Learning Plan
Analyzing student work allows teachers the opportunity to adapt instruction for individuals or the class as a whole. It is critical for teachers to constantly examine student work to see the results of their teaching. If student work does not reflect the desired learning, teachers can revisit their methods and try again.
Try it!
Task 1: Looking at student work by yourself
Gather a class set of work samples from different students in response to the same assignment.
Carefully examine the samples and fill in the three boxes on the Evidence of Understanding Worksheet (below)
Reflection for Task 1
On Canvas, you will submit your completed Evidence of Understanding Worksheet and offer brief reflections on the following prompts:
What have you learned from the examination of the class set as a whole about the students’ understanding and/or mastery of the stated learning goal?
Where might you go next with instruction in this subject area – how will this analysis guide your future planning?
What might you recommend be done differently when teaching this activity or introducing this assignment in the future?
Read
This snippet from the Coalition of Essential Schools :
“The New York Times Science pages recently told the story of the heart surgeons in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont-there are only 23 in all-who agreed in 1993 to observe each other regularly in the operating room and share their know-how, insights, and approaches. In the two years after their nine-month-long project, the death rate among their patients fell by an astonishing 25 percent. Merely by emphasizing teamwork and communication instead of functioning like solitary craftsmen, the study showed, all the doctors brought about major changes in their individual and institutional practices.
For teachers who, like heart surgeons, have traditionally worked as isolated professionals, the experiment holds a powerful lesson. If their goal is to lower the "death rate" of young minds and see them thrive, many educators now emphatically believe, they can do it better together than by working alone.”
Protocols
Protocols are structured discussions that can guide teachers through the process of looking at student work together.
They force busy teachers to take the time to engage with student work on a level deeper than recording grades. They also provide outside feedback that can illuminate new perspectives or approaches. Protocols provide structure to help temper a hesitancy to comment or tendency to overshare. The time limits and turn-taking built into protocols allow for more equitable sharing.
why_protocols.pdfNew to protocols? Read this short piece on the rationale for using them! (Document also available here.)
Below are some general guidelines for learning from student work as a group (available here).
guidelines_lfsw_horace_0.pdfDifferent protocols require specific types of comments. Familiarize yourself with the characteristics of description, interpretation, and evaluation (excerpted from Blythe, T., Allen, D., & Powell, B.S. (2015). Looking Together at Student Work.)
Description, Interpretation, Evaluation.pdfTry it!
Task 2: Tuning Protocol Presenter
Participate in a Tuning Protocol as the presenter
See the Tuning Protocol Description for guidelines
Read about the Tuning Protocol below (document also available here).
Tuning-N_0.pdfThese are actual teachers participating in a Tuning Protocol.
(Feel free to go to the settings area on this video and set the speed to 1.5!)
Prepare to present student work during a Tuning Protocol with colleagues.
Review the Tuning Protocol Description
Recruit 2-3 colleagues to participate in the protocol
Make copies of the Tuning Protocol Description for all participants
Select Student Work to present
Make copies of student work for all participants
sugg_bring_stud_work_0.pdfTips for selecting student work to share!!! (Document also available here.)
Try it!
Task 3: Tuning Protocol Facilitator or Participant
Participate in a Tuning Protocol as the facilitator or participant
See the Tuning Protocol Description for guidelines
Reflection for Tasks 2 and 3:
On Canvas, you will offer brief reflections on the following prompts:
Name the people who participated in your Tuning Protocols.
When did you participate in your Tuning Protocols?
When you were the presenter, what work did you select to present during the Tuning Protocol?
Why did you select that work?
What focusing question did you present as a specific invitation for feedback?
What new perspectives did your colleagues provide and how can you make use of their input?
What questions about teaching and assessment did looking at the student work raise for you and how can you pursue these questions further?
Are there things you would like to try in your classroom as a result of looking at the student work?
Want Credit for this work on your teacher evaluation?
Copy and paste your reflections into an e-mail to your principal as proof of Marzano Element 51 in Domain 3 “The teacher articulates how they use student achievement from a lesson or unit to determine its effectiveness.”
Task 4: Explore other Protocols
Go to the School Reform Initiative protocol list and look at additional protocols.
On Canvas, you will answer the following questions:
Name two protocols you think might be useful when looking at student work.
Why do you think each protocol would be helpful?