You Can't Build Skills in a Day

Published: 2023-11-28 3:10 PM

Category: Teaching | Tags: assessment, testing, proficiency, standards based grading, sbg

Test days are tough for my students because they need to be able to show skills in practice. This year, we're not giving any rote exams - there are no multiple choice questions and no true/false statements to guess on. Students are being asked to put skills into practice on their assessments. As a support, all of the tests this year are open note - students can reference their materials to build responses because I'm looking for application.

I don't stand up front and teach much. I try to spiral the activities so basics get built upon incrementally to develop the skills they'll be tested on. This can take time and it's uncomfortable because there is no "end" to an idea or concept. They can't put a skill in the rear-view mirror and just carry on to the next assignment.

Building up the productive struggle capacity helps students develop resiliency and work toward the end goal of being able to do the thing. Finding the balance between too easy and too hard is tough, especially when students arne't used to that kind of work. Metering out activities so they build their own meaning is the biggest challenge because many just give up. On my part, I need to resist the urge to jump in and confirm or deny their initial responses.

One thing that would help is closing the feedback loop. Some of these tasks are paper and pencil, so there is a gap in between completing the task and the feedback that comes with it. Using some digital tools can help, but then the device battle is on. Having some tangible, disconnected tasks helps with attention but feels harder for them in the moment.

I talked with students today about how many are doing double the work. They're so focused on what they're missing from not working with the system in place that they're falling further behind with the current material. There is time enough to do all the things, but it's up to them to engage in the work to make progress.