Is the learning in your classroom 'googleable?'

Sure, we need to know some basic things before we are able to elevate and take our learning to the next level.

And yes, absolutely, there are questions we will ask and tasks we will assign that could be easily solved via Google.

However...

What's that ratio look like in your classroom?

Is it a 50/50 split between 'googleable' answers vs. 'not-googleable' answers?

Or, is the divide even wider...?

Better yet, would you be willing to do an activity with your students and have them post the questions being asked in your class in one of these two categories like Ewan McIntosh did?

http://notosh.com/lab/googleable-vs-non-googleable-questions/

Would you be brave enough to do this type of vulnerable, transparent and reflective activity with your students?

Would you have the willingness to change what you're doing based on the findings of this type of activity?

A quick & easy way to boost question complexity

Imagine you are designing an assessment. You have a set of questions that you would like to ask but you are struggling to find ways to elevate the levels of complexity and rigor associated with those questions.

One quick and easy way to boost depth of knowledge and rigor levels is to simply add a picture to the question.

For example:

English question - What is the difference between effect and affect?

Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more?

Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops?

Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group?

Now, all 4 of these questions are low level depth of knowledge questions. They are simple recall for the most part and don't have much rigor associated with them. You either know the answers, or you don't. These are hard questions if you don't know the answers, but the reality is there is no real complexity to these questions. Remember, hard and rigorous are NOT synonymous...

Take these low level questions to a higher level by adding an image:

English question - What is the difference between effect and affect? (In this image students compare both situations and evaluate the difference between the two words. This requires tapping into prior knowledge and understanding the progression of one image to another while inferring the results of what would happen next.)

Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more? (In this image students can visualize the question as well as anticipate what would happen with the two pieces about to be eaten. Then, students can anticipate how much of the pizza will remain and compare that to a full not eaten pizza.)

Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops? (In this image students can evaluate the attack and recognize that the fort was fortified, the Southern troops were at an elevated position, and the fort was difficult to approach due to water on at least one side.)

Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group? (In this image students can recognize that bison work together by walking in a line in the snow so each individual bison wouldn't have to plow through the snow. The work is being done by one bison and the entire group benefits from the work of that bison.)

Increasing rigor through formative & summative assessments

"Knowing" is no longer good enough...

The knowing vs. doing gap...

We all know we should probably eat healthier and exercise more often, but what we know and what we do are sometimes two different things...

The same thing goes for our students. 

Our students know a lot, however can they do something to demonstrate & validate their "knowing...?"

Think about the types of activities your students are completing. Are they simply regurgitating information in isolated chunks, or are they applying information on a larger scale as part of a more complex process with essential skills embedded?

The value of content is descending... while the value of filtering, finding & sharing content is ascending. It's not what kids "know" that's important, it's how they can apply, demonstrate, explain and transfer the "known" that's important...

Watch this 6 minute video about the value of information:

Rigorous and hard are not synonymous...

There is a significant difference between something 

being hard and something being rigorous...

For example, assume a student has been learning about the 50 states in the United States of America. The last two weeks of class have been focused on learning not just the 50 states, but also learning the history of America and the significant events that have occurred leading up to the current 50 state structure.

Assessment 1: Collaboratively design and create a presentation focusing on one of the major events in America's history that have affected and/or played a significant role in our current 50 state structure. Be prepared to present this to your classmates and be able to justify/explain why this particular event was so significant in America's history

Assessment 2: Using a blank map of the United States, write down and correctly spell all 50 states.

Assessment 1 is rigorous because it is complex and has depth. There are several steps to this assessment, and most importantly, the assessment is not specific to just the content, but also to skills that are transferable to other content areas and beyond. This assessment requires students to work collaboratively while providing them flexibility and creativity to present in a manner they so choose. This assessment can have multiple correct answers.

Assessment 2 is hard because it is asking each student to have memorized the location of each state, as well as have memorized how to spell each state correctly. This assessment is also hard because it disconnects much of the information presented over the last two weeks in regard to the history of the 50 states. Students will think the important focus is on just knowing the 50 states and how to spell them, rather than the history and background behind our current 50 state structure. This assessment can only have one correct answer.

WE NEED DOK LEVEL 1 QUESTIONS... WHAT WE DON'T NEED IS JUST DOK LEVEL 1 QUESTIONS.

Watch this 4 minute video discussing a rigor matrix comparing DOK levels and Bloom's Taxonomy.

Check out Karin Hess' Rigor Matrix mentioned in the video here: Rigor Matrix

Depth of Knowledge & Student Engagement

Karin Hess on Depth of Knowledge (3 minute video)
*Click on Karin's name for the Cognitive Rigor Matrix

"Whether you realize it or not, all your students are engaged all the time. The important question is, what are they engaged in?"

How can we continue making this shift in our classrooms? Shifting away from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom. It's not about doing less work, it's about making education more purposeful, more relevant, and more engaging for our students.

It's all about the approach for our students... how can you help guide and direct them to the right approach?

These might not show up on a standardized test, but nevertheless they are extremely important. How do we and how are we teaching this...?

Because of the time of the year, you probably need a little encouragement to smile, laugh, or cry... or perhaps all three at the same time; watch this 4 minute video to kick start your week!

Assessments, and the role they play in student learning...

Assessment is an ongoing, systematic process that involves:

• Establishing clear, measurable expected goals of student learning
• Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information
• Applying information and using the results for continuous improvement of teaching and learning.

Student Learning includes the knowledge, skills, and personal development attained through curricular, co-curricular, and out-of-class learning experiences.

"The value of assessments lies not just in the quality of the test itself, but also in how the information from the assessments is used..."

Take a few moments and evaluate the alignment of your classroom instructional practices and activities to the types of assessments you are assigning. If your classroom activities are not matching up with the skills and application of knowledge you are requiring your students to complete on assessments, then your assessments will not provide you with valuable and relevant data. Likewise, if the level of rigor and DOK on your classroom activities are unbalanced with your assessments, you will not be able to make fair and/or accurate conclusions in regard to assessment data.

Lastly, personalizing the types and frequency of assessments for individual students may seem daunting and difficult, but consider this image below and reflect on your assessment practices. If the goal of assessments is to get useful and relevant data to drive and guide classroom instruction in an effort to best meet the needs of our students, then this image makes quite a statement...