Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs. In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year. Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home. I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
One of the summative assessment options I love is something I've termed Evidence of Mastery or Mastery Defense Presentation. In this, students will present evidence from the unit to show that they have mastered all unit outcomes and present it to me face to face. When we do this face to face, I can then asks them questions or have them elaborate on points that they may not have covered. It takes time, but it gives me a clear idea of a students understanding of a concept. Due to social distancing in the classroom, I didn't have a good workflow for this in our 1st unit this year. I've brought this summative assessment option back and using Flipgrid to leverage it. Traditionally, I had students construct their own slideshow presentations from scratch. This time around, I decided to make them a template of what I wanted them to specifically present to me. I put in space for them to present work that they had done in the unit. Specifically in this unit, it was graphs from lab...