Jason Monteith (he/him)
4.8K posts
@JasonMonteith
Dad, husband, HS English Teacher (Dundas Ontario), @RotmanIThink Mentor, Integrative Thinking enthusiast, reader, writer, Camp Wenonah Associate Director
You’re never too busy to show kindness to a child. When this preschooler showed up for a race (on his pedal-less strider bike) at the local BMX park, his family discovered that he was the only one in his age group to attend. A group of teenagers there to compete in their own age bracket provided some “competition.” And, would you believe it… the little guy won. Be like these kids. Such goodness on display. This lovely film via thethriftedmini on IG.
As you're thinking about classroom assessments next year, remember that we grade against criteria for standards, outcomes, learning goals, i.e., evidence of learning, NOT the vehicle used to deliver that evidence. So, unless we're teaching the assessment format itself, whether or not students do a project, test, paper, demonstration, etc is irrelevant: It's whether or not they presented evidence of their proficiency. This blows the hinges off the doors on the way to success as it opens new and meaningful ways to demonstrate mastery. There's a lot of agency here, which leads to students owning their learning. For some units of study, teachers can even ask students for proposals for how they will demonstrate the evidence of the standard. Then, as with most assessments, ask students to prove their evidence, to explain how the standard is manifested in their presentation. Gosh, this makes learning -- and teaching -- way more fun, and for students, more substantive.
