Seth Kirchhoff

If you asked me back in 2000 what my job in the classroom was, I would've said, "To Teach." Since then I've learned some things & have a different answer. Ask me now & I'll say, "To design for learning to happen on purpose for all kids in the room."

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.

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