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27 Characteristics of Authentic Assessments

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27 Characteristics of Authentic Assessments

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27 Characteristics Of Authentic Assessment

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An authentic assessment is meant to focus on the impact of one’s work in real or realistic contexts. Here are 27 characteristics to look for.

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Design Thinking Stage Definitions and Descriptions

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Design Thinking Stage Definitions and Descriptions

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Review CTF resources on the Alberta Education website : https://education.alberta.ca/career-and-technology-foundations/program-of-studies/

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Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning

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An open book exam is a student assessment method designed to promote and assess higher order learning such as critical thinking, problem solving, synthesis and evaluation.

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Making a small change by asking students to create something new.

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Making a small change by asking students to create something new.

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Schools all over the world are closing their doors due to health concerns. So many of them are turning to eLearning, distance learning, remote learning.

Trying to make sense of it? Trying to just keep your head above water?

We've got you covered. In our eLearning, remote learning and distance learning page, we have lots of resources.

Get some ideas, tools and templates here. Then get started. You got this.

Quick Navigation

Click on any icon below to be taken directly to that section.

Remote learning templates

Google Slides Themes and PowerPoint Templates for Remote Learning

Created by Paula Martinez of Slides Mania

Weekly Planner for Online Lessons I

Now that educators, students and families are adapting to distance learning, planning your online lessons using Google Slides is a great option whether you are using Google Classroom or not. Almost everybody has a Gmail account and you can easily share the link to the deck with your students.

You can add all the multimedia files they'll need within the Google Slides file. Just one file for the whole week!

Weekly Planner for Online Lessons II

A new weekly planner for educators!

Paula Martinez, creator of Slides Mania, has added multiple links for you and your students to navigate it easily. Also added a Contact slide for you to put your information, so students and parents can reach you. And a Video Conference Hours slide, in case you are using Zoom or Meet, to put the hours there.

Choice board template for Google Slides

Besides the slides for 6 activities or choices Paula has added a section where students can write about what they learned, or maybe you want them to write about something else, your choice.

The good thing about these "students" slides is that they can all work on the same file. If you are teaching synchronously, you can see them work as they type, just change the view to grid.

Free Remote Learning Online Course

14 modules

2.5+ hours of video

Downloadable planning guides

Lifetime access

Forum for sharing ideas

Teaching with Google Slides and PowerPoint

Google Slides and PowerPoint are so much more than presentation tools. Google Slides and PowerPoint can be used as part of a lesson or use them to create and assign a complete lesson or unit.

Setting up your remote learning classroom

Remote Learning Tips from an Online Teacher

Do More with Google Classroom

Teach better. Save time. Make a difference.

The short how-to tutorials on Google Classroom are EVERYWHERE. But how do we teach well with it? In this book, you'll find practical ideas to do great teaching with Google Classroom and thrive.

Lesson planning for remote learning

The strategies you use to create quality in class lessons still apply when creating online lessons and activities.

Below are some resources to help you make the shift.

Make learning memorable!

Take your teaching to the next level by transforming your lessons into a memorable learning experience.

20 digital bell ringer activities to kickstart class

10 ideas for digital exit tickets

How can we make the most of the end of class? How can we tie a bow on a day of class to wrap everything up?

An exit ticket gives us that opportunity - much like bell-ringer activities help us kick class off effectively.

The name "exit ticket" makes it sound like you need a ticket to exit the room, but exit tickets are final quick check-ins with students before class wraps up. Here are 10 ideas for a meaningful ending to class.

Using Pear Deck for Remote Learning

Unique Online Learning Assessment Ideas

Distance learning with Kahoot

40+ FREE digital escape rooms (plus a step by step guide for creating your own)

Digital escape rooms, also referred to as digital breakouts, are a great way to bring gameplay and problem solving to any lesson or unit. They can be an exciting and engaging activity for the whole class or as an option for early finishers.

This post is full of everything you'll need to use free digital escape rooms -- or even create your own!

Want to use digital escape rooms to spark your students' imagination?

Check out our Getting Started with Digital Escape Rooms onlinecourse !

For just $19 you'll get:
- Video tutorials to guide you in getting started

- PDF guides to help you plan

- LOTS of example escape room ideas you can use as inspiration

- 25 digital escape rooms with lock combinations and companion resources in a downloadable PDF

- A step-by-step companion website with templates to help you and your students create your own digital escape rooms

- A resource locker FILLED with BONUS resources

Classroom video calls. You can do this. Here's how.

How to use Google Meet for elearning, online learning

How to create Google Meet breakout rooms for differentiated learning

Tips for successful video calls (shareable infographics)

10 tips to support students with slow internet

10 tips to support students with slow internet (shareable infographic)

10 no-internet remote learning activities

10 no-internet remote learning activities (shareable infographic)

FREE ebooks

Remote learning video playlist

These live videos take the best ideas from hand-picked guests and share them with you. We take the time to dive deep into important topics. Plus, we take YOUR best ideas and questions and insert them into the conversation.

Subscribe to the Ditch That Textbook YouTube channel for notifications on upcoming live videos! (Don't forget to click the bell icon for notifications!)

Upcoming Speaking

There are no upcoming events.

©2023 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

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Schools all over the world are closing their doors due to health concerns. So many of them are turning to eLearning, distance learning, remote learning. Trying to make sense of it? Trying to just keep your head above water? We've got you covered. In our eLearning, remote learning and distance learning page, we have lots of resources.

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With the VERY sudden need for eLearning resources teachers and parents can become easily overwhelmed. As a technology teacher on special assignment and a parent of a second-grader (who is now at home for the next month), I can definitely relate.

