A VERSATILE & VISUAL SCALE"Vision trumps all other senses." John Medina - Brain RulesThink... think...think... If this is true, how can I find more ways to put this to work?
One of my goals for the 2016-17 school year was to come up with a very visual scale that was easy for students to understand and use. I knew I wanted to use it for both formative and summative assessment strategies and I also knew that I wanted it to connect very directly to the neuroscience of learning. I decided to start with my 5th through 8th grade students and begin teaching them the language of learning with a memory circle. I use memory circles to create a thread that will be used throughout the year and serve to connect learning from unit to unit. To the right is the content and words I chose for our circle. One of my goals was for my students to see their learning as a process and gain an understanding of the changes that go on in their brains and bodies as they learn instead of thinking of their performance as a 1,2,3 or 4. It took a few weeks, using small chunks of time to build the circle so that all students knew their part and had chosen a unique movement/action clue. It would not take long after established that everyone knew all the movements and all the words. As we worked to build the circle (again only taking 2-3 minutes per class period) I answered questions about vocabulary and provided explanations. I kind of painted them a mental picture. You can see this and other examples of memory circles here. During this time the pictures were up on the bulletin board. At that point I began referring to the images and connecting the vocabulary with the pictures. The first column represents a beginner just starting to learn. The image at the top is a single neuron. This learner might have one piece of the puzzle and know just a little bit. The second column represents the process of neurons beginning to connect and communicate at the synapse. This learner is practicing and progressing. He or she may know more and have the parts and pieces but performance is not smooth or consistent. He or she can answer basic questions and is practicing through trial and error. The third column represents the learner that has an established network, the pieces have been put together. He or she can perform the skill in isolation or practice and is beginning to have some success in dynamic situations and is beginning to think strategy and tactics. Control, consistency, and accuracy is improving. He or she can explain or describe when asked. This learner is building competence and confidence. The 4th column represents the learner who has a much more complex neural network associated with the subject or skill. He or she has put more pieces of the puzzle in place, knows what, how, when, where and why, is consistently successful in unpredictable situations, uses feedback to make changes and improve performance, can help others learn, can set challenging goals and can use skills and knowledge to solve a problem or create something new. This learner is utilizing, applying and synthesizing. One thing I want my students to understand is that no one level of learning is better than another what is important is the desire and ability to make forward progress.
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I first started using this with the kids and had them identify parts of the memory circle and match them to the images. I used the puzzle analogy throughout our conversations. I wanted them thinking of their brain as puzzle with some pieces in place on which they can build. But unlike a typical puzzle there is no completed picture, no definite end. I wanted them to understand that they have the ability to put in the pieces they want, to design their own puzzle to match their goals. A puzzle that is as complicated and intricate as they would like. I answered their questions and they started to develop an understanding of how they could think about their learning in a different more scientific way. Then we began using it as a means of formative and self-assessment. Students tried to objectively identify where they were currently and then choose actions that would move them forward, building on the foundation/network they had currently. I also had them think about the complexity of their neural networks in terms of other skills or subject areas. The next step for me was to begin using this framework and images to build unit specific scales for students to work from in their portfolio. I designed a worksheet that I could use as a template for building scales for specific units. The link below shows my worksheet after a few revisions. The remain a work in progress.
At that time I was working with my 5th through 8th grade students in an invasion/territorial games unit. I was using methods from both TFGU and Sport Education. The focus was primarily on offensive maneuvers and team consensus decision making. Students were divided into teams with time engaged in game play with a rotation built in to give them time to work on skills and communication and group decision-making as a team. I developed a scale using the worksheet for this unit. The link in the middle above gives you the portion that deals with consensus decision-making. I implemented a variety of methods for formative assessment and had the kids record their team meetings at different intervals. Overall I saw a lot of growth in my student's abilities to communicate effectively, come to consensus, and facilitate in team meetings. This scale will remain active in the portfolios throughout the year as it is applicable to so many things that we will be doing.
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As it happened, the next unit we would be a Parkour in PE unit. I could see how this would lend itself very well for developing this type of scale as I had students all over the board in terms of experience when we started. The unit would be designed so that students could begin by identifying where they were starting in a variety of skills, use online tutorial videos for instruction and use video to analyze movement, make changes, and improve performance. With a torn meniscus awaiting surgery I was not very useful in the demonstration area... I started the unit with a great video I found on youtube of some kids around the same age performing some great balances, jumps, rolls and vaults at a neighborhood playground and we started building a visual with the statement "Parkour was not invented. It's just always been." Unknown to work from. The kids did a self-assessment using the scale, identified some personal goals, and I acted as a facilitator from there. They submitted video as they met specific criteria. Everything worked extremely well. If you are interested in seeing some of the videos the kids produced visit www.southbristolphysicaleducation.weebly.com. You will need to scroll down to find the parkour videos for grades 5-8.
I have to say, I like how things are going with the scale so far. Students seem to be more connected to setting personal goals, better able to objectively self-assess, clearer about and more focused on the learning targets, and as a result of our conversations I can tell that they are building an understanding of the changes that happen in the brain as they learn. I plan to make some more modifications to the scale worksheet form to be used to design unit portfolio scales. I'm going to play around with making it more like a mind-map with fewer words, more images, with students taking responsibility for adding to their map just like they add to their own neural networks. |