Gretchen Brinza
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Phase 5: Conferring with Colleagues and Students

So when I began my ImagineIT project, my focus was to engage students in deeper learning through the integration of technology and through the use of alternative assessment.  I am proud to say I am on my way there, despite some bumps in the road and a couple detours I have had to take!

When I met with teachers recently to tell them about my project on alternative student assessment and technology integration, the initial response I got was, “Awesome!  How can I help?”  That set aside some fears I had as this is a pretty big undertaking and I am new at my school.  But after an in-depth meeting, the feedback I received from teachers seemed to coincide with my thinking.

First, teachers believed that alternative forms of assessment would get students more interested in their learning, especially if it’s something hands-on,  computer-based or related to music.  It also would lend itself to diverse learners, who may struggle with traditional forms of assessment.  Teachers agreed that taking on alternative forms of assessment would spark a “trial and error” period, as some types of assessment may not really uncover what a teacher wanted to find out about a student’s knowledge.  I completely agreed with the trial and error piece, as there have been many times where I’ve tried something and it totally flopped, and on the flip side, something surpassed my expectations for student learning.  We also discussed what the grading aspect of an alternative assessment would look like, since each student’s work could be different from the next.  Therefore, we agreed upon a “Criteria Rubric,” which would be content based.  For example, I am going to use alternative assessment with my 6th graders in a unit we’ve been digging deeper into regarding how we see things.  Instead of making a rubric for each type of assessment, we’ll instead utilize a rubric that lists the criteria required regardless of their final product (i.e. a song, a movie, or a play).  

Students are beyond pumped to be thinking about something other than a traditional form of assessment like a quiz or a test.  “I hate quizzes and tests.”  And “Wait, you mean that was an assessment when you had me build a 3D model for how we see?”  Yup, student.  That sure was!  Beyond that one quick interaction with a student, other students are really interested in showing what they know through an alternative avenue, like drawings, songs, or a 3D building experience.  Many students are surprisingly interested in making plays (hats off to the L.A. teacher for instilling their love of readers’ theatre!).  I wasn’t so surprised at how they’re interested in making movies, but how I am going to swing that without some of the technology...I have to think about that one.

One particular change I am going to have to make in my ImagineIT plan is in regards to content and grade level.  I didn’t start the year with everything that I needed, so my 6th graders are now going to be my focus instead of my fifth graders.  Originally, the 5th graders’ content focus was on Earth Systems Science (which we will still get to this year, but just not when I thought we would!), but my focus has now shifted to 6th graders and their understanding of how they can believe what their eyes may or may not see (based on light’s properties and how it interacts with different materials and explains MANY phenomena).  
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I’m also going to have to make a shift with the types of assessment I envisioned.  I was so blown away by my own video-making skill set I acquired this summer, that I knew students would want to jump on that, too.  But I didn’t think about what that would look like in a classroom without video production capabilities, so we may have to scratch that idea and work more on the drawing/modeling/acting side without video production.  I am not going to completely give up on it, as some students have already approached me about “When can I make a movie!?!?!?!?!”  

In all this, I am not going to change my ideas on using alternative forms of assessment.  If anything, this has only given me a taste of what will come with this project.  
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