I know we all want to create meaningful online lessons and activities for our students, however, just like in the classroom we need some ready to use materials to fill in the gaps as we create.

Choice boards are an excellent option for teachers during those first days of eLearning when we are getting our bearings or for parents who want extra options at home. There are lots of ways to use choice boards and tons that have already been created. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see more resources.

For this post I am going to focus on the simplest way to create a choice board that will give your students opportunities to learn at home without spending a ton of time creating them.

If you are looking for ideas for creating digital lessons for your students check out HyperDocs + Google Forms: A guide to simple digital lesson design or visit my HyperDocs resources page for a template and links to already created lessons.

A step by step guide to creating eLearning choice boards

Step 1: Find apps that integrate with your LMS.

We use Google Classroom (I know it's not technically an LMS but we use it like one) and there are lots of apps that allow me to import my classes directly. This means that my students can just log in with their Google accounts and I can see their progress. This is very helpful when you are trying to figure out how to check-in and see what your students are doing at home. You probably already have some online learning options available to you through your school too. Check them out and add them is as options.

If you use Google Classroom check out 70+ Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom from Kasey Bell.

Step 2: Import your classes and set up your teacher dashboards

Most of these apps allow you to decide where you want your students to begin learning or they may even give them a placement test. Once you have imported your students then you're set. Your students log in with their accounts and go.

Step 3: Find some games and non-screen options for your students to do at home

There are tons of resources floating around like this fantastic menu of options from Pobble. Remember eLearning is just as new to most of our kids as it is to us. Both parents and kids need to be reminded that fun games and non-screen learning time are really important too!

Here is a list of edtech companies that are offering their apps for free for the rest of the school year due to COVID-19 school closures.

Step 4: Create your choice board

Here are is a Google folder of example choice boards that I created for grades K-5. They aren't fancy and they won't be winning any Pinterest Perfect awards (not really a thing but still, you know what I'm talking about). However, they serve their purpose and best of all they can be copied and modified to fit your class.

I also included a simple template with a table of resources curated by subject for you to use to create your own. Please go to "file" then "make a copy" on each document rather than requesting access.

Using choice boards at home.

What would it look like for a student at home using these choice boards? A schedule is helpful to make these choice boards fit into our students' lives at home in a manageable way.

Many sample schedules have been shared online but this one from Khan Academy caught my eye because of its simplicity and useability. I adapted their schedule and integrated the choice boards as learning options. Please feel free to use and adapt these schedules to fit your class' needs. Be sure to scroll down to find additional schedules and delete those that you don't need. Once again please go to "file" then "make a copy" for an editable version.

A few thoughts...

I made these choice boards with the intention that they could be used as part of a "day of eLearning". Are the times I have listed perfect for any grade? Nope. Will it need to be modified as we go? Yep. However, I hope it provides you with something to share with your colleagues and students as a starting place.

As you create your choice boards you can find apps and activities that work for you and your students. Or sign up and import your classes to the apps I have listed on this choice board and use it as is. Either way, make it work for you.

Just remember to give your students and yourself a BIG break when moving to eLearning. This is new to all of us. Some students, families, and teachers have access to loads of tools and resources and some are just trying to figure out how to make it from day to day. Let's all give ourselves permission to figure things out as we go =)

More choice boards and resources.

There are TONS of resources out there for creating choice boards. Here are just a few I have found and I will continue to add more as I find them.

If you create a choice board or two of your own please share them with the hashtag #tsgivets and tag me on Twitter @KarlyMoura. I would love to see what you create!

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eLearning Choice Boards: A step-by-step guide to creating resources you can use tomorrow!

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With the VERY sudden need for eLearning resources teachers and parents can become easily overwhelmed. As a technology teacher on special assignment and a parent of a second-grader (who is now at home for the next month), I can definitely relate.

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As we all find new ways to teach and learn during this unprecedented time, I want to share how you approach home learning with

choice boards during school closures.

In this episode with classroom teacher, Laura Steinbrink, you will learn how she is using choice and flexibility to reach the needs of her students.

Laura is creating a week's worth of activities on one choice board with both online and offline options to make sure everything is equitable.

She is even sharing her activities and templates. You don't want to miss this episode!
Listen to this article:
. ..

But first...

Shoutout

Shoutout to all of the amazing educators in the Shake Up Learning Facebook group, helping each other, sharing ideas, and collaborating. Join us here. (It's FREE!)

Quick Tip of the Week:

This week, I want to hear from YOU! Let's all share what home learning looks like and jump on this Flipgrid to share your workspace, your struggles, your triumphs, and your lesson ideas.

(This interview was recorded on March 19, 2020.)

Today, I am chatting with my friend and colleague, Laura Steinbrink. Laura is a high school teacher with 24 years of experience and is currently teaching in Plato, Missouri, as well as the communications director and softball coach for her district. She wears many hats in her small, rural school district.

Laura has always integrated technology in her classroom. Her students have been using Google Classroom and many other digital tools during the regular school year. So they already understand how to use many different tools.

It's also worth noting that at the time of this interview, state testing was still on the table. But very soon after we wrapped up, Laura received the news that it had been waived.

Laura's school district is closed, like many across the world, due to the coronavirus. Teachers were given a very short amount of time to plan for home learning. Many students do not have devices or internet access, so they had to provide paper packets that were hand-delivered to their students with an entire week's worth of assignments.

The teachers were told they had to give both online and offline options for the activities they provide students during this time. Any students with IEPs must be supplied with paper modifications.

Teachers at Laura's school district were told, "Whatever you do CAN be done digitally, but MUST be offered on paper."

