Time for Change

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new" -Socrates

Many educators are accustom to the "old story" of education that had a traditional approach to teaching which was based upon the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student. There was limited social interaction, standardized testing, and it was grounded in the principles that sought to make factory work more efficient. Today's "new story" does not seek to dismiss the old but rather identify and build upon its positive aspects to create a new approach that works for the 21st century learner.

Old Story	New Story
-grounded in the purpose of efficient factory work -teacher is expert -mind is viewed as a blank slate -teacher transmits knowledge into empty vessel -curriculum was delivered in one method for all students	-holistic curriculum teaches the whole child (mind, body & spirit) -constructivist teaching -project based leaning -metacognition -curriculum can be modified to fit needs of the learner

(Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014)

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax5cNlutAys

Throughout many placements that I have attended in my four years at Brock University I have come to see that many educators today are still stuck in the traditionalist way of teaching. I understand that it is difficult to change your ideas of education if that is how you were taught as a students, but you are not the student anymore. We as educators must be able to teach to the needs and desire of the students in the 21st century. Michael Fullan (2013), believes there are three key features to creating a new story:

Technology

http://s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/accounts/18234/images/hires.jpg

Many front runner educators use technology to enhance their student's learning and allow for a deeper assessment. Since the internet and social media have such a strong presence in the lives of our students today it is only logical to somehow find a way to incorporate into our curriculum. Media studies is currently a strand in the Ontario English Curriculum that explores the impact and influence of mass media and pop culture. It is therefore important to use the common equipment that students use to access this sort of information outside of the classroom and bring it into the learning environment. But how are we to monitor the students who may abuse their use of technology within the classroom? And how can I be an effective teacher if my students are more technologically inclined than I am?

New Pedagogy

The new pedagogy revolves around 21st century skills that include four main characteristics;

1. Irresistibly engaging 
2. Elegantly efficient
3. Technologically ubiquitous
4. Steeped in real-world problems  

This form of deep learning in the classroom requires students to learn 21st century skills such as communication, creativity and collaborative teamwork. According to Johnson et al., challenge-based learning (CBL) is a new teaching model that incorporates problem based learning, project based learning, and contextual teaching. As a future teacher I question how I will be able to develop deep thinking learners and if all these teaching models are appropriate in my physical education setting.

Teacher as Activator

Retrieved from: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1416095979/
Screen_shot_2011-06-27_at_3.01.27_PM_400x400.png

It is not enough for an educator to incorporate technology and new pedagogy, they must also be the agent of change to help students find their purpose and passion within the educational learning environment. I have heard many educators say "teachers teach students, not subject" and I finally understand what that means. Although the teacher must be an expert on their subject, they must also be able to facilitate both surface and deep learning, give constructive feedback, monitor leaning and attend to the BE. One way to be an activator is to go beyond the walls of the classroom and share your knowledge and methods with other teachers as well. 

As future educators it is important to share our new story of education and to be the change!

References

Drake, S., Kolohon. W., & Reid, J. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging in the 21st       Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Fullan, M. (2013). Stratosphere. Toronto, ON: Pearson.

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Smyth, J., & Varon, R. (2009). Challenged-based learning: An approach for our time. Austin, TX: The New Media Consorium.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2007). The Ontario curriculum grades 9&10: English. Retrieved from https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/english910currb.pdf

Have no Fear of Your Peer!

https://score.hva.nl/docent/english_teacher/Pages/assessment
%20methods/Peer-Assesment-.aspx

Isn't assessment the role of the teacher and not the students?
In today's 21st century classroom the learning process is moving away from a dictatorship and more towards a partnership between a teacher and their students. This form of student centered learning teaches students how to critically evaluate their own learning and thinking. Peer-assessment is an excellent way for students to get involved in the assessment aspect of their education and is a great form of Assessment for Learning.

I remember doing peer assessment when I was in secondary school. It either consisted me writing "good job" or "well done" at the top of the page. I was afraid of hurting the feelings of my friends and wanted them to do the same for me during my presentation. No one wants to know that their classmates didn't like what they worked so hard to produce, I know I certainly didn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqWCJZH8ziQ

Creating and enforcing a safe learning environment that promotes risk-taking is essential for peer-assessment (Vanderhoven, Raes, Schellens, & Montrieux, 2012). If this sort of setting is not enforced, issues such as peer pressure can arise and lead to invalid assessment. A way to eliminate any sort of pressure on your students is to allow for anonymous critiques. Vanderhoven et al. (2012) discuss the positive effects of using classroom response technology (CRT). It is an electronic voting system that allows for immediate anonymous feedback. Students have reported that CRT allows them to be more engaged, attend more class, and that its anonymous nature encouraged them participate more honestly.

