school year stretches onward and routines are established, open houses are held, and volunteering opportunities arise.   

Imagine a classroom where students are engaged in the actual practices of scientists and engineers--asking questions, planning and carrying out investigations, drawing conclusions from the data they collect, and designing technologies to solve problems.  Surely, it’s an engaging place, but as the teacher, I don’t always know what the students understand.  It’s not just a case of “there’s not enough time,” or “there’s too many students.”  It’s a case of “how can I better gauge what my students truly understand?”

My current assessments only scratch the surface of student understanding.  There are certainly times where these types of traditional assessments are necessary, but how can I balance these assessments with the types of assessments that allow students to demonstrate deeper understanding?  How can these assessments allow students to experience deeper learning?  Would they uncover something that they could  apply to a new context and would their engagement change as a result of this?

The goal for my ImagineIT project is to evolve my classroom assessments so that I can help my students showcase deeper understanding of their learning.  These assessments would match their interests and challenge them to explore content in a deeper way.  Think of taking a standardized test focused on chemistry, i.e. "Label the three states of matter at the molecular level."  Fast forward to creating a video to show how you discovered particle theory based on evidence you collected from various lab experiences. Wow.

In my standards-based classroom, I will initially provide a guiding question that overarches the entire unit.  From there, students will be heavily involved in the following performances of understanding: scientific investigations and engineering design challenges. From here,  students will develop other questions that they can link back to the driving question. Each of these questions will require students to do an investigation or design something to answer them!

World of Wonder projects focused on our unit of study that relate to our driving questions will allow students to dig deeper into their learning.  The use of technology will be smartly utilized to capture what a traditional assessment would easily overlook.  I really want to utilize Google Classroom as our district goes Google, and the SMARTBoard in my room can help create a platform where work is shared, evaluated, and celebrated.  Assessment will be ongoing and creative, allowing students to uncover what they may or may not understand.  I really want to capture student understanding through an online portfolio, where they can show their understanding through the various assessments I’ve given.  How incredible would it be to have their work follow them throughout their middle school careers into high school?  This will truly force me to evolve my assessment so that students can deepen their understanding to whatever level they’re ready to reach.  





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