Perhaps the one thing that made me most excited about 1:1 Chromebooks (or any computer for that matter) is that students had immediate access to self-assessment. Through my action research project with FSD over the past few years, I certainly did find a measurable difference when students could discuss their areas of strength and growth directly with their parents. Whether that improves overall improvement remains to be see but the level of engagement has been higher. Rather than having students passively wait for the teacher to pronounce a grade, when they are active in the assessment and reflection roll then they are more likely to make the necessary changes.
Prior to parents coming in this past week all of our Grade 7 students were required to reflect on their first six weeks of school. Our Learner Profile's first page is all about characteristics of learners. Rather than waiting for me to fill that out, I have my students fill it out and adjust it every 4-6 weeks. This gives them ownership over the document. Most of the teachers in my building have adopted this method and find that it makes the whole reporting process that much better simply because the student has explained areas of strength and growth. More importantly, the student has said how he or she is going to follow that next step.
In the past I have done this on paper and then pulled it out during conferences. However, it is about "managing the paper". Also, I had to rely on all parents and students being at this conference. I also use these documents when writing the Learner Profile and love to use my student's words in the comments. Again, when the comment comes directly from the child parents respond to that. but trying to read what some of my students actually wrote was an exercise in translation. Finally, I relied on my students being at school on the day that we were completing our self-reflections. If they were away then they had to finish at break time or at home....and then the paper would get lost.
How can technology help? Google Classroom has made that process simple. I re-created a "student-friendly" version of what we are scoring on the Learner Profile for my students. Breaking down the language and providing examples helps students when self-assessing. We discussed the template as a whole class, first. Once they were happy with it, and could understand it, I "pushed" the document out to each student in Google Classroom. Now, I have control of seeing each student's progress as they are typing; can allow them to finish at home without worrying that they're going to lose the work (My God....junior high backpacks are like a black hole...); and I can even set a due date and monitor who has passed in their work.
This past week, students came in with their parents during conferences. We pulled up their document onto the big screen (80 inches of pure high definition glory, thank you very much!) and were able to view their self-assessment. Parents immediately engaged their child and the back and forth conversation was fantastic!
The downside of all of this? I was doing "the driving" of the computer and, therefore, I was leading the conversation. I love student-led conferences (with a teacher nearby to answer questions). As I was nursing my voice and walking around half-asleep on Friday after plowing through a rapid fire of 15 minute interviews, I though to myself "Why couldn't the students just run the machine and lead the interview?" It's not like I was going to head out for some fast food while they ran the show. I would still be there to talk about specific concerns and academic next steps. But I sure could have saved my voice and energy by allowing the kids to lead the meeting. The kids are thrilled to show their parents technology that they (the parents) have no understanding of how to operate. Talk about engagement.
So kids, the next time you can drive and lead the conversation. I'll be your proud teacher watching you do all of this and my voice will thank you!
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