One of the things that teachers are often asked to do is come up with exit ticket ideas so the teacher has a better understanding of what students know. I think one sentence responses to questions do not really showcase whether a students knows something or not. Giving students time in class to actually create something that demonstrates what they have learned based on what was covered is more valuable. We use Seesaw in our Middle School and having students post their exit tickets there makes the most sense. For teachers who do not have access to that, other LMSs will work as well. If it comes down to it, the students can just how the teacher the completed exit ticket. Creating using Adobe Express is one of the easiest ways to have students generate exit tickets far beyond the scrap paper responses. Here are some examples across different classes.
1. ELA: One-Sentence Summary
In an English Language Arts class, 6th graders can use Adobe Express to create a one-sentence summary of the day's reading. They can choose a background and text style that reflects the theme of the story or article they read, encouraging them to think critically about the essence of the text.
Example: After reading a chapter of "Charlotte's Web" in class, student Mia uses Adobe Express to create a one-sentence summary. She chooses a background with a barn and spider web and writes, "Wilbur the pig forms a unique friendship with a clever spider named Charlotte." This captures the central theme of the chapter and shows Mia's understanding of the story's main elements.
2. Social Studies: Today's Top Lesson Takeaway
For a 7th-grade social studies class, students can use Adobe Express to design a 'Top Takeaway' poster. This could involve summarizing the most important fact or concept they learned about a historical event or figure discussed that day.
Example: In a lesson about Ancient Egypt, student Alex designs a 'Top Takeaway' poster on Adobe Express. He summarizes, "The Nile River was crucial to Ancient Egyptian civilization for agriculture and trade." Alex chooses imagery like pyramids and the Nile River to visually support his summary.
3. Science: Concept Visualization
In an 8th-grade science class, students can demonstrate their understanding of a scientific concept (like the water cycle or photosynthesis) by creating a simple visual representation using Adobe Express. This encourages them to distill complex ideas into basic, understandable components.
Example: Learning about ecosystems, student Sara creates a simple diagram on Adobe Express to illustrate a food chain in a forest ecosystem. She uses icons of a sun, plants, a rabbit, and a fox, and arranges them to show the energy flow. This demonstrates her understanding of how energy moves through an ecosystem.
4. Math: Real-World Application Example
After a math lesson, 6th graders can use Adobe Express to depict a real-world application of the concept they learned, like fractions or algebra. They can create a visual example, such as dividing a pizza into fractions or calculating change while shopping.
Example: After a class on fractions, student Jake uses Adobe Express to depict how fractions are used in slicing pizza. He creates an image showing a a pizza with one slice partially removed. He notes that this would be 1/8 of the pizza. Another example of what the fraction would look like if 3 slices were taken.
Adobe Express provides a quick, creative, and effective way for middle school students to demonstrate their understanding through exit tickets. These activities not only assess comprehension but also encourage students to engage with the material in a meaningful way. By incorporating such tools into everyday learning, educators can enhance the classroom experience and foster a deeper connection with the subject matter. Let's embrace the power of technology to make learning more dynamic and assessments more insightful.
One of the things that has had me excited this school year is really diving into the updated Adobe Express and seeing how it can be used for assessment. When I showcased Express to my teachers at the start of the year, there were plenty of "oohhs" and "ahhhs". Animate from Audio really got the foreign language teachers excited because they saw it is a great way to engage students who have been historically shy about recording themselves speaking and sharing it with class. Being able to choose a silly avatar represent their words should reduce much of their anxiety. I was thinking of other ways that content areas might use Adobe Express for assessment.
Here are four ways you can tap into the power of Adobe Express to evaluate your students' understanding and skills in innovative ways.
1. Digital Storytelling: Narrate a Historical Event
Digital storytelling is an exciting avenue for students to connect with historical events, as they use visuals and narrative to bring the past to life. Using Adobe Express, students can select a variety of images, design elements, and text to depict significant historical events.
How It Works: Assign a specific historical event or period. Ask students to research and then construct a digital story that provides a visual narrative. Not only does this allow them to dive deep into historical context, but they can also explore themes, significance, and personal connections. As an assessment, you can evaluate their research skills, storytelling abilities, and their grasp of historical context.
2. Scientific Process Visualization: Detail an Experiment's Progress
Sometimes, the best way to understand a scientific process is to see it visually. Adobe Express provides a platform where students can design infographics or visual reports that detail each step of their scientific experiment.
