Week 1B Resource Annotation

Herro, D., Quigley, C., Andrews, J., & Delacruz, G. (2017). Co-measure: Developing an assessment for student collaboration in STEAM activities. International Journal of STEM Education, 4(1), 1-12. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40594-017-0094-z

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16YTEHmzGdD-ZEay7SqTknLHKclPCC8e1/view

This resource, shared with me by Giovanni, is a Collaboration Rubric for STEAM classrooms, however, I'm in a STEM classroom and I still believe this is a really great resource for me and my inquiry project! 

This rubric sets out 4 main expectations for the students in my classroom that are each involved in the process of group work, and therefore helps the teacher to assess group work either in a formative or summative way. This rubric allows me as the teacher to have a clear and objective perspective on what constitutes as "working well in a group" which for some assignments may be the whole goal, and for others it may just help the class to set up their work well. The four categories are 1. Peer Interactions, 2. Positive Communication, 3. Inquiry Rich, 4. Transdisciplinary Approach. Beyond just naming the four categories, the criteria for ability levels in the rubrics are detailed in what expectations are set for the students (i.e. consistency in checking in with peers, respectful negotiation and disagreements, using collaborative digital tools, discussional etiquette, assigning roles, etc.) 

EDUC 451B: Week 1A Resource Annotation

 Crawford, Alan & Mathews, Samuel & Makinster, Jamie & Saul, E.. (2005). Teaching And Learning Strategies For The Thinking Classroom. 

Academic Source

This book offers a lot of research-based lesson structures to incorporate into your thinking classroom. The authors of this book make a point of teaching "small idea" learning rather than "big idea", i.e. the difference of thinking in terms of importance of difference competencies (big ideas) and instead the actual act of critical thinking and active learning (small ideas). 

There are 8 core lessons that the book explains: learning information from text, understanding narrative text, cooperative learning, conducting a discussion, writing and inquiry, writing to persuade, understanding arguments, and critical listening. Of these core lessons, I believe that cooperative learning and conducting a discussion will be the most helpful and applicable for me. 

Finally, this book also discusses assessment in the thinking classroom, which is something I am struggling with in my practicum placement and as I settle into the idea of building a thinking classroom of my own. I think that this is a great place for me to learn how to evaluate the abilities of my students to think critically.