Resource of the Week
"Using formative assessments designed to check for understanding and provide students with feedback and support is one of the most effective ways to improve and enhance student learning."
Our resource this week comes from Jay McTighe, who is a pretty smart guy and has written many books and presents on a number of education-related topics across the country. He shares some formative assessment ideas that are effective. Take a look at the eight strategies...many of these happen routinely in our classrooms, but there may be a few to steal...I particularly love #4 because of the critical thinking involved the recognize a mistake and think through what the correct process should have been.
"8 Quick Checks for Understanding" - Jay McTighe
Helping Students Make Sense of Facts/News Sources/Bias...
The new Social Studies and ELA standards certainly include parts of helping students sort out information, recognize bias, research sources, etc. In our country today, understanding sources and author's intent is such a critical skill for our students to acquire. Below are a couple of resources for how we can help students become critical consumers of content.
The following is from the Marshall Memo, January 26, 2021
1. Beyond Fact-Checking: Media Literacy Skills to Combat “Truth Decay”
In this Rand Corporation report, Alice Huguet, Garrett Baker, Laura Hamilton, and John Pane bemoan what they call truth decay – “the diminishing role that facts, data, and analysis play in our political and civic discourse.” Here’s their analysis of what’s gone wrong and their synthesis of recommended standards for teaching media literacy skills in schools:
• Problem #1: Increasing disagreement about facts and interpretations of facts and data
Teaching standards:
- Recognizing the limitations of one’s own knowledge and understanding of the facts;
- Filling gaps in knowledge by using experts, libraries, and search engines;
- Understanding how today’s information sources and tools can skew facts and perspectives – for example, search engine algorithms, specialized discussion groups, choice of social media connections.
• Problem #2: Declining trust in formerly respected sources of facts and information
Teaching standards:
- Evaluating the expertise of purveyors of information (academic credentials, role, firsthand knowledge) and their motivations (political, financial);
- Evaluating whether information meets established scientific, journalistic, and peer review standards;
- Analyzing information for bias, deception, or manipulation;
- Considering the social, political, and historical contexts of information and how those influence meaning.
• Problem #3: An increasingly blurred line between opinions and facts
Teaching standards:
- Seeing the way technology (e.g., audio and video “deep fakes”) can sow doubt about formerly trustworthy sources;
- Analyzing whether evidence can be independently confirmed and identifying gaps in support or reasoning;
- Comparing multiple viewpoints and spotting discrepancies;
- Recognizing how one’s emotions can be triggered, influencing attitudes and eliciting certain behaviors.
• Problem #4: The tendency for one’s own opinions and experiences to override facts
Teaching standards:
- Monitoring the intended and unintended consequences of what one shares online;
- Recognizing how one’s own cultural perspectives influence one’s interpretations of information, especially on controversial topics;
- Remaining open to updating one’s own views when presented with new facts and evidence;
- Taking action rooted in evidence: constructing new knowledge, creating and sharing media, and engaging in informed conversations and decisions on key issues.
“Responsible engagement with the information ecosystem is not simply about consuming information,” conclude Huguet, Baker, Hamilton, and Pane. “It is also about creating, sharing, and selectively emphasizing content.”
“Media Literacy Standards to Counter Truth Decay” by Alice Huguet, Garrett Baker, Laura Hamilton, and John Pane, Rand Corporation, January 2021; Huguet can be reached at Alice_Huguet@rand.org.
Staff Goals
In our grade level meetings this week, we discussed an activity we had done in the past...our "Adopt-a-Student" activity. I asked teachers to think of a student that was in need of a boost in their academic performance, and take them under their wing for the week...setting a goal in regards to performance of the student. This type of goal setting can happen for any staff member working with students....The "adopt-a-student" idea centers around thinking of this student as special to you...maybe how you'd view a nephew, niece, or child of your own....and take an extra interest in seeing them through to success...I'm looking forward to hearing the results. Thank you in advance for your work with these kiddos!
Pig Races
We are ready! The timeline and details are set, and with the start of February next Monday comes the start of Pig Mania at PMS. Check out this document for the details of the competitions that will take place including the timelines. I can't wait to see the creativity of our students and staff come out with this activity.
Contribute to Educational Research??
A teacher who is working on her Master's degree is seeking some teacher participants in her research about educator's confidence in teaching about social justice. If you would like to contribute, you can fill out the survey at the link below. The survey takes about 8 minutes, and is for teachers that teach grades 6-12.
https://uwsuperior.co1.
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