Saving the world, Conservation and outdoor education

The kids have just finished watching the final episode of the Brilliant BBC series Africa, hosted and narrated by David Attenborough. As we watch the last part of the last episode, Attenborough made a point about the importance of the wild places and the need for these to sustain the planet. The series was predictably [...]

End of unit review – What do you think?

I am working on an end of unit review that I want to use with all of the teachers in my faculty. The purpose of the review is multiple: I would like the students to give us feedback on the unit of learning they have just undertaken Assessment and learning objectives should be clear and [...]

Starter Sheet – Diagnostic assessment using a Moodle Quiz

This is the next starter sheet in the assessment series. This is slightly more specialized in terms of the software being used, but the principles being applied are the same no matter what the testing tool is. Diagnostic testing is looking backwards to plan forwards. It can also include a snapshot of the understanding of [...]

Starter Sheet – Formative Assessment using Voicethread

This is the next starter sheet in the assessment series. This starter sheet looks at using the versitile and adaptable workhorse Voicethread http://voicethread.com to provide rich formative feedback to the students in text, audio or audio-visual mediums. Students are able to develop and upload presentations and then narrate these leaving voice comments as narration on [...]

Starter Sheet – Diagnostic assessment using Google Forms

Diagnostic assessment is one of the three main forms of assessment we use. It is critical element of good teaching practice as it values past learning and lets us work out where our students are as we continue the learning journey. Diagnostic assessment is used at the start of a unit of learning and frequently [...]

Starter Sheet -Providing Feedback in Google Documents

This is the next starter sheet in the set I am working on for providing technology tools for feedback. In this starter sheet, its looking at the tool set available in Google documents to provide feedback, critiques and correction. The tools include the revision history tool and using the comments tools to have a threaded [...]

Ladder of Feedback – Student unit review

The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project  Zero team has developed a useful tool for providing feedback. The tool is intended for a colleague or peer to provide feedback to a teaching peer about either their lesson, unit or potentially course of learning. I have been working on assessment for some presentation I have coming [...]

Starter Sheet – Review tools in MS Word

I am developing some resources for feedback and assessment for a couple of presentations in an doing. One of the tools that I want to use with staff for providing feedback is the review tools in MS Word. These allow the reviewer to make comments, corrections and suggestions with the learner. These are a great [...]

Thinking about assessment Part 3

Thinking about Assessment  – Summative & Understanding by design. Summative assessment is a snapshot in time. It is a statement of what a student knows or does not know at one moment. We are very familiar with this style of assessment, we see it in examinations, in qualifications whether they are norm referenced or criterion [...]

Playing Globally

Our classrooms are not limited to the four walls of the physical building we teach in but can encompass the entire of the planet. Technology, and much of it is free, has enabled us to push back the classroom walls and stretch our virtual arms across the globe to shake hands with classrooms and students [...]