Module 1 Reflection

The "Inside the Black Box" reading assignment really struck a chord with me. It asks "Is there evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards?" The answer is an unequivocal "yes!" This makes a lot of sense to me. It stands to reason that if you can get better at seeing how students are learning along the way, then you will end up with a better result.

I particularly liked the idea that "the students have to change from behaving as passive
recipients of the knowledge offered by the teacher to becoming active learners who can take responsibility for and manage their own learning." Learning is a two-way street. The teachers may be the ones who set up the "road" initially, but the students have to be responsible for the path they take. In my at-risk education experience, many students who were classified as at risk were really ones who never learned to take any responsibility at all for anything.

Of course, this means that teachers have to take responsibility to have the courage to let go of total control of their classes. I hope in my new learning coach position I'm able to help guide teachers towards this belief. Hopefully this class will give me ideas on how best to facilitate that shift in thinking.