53 Ways to Check for Understanding

Evaluation Within Project-Based Learning No test, grade, or teacher evaluation could have come close to helping her learn that deeply, and it made clear to me how important it is for teachers to reexamine why and how we grade our students if we truly care about their success. As collaboration and project-based learning become preeminent ways of teaching and learning, many teachers struggle with how to evaluate these types of lessons. Traditional methods of evaluation, which have many flaws on their own, are not well-suited for interdisciplinary, multi-modal learning. First-Class Formative Assessment Tips for Every Teaching Toolkit Our students are all one-of-a-kind. They are the types of students that need unique assessment processes that are relevant to instruction in the modern digital age. For the diverse and creative bunch of kids in our classrooms today, formative assessment fits the bill like no other.

Art 1 The elements and principles of design are the building blocks used to create a work of art. Elements of Art are the visual "tools" that artists use to create an art work - they are what makes up an image or an art object: line, shape/form, value, color, space, and texture. Principles of Design are the ways artists use the Elements of Art in an artwork - this is "what we do with the Elements" - how we arrange them, how we balance them, what is being emphasized, etc. The principles are: balance, contrast, repetition, emphasis, and unity. frenchtoday Learning French, like any other new language, implies a lot of memorization, and often, as adults, our memory is not what it used to be. These 12 tips will help you memorize new information longer, and learn French more efficiently. 12.

The Qualitative Formative Assessment Toolkit: Document Learning with Mobile Technology What is qualitative formative assessment? Some call it anecdotal or informal assessment. However, such designations imply passivity -- as if certain things were captured accidentally. Metacognition: Nurturing Self-Awareness in the Classroom How do children gain a deeper understanding of how they think, feel, and act so that they can improve their learning and develop meaningful relationships? Since antiquity, philosophers have been intrigued with how human beings develop self-awareness -- the ability to examine and understand who we are relative to the world around us. Today, research not only shows that self-awareness evolves during childhood, but also that its development is linked to metacognitive processes of the brain.

How to Improve Your French with French Movies - Learn French Lots of students seem to believe that watching French movies is a great way to improve their French. It can be, but only if you have the appropriate level of French. You should be ready to "work" with the movie, not just casually watch it with the English subtitles on. Audio Player Fantastic Comprehensive List of Assessment Tools for Teachers About ETR Community EdTechReview (ETR) is a community of and for everyone involved in education technology to connect and collaborate both online and offline to discover, learn, utilize and share about the best ways technology can improve learning, teaching, and leading in the 21st century. EdTechReview spreads awareness on education technology and its role in 21st century education through best research and practices of using technology in education, and by facilitating events, training, professional development, and consultation in its adoption and implementation.

Do No Harm: Flexible and Smart Grading Practices My Edutopia post When Grading Harms Student Learning generated a lot of buzz. Grading is an emotional subject, with strong-held opinions and ideas. I was really excited to see discussion on all sides of the issue. The best feedback for me was that, while many readers agreed with parts of the premise, I hadn't been specific on support strategies. frenchtoday Many beginner and intermediate French students are looking for French movies easy enough to understand. It's quite a challenge, so I asked my students and ex-students to help me put together a list of French films they found easier to understand, and these were the most popular results. Please keep in mind these are not the most famous French movies, nor the classics, but they are listed here because they are somewhat easy to understand for French learners. Understanding movies in French is a BIG challenge, so don’t feel bad if you cannot do it. Just use the subtitles and enjoy the movie :-)

Library Girl's Picks: The Best Digital Tools for Formative Assessment On Monday, I had the opportunity to participate in another fab edition of the TL Virtual Cafe webinar series. This month's PD offering was an "Edutech Smackdown" featuring the Queen of All Things Library: Joyce Valenza. I love these smackdown sessions because they are the ultimate crowdsourced PD. Everybody grabs a slide (or two or ten) and when their time comes, takes the mic to share something they love.