How do we know? An invitation to explore assessment

How do we know? On Tuesday, October 27^th a group of 50 Campus Calgary/Open Minds educators came together around this invitation to explore assessment.  Our quest?  To discuss, define and make visible how formative and summative assessment could be tied to a year with Campus Calgary/Open Minds.

We gathered around some challenging questions with student work to delve into assessment conversation. Who wants to grapple with questions we already know the answers to?  We began with some inspiration from a video clip.

Throughout the evening some themes emerged:

• assessment criteria can be flexible and changes as the students begin to take up the work

• student voice is key: how do we gather student voice? Conferencing around journals, class discussions, one-on-one dialogues, journals (written and visual representations), listening to the questions being asked

• authenticity – keeping tasks and learning authentic for students helps them feel a connection in order to understand the relevance

• time – good things take time

• flexibility – responsiveness and generative are characteristics of good design

• WHY – focus should be on “walking in or towards our purpose”

• Who decides? – do our targets align with our assumptions?

Thank you to the CC/OM site coordinators for their planning and effort.

We are grateful to the teachers who came to engage in this topic.  We look forward to continuing the conversation.

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