Variety in life is a good thing. Variety and choice are a couple of things that
make our country and this time in our lives great. For some as adults, the different variety and
choices that we have take time to get used to.
But for our students, this is the only life they know.
Our students take advantage of variety and choice everyday. The only problem is, in education, we don’t
take advantage of that. For years in our
educational system, we have tried to avoid variety and limit the amount of
choices for students and teachers. Why?
That’s for another blog post. For now,
the fact of the matter is as educators, we need to offer different
opportunities for our teachers and students.
When I meet with teachers and discuss preparation,
instruction, and assessment of students, one of the biggest opportunities for
growth with educators is using assessment data and assessment choices. As educators, it seems that it is ingrained
in us to assess students the same way students have been assessed for
years. The mindset is, “It is has worked
for this long so why change?” That may
have worked 10 to 15 years ago, but as stated above, our students and society
have changed. Our students need choice. Whether it’s good or bad, our students expect
choice. Students have different needs,
learning styles and abilities. In
education, we need to cultivate their desires for differentiation allowing them
to demonstrate growth based on their styles.
Differentiating assessment choices may sound intimidating to
many in education. We are just not
accustomed to doing it because it is not how we learned when we were in school. The great thing is, by making subtle changes
in the classroom and in our mindset, we can make differentiation a smoother process:
- Change your Instruction
Instruct differently.
Maybe not everyday and every lesson, but try some new approaches. Changing your instructional mindset allows
your assessment mindset to transition.
At that point, you're not taking a risk.
You’re simply changing your assessment based on a change of instruction.
- Increase Student Resources
The correct type, amount, and use of resources leads to more
student creativity. Allow students to
use their resources and creativity to show what they know.
- Increase Student Choice
Students have good ideas.
Growing up in a society that offers so much choice and variety fuels
creativity. Ask students how they would
like to be assessed. Trust me, they will
surprise you.
- Utilize Professional Resources
Ask others (outside of your classroom) for their
opinion. Allow them to share their
creativity and ideas with you. There are
many different resources to use (blogs, social media, department meetings) to
gain more knowledge about assessment choices.
- Practice More
We need to change our mindset. A great place to start is how we deliver
instruction to our students. Taking
small steps to deliver and assess instruction in a different way will create
learning opportunities for a number of students. Let’s match our instruction and assessments
with our students needs instead of matching them with our comfort level. What do we have to lose? Not as much as we have to gain.
