reflection as assessment in the writing classroom kristen hawley turner krturner@fordham.edu

REFLECTION AS ASSESSMENT IN THE WRITING CLASSROOM

Kristen Hawley Turnerkrturner@fordham.edu

PAPER LOAD

What do you see in your mind when you read these two words? How do you feel?

Free write in response to the words, the questions, or some other trigger related to the topic.

Goals of the Workshop

To connect writing and reflection in meaningful ways

To provide teachers of writing with tools to make students accountable

To encourage teachers to make reflective thinking a priority

Workshop Questions

Why is reflective practice important?

How can reflection make students more accountable for process?

How can I use reflective practice to assess my students without adding to my paper load?

Theories of Writing

Writing as a Product

Writing as a Process of Stages

Writing as a Recursive Process

Theory of Reflection

Reflection occurs in a series of stages.(Dewey, 1933 - Suggestion, Intellectualization, Hypothesizing, Reasoning, Testing)

The learner need not progress through stages in a linear way.

Through reflective thinking, learners become aware of what they know and what they need to know. They actively participate in the learning experience.

The Connection

“Writing is thinking.”Hillocks, 2002

Process and Product Content and Form

Reflection Defined

"looking forward to goals we might attain, as well as casting backward to see where we have been" (p.6)

PROJECT and REVIEW

Yancey (1998)

Reflection Defined (cont.)

For writing, the processes of reflection include:

– goal-setting, revisiting, and refining                  – text-revising in the light of retrospection – the articulating of what learning has taken place

Yancey (1998)

Key Point #1: Reflection is important.

“A kind of formative feedback the learners give themselves…. Such self-evaluation is essential to a [learner’s] growth toward confidence and mastery, in fact is the very stuff of learning.”

Lucas, “Introduction: Writing Portfolios – Changes and Challenges” from Portfolios in the Writing Classroom

Key Point #2: Teachers cannot do all the work.

“Probably the most crucial change is the need for the teacher to learn to read papers quickly and to respond in a way that helps students revise their work.”

Newkirk, “Read the papers in class” from How to Handle the Paper Load, 1979, p. 35.

Reflection as Assessment: Making Students Accountable

Knowledge of Course Content– Build a community of reflective thinkers through

low-stakes (level 1 or 2) reflective activities.

Development of Writing Ability– Use three stages of reflection in level 2 and 3

writing tasks.

Knowledge of Course Content

Essential Questions

Writing to Learn

Sample Essential Questions

American Literature (10th grade)– How has prejudice led to oppression and how

have oppressed people resisted through literature?

– What voices have I not heard and why?

– Where am I now, where have I been, and where am I going?

Workshop Questions

Why is reflective practice important?

How can reflection make students more accountable for the process of learning?

How can I use reflective practice to involve my students in assessment?

Creating a community of reflective thinkers by using writing as a tool for learning

– Reflective journals

– One pagers

– Mid term self assessment

Reflective Journals

Rubric for individual journals

Taking it online– www.nicenet.org– Sample

Assessment– Peer and Self Evaluation

Rubric for individual journals

T– www.nicenet.org– Sample

Assessment– Peer and Self Evaluation

One Pagers

Rubric

Mid-term Self Assessment

Demonstrate the content knowledge you have gained in this course by answering the essential questions. You may use any form of writing that best helps to convey your knowledge.

Were you able to answer the questions to

your own satisfaction? If not, why?

The Point…

Reflection is best achieved when it is habitual.

Not all writing must be graded or even read.

Development of Writing Ability

Based on Yancey (1998): Stages of Reflection – making the processes explicit

– Reflection-in-actionReview, revision, and hypothesizing that occurs in a single composing event or learning experience

– Constructive reflection Takes place over multiple composing events or learning experiences

– Reflection-in-presentationPublic and evaluative assessment of the learner

REFLECTION-IN-ACTION

Talk Back

Writer’s Memo

STOP. THINK. PROJECT or REVIEW.

Talk Back

Writer’s Talk Back

Writer’s Memo

Writing Task Reflection

Peer Group Memo

CONSTRUCTIVE REFLECTION

This ‘n That

Quarterly Portfolio

Revision with Track Changes

This ‘n That

Students take the time to compare two assignments – the content, the genre, the score received, etc. They make a judgment about their growth across the assignments.

Graphic Organizer

Quarterly Portfolio

Sample Assignment

Students examine the work accomplished during the quarter. They document their growth and their goals for the next term.

Sample Rubric

Revision with Track Changes

Quarterly Revision Assignment with Rubric

Markup in Word

REFLECTION-IN-PRESENTATION

Final Exam

End-of-year portfolio

Final Exam

In a letter to yourself, reflect upon your growth as a reader, writer, and thinker by revisiting your journals, class notes, homework assignments, projects and other work from throughout the year. Refer to specific work as you document your learning.

End-of-year Portfolio

Assignment/Process

A chance for students to answer the essential questions by examining the work they have done, realizing what they know, and documenting their understandings.

Sample Rubric

FINAL REFLECTION

Imagine:

It is the end of June. Students have exited your classroom for the year. Your exams are graded. Your desk is clear. And you have time for some annual reflection. You decide to share with your administrator the knowledge you took from this workshop into your teaching by answering the essential questions of the workshop and providing artifacts from your work that speak to your continued understanding. What artifacts do you have available to you? How has your understanding of reflection developed? What would you still like to learn?

References

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Lexington, MA: DC Heath.

Hillocks, G. (2002). The testing trap. NYC: Teachers College Press. Stanford, G. (Ed.).  (1979).  How to handle the paper load.  Urbana, IL:

NCTE.

Yancey, K. B. (1998).  Reflection in the writing classroom.  Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.

Yancey, K. B. (Ed.).  (1992).  Portfolios in the writing classroom.  Urbana, IL: NCTE.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.