Partner with educators to empower students to use learning data to set their own goals and measure their progress.
Clear Communication for Setting Goals
Professional Experience
I have mentioned in one of my previous writings encouraging the use of the grading area in Canvas for students to identify assignments that were missing or late. I also spoke about allowing students to reflect in a survey about setting goals for themselves. I believe it's essential for educators to ask themselves what they want their students to learn, why it's important. But also consider how students feel about what or how they're learning. In Criterion 6B, I indicated that I had given students a survey to self-identify learning goals and at least the first step in accomplishing their goal. Just the act of reflecting on these things helped students to be mindful of the importance of their learning.
This year for the first and second marking periods of the year, I had allowed students to turn in projects up until the end of the marking period with no consequence to their grade. I did this because the school year's format was different from what it had been in the past. Because we started virtual and then hybrid, I understood that what students were being asked to do wasn't just "textbook." Just because today's students are digital natives does not necessarily mean that they understand everything about technology. While I held students accountable by giving them a zero if an assignment was not turned in, once they did turn it in, I gave them the total amount of points they earned for the project. A majority of students were turning in assignments on time or a little late, but I knew I had students who were taking advantage of the fact that they had an endless amount of time to work on assignments.
After I got the results of a self-reflective survey, where students indicated levels of self-efficacy about their learning and personal goals, I saw that most students were comfortable with the idea of working in the flipped classroom format. They sounded confident with their skills for turning in assignments correctly. I wanted to set the bar a little higher to challenge students. I changed my grading policy to hold students more accountable for their work habits, and I initiated a fundamental change to the LMS homepage. Then I communicated these changes to students and parents.
On the homepage, I create a playlist of weekly activities. The playlist identifies when assignments should be turned in and the date at which their grade will drop. Students navigate to assignments by clicking the links to current projects. I also provide ample time during the class where we work on assignments together or offer one-on-one help to any students who need it.
Other than the playlist on the homepage, the other change that took place was in the grade book. Besides students receiving a zero for missing or late assignments, I configured the grade book to calculate one percentage point a day off for each late assignment. Students can still turn in late assignments, but now there are consequences to their grade when it is late. These changes have helped improve communication about what is due, allow students to connect easily with work, and motivate them to set goals to monitor their progress.
All of the ideas presented in the Data-Driven Decision Maker module are valuable concepts that I should share with other colleagues. These simple ideas help to improve communication and student success. By providing quantitative and qualitative data that helps identify potential areas of improvement, teachers can help students identify learning goals.
Professional Experience
I have mentioned in one of my previous writings encouraging the use of the grading area in Canvas for students to identify assignments that were missing or late. I also spoke about allowing students to reflect in a survey about setting goals for themselves. I believe it's essential for educators to ask themselves what they want their students to learn, why it's important. But also consider how students feel about what or how they're learning. In Criterion 6B, I indicated that I had given students a survey to self-identify learning goals and at least the first step in accomplishing their goal. Just the act of reflecting on these things helped students to be mindful of the importance of their learning.
This year for the first and second marking periods of the year, I had allowed students to turn in projects up until the end of the marking period with no consequence to their grade. I did this because the school year's format was different from what it had been in the past. Because we started virtual and then hybrid, I understood that what students were being asked to do wasn't just "textbook." Just because today's students are digital natives does not necessarily mean that they understand everything about technology. While I held students accountable by giving them a zero if an assignment was not turned in, once they did turn it in, I gave them the total amount of points they earned for the project. A majority of students were turning in assignments on time or a little late, but I knew I had students who were taking advantage of the fact that they had an endless amount of time to work on assignments.
After I got the results of a self-reflective survey, where students indicated levels of self-efficacy about their learning and personal goals, I saw that most students were comfortable with the idea of working in the flipped classroom format. They sounded confident with their skills for turning in assignments correctly. I wanted to set the bar a little higher to challenge students. I changed my grading policy to hold students more accountable for their work habits, and I initiated a fundamental change to the LMS homepage. Then I communicated these changes to students and parents.
On the homepage, I create a playlist of weekly activities. The playlist identifies when assignments should be turned in and the date at which their grade will drop. Students navigate to assignments by clicking the links to current projects. I also provide ample time during the class where we work on assignments together or offer one-on-one help to any students who need it.
Other than the playlist on the homepage, the other change that took place was in the grade book. Besides students receiving a zero for missing or late assignments, I configured the grade book to calculate one percentage point a day off for each late assignment. Students can still turn in late assignments, but now there are consequences to their grade when it is late. These changes have helped improve communication about what is due, allow students to connect easily with work, and motivate them to set goals to monitor their progress.
All of the ideas presented in the Data-Driven Decision Maker module are valuable concepts that I should share with other colleagues. These simple ideas help to improve communication and student success. By providing quantitative and qualitative data that helps identify potential areas of improvement, teachers can help students identify learning goals.