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Students demonstrate their learning through performance-based assessments and have opportunities to develop self-assessment and self-monitoring skills.
Students demonstrate their learning through performance-based assessments and have opportunities to develop self-assessment and self-monitoring skills.
Concept 1 - Students engage in STEM-specific performance assessments that provide opportunities for public demonstrations of learning.
Concept 1 - Students engage in STEM-specific performance assessments that provide opportunities for public demonstrations of learning.
Concept 2 - Students engage in goal-setting, formative self-assessment, and reflections on learning.
Concept 2 - Students engage in goal-setting, formative self-assessment, and reflections on learning.
Data and Goals/Growth
Data and Goals/Growth
Fairhope West Elementary students are given opportunities to reflect on their learning through many types of STEAM-based assessments. These assessments allow students ownership in their learning and gives them the opportunity to set goals to drive future learning. Through the Leader In Me process, students keep data notebooks in which they graph data such as Scantron and DIBELS. Graphing this data allows students to see where they are and track progress they are making throughout the year. Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) are also kept in data notebooks. Personal WIGs were created by teachers and modeled to students. Students then participated in creating class WIGs for the school year. These WIGs are developed with the Engineering Design Process in mind. Students ask what a class goal should be to help improve their learning, brainstorm possibilities of what the goal should be for their class, plan the process of meeting the goal, follow the process of meeting the goal, and then revisit where they are in the process of meeting the goal. The WIGs are posted in a prominent place for everyone to see for accountability.
Rubrics are used throughout grade levels as forms of assessment. First-grade rubrics for handwriting and writing allow students the opportunity to self-reflect on parts of their writing that need improvement. Students also use digital portfolios such as Seesaw not only to reflect, but communicate learning. This allows teachers to assess authentic student STEAM learning. Pre-kindergarten uses the Waterford program for students to reflect on reading, math, and social studies allowing the youngest students to take ownership in learning. Other types of formative assessments within classrooms include exit slips, quizzes, diagrams, and visual prompts (e.g. happy, and sad faces) allowing students to reflect on the Engineering Design Process.
A hands-on student accountability learning module is embedded into many aspects of student life at FWES. The Pelican’s Nest allows every student opportunity for active learning within an environment that also measures growth and reflection through digital portfolios. Kindergarten students built an animal habitat and then were able to reflect on their learning about the habitats using Seesaw (digital portfolio). First-grade students use Seesaw on a daily basis to read and talk about their writing and current books that they are reading.
Grayson Video (1).mp4Wax Museum.mp4
The second-grade Wax Museum gave students the opportunity to create a website page featuring facts and a timeline about their chosen person past or present making an impact on our world. These same second-grade wax figures were on public display creating an opportunity for a powerful exhibit of learning. Third-grade students were given the opportunity to participate in a public display of active learning by discussing their clubs during Leadership Day. Fifth- and sixth-grade students use presentation programs such as Google Slides and Adobe Spark to collaborate as a group giving them the opportunity to work as a body of learners while simultaneously displaying their knowledge.
Sixth-grade students wrote comic strips and haikus about their Hurricane Sally experience along with painting an abstract face to hang in their hallway about their emotional journey during the hurricane. This connected their real-life experience to a public display of knowledge while using a STEAM-based activity.
Sustaining Current Practice
Sustaining Current Practice
Rubrics are in place across grade levels to allow both students and teachers ways to assess learning. The Leader In Me process has given both students and teachers the tools needed to develop personal and class goals through WIGs. Self assessments are visited often by students to check learning and focus on improvement. Public displays of knowledge are schoolwide, but also within individual classroom walls. FWES believes that both self assessment and self-monitoring skills are vital to becoming a lifelong learner.
IMG_4551 (1).MOVPelican's Nest Reflection
Next Steps
Next Steps
As we continue our data driven path, FWES will continue to focus on greater use of digital and physical portfolios to measure our STEAM learning. We would also like to create more public displays of learning involving STEAM-performance. Students taking ownership of their own data and working to improve through data notebooks will be an ongoing challenge and opportunity for growth. Also, making sure to add appropriate rubrics to all STEAM-learning experiences will give students a clear expectation while still giving them voice and choice in their learning.
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