s.+Evaluation+and+Assessment+Plan

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// Here is a link to our assessment timeline. If it looks weird when you open it, you can use the + sign on the left side to zoom in. We would recommend zooming in to look at the timeline by "month." It takes a few seconds to load. You can click on individual bubbles to see descriptions. Please e-mail us if this Website gives you any problems. It's been working well for us, but we're new to it, too. Pretty cool .//====== []

Evaluation Plan
We utilized a wiki and made class time for three Socratic Seminars in addition to the discussions in our lessons to show the students that questions about //The Things They Carried// can probably be asked forever. Students can continue to wonder what O'Brien really saw in Vietnam, if Norman Bowker ever existed, or whether Rat Kiley really led the guys to mutilating a baby buffalo. They will always question war and memory and cowardice and love and bravery and hell and peace. At the end of the unit, when we ask the students what they have learned they will understand that the actual truth does not make a difference in the emotional truth of a story. But honestly, in a strange way, we almost want them to feel slightly speechless--because it is hard to describe what becomes part of your knowledge--something that you just //get.// Knowledge, like truth, is unique to everyone. The focus on reflective writing, constant reading, in-class activities, and writing homework which saturates the beginning of the unit may seem overwhelming on paper. We believe that these activities will prepare the students immediately for understanding the complexities of the work and the effort it takes to tell a good story. By front-loading these lessons and activities, the we will be able to formatively assess the students' progress as they move forward. Students who are struggling can be flagged by the teacher for additonal help to facilitate their development and understanding. We deliberately center each lesson around a great deal of teacher modeling and envisionment processes (including illustrations and slow reading) to help students to subconsciously break down language. Lessons are also rooted in activities and discussion, not much overt instruction, As the unit progresses and students have a firmer grasp on O’Brien’s story and style, the work will become easier. This structure makes the culminating project much more accessible and understandable; rather than send the students off into unknown territory, students will have all of the skills necessary to create a stand-out, personally meaningful, and deeply engaging story of their own.

Students will be assessed individually throughout the unit in their reflections and individual poems. Their culminating projects will serve to express their over-arching understanding of Tim O'Brien's style and the importance of conveying the of emotional truth of a story. As a group, students will be assessed by the richness of discussion through the Socratic Seminars and through the quality of the wiki discussions. To evaluate the effectiveness of group work and Socratic Seminars, we will write reactions to students' interactions, taking special note of instances of the way that students get the floor, hold the floor, and lose the floor in group discussion (a particularly salient pragmatic competency for ESOL students). Not only should we evaluate the group's dynamics, we should also analyze how each student functions as a member of the discourse community. Certain students will need more scaffolding in entering group discussions--taking notes to identify who these students are provides the teacher with a basis for addressing individual student needs. We can better serve all students as we offer positive reinforcement for new students who enter into conversations and for students who build on each other's comments.

Grading plays a larger role in tracking individual students' strengths and weaknesses in demonstrating specific learning objectives. The grading in this unit is unique; it is designed to, if students put in the work, produce good grades. If a student takes the time to reflect, discuss, draw, and analyze as the lessons require, they will not only be gathering the skills to use in their final project and further writings, but they will also be building a foundation of grades. If there are an inordinate amount of As, it will be imperative that the teacher reflection on //why// there are so many As. For example, a student might be willing to do the work for each lesson yet their final project lacks an in-depth understanding of the material. If this is the case, in the future, the teacher should either reduce the amount of grades given for class work or should instead change the way the assignments are graded. Giving credit for student work is important but the grades have to be meaningful (A-for-effort will not show the skills a student acquired!). However, if the students do the work along the way //and// create wonderful and engaging final projects, the unit may not be flawed – it instead shows that the activities, lessons, and reflections provided students with the skills and tools necessary to tell their own story. If there are an inordinate amount of low grades, the teacher must again look at where the grades are stemming from. If, perhaps, students are not doing their work for each lesson, their grades will //immediately// suffer. If a student struggles through the work, there needs to be added scaffolding and instruction for the student so they are able to succeed with the final project. Grades are not the focus of the unit however the way this unit is structured, the grades should be a representation of the student’s understanding and application of the skills acquired.