"R"edefining Review

"R"edefining Review

          

          When creating another semester exam review seems like a daunting task, why not flip the script and allow for creativity and innovation to take over.  At least that is what Mrs. Ashley Anthony decided to try in her class at the end of the Fall Semester.  "I just want to try something different for this time around," Mrs. Anthony explained.  "My goal is to challenge my students to think out of the box to create a resource for all of my other students to be able to use to study for their semester exam."  Naturally, she knew that if students could explain a concept thoroughly, they had a true and deep level of understanding for that topic.

          Collaboration and communication were instrumental at getting this project off the ground.  From its inception, Mrs. Anthony knew that she wanted this project to be completely student-driven, even from the very beginning.  Any teacher would simply give their students a project description and a rubric to follow.  However, as an exemplary teacher, Mrs. Anthony had her students define the rubric themselves, rooting this project in a rich research-based best practice.  Giving them the basic expectations in the middle column of the rubric, students then were tasked, through small-group and whole-group discussion, to create their own exemplary and needs-improvement criteria to demonstrate success.          

          The time came for the students to begin creating their collaborative Google Site.  Students partnered together and self-selected the math topic that they felt most comfortable with explaining.  The directions were clear.  Keeping in mind the Math Workshop Model, students had to create a lesson that taught the concept in an opening, ask higher-level questions through a work period, and finally allow for students to reflect on what they learned through a student-created formative assessment.  The only parameters students were given were the project description and the rubric they created.  Then they were off.  Immediately there was a buzz about the classroom about which platform to use.  Rylan suggested, "We should make a self-paced Peardeck presentation because it is interactive, so students will be engaged, and they can continually review their work."  Kate's enthusiasm with embedding a Google Site in the review site was exemplified when she said, "This is the best way we thought to organize our topic of ordering fractions, decimals, and percentages."  Will quickly got busy combing videos into WeVideo to teach his topic.  He shared, "I loved this project so much because we each got to find our own way of sharing our learning through teaching others."  Other preferred methods of delivery were Google Slides, Powtoon, and Google Docs.

          The aspect of this project that stands out most is that Mrs. Anthony knew what her students were capable of and knew that she needed to differentiate for this class.  In having her students create this resource for all of the other students at Chisholm Trail Middle School, she exemplified the "R" in the SAMR model.  SAMR is an acronym standing for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  This model is a way for educators to assess how effectively they are using technology in their classroom.  Redefinition is in the transformation range, and it is quite clear that this entire project, from beginning to end, screams just that.  A transformation of a tried and true method of reviewing for a semester exam to one that is student-led, student-created, and serves as a method of instruction that reaches beyond their own classroom.  When asking Mrs. Anthony what her thoughts were on the entire process, she said, "I can't believe that it has taken me this long to try this with my students.  Every class is different and you have to know what they are capable of, but when you let them take the lead, they can produce great things.  This entire project seemed to transform the process of review and was an exciting way to do it."

Check out the 6th-Grade Compacted Math student-led semester review from Chisholm Trail Middle School by clicking the link below.