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Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

Session 2: Effective Feedback:

                   Application

"Decades of education research support the idea that by teaching less and providing more feedback, we can produce greater learning" (see Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Hattie, 2008; Mazaro, Pickering and Pollock, 2001

Whole Class

Coming soon

Small Group

Coming soon

Conference

Data and Providing Effective Feedback

Gathering Data

  • Over-listening

Looking at Student Work

  • Reading Logs

  • Reading Response Journals

  • Etc.

  • Formative and Summative Assessment

  • Performance Task

  • SBA

Providing Feedback

  • Conferencing

  • Written Feedback

Conference Openers

Below are sample prompts that can be used to start a reading or writing conference with a student.

Writing Conference Openers

 

Entry Points into a Conference

  • How is it going?

  • How may I help you?

  • Tell me about this piece...

  • What do you have so far?

  • What part can I help you with?

  • Is there a part you are stuck on? 

 

Typical Questions that Focus on Information, Direction, Reflection, or Purpose

  • Why are you writing this?

  • Where are you going with this?

  • Tell me more about...

  • I don't understand...

  • Does this make sense?

  • How did you feel when _____ happened?

  • Are their other places where a reader might wonder about your thoughts or feelings?

  • As I reader, I can’t see, feel, or hear ___. What can you do?

  • Is the pace too fast here?

  • May I show you how I’d handle the problem of _____?

  • What will you do next?

Reading Conference Openers

 

If a student is just starting a book:

  • Tell me how you chose this book.

  • Have you read any other books by this author?

  • Have you read others in this series?

  • Is it a book you recommend? Why?

  • How do you know this is a just-right book for you?

 

If a student is in the middle of a book or has just finished a book:

  • How do you get back into the story from yesterday?

  • What was happening earlier?

  • Did the character change?

  • Tell me about the character’s feelings/actions/motivations.

  • Was there a part that was confusing?

  • How has your thinking changed?

  • What made your thinking change?

  • Usually in the middle of a book something important happens…

  •  Can you make a movie or expand this part?What do you think about the resolution?

  • What would happen if you tried to do ___ here?How do you feel?

  • Was it what you expected?

  • Did you want it to be different?

  • Were there any connections that you made?

Reflection and Goal Setting

Where are we going? (Reinforce)

Where are we now? (Remind)

How will we close the gap? (Teach)

 

Research-based in vision of excellence - big skill/strategic actions.  ALWAYS research from a strengths based vesus deficit based mindset.  What does the student know?  What does the student need to learn?

Decide

  • What to reinforce

  • What to remind

  • If you need to re-teach.

Teach

  • Explain

  • model a strategy

  • use a mentor text, and the language from the anchor.

  • Record and Follow Up

  • Record what you reinforced, taught, and expect student to practice for follow-up at next conference.

  • Record other points that you did not teach but want to follow up on.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sUoV2po3w  

 

Staying organized

 

Clipboard

  • 2-3 weeks of conference notes organized by class

  • use these to find patterns, trends and make decisions for the whole group and to plan follow up conferences for individuals

 

Binder

  • Student level data looking at individuals growth over time.

 

Clipboard

  • workshop plan

  • conference labels

  • mini-anchors

  • class list for observation data collection

 

Data binder

  • section for each reader

  • start of the year reading data with

  • graph 

  • benchmark data

  • individual conferencing data

  • other.

 

Conference bag

  • kit

  • mentor texts

  • whiteboard and marker

  • copies of relevant anchors

  • clipboard

  • sticky notes

  • etc

 

Four part conference structure

Research

  • what does the student know?

  • What does the student need to learn?

Decide

  • Select 1-2 things the student is ready to learn next

Teach

  • explain and model the strategy

Record

  • Record what you taught and expect student to practice for follow-up at next conference

 

Types of conferences

Strength based versus Deficit based research

  • always enter the conference looking for what the scholar can do searching for what to reinforce.

  • When a scholar is learning a new skill they need to help figuring out what is working and what is not as they grow toward mastery

 

Readerly life

  • focusing on the social aspects of reading

  • the real life reading habits inside and (more importantly) outside of school.

 

Book choice

  • conversations around making appropriate book choices choose appropriate books so that children spend less time choosing and more time reading.

  • these conversations with individuals should be accompanied (or preceded) by group talks and mini-lessons on book choice

 

Making Meaning

  • These conferences focus on how the reader makes meaning of what she reads

  • how she monitors for sense

  • what she does when meaning breaks down.

 

Print/Skill

  • This is where you address the real print work.

  • You might assess what the reader needs after having her read to you while you take a running record.

  • Or you might just offer a strategy after having had the child read aloud to you

 

Process

  • This is the work of the reading.

  • "What is it you do when reading?"

 

 

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