If your school doesn't have the access to CRT I have listed some resources below that can work just as efficiently;

• Warm and cool feedback (for younger students)
• Group peer assessment 
• Presentation peer evaluation

With tools like these, your students shouldn't have to fear their peer!

Drake, S., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Intereaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging in the 21st century learner. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
Vanderhouven, E., Raes, A., Schellens, T., & Montrieux, H. (2012). Face-to-face peer assessment in secondary education: does anonymity matter? International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology, 69, 1340-1347. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.071 

Assessment in the Classroom: Moving away from grades

The idea of failure is often feared in the classroom. No student wants to be labeled as the one who failed his or her math test. After receiving back an assignment students tend to skim past the teacher's feedback and flip right to the numeric aspect of their assessment. I can admit that to this day I still find myself doing this as well. Grades are important to students, especially those who are competing for scholarships and entrances into post-secondary institutions. The issue I find with having to produce a quantified measure of achievement for students is that there is no way to mark for effort, growth, or development. Looking back on my own personal education, I question myself and think, did I only put forth all that effort so I could see a mark above 90% on my tests or was I actually interested in the topics that I was learning. If I'm being honest with myself, I think the A's on my report cards were often my main motivation to work hard. This often lead to me to be a tired and stressed student as I tried to juggle my extracurricular and my academics. Would it have just been easier for me to accept failure and be happy or succeed and be overworked. Sarah Le discusses her opinion about grades on her blog Le's Learning. Do grades really define who you are? Should formal assessment really be he main form of assessment in the classroom? How can teachers assess without assigning a quantified grade?

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lBhMSaFNhY

Today in schools across Canada there are three types of assessment;

Assessment OF Learning (AoL):

This type of assessment is often referred to as summative. It is designed to determine what the student has learned and whether or not they have met the goals of the curriculum. It is the assessment that is quantified and given as a letter or percentage. It is often the most important assessment to students as it will contribute to and affect their future.

Assessment FOR Learning (AfL):

This type of assessment is also know as formative and occurs throughout the learning period. The main idea of this assessment is to make each student's understanding of the subject visible to the teacher so he or she can decide how they can aid in their student's learning process. Students have their own individual strengths and weaknesses and teachers can use this form of assessment to find out where their students need help and how they can help them. This is also a way for teachers to enhance motivation for learning within the classroom.

Assessment AS Learning (AaL):

The final form of assessment focuses on students with an emphasize on the development of self-assessment. It brings forth the idea that learning in not just a matter of depositing knowledge from teacher to student, but rather that it is an ongoing process. We want students to monitor their own learning and to be able to connect their prior knowledge with the present. Being able to identify what learning strategies have work best for them in the past, and then being able to modify and adjust them will lead to greater success in the future. 

Retrieved from: http://stephaniepearson.com/tag/assessment/

For these three assessments to be successful teachers must be able to interconnect them. There are also three key elements that ensure effective assessment practices;

Validity: The degree to which an interpretation or conclusion based on assessment data is appropriate and meaningful. In other words, does the assessment measure what it it suppose to measure?

Reliability: The degree is consistency of the assessment results. The assessment produces consistent results no matter what form, where or when it is assessed or who scores it.

Fairness: All students have equal opportunity to succeed no matter what gender, teacher bias, prior knowledge, or any other circumstance that is unrelated to what was assigned. Refer to the Growing Success document for more information. 

Retrieved from: http://stephaniepearson.com/tag/assessment/

While we know that there are three forms of assessment, I believe the glorification of Assessment of Learning needs to be reduced in the classroom. Students need to be more aware of the other forms of assessment and the idea of growth. Assessment as Learning seems to be a great way for students to be able appreciate the lower mark they may receive at the beginning of the school year. There is nothing wrong with failure as long as you are able to learn from it and use it to better yourself for the future. Sometimes those who fail learn more than those who continuously receive A's. Unfortunately, grades are still the running force of the classroom, especially in high school, due to their importance towards post-secondary education.
How can we as educators stress the importance of assessment without glorifying the quantitative aspect of it? In other words, how can we get our students to read our feedback before they look at their mark?

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J.L., & Kolohom, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON:Oxford University Press.

Le, S. (2013, July, 25). Would getting rid of grades make for happier students?. Retrieved from: http://leslearning.blogspot.ca/2013/07/would-getting-rid-of-grades-make-for.html

Manitoba Education. (2006). Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind, Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, School Programs Division. Retrieved from: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/wncp/full_doc.pdf

Ontario., & Ontario. (2010). Growing success: Assessment, evaluation and reporting in Ontario's schools: covering grades 1 to 12. Toronto: Ministry of Education.

•