Day: May 6, 2011

I met with the instructor Robin this week. She told me I cannot leap tall building in a single bound and bring students with me. Worse yet, she got away without helping me find the “big idea.” What do I mean by all this? Instead of thinking super big, I need to think smaller or at the level of first year students who might not even know how to write a paper much less research a topic like I was proposing. We “dumbed down” a whole lot to get where they were at academically, from her perspective. After my conversation with her [she was play acting the thinking of a new student], I would have sent her to academic success and would have hoped her tutor would get her up to speed. I would like to think high school students, at least, have the ability to write a research paper or a small blog. This left me wondering what the heck they’re teaching these kids in school these days. If a two year old can maneuver an iPad; why can’t a new college student write a 3 page research paper? My answer…oh yes they can!

Secondly, she was stating I should teach as though they had declared sociology as a major. Then I started thinking most students don’t declare a major until their second to third year in college. By the time they have their basic courses down for a general education associates degree; they have decided which discipline fits the direction they want to move in. Maybe she thought I was interested in teaching special needs students. By the time my kids were in second grade, they were at a grade level two or three years ahead of the other students. I think many students today are smarter than their teachers give them credit for. But, she got me thinking and that really was what the meeting was all about. She is really good at that.

The concepts in this assignment were pretty easy to understand. One of the guiding questions was how formative assessment could be used to help us teach expert as opposed to novice behavior or move them toward adaptive as opposed to routine expertise. This was a bit trickier to do and grasp. I think the answer was pretty simple. If you know where they are going and they know where they’re going, with guidance they will get there, if they’re engaged in the process. At the bottom of all this learning is the ability to help them think analytically by posing ill structured problems and then giving them interesting tools to solve these problems with online, even though they will no longer be able to resolve them once and for all with a capital “T” on the truth.

For example, if you watched the video of the 2 year old boy move to the items he really liked in the iPad; you could see this process of formative assessment at work with a digital tool. If a two year old can accomplish what most adults or digital immigrants cannot, these younger adults just entering college are a whole lot smarter than they get credit for. Furthermore, when the 2 year old didn’t want to do something, he just ignored his dad’s promptings. The interesting concept to ponder in all of this is…just how much they are teaching us in their first few years of junior college. My guess is they have changed the way we think about teaching and have told us what they want if we’re going to teach them. The bottom line, they have “potty” trained us in a role reversal sort of way. The next time you try to get your students interested in the subject matter, revisit this thought.

So what is the bottom line this week? Engage them; move them toward the learning goals by letting them know what it takes to get there; help them get there by adapting formative assessment and embedding it into the lesson design; believe they can do it and watch them develop the skills to behave as experts rather than novices. If you have watched children long enough and/or young adults you would be absolutely amazed at what they can do.

I think many of us have watched our parents from the eyes of a precocious child. We have played poker with them, never showing them what we were holding in our hand, while we let them win or at least let them think they were winning. Beware of the little professor that resides in every child, that child can change a whole educational system, graduate and have children of his/her own before you even realize what has happened.

This week we were to learn the basics of assessment. The two most descriptive types of assessment are formative and summative.  The focuses of both types of assessment are on the individual and/or the individual as compared to the group. However, each has a different way of evaluating the learning competencies of the learners.  Summative assessment is the result or the sum of what was learned, not only by the individual but by the group as well. It is a quantifiable measurement or a grade. It involves a test of the knowledge of the learner and usually comes after something was presented to the learner to learn about. While formative assessment, per Dylan Wiliams, is designed into the course and can be viewed as embedded; it provides feedback to move the student forward; it clarifies what the student needs to do to be successful; it motivates students to take an active role in their learning process and moves students to be learning resources for each other, while the big idea keeps learning on track.

For example, we record the practices of our band. By listening to the mistakes made and evaluating what was done right in the practices, I can help the band members discuss and discover what needs to be fixed in order to sound good and improve their up-coming performance. Once I start making suggestions for improvement, everyone gets in on the act. The end product is often determined by the singer. Since it is his/her song that is being reproduced by the band, the final say rests with the singer, based on the advice of the lead guitar player and sometimes the drummer. The rhythm player, the bass player and drummer than adjust their playing to insure the proper beat is produced for the singer, but also for the dancing audience.

While there is no written test given, the final performance before the audience is the test. If our audience is dancing to the songs consistently and filling the dance floor, we know we are doing it right. If we hold our dancers interest and keep them dancing without leaving, we know we’re doing it right. If the club that hired us asks us to come back based on the feedback they receive from their customers, we know we have done it right. My band members know where the mistakes were made, during a performance.  They have all developed an ear for the music.  They are all engaged in the learning process. They fix these errors in the next practice to the best of their ability. That is what our clients pay them to do.

Each of these band members have the innate ability to perform with their voices and instruments. They become more competent each time the cycle of practice and performance repeats itself. By analyzing how the music can be improved, they move from being novices to experts in their trade. Most of my band members have played in area bands for ten to 35 years or more. Because they often move on, either because they expire or join another band, we are constantly adapting our music to new players who are often at very different levels of expertise. We are constantly learning new music and adapting it to the playing abilities of each member.

My role as owner and leader of the band is that of a facilitator. Each member of the band has their own area of expertise so our learning is based upon the group’s ability to create their own interpretation of the music. Each member is a learner and teacher to the other members. Our music and performances are never really perfected, because we are all involved in the learning process as we continue to perform. Perfection is not the goal; but growth as musicians is, individually and as a group.. The end product is entertainment for our customer. We want them to enjoy the music and dance to the beat. We want them to feel the rush! We want just enough money to keep our equipment in good working order and pay our expenses.

The video is an example of summative assessment and/or task.