How It Works: After completing an experiment, students can use Adobe Express to create a step-by-step visual report. This will demonstrate their understanding of the scientific method and the specific experiment they conducted. By breaking down each stage with visuals, students can clearly communicate their process, findings, and conclusions.
3. Literary Analysis: Visual Book Reports
Gone are the days of the standard written book report. Let's elevate the experience with visual book reports! Students can utilize Adobe Express to craft a creative representation of their chosen book, including key themes, character developments, and critical scenes.
How It Works: Students select a book they've read and use Adobe Express to craft a visual book report. They can include quotes, images representing key scenes, and their own designs. By juxtaposing these elements, students can offer their interpretation and analysis of the book, showcasing their comprehension and critical thinking skills.
4. Geometry in Real Life: Shapes and Design
Geometry is everywhere, and Adobe Express can help students see it. By tasking students with identifying and outlining geometric shapes in real-world photos, they can connect classroom lessons with their surroundings.
How It Works: Students take or find pictures of real-world objects or scenes. Using Adobe Express, they highlight and label the different geometric shapes they identify. This assessment not only tests their knowledge of geometry but also their ability to connect theory with real-world application.
Adobe Express has proven to be more than just a design tool. It's a gateway to interactive and immersive learning experiences, allowing educators to assess students in ways that are both engaging and insightful. By incorporating these creative assessment methods into your teaching approach, you not only evaluate student understanding but also foster skills like critical thinking, creativity, and technological literacy.
I wanted to share with you some fantastic ways to engage and support neurodivergent students in your classroom. Before we dive into the awesome ideas, let's first understand what it means to be neurodivergent.
Neurodivergence refers to the natural variations in human brain function and processing. Students who are neurodivergent often have diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or other learning differences. Traditional assessments can be challenging for these students as they may struggle with processing information, organizing thoughts, or focusing their attention. So how can we, as educators, create a more inclusive and engaging assessment experience for these students? Enter Adobe Express!
Adobe Express is a versatile suite of creative tools that can help make learning more accessible and enjoyable for students with various learning needs. Here are four fun and creative ways Adobe Express can support neurodivergent students across different curricular areas and assessments:
Science: Comic Strip Lab Reports
Who says lab reports have to be boring and text-heavy? With Adobe Spark Post, students can create visually engaging comic strips to illustrate their scientific findings. By using images, symbols, and minimal text, neurodivergent students can better express their understanding of the scientific concepts without getting bogged down by the traditional written format.
Social Studies: Interactive Timelines
Assessing a student's understanding of historical events can be more than just a written test. Adobe Spark Video allows students to create interactive timelines that combine visuals, audio, and text to showcase their comprehension of the subject matter. Neurodivergent students can benefit from this multi-modal approach, as it allows them to process the information in a way that suits their individual learning style.
Language Arts: Creative Book Trailers
Reading comprehension and analysis are essential skills in language arts. Instead of the typical written book report, encourage your students to create a captivating book trailer using Adobe Spark Video. By combining images, music, and voiceovers, students can showcase their understanding of the book's themes, characters, and plot while also honing their storytelling skills. This approach is particularly helpful for neurodivergent students who may struggle with organizing and expressing their thoughts in writing.
Math: Visual Problem Solving
For some neurodivergent students, traditional math assessments can be overwhelming. Why not make math more accessible by incorporating visual problem-solving? With Adobe Spark Post, students can create graphics that illustrate their thought process when solving a math problem. By breaking down the problem into visual steps, students can better understand and communicate their mathematical reasoning.
So there you have it, four fun and creative ways to use Adobe Express to support neurodivergent students in grades 6-12. By implementing these ideas, we can make assessments more engaging and accessible for all students, fostering a more inclusive learning environment.
Do you give a cumulative final exam at the end of the school year? Is it mandated by your school? If not, why do you assess your students that way?
Final Exams and the weight they hold on final grades has been something that has bothered me for a while. At a previous school, the final exam was worth 20% of the student's overall grade. One bad exam day and, poof, there goes your average. If you have earned an A for the class, why should you have to take the exam when it only serves to penalize you for small lapses in memory or a missed bubble on a test sheet? If the final exam is designed to assess what you know and you have shown what you know throughout the year, what is the point? Regurgitating a whole year's worth of information is not a meaningful assessment of what a student knows. I gave projects as a final exam for as long as I could until I was forced to give the common final exam at my previous school. My challenge for teachers who are not required to give a common final exam is try something different.
Traditional exams fail to assess what all students know. They are great at assessing type "A" personality students who can cram for an exam, spit out the information, and then move on to the next test. The rest of us need something different. An opportunity to shine in a way that can still be assessed, but also removes the anxiety of an all or nothing exam.