Laura also happens to be married to the Technology Director for her school district, Cayl Steinbrink, and he has been working with Computers for Learning, a federal government program, to get discounted equipment for their schools.

Cayl has also accepted some basic facts around this idea of home learning. He says, "We cannot hold students accountable for the work they are going to have to do at home." We cannot control that environment. We can have expectations, but we need to have some grace with that.

We have to remember that even students who have access may have limitations, connectivity issues, limited data, and limited devices.

Laura recommends that we don't overwhelm students (and parents) with everything you send home. This is a different learning environment, and we want to make sure it is still manageable and valuable.

Laura has been using the Shake Up Learning Tic-Tac-Toe Choice Board Template to drive her lessons for the week (see below for template). This will keep things simple for students and parents, and save some paper. (Learn more: Interactive Choice Boards with G Suite (FREE Templates).)

Each square is worth 20 points, in hopes they will complete five for a completion grade. We cannot grade things as we would under normal circumstances. (If you haven't read Grace is Greater Than Grades, it will help put things in perspective.)

FREE Tic-Tac-Toe Choice Board Template (Google Docs)

CLICK HERE to Make a Copy | CLICK HERE to Use the Template

Please DO NOT request access. You do not need it to be shared with you. You just need to make a copy or use the template link to add it to your Google Drive.

Laura is giving her students nine choices and not forcing the actual 3-choice tic-tac-toe completion. Instead, she is giving students 20 points for each square they complete. In each square, there is an online choice and offline choice.

If students choose the online option, they also have the choice of tools. These are tools that Laura has used with them in school. They are not new to her students. Use the tools your students know!

Each of the choice boards is aligned to the standards and learning goals for that subject and grade level.

Students completing offline activities will turn those into the school.

Students completing the online activities are curating each activity they complete on a page, like Adobe Spark, Google Sites, etc. This way, as the teacher, she only has to collect ONE link online through the Google Classroom assignment.

Laura's Figurative Language Choice Board for Home Learning (High School, Google Docs)

CLICK HERE to Make a Copy | CLICK HERE to Use the Template

Laura's Mythology Heroes Choice Board (High School, Google Docs)

CLICK HERE to Make a Copy | CLICK HERE to Use the Template

Laura's Masque of the Red Death Choice Board (High School, Google Docs)

CLICK HERE to Make a Copy | CLICK HERE to Use the Template

Laura's Spanish Stem Changing Verbs Choice Board (High School, Google Docs)

CLICK HERE to Make a Copy | CLICK HERE to Use the Template

Blogging with Google Classroom

Laura also shared a great technique for using Google Classroom as a way to link and organize student blogs. Check out her post for details on how she makes this work!

Other Resources Shared in this Episode

About Laura Steinbrink

Twitter: @SteinbrinkLaura

Website: https://rockntheboat.com/

Laura Steinbrink, a teacher for 24 years, presents technology and instructional practices at workshops locally, around her state, and nationally. She is also the Technology Integration Coach, Communications Director, Webmaster, yearbook adviser, esports GM, and high school English/Spanish teacher for the Plato R-V School District. Laura is the author of www.rockntheboat.com, a Feedspot Top 200 blog in Education, and she has published articles for Ditch That Textbook, Instant Relevance, ISTE, ISTE TEN, Kahoot, Getting Smart, Classtime, and other educational related companies. Laura is also a contributing author in Focused Environments, Stories of Change Vol 3, published by Connected Learning, and In Other Words: Quotes That Push Our Thinking by Rachelle Dene Poth, published by Edumatch Publishing. Laura's work in the classroom was also featured in ISTE's Empowered Learner Magazine, What Works: Sketchnoting engages students while building comprehension.

© Shake Up Learning 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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Home Learning with Choice Boards During School Closures - SULS056

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As we all find new ways to teach and learn during this unprecedented time, I want to share how you approach home learning with choice boards during school closures. In this episode with classroom teacher, Laura Steinbrink, you will learn how she is using choice and flexibility to reach the needs of her students.

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For access to over 250 authentic perfoRmance assessments go to aac.ab.ca

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For access to over 250 authentic perfoRmance assessments go to aac.ab.ca

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Performance Assessments - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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AAC Performance Assessments: Engage students in their learning Develop critical thinking skills Encourage innovation and problem solving Provide quality assessment evidence Are based on Alberta curriculum Some Performance Assessments are for Members Only, while others are open to everyone. Create Your Own Performance Tasks Check out "Developing a Performance Assessment Task" to guide you through ...

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Video: Testing Testing Testing -Start video at 8:51 

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Video: Testing Testing Testing -Start video at 8:51 

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The whole Video is great, but if you're in a rush - start it at 8.51

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Testing, Testing | Linda Darling-Hammond | TEDxStanford

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Authentic Assessment: Examples & Overview

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What is Scaffolding? A video introduction

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What is Scaffolding? A video introduction

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5 Scaffolding Strategies To Bolster Student Learning

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University of Maryland University College

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Video: Keeping Authentic Assessment Real -Edutopia

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Video: Keeping Authentic Assessment Real -Edutopia

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Keeping Assessment Relevant and "Authentic"

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Video: Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

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Video: Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

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Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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PBL - Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortium

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PBL - Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortium

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Project-based Learning Guide

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This learning guide is designed for teachers, learning coaches and school leaders. It explains how to design and engage students in projects that begin with inquiry and end with a product, performance, or service that is shared with an authentic audience. This guide is intended to be used as a toolkit, rather than a step-by-step prescription.

