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A P R I L , 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E I I I , I S S U E 8

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

In Pieces

Drop Task

Lapse it

Gibbon

Formative Assess-

ment Ideas

60second Recap

I’m a big fan of project-based learning, problem-

based learning, and inquiry-driven learning, but

there is a secret (and big) problem with project-

based learning.

Chris Lehmann (Principal at Science Leadership

Academy) famously said, “If you assign a pro-

ject and get back 30 of the same thing, that’s not

a project, that’s a recipe.” And therein lies the

problem with projects. When we assign projects

we tend to have an assignment with guidelines, steps, and a rubric for how it is go-

ing to be graded. Often we show examples of previous projects that received high

marks.

Think about what you would do if you were a student….no, really think about it for

a moment. Yep, it is exactly what I would do. I’d create a project that met the speci-

fications and guidelines and hand in something I knew would get a high grade on

the rubric and then I’d have a project like everyone else.

I decided to flip the entire project-based learning process on it’s head by allowing

students to create their own project (and product) and document the process. I didn’t

grade their final product. I did not give them a rubric for the final product. Instead, I

graded the students on the process. I used the G.R.I.T. Rubric developed by Col-

lege Track to assess each student. This rubric assesses students on the PROCESS

not the final PRODUCT by measuring their Guts, Resiliency, Integrity and Tenacity

while working on the project.

To view the G.R.I. T. Rubric please click here.

Access the Process NOT the Product

By: AJ Juliani

P A G E 2

Hot Stuff: and other things!

In Pieces—provides

visually appealing ways

for students to learn

about the threats to ani-

mal populations around

the world.

Drop Task—this is a great

organizational and collab-

oration tool for students,

teachers and administra-

tors to use.

S H S L I B R A R Y N E W S

“ A teacher is a

compass that acti-

vates the magnets of

curiosity, knowledge,

and wisdom in the

pupils.”

-Ever Garrison

Lapse it—is a free award-

winning full featured app for

capturing amazing time

lapse and stop motion vide-

os. It is easy, fast and intui-

tive.

Gibbon

Gibbon is a website and app that is known for creating playlists for learning. Collect

sites, papers, online tools, apps and materials, put them together in a playlist and share

with peers, employees or students. Gibbons believes that almost all the knowledge is

already available on the web. All you need is someone to guide you to it. Gibbon was

created to make it easy for everyone to create and follow simple paths of resources to

learn anything. Not only can you create your own paths but you can also learn new

information by finding pre-made paths that other people have created. Gibbon can be

accessed from a computer, tablet or smart phone.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E I I I , I S S U E 8

Formative Assessment Ideas

Definition of formative assessment: a formative assessment is a tool teachers use to give feedback to stu-

dents to help guide their instruction. It is not included in a student grade, nor should it be used to judge a

teacher’s performance. Both of these would be considered summative assessments. Below are some exam-

ples of various types of formative assessments that can be implemented into the classroom.

3x Summarization

To check understanding, ask students

to write three different summaries:

One in 10-15 words

One in 30-50 words

One in 75-100 words

The different lengths require different

attention to details. Compare/contrast

with peers.

Postcard

Have students write a postcard as a

historical figure to another historical

figure discussing and describing a

historical event.

Text Rendering Students read an informative text inde-

pendently, highlighting or writing down a

few sentences they find important, inter-

esting, of note, or that give them an Ah ha!

Moment. Then, group students and have

each share a sentence from the text. Next,

have each student pick and share a phrase

from the sentence they shared. Finally,

each student will pick one word from that

sentence and share. Have students then

discuss if the words, phrases and sentences

they chose sum up the main idea of the

text.

Metacognition Metacognition allows for the students

to process what they did in class and

why it was done. At the end of the

class have students answer the ques-

tions below. Collect and provide feed-

back.

1. What did we do?

2. Why did we do it?

3. What did I learn? Today?

4. How can I apply it?

5. What questions do I still have?

3-2-1 Exit Slip

3—list 3 thing I learned today...

2—list 2 things I found interesting...

1—list 1 question I still have...

Google Forms

Create an online assessment for

students to take with Google

Forms. You can also allow stu-

dents to comment, provide sug-

gestions or ask questions. Stu-

dents who normally wouldn’t

participate in class will partici-

pate virtually.

Clickers

Use a student response system or ser-

vice such as Socrative, Kahoot, Poll

Everywhere or Google Docs to ask

questions during class. Have students

respond individually or in groups to

the questions.

Back Channel

Using a program such as Todays Meet

students are able to state ideas, discuss

thinking and share questions as a topic

is being taught. The teacher is able to

quickly address questions, point out

interesting thinking and students are

able to build on their own understand-

ing through the thinking of their

peers.

Cork Board

Students are able to collaboratively

post their closing thoughts, ideas,

questions or comments on a digital

cork board or bulletin board using

Linoit or Padlet.

Click here to see an example.

60 Second Recap

60second Recap began life in September, 2009 as a website dedicated to mak-

ing the great works of literature accessible, relevant, and, frankly, irresistible

to today’s teens. This site provides short professional video clips that illustrate

important elements of various classic literature. Teachers can find lesson plans

and other additional resources to supplement their curriculum.