I am very lucky to be working with schools that are actively moving away from the traditional assessment approach and are embracing Project Based Learning. Teachers feel much more excited about projects than they do MC tests. The students feel the exact same way. Here are some quick start tips for those interested in using a PBL approach to the end of the year assessment.
1. Identify the areas of growth and content you want to see in students.
Every content area has benchmarks that we want to see students reach. Identify the most important ones and outline them clearly for the students. Provide examples of assignments and/or readings completed during the year that connect to them.
2. Create a rubric that outlines how each benchmark can be recognized.
Rubrics should clearly lay out each area that a student will be assessed and what is needed for the teacher to recognize their work. Rubrics are not easy to create and will take time to get just right. Do your best and talk to students to make sure nothing is vague to them.
3. Give students the freedom to explore different mediums when creating their projects.
The more freedom many students have, the better the projects you will receive. Some students will need very strict guidelines to follow and other will excel when given complete freedom. You know which students those are in your class. Keep that in mind while support them through the process.
4. Give time for students to present to the class.
Student presentations allow the teacher to assess them using the rubric and also serve as a nice review of the material covered in class. Seeing the content over and over again in different formats can really help all students retain the information.
I have done this with my students I have received some of the very best projects I could hope for over the years. Here is one example that used interpretive dance to connect characters we encountered in our readings that year,
There are so many amazing possibilities for students if we give them a chance to showcase what they know in ways that go beyond the traditional exam. I hope more teachers out there will take a chance on doing things a little differently this year.
If you have any questions about Project Based Learning and how you might bring it to your classroom or school, feel free to reach out to me. My Summer is filling up, but I still have space if you want to connect.
Welcome back to the next installment of the PBL Q&A posts where I answer commonly asked questions about Project Based Learning. You can find the first post here if you want to catch up!
Another set of common questions I receive about Project Based Learning has to do with group work. Here are three of the most frequent,
1. "Should I assign groups or let students pick them?"
2. "What if a student doesn't want to work in a group"
3. "What do I do if I have students working in a group and one of the students is not doing the work?"
These are very tough questions to answer and can cause lots of stress for a teacher, especially if they are new to Project Based Learning. Let's unpack these questions and see what we can do provide some support when you encounter these in your classroom.
1. To assign or not to assign...
Group work is tricky because most of the time, it comes down to the chemistry of the group. As a teacher, if you do not know your students very well, assigning groups could be disastrous. The inner workings of the social structure of your students group might not be evident and conflict could pop up if students are forced to work together in groups. I have found that the start of the school year leans more toward student selected groups with some minor teacher intervention as needed.
Like all things school related, the age group of the students is important to consider. High school students are much better at choosing their own groups than middle school students. In my experience, having an honest conversation with students about choosing partners for projects really helps set the tone for the rest of the year. I explain that it is great to work with your friends, but you need to be able to trust them to do their part. I had friends that were great friends, but terrible work partners for projects. High School and Middle School students respond well to these conversations. Ultimately, I tell students that they can pick their groups and I will only get involved in extreme situations.
An extension of this part of the process focuses on the students that are not asked to join a group and this where it is important to really know your students. I have found asking a group of students to include the one looking for a group to join to invite them in is often very successful. I have seen amazing friendships blossom because of this approach. Other times, there are students who are not included in groups because they have a history of not doing their work. This issue leads to question 2.
2. Flying solo in group work
Many people find it hard to believe, but I am an introvert in many ways. Large scale group projects are not always my things and I only enjoy them if I can do my part of a larger project on my own or I am working with a close group of friends that understand my eccentricities. We often forget about our introverted students in the classroom in a rush to have everyone socialize and have "normal" interactions in the classroom. Sometimes it is ok to let the "quiet kid" stay the quiet kid.
Every lesson I have created that has a PBL element allows for the flexibility to be completed as a solo project. Every project has the opportunity to be expanded based on the number of students in the group. For example, if the average group size was three, an assignment for a novel we read might ask for 3 examples of theme and three examples of symbolism be showcased in their project. That would break down to each student being responsible for a theme and symbol example. If the group had four students, It would be up the examples to four. I tell the students that if they want to add more students to the group the work, and the expectations, go up. Group work is not about packing in as many bodies as possible to reduce the workload for everyone. After a certain number of students, there are diminishing returns.