URL:
https://arpdcresources.ca/consortia/project-based-learning-guide/

Focus(s):

Competencies, Inquiry Based Learning/PBL, Instructional Practices

Audience(s):

Instructional Leaders, Teachers

Teaching Quality Standards:

Engage in career-long learning

Principal Leadership Quality Standards:

Provide instructional leadership

Keyword(s):

Competencies, Inquiry, Instructional practices, PBL, Project-based learning

Level(s):

Elementary, Junior High, Senior High

Date Posted:

September 11, 2017

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Project-Based Learning Guide - Alberta Regional Professional Development Resources

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This learning guide is designed for teachers, learning coaches and school leaders. It explains how to design and engage students in projects that begin with inquiry and end with a product, performance, or service that is shared with an authentic audience. This guide is intended to be used as a toolkit, rather than a step-by-step prescription.

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Authentic Assessment Checklist -Updated Feb 2023 

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Performance Assessments - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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AAC Performance Assessments: Engage students in their learning Develop critical thinking skills Encourage innovation and problem solving Provide quality assessment evidence Are based on Alberta curriculum Some Performance Assessments are for Members Only, while others are open to everyone. Create Your Own Performance Tasks Check out "Developing a Performance Assessment Task" to guide you through ...

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Adapted from our AAC Scaffolding Resource. You will have to click on "open in new window" to launch your own copy

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Peer Coaching Tool: Using Authentic Assessment Characteristics

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Click on "open in new window" to launch your copy

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3 Sentence Wrap up (Himmele & Himmele, 2011

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AAC is excited to move to the single sign on process. Jurisdiction representatives will be contacted with details on how to switch over. We hope to have this process completed by November 2020.

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Login Login Using Your Jurisdiction Account Or Login Using Google Email You can login with your Google email only if your email ends in: Black Gold School Division gshare.blackgold.ca Elk Island Catholic Schools eics.ab.ca Evergreen Catholic Schools ecsrd.ca Grande Yellowhead Public Schools gypsd.ca High Prairie School Division hpsd.ca Holy Family Catholic Regional Division hfcrd.ab.ca Horizon ...

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Click on "Open in new window"

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Digital Templates now available

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The NEW Building Better Rubrics Website Rubric Tools and Templates Make sure you check out the new Wordsmith dictionary! Rubriques - Tools Rubriques - Templates Gabarit grilles d'évaluation (download Word document) Gabarit grilles d'évaluation (version agrandie) (download Word document) RubricsIn Action Learn More Book Study for Building Better Rubrics Learn More Rubric Tools and Templates Learn More Rubrics In Action ...

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Advice on Using Authentic Assessment in Teaching

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Advice on Using Authentic Assessment in Teaching

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Authentic assessments attempt to demonstrate what a student actually learns in class rather than the student's ability to do well on traditional tests and quizzes. Many have claimed this type of assessment an excellent means of evaluating a student's knowledge of subject matter.

Authentic assessment in action

Educators define authentic assessment as an approach to measure student performance in a direct, relevant way to see if the learning objectives were met. Educators might use projects such as reports, journals, speeches, videos and interviews with the students to measure their understanding of the subject material.

For example, an authentic assessment on the expedition of Lewis and Clark would grade students on journals they wrote imagining themselves as the explorers, or have them draw a map showing the route which Lewis and Clark traveled.

The goal of authentic assessment is to enhance the learning process and help students gain knowledge while completing tasks that are beneficial to their "real-world" experiences. Unlike taking an exam, students work on the authentic assessment over a period of time and they are not limited to filling in bubbles on scannable test papers to demonstrate what they know. Authentic assessments let students show what they are really capable of without the pressure of having to perform well on a traditional test, so they are great options for students who suffer from test anxiety.

Why should educators use authentic assessments?

Authentic assessments help students analyze what they've learned and apply it their own experience. They don't have to memorize facts for a test, so they can use their creativity to show what they've learned. For older students who can use a combination of writing and speaking, authentic assessment helps them refine their writing and oral presentation skills. Authentic assessment works great for groups, so students can get experience collaborating on projects with their peers.

Tips for using authentic assessments

Do it often: While it takes time and effort to plan and carry out authentic assessments, they are very rewarding for both the student and the teacher. When teachers first begin using them with a new class, they should expect some challenges and work through them as best they can. With repeated use of authentic assessment, teachers and students will become more comfortable with the process and come to enjoy the satisfaction that comes from completing holistic projects.

Break it down: Many students get overwhelmed easily, so teachers should help them out by breaking down the project into many small steps. For younger students, steps should be assigned to a time line, while students in middle school and above can schedule the tasks on their own and learn about self-discipline at the same time.

Don't dwell on rules: When creating authentic tasks, educators must remember that there is no one right way to do them. They should approach it with the same creativity with which they expect their students to complete the work.

Go backwards: As teachers set out to design the lessons, they should first start with the assessment and what they want the students to demonstrate at the end. By knowing which objectives they want to see students meet, they can design their lessons accordingly.

Cater to students' interests: Teachers should try to match the assessments to the interests of the students. This won't work in every situation, but think of how students will really jump into their work when tech-savvy kids get to create a video or a website showing what they've learned or music-minded youngsters can share their knowledge via lyrics.

Never underestimate the power of reflection: Have students reflect on the project and assessment once it's completed. This will help them to further synthesize what they have learned and it will give teachers an inside look into what the children thought of the project. Additionally, students will feel glad to know that the teacher cares about their opinions.

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Authentic Assessments: Tips and Examples for Educators | Resilient Educator

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Authentic assessments attempt to demonstrate what a student actually learns in class rather than the student's ability to do well on traditional tests and quizzes. Many have claimed this type of assessment an excellent means of evaluating a student's knowledge of subject matter.

