ALOHA!Empower Students
through Self-Assessment
Violet Harada and Patricia Louis2011 AASL Conference
Minneapolis, MN
Who we are
Violet HaradaProfessor, Library and Information Science, University of Hawaii
Patricia LouisLibrarian, Aliamanu Elementary, Honolulu, Hawaii
A note
This version of our slide presentation captures the content without the visuals.
Game plan for session
• Share why self-assessment is vital• Provide examples of how self-assessment can
be built into K-12 lessons• Engage everyone in developing simple self-
assessment tools• Invite questions and exchanges within the
session and beyond it
We believe. . .
• Self-assessment is the most overlooked aspect of learning.
• It should be an integral part of learning, not an add-on.
• Self-assessment is a learnable skill.• It is essential for lifelong learning.• And. . .examining what students say and do,
helps us teach better.
Why bother with self-assessment?
• Students actually learn more deeply• They achieve comprehension and application
at higher levels• They become more self-confident about
themselves as learners• They are more motivated to improve
Lessons we are learning• Shift from a teacher-librarian focus to a student focus in
assessment.• Make sure that learning goals are clearly stated for
everyone.• Make sure that criteria to assess achievement of goals are
clearly stated for everyone.• Tweak assessment tools you already use.• Use student-friendly language.• Add log features to existing checklists and rating scales to
have students support their ratings.• Keep assessments simple and do-able for you and the
students.
What might self-assessments look like?
Samples of lessons and assessment tools
Gr. K – Zoo Animals• Essential questions
• What are reptiles?• What are mammals?• What are birds?• How are these animals alike?• How are they different?
• Become an information detective and learn new facts about these animals from Discovery Learning
• Draw something I learned and explain my picture• Use a checklist to assess what I did.
Gr. 2 - Poetry• Essential questions
• What are different forms of poetry?• What is the connection between music and poetry?
• Read and listen to different poems.• Identify different forms of poetry such as haiku, acrostic and
shape poems using e-clickers.• Connect a poem about friends to friends in my own life.• Use a checklist to see how well I know different forms of
poetry.
Gr. 4 – Ancient Hawaii• Essential question
• What was Hawaii like in the past? Why?• Search for information to our questions in books, photos, and
online sources.• Describe the way Hawaiians managed their natural resources
through the Ahupuaa system.• Create a digital poster with my information using Glogster• Use a rubric to assess my digital poster.
Gr. 6 – Internet Safety• Essential questions
• What is social networking?• What are tools for social working?• What can we do to be safe online?• What are the consequences of unsafe online practices?
• Research a popular networking tool such as Facebook.• Identify do’s and don’ts for using the tool.• Create a print or digital FAQ sheet to educate others about
safe and unsafe practices.• Use an exit pass to assess best questions for the FAQ sheet.
Gr. 8 – Greening Our Community• Essential questions
• What does greening a community involve?• How green is our community at this time?• How can we build a greener community?
• Research alternative ways to make a greener community.• Create an infographic display for a Green Day celebration at
our mall.• Use a check-log to assess the graphs in our infographic
displays.
Gr. 10 - Censorship• Essential questions
• Which books have been banned in the U.S.?• Why have they been banned?• Do I support or oppose book banning? Why?
• Identify books that have been banned and select one to research in depth.
• Take a stand for or against banning the book and post it in a wiki for comments from other readers.
• Use a rating-log to assess my stance.
It’s your turn!
Select a scenario from the handout and decide what to assess and the
tool you might use for this
What’s on your mind?
Short Q/A time
Rounding out our session• The questions that matter for students– Did I meet my goals?– How do I feel about that?– How can I do even better?
• Design learning for clarity and support– Make sure students know the learning goals and
criteria for self-assessment– Where possible, involve them in defining the criteria– Model and practice how to apply the criteria to their
own work.– Provide feedback on students’ self-assessments.
Keeping the action going
• Join us @http://aasl11harada.wikispaces.com/• Exchange your work• Pose your questions• Share more terrific resources
Useful books and articles• Brookhart, S.M. 2010. How to assess higher-order thinking skills in your
classroom. ASCD.• Davies, A. 2007. Making classroom assessment work. 2d ed. Connections
Publishing.• Harada, V.H., and J.M. Yoshina. 2010. Assessing for learning: Librarians
and teachers as partners. 2d ed. Libraries Unlimited.• Hyerle, D. 2009. Visual tools for transforming information into knowledge.
2d ed. Corwin Press.• Pappas, M. 2010. “Reflection as self-assessment.” School Library Monthly
27/3 (Dec): 5-8.• Preddy, L. 2008. “Research reflections, journaling, and exit slips.” School
Library Media Activities Monthly 25/2 (Oct): 22-23.• Reeves, D. (ed.). 2007. Ahead of the curve: The power of assessment to
transform teaching and learning. Solution Tree Press.• Stiggins, R., and J. Chappuis. 2011. Introduction to student self-involved
assessment for learning. 6th ed. Prentice Hall.
Useful online tools for assessment• iRubric
http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm• Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html
• Webtools4U2Use http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/
• Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
• Rubrician.com http://www.rubrician.com/
Mahalo (thank you)for joining us!
Patty and Vi