RETHINKING STUDENT LEARNING

and COMMUNICATING STUDENT

LEARNING TO PARENTS

Antonio Vendramin – Principal, Cambridge Elementary, Surrey

Blog: abvendramin.com School Blog: cambridgelearns.comTwitter: @Vendram1n School Twitter: @CambridgeLearns

Intentions

To help you gain a better understanding of:

• Innovation in schools• The rate of change in education• Changes to B.C.’s Curriculum and Assessment• Importance of descriptive feedback• Shifts in how we communicate student learning

Slide by Bill FerriterThe Tempered Radicalblog.williamferriter.com@plugusin

YOUNGENTREPRENEURSPOWERPLAYSHOW

How many countries in the world?

• 1900: 53• Today: 196South Sudan– formed in 2011

How many words in the English Language?

• Changes EVERY year.• Expanding by 8,500 words per year

Obsolete or New?

• GROAK:

• OBSOLETE

• To silently watch someone while they are eating, hoping to be invited to join them.

Obsolete or New?

• OMNISHAMBLES:

• NEW

• A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of

blunder and miscalculations.

Obsolete or New?

• APRICITY:

• OBSOLETE

• The sun’s warmth on a cold winter’s day.

Obsolete or New?

• HUGGER MUGGER:

• OBSOLETE

• To act in a secretive manner.

Obsolete or New?

• SQUEE:

• NEW

• Used to express great excitement.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot

read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and

relearn.”

-Alvin Toffler

FACT:

• Rate of CHANGE

• Students don’t need more FACTS, they need critical SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and an intimate knowledge of themselves and others as learners.

https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

“Evaluate the accuracy, reliability, and relevance of information.”

B.C.’s New CurriculumSKILLS and COMPETENCIES

Creative and Critical ThinkingCommunicationPositive personal and cultural identityPersonal and Social awareness and responsibility

OUTCOMESExample: Grade 4 Math15 Concepts – Down from 24 Learning Outcomes

SUMMATIVE FORMATIVE

Measure Purpose Improve Learning

Public/Parent/Student Audience Student

% # Symbol Form Descriptive

Event Timing Minute-by-Minute Day-by-Day

Judge Role Coach

FOCUS on ASSESSMENT

• Intentions• Criteria• Questioning• Self and peer

assessment• Ownership• Descriptive

feedbackSource: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/the-six-secrets-of-a-happy-classroom-2086855.html

Youtube: “The Classroom Experiment”

“The research on feedback shows that much of the feedback students receive has, at best, no impact on learning and can actually be counterproductive...for example, by giving scores, grades, or other forms of

report that encouraged comparison with others.”

“The studies where feedback was most effective were those in which the feedback told participants not just what to do to improve but also how to go about it.”

-Dylan Wiliam

MYTH: If we don’t give letter grades, students will not be motivated or engaged.

Slide by Bill FerriterThe Tempered Radicalblog.williamferriter.com@plugusin

“Giving grades or marks for every piece of work leads to inevitable complacency or

demoralization. Those students who continually receive grades of, say, B or above become

complacent. Those who continually receive grades of B- or below become demoralized.”

-Shirley Clarke (2005)

Letter Grades:

• Do not inform learning.• Tend to reduce students’ interest

in the learning itself. • Tend to reduce students’

preference for challenging tasks.• Tend to reduce the quality of

students’ thinking. (Kohn, 1999)

What would bettercommunication of student learning

look like?

• Evidence is Descriptive• Emphasis on FORMATIVE assessment:

Ongoing rather than an “event”• Based on learning outcomes and criteria that

parents and students understand• Convenient

Looking back at our Intentions…

To help you gain a better understanding of:

• Innovation in schools• The rate of change in education• Changes to B.C.’s Curriculum and Assessment• Importance of descriptive feedback• Shifts in how we communicate student learning

RETHINKING STUDENT LEARNING

and COMMUNICATING STUDENT

LEARNING TO PARENTS

Antonio Vendramin – Principal, Cambridge Elementary, Surrey

Blog: abvendramin.com School Blog: cambridgelearns.comTwitter: @Vendram1n School Twitter: @CambridgeLearns