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Self Reflection Tool - Sentence Prompts Template

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Self Reflection Tool - Sentence Prompts Template

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10 Unique and Creative Reflection Techniques : Lessons for the Secondary Student

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10 Unique and Creative Reflection Techniques : Lessons for the Secondary Student

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One of my favorite reflection lessons is the Reflect 'n' Sketch activity. When I began teaching, I only saw my students as readers and writers. I could see their struggles and successes within my subject alone. Then, after teaching tone and mood to a group of eighth graders, I asked students to draw a picture of the mood of a poem. Through this activity, I saw my struggling readers excel with beautiful artwork. I realized that my subject, English, is not the only skill to be had. Many of my students excelled in other areas, especially those who struggled in my class. This experience inspired my Reflect 'n' Sketch activity. This gives students the option to draw their reflections on a project or activity. Guiding questions guide their artwork, and students can still deliver deep reflections with a medium that inspires them.

5. Reflection Vlog

I tried this for the first time this past fall, and my students absolutely rave about the Reflection Vlog. I gave students the guiding questions found within the Reflect 'n' Sketch activity, and asked them to create a personal Vlog. After each major project or assessment, I asked students to add to their Vlog. Some students chose to upload their videos to YouTube, and others preferred the privacy of simply creating an iMovie or Windows Moviemaker video. With this medium of reflection, students were free to speak about their work, display their work, or add videos and pictures of the process of creating their work. Not only did students find this engaging, but they found that they were able speak freely about their learning. They have commented that they did not feel bound by words, grammar, structure, and organization within the reflection, so they felt that they were better able to express their truest feelings. I can attest to this as I watched their Vlog videos. They opened up more through this 'on camera' experience, than in any other reflection technique!

6. Analyze your work from the teacher's perspective.

When introducing a writing assignment, I would often provide exemplars, or mentor texts, and ask students to assess these using the rubric that would assess their own work. Not only did students better understand the rubric, they better understood the expectations for the writing. This inspired me to have students assess their own work in a similar manner. I ask students to assess their own work from my perspective. This can be via rubric or by simply providing feedback that they believe I would give. Once students get to know me, this feedback can be eerily correct! This helps students to see their work from a new perspective, and often will encourage students to make revisions before they submit their final work!

7. Scrapbook

I have asked my students to create a scrapbook reflection on larger projects; this is especially effective for group work. Students take pictures of the process of their work, students working in their group roles, and of their final project. Each group member can showcase their own pictures or drawings of the groups work. Then students can reflect on their roles within the group, the process of collaboration, their impact on the groups success/failures, and on the learning that was derived from the project's completion. Some students get very creative with this process, and truly enjoy this as much (or more) than the project itself!

8. The Cube of Reflection

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10 Unique and Creative Reflection Techniques & Lessons for the Secondary Student - TeachWriting.org

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As educators, we know how critical reflection is to the learning process. Getting students to reflect- deeply and meaningfully- is often one of the most challenging lessons we teach. I have found that both my middle school and high school students will often scoff at these reflection activities, pro

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An AAC Favourite: Project Zero's Thinking Routines

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An AAC Favourite: Project Zero's Thinking Routines

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PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

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The Toolbox organizes the Thinking Routines into categories that describe the types of thinking the routines help to facilitate. Some routines appear in more than one category, and some routines have different versions that offer modifications for specific age groups or more specific conceptual challenges.

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The AAC Executive Director's List of Self Reflection Tools

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The AAC Executive Director's List of Self Reflection Tools

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Self Reflection Slides for the Authentic Assessment Padlet

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What is feedback?

Feedback is information provided (by the teacher, a peer, a book or computer program or an experience) about aspects of a student's performance or the knowledge they have built up from a learning experience. Learners can use feedback to confirm, overwrite, fine tune or restructure existing knowledge, beliefs and strategies.

Why is feedback important?

Research suggests that appropriate, constructive and assessment-based feedback is one of the most critical features of effective teaching and learning. In a meta-analysis of over 800 studies, Hattie (2009) found feedback was the most important teacher practice in improving student learning. Feedback supports students to know where and how to improve, and it can support their motivation to invest effort in making improvements. It is an integral part of Assessment for Learning.

Well-timed feedback can support cognitive processes for better performance, including confirming or restructuring understanding, improving strategies, guiding students to more information, and suggesting directions and/or alternative strategies they could pursue in order to improve. Feedback can also engage students in metacognitive strategies such as goal setting, task planning, monitoring, and reflection, which are important skills for self-regulated learning. Feedback can influence students' affective processes, improving effort, motivation and engagement.

What kind of feedback do students need?

Feedback improves learning when it focuses on the particular qualities of the student's work, with specific guidance on what the student can do to improve.

Feedback should be user-friendly (specific and personalised), transparent, addressable, timely, ongoing, and content-rich. It also needs to be clear, purposeful, and compatible with students' existing knowledge, while providing little threat to self-esteem.

The best kinds of feedback:
* are goal-referenced: linked to, and assisting understanding of, the goals of learning
* are matched to the needs of the students, with the level of support they need
* are accurate and trustworthy (with teachers and students in agreement about what counts as success)
* are carefully timed: provided when students need it to improve learning (which might be during the learning activity, or before revising a piece of work)
* focus on strengths and weaknesses as well as revealing what students understand and misunderstand, and accompanied with strategies to help the student improve
* emphasise correct rather than incorrect responses
* focus on changes from previous work or understanding
* guide ongoing learning
* are directed towards enhanced self-efficacy and more effective self-regulation
* are two-way conversations (either written dialogue or oral) rather than one-way
* are used in conjunction with self and/or peer assessment
* do not threaten self-esteem
* are checked for clarity, adequacy and effectiveness with the student - "Does this feedback help?"
* are actionable - with the student given time to respond to and act on feedback.

