Experimenting. Again. Well, ever. Ever experimenting with learning in the 180 classroom.

My latest experiment is an effort to better capture the interactions–the engagements–from the feedback/response process with my kiddos. I have made efforts here before, and I have reached “better” here before, but better never settles, never sits still. There’s always a better around the bend. Here’s my latest chase.

ASsessment

Assessment AS learning. This is a constant chase for me. As I have evolved over the years from OF to FOR and now to AS, I continue to learn and seek to better this desired learning reality in my classroom. But this, I have found, ain’t easy, for it–I believe-requires different thinking, different framing. So, as I think, I try to find the frame that fits me and my kids to better put into focus what we are trying to do. And with this latest experiment, I feel like I have edged ever closer.

Met. Not Yet. This was already in the frame. I already use the numerical indicators 1 and .7 for this purpose. A 1, as my kids know, is “done.” They met the standard(s). A .7 is an indication that learning is still on the table that there is feedback waiting for them to help them improve. My kids know that a .7 is an invitation–to keep learning. And while this has been a fine frame for our work, I wanted more–I wanted better.

Engagements

The goal all along has been to create a system built on initiating the feedback/response process with my kids. It’s where learning and teaching live. As I have said before, I most feel like a teacher when I am giving my kids feedback. So, I want to feel like a teacher all the time, and that is what drives how I seek to shape the learning–and teaching–experiences in my classroom. The interactions, the engagements (as I will now call them) are the key ingredient. It’s here where I meet kids in their learning; it’s here where I begin teaching; it’s here where growth happens. And, in my room, it’s all about growth.

Not Yet

AS learning goes, “Not Yet” is a step, not a stamp. In the “OF-learning” model, it is generally the latter, coming too late in the process, and too often it does not carry any “learn-forward” feedback. It’s a stamp. A distinction in labeling and sorting, not learning. Here, I expect to find nearly all of my kids AS “not yet” there. And that is where I meet them to help them because they are not yet where we are headed with the Learning Check (my name for assessments).

As I mention in the document, it is possible that some may not quite get there, so “not yet” is more real than ideal. In 26 years, I have never gotten all kids “there.” Not even close. So, I don’t overplay “there.” I “upplay” growth. That’s the goal. So, though not yet may still be a reality for some by the end, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t progressed, that the haven’t gotten closer, that they haven’t grown. They have. And now we will more intentionally capture that growth with the Response Record.

Factor of Five

I have informally practiced this for some time. In my work, I acknowledge and accept that we all have limits to our endurance. And within the feedback/response process fatigue is a factor–for both student and teacher. There are points of exhaustion, and as such, there are points of diminishing returns, so I set the limit at 5. Five engagements. We will engage up to five times with this Learning Check (more if kids choose). And growth will happen. It has to. I will hang my hat on that. The feedback/response process creates learning, fosters growth. That it guarantees. But it does not guarantee that all will meet the “desired end.” And that’s okay. It is. I no longer enter streets with dead ends. I look for paths where each will grow AS a matter of course.

Interventions

Yes, a feedback focus is a lot of work. But I think it is the work. It is the frame for learning. So, I have to find manageable frames for the interventions I provide during our engagements. Here’s my latest frame.

There is much I can anticipate about where I will likely meet my kids in their learning. So, I create a bank of anticipated interventions, which I am able to copy and paste, and this is a huge time saver. I keep them on a Google Doc that I make for that particular Learning Check. We expected this.

There is also much I can expect to generate, for I am always meeting my kids in places I did not expect, so as I meet them and come across common needs, I add my responses to the generated interventions list on the same Google Doc. We discovered this.

And then of course is the “each” I will meet, those who require a particular focus that fits them, and from here I build human, focused feedback when the general application doesn’t fit. This kid needed this.

Perfect? We have not yet met. Better? For now. Always better ahead. Thought I’d share my latest experiment. Out of time this morning. Hope you are all well.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“We have to do another practice analysis?”

My kids didn’t actually say this. They didn’t have to. I have learned to anticipate how they might respond to the work I put in front of them. So, as I was posting yet another “Analyzing Rhetorical Appeals in Advertising” practice tASK in Google Classroom, I imagined their voices, which prompted my going to the board to sort it out–for them, for me, for us.

I often find myself thinking on my board, trying to find the frame of things. Here, I wanted to frame–once again–the distinction between practice and performance in my room. I needed to first find it for myself, so I could frame it for my kids. Oh, it’s certainly not the first time I have done this; better is always about framing new findings from the Do-Reflect-Do Better cycle that is Project 180. My hope in such a cycle is to always find a better way to clarify our experience. So, this was the latest go.

Practice with Purpose

The purpose of practice in my room is to give the kids opportunity. It is here where I start them, give them direction, ask them to wade into the learning. At this point, unless they ask for support, it is a solo expedition. I never look at their practice. The agreement is completion from commitment, not compliance. So, it is never worth points. I trust they have committed. I have to. Otherwise, it’s compliance in disguise. I have to let them own it. And I tell them as much. And I have to remind them as much (they’ve had years of compliance conditioning before they get to me), so I remind them with discussions like this and the #MyRoomMessages and #DailyDiscssions I post each day.

Perform with Purpose

The purpose of performance in my room is support. This is where I formally and purposefully join my kids by responding to their work, giving them feedback for growth. It where the work becomes ours. It’s where I wade into teaching so we can swim around in the learning. The practice progresses into performance. It’s where the daily tASKs become learning checks (my name for assessments). And as the name suggests, we check their learning to activate my teaching. It is here where I become teacher. It is here in the feedback/response process where I feel I am performing my purpose as a teacher: supporting growth. And I tell my kids this. And I remind them of this. I am forever framing the experience.

Frames

Frames matter, especially for those of us who are braving better and daring different. It’s requisite. I discovered this as I began my own journey to better, which began with how I wanted to frame learning in my room, which led me to grappling with grading. And that is where Project 180 began: taking grades off the table, leaving only learning. I had to find a frame. And as I have moved through the years of Project 180, I find I am forever framing my work in and out of my room. And I am never more aware of this when I post on Twitter, and I realize how much depends on the frame, on the context.

I posted this yesterday morning as I was making my way through Year Four of the book, and I was reminded of a “cheating” aha I’d had that year. And, understandably, folks needed a frame, needed some context. So, I tried to frame what I meant by cheating, which took me to finding that framing is everything.

And I do think it’s all in how we frame it. But I also think it’s about discovering that we are always framing our work. We are forever framing. That’s the journey.

Happy Sunday, all. Sorry I have been MIA. Putting all my time and energy into finishing the book. Hope everyone is well. Happy New Year.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.