COVID-19 or no COVID-19, It’s Time to Re-Examine a Few Grading, Assessment and Instructional Changes.
Duration can vary from an hour session to a day-long plan.
Description: Throughout history, whenever a system gets a significant shakeup some things change forever. In what seemed like an instant, an obscure virus called COVID saw our students and teachers step out of our schools and into a new world – literally. We suddenly needed to adapt to remote learning situations, to define essential outcomes and connect virtually, digitally, distanced.
We will undoubtedly have learned a few things through this experience. Some of our epiphanies have involved innovative instructional, grading and assessment practices. What does it reveal about our educational model when we worry, ‘Won’t my students just Google the answers?’ Appropriate digital literacy skills were brought into sharp focus, and we were again reminded that relationships are central to all that we do. What we’ve learned will undoubtedly shift our landscape to some extent when we do return to a ‘new normal’. Join this session for a positive and hopeful conversation around rethinking a few things before, during, and after a shake-up.
Key learning outcomes include:
- Examining the language we use in grading, and whether it is appropriate and useful with contemporary standards and the COVID challenges of remote learning
- Exploring the learning tools we use such as rubrics and their importance in sharing success criteria with our students.
- Questioning the definition of digital literacy and examining ways we can assist our students in developing appropriate and timely skills for digital interaction.
- Considering shifts to standards-based instruction and assessment that have proven effective in the remote learning realities of the COVID era.
- Leveraging the importance of home and community relationships in our delivery of curriculum.
COVID Support Documents
The following are some templates designed to help teachers deliver relevant, engaging and thoughtful project-based learning opportunities for students who are not actively attending school.
These free resources are going to continue to be expanded as I have opportunity to build and compile.
Educators are encouraged to modify and adapt as they see fit. Many of the designs reflect my own province of British Columbia‘s focus on ‘Curricular Competencies’ and ‘Content’ for each course. Teachers are encouraged to link their learning activities to specific standards for their own state, province, country or school. I am currently engaged in this work in my own school district and I will try to add items to this page as we learn and grow during this challenging time.
These resources are not endorsed by my school district nor any other jurisdiction, but are simply provided as my personal way to generate ideas for what solutions might look like in a challenging time.
These resources are offered free of charge, and as such should not be used in any commercial venture.
Stay safe, stay strong,
Myron Dueck
Humanities Reflection Assignment/Template
Electives (Automotive) Learning Opportunity
Textiles – Do I wear a COVID mask? Can I make one? (Made with Marnie Mennell of SD67)
Inquiry/Reflection (Social Studies) – ‘Suspension of Civil Liberties vs. Societal Protection’
Myron Dueck Educational Consulting 