Three stages to effective feedback

1. Feed-up: Before feedback can be given, students need to know the learning intention(s). Feed-up clarifies for the student Where am I going? What are the goals? This information sets the context for feedback.

2. Feedback: Feedback itself focuses on monitoring and assessing learning progression in relation to the learning intention or task. It is about How am I doing? What progress is being made towards the goals?

3. Feed-forward: This relates to the next steps required for improvement on a specific task or learning intention. It is about Where to next? What activities need to be undertaken to make better progress? Here the answer is likely to be directed to the refinement of goals, and seeking more challenging goals, because these are most likely to lead to greater achievement.

Effective feedback is when teachers and students address all three of these questions.

Three levels of feedback

Feedback operates on, or can be geared towards, three levels. These are:

1: Task-level (or product) feedback
Feedback aimed at the task or product describes students' performance and may offer students directions on how to acquire more, different or correct information.
Example: "That is correct. Could you include more information about the Treaty of Versailles?"
Immediate feedback is likely to be most effective for task-level feedback.
Task-level feedback is not the most powerful kind. This is because feedback at the task level is not usually generalisable to other tasks. However, this level of feedback can be effective when the information it provides about the task is later used for improving strategies or self-regulation. For example, task-level feedback might help students to reject incorrect interpretations and provide directions for better ways to process and understand the material.
Too much feedback at the task level focused on the accuracy of responses, and not on the processing required for these responses, can direct students' attention away from a higher-level understanding of their task performance, and focus them instead on a surface understanding of learning involving acquisition, storage and reproduction of knowledge.

2: Process-level feedback
Feedback aimed at the process of understanding focuses on how the student has completed a task or created a product.
Example: "You might find it easier to punctuate this page if you read it aloud with a peer."
Process-level feedback is particularly powerful for improving students' deep processing and mastery of tasks and directing students towards more effective task strategies. It provides a deeper understanding of learning, enabling students to appreciate relationships between strategies and performance, which helps them to transfer skills to more difficult or unfamiliar tasks.
Process-level feedback on metacognitive processes might focus on enhancing students' self-efficacy, self-regulatory skills or confidence to engage further on a task.
Example: "You already know the key features for introducing an argument, check to see that you have incorporated them into your first paragraph."
Feedback focused on cognitive or metacognitive processes is most effective when there is a delay between student performance and feedback, which enables better reflection.

3: Personal-level feedback
Feedback focused on the personal level is directed to the self and contains little task-related information.
Example: "That's an intelligent response, well done."
This is the least effective level of feedback as it rarely leads to more engagement, enhanced self-efficacy or better understanding of the task. In fact, praise often directs attention away from the task. When feedback draws attention to the self, students have a high fear of failure, and it becomes risky for students to tackle challenging tasks or to try hard. However, sometimes praise focused on the student's effort, self-regulation and engagement can assist in enhancing self-efficacy and increase student motivation.
Summary: Feedback that is designed to move students from the task to the underlying processes or understandings and then to self-regulation is most effective. For example, feedback based at task performance can build students' confidence and help them to feel more able to improve and experiment with strategy use. Then questioning and feedback can focus on learning strategies and metacognitive skills, which eventually help students to become self-regulating learners. These are the students that seek and give their own feedback!
How to improve feedback practices in your classroom

Ten ways to give better feedback

1. Give more quality feedback by reducing the number of pieces of work you assess. Spend more time on selected pieces of work to give thoughtful, constructive and appropriate feedback. To make time for this, teachers do not mark some pieces, or look at only a third of their students' books each week, or engage students in peer and self-assessment of some tasks.

2. Automate as many classroom processes as you can in order to devote more of your thinking to feedback. When teachers automate many other tasks in the classroom and enable students to take most of the responsibility for their learning and learning activity, they are able to devote more time and thought to giving sensitive, timely, content-rich feedback that is well-matched to the students' learning needs at that moment.

3. Be descriptive and refrain from evaluation or advice. Approach giving feedback by carefully observing and commenting on what has been observed, based on the learning intentions of the work or activity. For example, "The first few paragraphs kept my full attention, because the scene painted was vivid and interesting. But then the dialogue became hard to follow, and as a reader, I was confused about who was talking, so I became less engaged." Such feedback informs the student of their performance, without making value judgements, and offers direction for improvement, while leaving the responsibility to decide how to improve with the student.

4. Focus feedback on questions that challenge students. In topics where there are few right answers, try to use questions in your feedback that support students to tease out their assumptions or be critical about the quality of arguments.

5. Take into account students' affective beliefs. Students tend to interpret feedback according to their beliefs about their strengths and weaknesses which can sometimes distort the message the feedback was intended to convey. Students who have high levels of confidence in the accuracy of their response pay little attention to affirmative feedback (unless the response turns out to be incorrect, which focuses their attention on feedback). Similarly, students who expect their response to be wrong, and it turns out to be wrong, also largely ignore the accompanying feedback. Teachers need to plan their feedback to reinforce or challenge students' assumptions about themselves as learners. Teachers need to consider the ways and manner in which individuals interpret feedback so that feedback supports students in developing positive and valuable concepts of themselves and their learning.

6. Enhance the impact of feedback on student motivation. Students are more likely to increase effort when learning goals are clear, meaningful, and when their self-belief in their ability to succeed is high. Feedback that attributes success to effort rather than a student's ability to succeed tends to be more successful. This is because attributing success to one's ability suggests that effort is not required or is unlikely to alter students' ability to succeed.