For the student that goes solo, I will have a conference with them and see what we can do to adjust the assignment for them to meet them where they are. There are so many different reasons why a student might want to go solo for a project. I think it is important to have conversations with your students to find out where they are. I have had students tell me they are working the late shift the next two weeks to help their family and can't work in a group because they'd never be able to meet up with them. Some have had serious anxiety issues that make it difficult to connect with others outside of the classroom. Having these conversations with students is important because it will inform you on how much you will nudge them to work with other students.
I've encouraged students to push themselves to work with other that might not be in their friend group and see how different ideas can come together to create some interesting projects that really push their thinking. There have also been times when the group got the work done, but it was not an awesome experience. That is the reality of group work sometimes and it is important for students to understand that as well. Sometimes group work does not work the way we want it to and that leads us to questions 3.
3. Carrying the group
The toughest part of group work is when someone in the group is not doing their part. It is important to be upfront with students at the start of the year about the process that is in place when students are in groups and they feel one of their partners is not doing their work. Every teacher needs to create a process that is good for their students and must be comfortable adjusting it from class to class as needed. Here is the process that I had in place for my classes,
Student Responsibility
1. Talk to your group member to see if they need any help with their part of the project. Encourage them to see the teacher if they are having trouble getting started.
2. Privately talk to the teacher if you feel the project is getting close to the end and a group member has not completed or started their part of the project.
Teacher Responsibility
1. Once a student has had a conversation with you about the lack of progress, go over to the entire group and check-in with them about their progress. (Note: Hopefully project check-ins are a normal part of your class period while students are working on projects so this should not seem weird.) Ask each student where they are at and if they need any support. This is usually when you will see that a student has not been doing the work needed for the group project.
2. Have a private conversation with the student to see what type of support they need to be successful for the project. Some many things can be going on in a student's life that a school project is not a priority. This check-in can inform the next steps.
3a. The student was just stuck on an idea and was afraid to let their friends know. You help them get started and they are back on track with the rest of the group. An extension can be given for the whole group if the student needs a little extra time.
3b. The student needs to work on their own because of personal issues. The project is adjusted for the student so they can be successful and focus on the project in a way that does not add to the stress and anxiety they are already facing. Consider reaching out to other teachers and the appropriate school resources depending on the severity of the personal issues. The project is adjusted for the group as well as so they can focus on their work and not worry about the loss of their group member and the work they needed to complete.
3c. The student says they will get it together after the talk and shows some progress. Unfortunately, they do not finish their part of the project and the rest of the group is worried about their grade. Luckily, the project can be assessed based on the different parts that the students completed as individuals and their grade will not be harmed because a member of their group did not complete their part.
This last part opens the door to the next question I will write about next week that addressed the grading of project based learning. Here is a hint, it involved rubrics!
Every project in every class will present teachers with a new problem that has to be addressed. Group projects can lead to some amazing leaps in learning. Some can be downright disastrous. I will leave with a project from a group that I was worried about, but managed to pull it together and blow the class away. I present to you, The Great Gatsby Rap
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or to message me on Twitter @TheNerdyTeacher
I'm currently working on my Masters in Educational Technology. It has been interesting to from time to time. I'm currently in an assessment class. My biggest problem I have is that I'm being "taught" the importance of the Multiple Choice test and things of that nature. I recently wrote about my goal to go 10 weeks without tests and it was a huge success. The problem though, is that it goes against everything I'm being asked to do for this class. My philosophy on testing changed during this experiment and now I ned to smile and jump through the hoops. I can put on the good face, but the recent Discussion Board posts by fellow students annoyed me. Here are some excerpts from the posts.
Question: Is providing options for student performance assessments a “good” idea for classroom teachers? Explain your answer.
Responses:
"is it really preparing students for the future? Many times in our lives something is asked of us and we have to do it. Our boss tells us something is due or needs to be presented and we have to do it. If we allow students to choice the way they get assessed, we are not expanding there knowledge of how to do or take other assessments. My students would love to be able to not have to take a test or quiz, they would so much rather give an oral exam about some math topic, then have to do it."
"I also think that sometimes giving kids the options allows for many of them to simply take the "easy" way out. It is true that when giving a list of options for performance assessments, students will usually choose what they think is the easiest."
These are just two of a few teachers that are not big fans of the options approach to assessment. In fairness, the 2nd response did say some options could be good, but...
