Welcome to tonight's #SwDMathChat! Topic: How to know what your Ss know. First, let's introduce ourselves. Please share your name, region, and what you teach
Jeremy, parent in Connecticut. May have to be in and out but will check in as I'm observing my third grader's class Monday to see how she's handling struggles in math. #SWDMathChat
Q1: Learning means a student can teach the skill to others on their own, remembering means they have some (not necessarily entire) recall of the skill/fact/etc. #SwDMathChat
This year, most of my students have strong verbal communication skills; I think communication doesn't have to be verbal. Can they draw a picture, make a video, etc? #udl#SwDMathChat
Love it. We use explain everything and other screencasting tools to help with this. I also tell my students explanations can be with math and they don't have to write essays :) #SwDMathChat
A2 Well-designed, accessible assessments allow Ss to show what they know. Poorly design assessments frustrate and discourage student learning #SwDMathChat
A2: It is a tough balancing act. Over-assessing, & giving assessments that are not aligned with recent instruction leave Ss feeling frustrated and disliking school. #SwDMathChat
Well said! So many assessments I see are not easily accessible to my students. I struggle to keep fidelity to know what my Ss know, while also making sure they have a fair chance to show their knowledge. #SwDMathChat
Poorly designed could be wording that confuses kids, unnecessarily obscure problems with #s that don't make sense in the "real world" context, etc... #SwDMathChat
A3: I think my Ss would feel more motivation and less anxious when trying to figure it out. Many of my Ss shutdown early on because they already feel defeated. #SwDMathChat
We sometimes use CGI at my school. By allowing Ss to answer questions without a specific strategy for answering, students feel empowered to attack the problems creatively in a safe way. #SwDMathChat
Crazy thing about how many teachers interpret the common core is they think Ss need to master all strategies and approaches rather than find the one that makes sense to them. SMH #SwDMathChat
Q4: How do we assess students’ mathematical intuition? How do we share this with parents, students, and future teachers? How can we “track” it? #SwDMathChat
How do you share this with Ss? Ps? Do you have parent conferences? We never have enough time to truly get deep into student understanding and Ps default to test scores #SwDMathChat
A4: #noticewonder#samediffmath are great tools, but when do we get to share this with parents to show what their kids know? How do we effectively communicate this? #SwDMathChat
We unfortunately don't really share with parents. At the end of each CGI problem, Ts pick 3 responses to share & chart. These are displayed in classrooms w. S names. #SwDMathChat
I'm constantly looking for how to share this and not focus on the grades and test scores. I also try to have these types of Qs mixed into assessment #SwDMathChat
Relevant question in the chat now. Q5: How do we communicate our assessment purposes to learners? How do we involve them in a discussion of the results?
#SwDMathChat
A5: 1/2 I constantly try to frame assessments as, "This tells us what you know how to do, & what you still need help with, so give it your best effort." #SwDMathChat
A5: 2/2 I think it's important to show students their results, and review the problems so they can learn fro their mistakes. #easiersaidthandone#SwDMathChat
I find myself trying to pick the parts of the problem that they did well on. I try to seperate answers into computational, procedural, or mechanical errors #SwDMathChat
I think this is also a tough balancing act. Yes, they need to know what is challenging for them, but they also need things presented in a way that helps them to grow! #SwDMathChat
As a HS teacher especially, I always like to include students in discussions about their learning. They are the ones who should be responsible for their growth and reflection #SwDMathChat
They definitely don't. I think you need to push for work samples & ask your child to explain their thinking. Then you have a deeper understanding of what your child understands. #SwDMathChat
Great point. I am always looking for how to show parents the amazing problems their students solve daily and the challenges that they are able to push through. I find online portfolios help, but are not complete! #SwDMathChat
A6a I believe in constant low stakes formative assessment and opportunities for Ss and Ts to see learning in action, but I do worry about too much "sit and write for 60 min" testing. #SwDMathChat
Actually, yes, have an 8th grader, but here more for our 3rd grader. 8th grader wants help sometimes, I often can’t, but she’s conscientious and isn’t too bothered. 3rd grader is not into doing homework at all. (Whether it’s useful is another chat.) #SwDMathChat
A7: My school gives 1-2Q daily exit tickets. They are NOT always graded. Gives a good understanding of where the understanding breaks down instead of 5 lessons later. #SwDMathChat
A7 For quick formative assessment nothing beats vertical whiteboards! Allows you to see S work quickly and allows them to make mistakes and adjust easily #SwDMathChat