7. Create an environment for learning which welcomes errors and corrective feedback. Feedback is most effective in learning environments where students are comfortable in making mistakes and where errors are seen as leading to future learning. If students perceive personal risk to responding in class and receiving negative feedback, they are less likely to engage in learning, and are more likely to reject or ignore feedback. Show students the benefits of (self-generated, peer-generated and teacher-generated) feedback to their learning. Teach error-detection strategies to students so that students can provide themselves with self-generated feedback.

8. Give students ownership of their own learning. When students have some autonomy and control, and feel accountable for their learning, they are often more receptive to seeking, accepting and using feedback information.

9. Consider cultural preferences. As well as individual preferences, students' preferences for the type and delivery of feedback may differ according to their culture. Students from individualist cultures (e.g. Europe, USA, Pākehā NZ) prefer direct feedback that is individually focused, and are more likely to seek feedback. Students from collectivist cultures (e.g. Confucian-based Asia, South Pacific nations) prefer indirect and implicit feedback, focused at the group rather than the individual level, with no feedback directed to at the personal level. However, bear in mind that when feedback is given at the group level, students may find it difficult to differentiate which feedback messages are relevant to them.

10. Involve everyone in the class (including visitors and parents) in giving and receiving feedback: Feedback does not always need to come from the teacher, or even from people! Widening the range of sources of feedback ensures students receive lots of timely feedback. However, the quality and accuracy of feedback is also important. Students can be taught the features of effective feedback, beyond immature criticisms and unhelpful praise, and simple proformas can be designed to elicit useful feedback from a range of peers and non-peers.

Ineffective feedback to avoid

Giving marks or grades
Students tend not to pay attention to feedback comments when they are given a mark or grade. Students who get low marks twice in a row come to expect to get low marks every time, with a negative impact on both motivation and achievement.

Comparisons with other students
Competitive environments also have a negative impact on motivation and achievement. Rather than comparing individuals against the performance of a class, a fairer comparison pits each student's current performance against their own previous performance. This comparison is seen as relevant and achievable, whereas trying to compete with peers is stressful for many students.

Extrinsic rewards
These undermine students taking responsibility for themselves, increase teacher control and surveillance, and generate competition amongst students.

Non-specific or general feedback
Telling students to work harder, or recalculate, does not help students know how or where to improve their work. Unclear evaluative feedback, which details students' successes and failures but does not specify reasons, is likely to have negative effects on self-efficacy, exacerbate poor performance and damage self-images.

Giving feedback unrelated to critical aspects of learning goals
Feedback should be clearly focused on the learning goals and agreed success criteria for meeting these goals. Students should not be given feedback on presentation, spelling and/or the quantity of writing when the learning goal is "creating mood in a story".

Overloading students with too much or too technical information
It is better to identify one important thing that you noticed, that, if changed, will likely yield immediate and noticeable improvement

Too much written feedback
Giving too much feedback in written form can be overwhelming for students and difficult to understand. Some students have difficulty understanding and processing written feedback. However, this can be mitigated by good communication between the teacher and student in which the student is invited to say if feedback is not useful or doesn't help them to make improvements.

Associating "what next?" with more
Often teachers suggest that students gather more information, or perform more tasks, so that students come to understand that the answer to "Where to next?" is "more". Instead, feedback can provide information on greater possibilities for learning, including enhanced challenges, more autonomy over the learning process, greater fluency, and diversifying strategies and processes for tasks.

Giving feedback when students lack knowledge or information
Feedback can only build on existing learning or understanding. Students with very little understanding of a content area are more likely to benefit from targeted instruction than from feedback on poorly constructed concepts. Feedback is better focused on faulty interpretations and fine-tuning performance.

Feedback checklist

How often does your feedback include the features in our Feedback checklist?

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How to integrate effective feedback into your classroom - THE EDUCATION HUB

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A detailed overview of effective feedback, and how to improve the nature of the feedback you give your students

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Inspiring Video - helps us to remember why we want to teach this way!

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Jon Spencer nails inquiry-based learning in less than 5 minutes!

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Inquiry-Based Learning: The Ultimate Guide

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A strategy for effective peer feedback practices in the classroom

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SPARK Feedback-Success Criteria Checklist for Student Coaches

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An AAC Slide deck: Using Formative Assessment to inform instructional decisions 

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An AAC Slide deck: Using Formative Assessment to inform instructional decisions 

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Using Formative Assessment to Inform Instructional Steps

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​Self-reflection is one of the most powerful instructional opportunities in our classrooms, yet it is often overlooked.

Its effectiveness is in how it exercises essential future-focused skills such as critical and creative thinking, personal responsibility, useful failure, adaptability, and more.

Reflection is an analysis of our performance. It aids in deeper learning and helps us to perform better in the future because it boosts our sense of self-efficacy- the feeling that we're capable of achieving our goals. As we reflect on our performance, we gain control over that performance, understanding exactly how certain outcomes came to be.

For student reflection to be meaningful, it must be metacognitive, applicable, and shared with others. If students are metacognitive about inquiry, then they're thinking about exactly how they are going to phrase their focus question; if they're metacognitive about collaboration, then they're considering how their introvert or extrovert personality will affect the group. Metacognition is essentially reflection on the micro level, an awareness of our own thought processes as we complete them.