I love giving my students options and I work very hard to make sure that all of the options are difficult in their own way. I'm not asking for students to choose between drawing a picture of a book and creating 20ftX20ft mural for a school wall. All options are equal in work, assess the same thing, but require different skill sets. That is what options in assessments should look like. If there is an easy way out, don't fault the student, fault the assessment. I would take the easy assessment as well if I was a students. Who wouldn't? It requires more work from a teacher to review their assessments and make sure that there are options for most students and that they are equitable in the work load. I would prefer to take the easy way out and assign one assessment for every unit and move on to the next one. However, I'm a teacher and I need to teach students to be creative and grow as learners.
I tried to respond as nicely as I could to these teachers. I told them that taking tests is not the rest of their lives. Teaching students to be creative and solve problems in new ways is how we have innovation in the future. If we don't teach students to look at problems in a different light and come up with alternatives to solve them, we will never progress as a society. We need to stoke the fires of creation by giving students the option to create. Those options are crucial the building of a life long learner. Without options, we will be a nation of people that are really really good at filling in an oval with a #2 pencil. I refuse to create those people!
99Polls is a quick and easy way to get information. In under five minutes I was able to create and post a poll to my blog about Twitter and Teachers. You sign up for free and get started. Your homepage collects all of the data from your poll. This is great if you have polls set up on your blog, school homepage and any other locations. I love to get feedback from my students about lessons that I have taught, but I always feel they hold back because they do not want to offend me. It is really important to assess your own lessons, but feedback from the students is something teachers should not shy away from. The harshest criticism can help create the best lessons.
Try using this simple site to gauge the learning of a particular lesson one day. You might be interested is the response you get from your students. This is just another great and easy way to make the classroom a better place.
Here is my first update on the No Tests for 10 Weeks Challenge. I wanted to give the students an option for their final project on Art Spiegelman's Maus I and II. Many decided they wanted to do an essay and some decided to do PowerPoints. Here is a picture of what one student came up with that is pretty cool.
Gavin O.
Gavan decided to create a sculpture influenced by the stories that he read. He typed out a page and a half explaining the art. He created a Mobius Strip out of metal and used barbed wire to create a Star of David and a Swastika. He explained that the Mobius Strip symbolized the perpetual nature of the violence and how it affected the characters in the long run. Both symbols were used inside the sculpture because the two icons will forever be linked by the violence and the barbed wire symbolized the concentration camps. Even the stand had symbolism. He said the stand symbolizes an heirloom. The Holocaust is something that is passed down from generation to generation and should not be forgotten.
Now tell me that a 50 Question Multiple Choice Test would better assess this student.
I read this article on cheating and assessments and it got me thinking. In it, the article says that cheating increases as students get older because learning becomes more and more about testing and less and less about the mastery of skills. As a high school teacher, I spend my time telling students they need to learn this format because it will be on the ACT or the State Test. The reason I tell that to students is because the Administration tells us that these students need to learn these facts because they will be tested on them during the State Test and we need to make AYP to receive an "A" or NCLB. Our tests need to be designed to look like the State Test so students can become familiar with the look of the exam. Test taking strategies, although helpful, have become the focus of too much class time. As teachers, what are we teaching? Are we teaching kids how to be a part of the system? Take information and fill in a bubble? Success is measured by one score on a test that you can take multiple times? Information is only valuable until the assessment then it can be deleted from the mental hard drive? As I sit here peering over midterm exam scores, I realized that things need to change and I'm going to start today.
For the next 10 weeks, I am not going to give a test. All assessments will be project based and created by the students. If I'm really after finding out if they have mastered the material, why not let them show me how they mastered it. They might want to make a PowerPoint. One student might create a movie and another might write a poem or some. Heck, one student might choose to write an essay to show me how they mastered the skills. As long as the students know what skills they are expected to master, this should not be a problem. Right?
Here is how I think the process will work.
1. Teach Lesson that includes Skill Set X
2. Give a detailed explanation of Skill Set X
3. Have students create a project in a specified time frame that will demonstrate Skill Set X (A few suggestions will help kids see where I want them to go)
4. Students need to create a rubric for me to use when I grade the project
5. Students submit or present projects.
6. Skills Mastered
7. Nobel Prize in Education awarded (I'm sure there are a few steps in between, but I just skipped ahead for brevity's sake) :)
As an English teacher, I'm not suggesting that I will never have students write an essay ever again, but I think the essays I have students write that is more for structure than content could be replaced with a student led project. Instead of multiple essays to teach students to use transitions in paragraphs or the correct order of a Persuasive Essay, why not a song or comic book?
What do you think? Want to join me in this new campaign to change assessments in America? The change needs to start somewhere and why not help start it in your classroom. I'll keep everyone posted on the ups and downs of this rollercoaster ride. As always, thanks for reading and please leave feedback.
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