Week 3: The Triangle

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." -Albert Einstein

What we learned this week:

Our second learning circle discussion was rewarding, and I learned many things from my fellow staff. We were still missing two members, but we welcomed Angela to the circle! I was truly impressed with her enthusiasm and courage to join in the conversation despite it being her first class with us. I imagine that it could be pretty intimidating, especially with catching up on reading. This week, we were able to discuss the following from chapters 3 and 4:

Beginning with the end in mind: knowing where you are headed before you even start. What do I want my students to learn?

Learning outcomes are opportunities and challenges. They are guides for teaching and student learning. 

Having the outcomes without added expectations is useless. How to properly assess if students are meeting those outcomes?

Students are not learning at the same place. Learning is not sequential.

First challenge: have a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

Second challenge: teach to smaller groups, not only to larger groups of students.

Do not limit the evidence of learning to a certain way. It will be harder for students to show their learning.

Three steps: describe the learning destination so students and parents understand, share it with students, and use it.

I think developing assessments is much like developing those descriptions; by analyzing documents, outcomes, and frameworks, on top of understanding the subject matter.

Choose one subject area or focus, summarize the goals, and read and review expectations for the subject and grade level.

Be clear about what success looks like. 

Observing the application of knowledge, listening to students articulate understandings, and engaging students in demonstrating the acquisition of knowledge can be valid evidence. Samples, models, and criteria help.

Developing criteria looks like this: make a brainstormed list, sort and categorize the list, make a t-chart, and use/revisit/revise. 

Collaborate with colleagues.

It was a blast discussing these chapters with the circle, and I loved even just catching up with the members about their week. If I were to assess the group on this week's discussion, I would mark 'Insightful' for everyone. Respect for self and others, participation, effort and attitude, and responsibility were all spot-on. As for role designation, we agreed to shuffle down from our previous roles last week. My role this week was record keeper, and with consent from the group, I used my phone to record an audio of our discussion. I revisit the audio still and can imagine myself in the moment. I can picture the smiles. I thought it was neat that we have this meaningful discussion saved and shared between us. Technology is cool!

As a student...

Chris had asked me at the beginning of class about my Wednesday schedule, and I informed him about my having three three-hour long classes. Why is this relevant? Well, I sincerely hope that he believes that I meant it when I said that this class was interesting. It's inevitable to feel a little sleepy; however, I've always been considerably motivated in this class. Some might say that our agendas are tiresome, but let me just say: A- I love having the agendas, and B- time passes by so quickly that I hardly notice, especially since we're so productive. I like this healthy balance of routine and exploring new concepts. I am also thankful for opportunities to apply the knowledge we receive.

As a future teacher...

Continuing from what I just wrote, one of the key ideas we explored this week was Bloom's Taxonomy. I previously learned about this framework from a couple classes I had taken but never worked with it like we did in this class. It was enlightening having to assess the level of complexity of questions/tasks using the Bloom prompts and verbs. It puts into perspective how we, as teachers, can affect student learning by what we ask of them. Do we want them to remember or to create? I added this framework to my portfolio intending to carry it forward in my teaching. I also liked how we were able to form questions based on the different levels. It was a valuable practice!

For my symbol this week, I chose the triangle. It is very much inspired by Bloom's Taxonomy.