Metacognitive reflection, however, takes thinking processes to the next level because it is concerned not with assessment, but with self-improvement (Watanabe-Crockett 2018)

"Why the brain actually benefits from reflection is a matter of neurology, but the extensive research is clear: Prediction, reflection, and metacognition are pillars for the thoughtful classroom. The questions below were created to be, as much as possible, useful with most students at most ages and grade levels with a little rewording." (Heick 2018)

Self-evaluation is about not only making progress, but building confidence and independent thinking. With these inspiring self-evaluation tips, students stand to learn more about themselves. They'll also learn how to bring about improvement in their work and in their lives.

When we debrief a project we reflect on everything including the process, the choices and discoveries we made, and what didn't go quite as expected. It's when we piece them all together into a learning experience.

Perhaps most crucially, by shifting reflection from content to thought, students have the chance to put themselves back at the centre of the learning process. When they reflect, students re-imagine what happened in both first and third person - as they were seen, and as they saw through their own eyes.

Since metacognitive self-reflection is so vital to student learning, it must be purposefully embedded into our teaching and learning programs at the planning stage. It should not be merely reduced to the status of an add-on or afterthought. One successful self-assessment strategy is to invite the students to co-construct the success criteria and marking rubric for assessment tasks. Students are usually frank and honest in their own assessment of their own performance and that of their peers. In fact, learners are much harsher in assessing their own work than we as teachers would ever be.

We can also encourage students to use higher-order thinking to reflect using some of the following questions:

1. Now that it's over, what are my first thoughts about this overall project? Are they mostly positive or negative?

2. If positive, what comes to mind specifically? Negative?

3. What were some of the most interesting discoveries I made while working on this project? About the problem? About myself? About others?

4. What were some of my most challenging moments and what made them so?

5. What were some of my most powerful learning moments and what made them so?

6. What is the most important thing I learned personally?

7. What most got in the way of my progress, if anything?

8. How well did I and my team communicate overall?

9. When did my collaborative communications fall short of the group's expectations, if ever?

10. What were some things my teammates did that helped me to learn or overcome obstacles?

11. How did I help others during this process? How do I feel I may have hindered others?

12. What did I learn were my greatest strengths? My biggest areas for improvement?

13. What would I do differently if I were to approach the same problem again?

14. What moments was I most proud of my efforts?

15. What could I do differently from a personal standpoint the next time I work with the same group or a different one?

16. What's the one thing about myself above all others I would like to work to improve?

17. How can I better support and encourage my teammates on future projects?

18. How will I use what I've learned in the future?

Reflective Classroom Strategies

- Think, Pair, Share - Peer-assessment - Reflective learning journey journal
​ - Exit slips - on paper or by using apps such as Socrative

- Student led conferences - Students collaboratively create the marking rubric
- Peer editing and marking
- Tweet - Student sums up the learning that in the class in 140 characters or less

- Sentence starters such as: This is important because... , I can use this in another class/outside school to ... , I was surprised when... or I'm still wondering about....
- 3,2,1 - A pre and post assessment strategy where students record:
- Portfolios
- Video journal
- Peer observation 3 things they think they know. 2 things they need to work on. 1 thing they are certain of.
- Group and class discussions

Growth Mindset: Personal Accountability and Reflection

References
Durfee, A. (2018). Frameworks for Reflection. [online] Edutopia. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/article/frameworks-reflection.
Edudemic (2014). A Guide to Student-Led Conferences | Edudemic. [online] Edudemic.com. Available at: http://www.edudemic.com/guide-to-student-led-conferences/.
Gerstein, J. (2014). Growth Mindset: Personal Accountability and Reflection. [online] User Generated Education. Available at: https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/growth-mindset-personal-accountability-and-reflection/.

Heick, T. (2018). 8 Reflective Questions To Help Any Student Think About Their Learning -. [online] TeachThought. Available at: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/use-twitter-exit-slip-teaching/.

Heick, T. (2018).

Madison Metropolitan School District (2018). Self-Reflection and Assessment. [online] Jefferson.kyschools.us. Available at: https://www.jefferson.kyschools.us/sites/default/files/MTSS%20Toolkit%205%20Self-Assessment%20and%20Reflection.pdf.

Pahomov (2014). ASCD Book: Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry. [online] Ascd.org. Available at: http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Authentic-Learning-in-the-Digital-Age.aspx.

Te Kete Ipurangi (2018). Student self assessment and reflection / Examples and templates / Reporting to parents & whānau / Home - Assessment. [online] Assessment.tki.org.nz. Available at: http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Reporting-to-parents-whanau/Examples-and-templates/Student-self-assessment-and-reflection.

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2018). The Best Self-Assessment Questions for Encouraging a Growth Mindset. [online] Global Digital Citizen Foundation. Available at: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/self-assessment-questions-growth-mindset.

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2017). 5 Ways to Encourage Best Self-Assessment Practices Among Learners. [online] Global Digital Citizen Foundation. Available at: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/5-best-self-assessment-practices.

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2017). 25 Self-Reflection Questions to Get Students Thinking About Their Learning. [online] Global Digital Citizen Foundation. Available at: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/25-self-reflection-questions.

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2018). 10 Top Self-Evaluation Tips for Every Learner's Success. [online] Global Digital Citizen Foundation. Available at: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/10-self-evaluation-tips. 15 Reflection Strategies To Help Students Retain What You Just Taught Them -. [online] TeachThought. Available at: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/15-reflection-strategies-help-students-retain-just-taught/.

The Learning Exchange (2018). Student-Led Conferencing. [online] The Learning Exchange. Available at: https://thelearningexchange.ca/projects/student-led-conferences/.

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PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

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The Toolbox organizes the Thinking Routines into categories that describe the types of thinking the routines help to facilitate. Some routines appear in more than one category, and some routines have different versions that offer modifications for specific age groups or more specific conceptual challenges.