The Lamppost Blog

A colleague of mine once asked me how I assess the blogging component of my course. I didn’t have a ready answer, because I have been using blogging mostly as an opportunity for students to write in an environment that may be more interesting to them than pen and paper. Assessment has been largely confined to a form of a participation mark — anyone who commented on a post received marks.

I think that assessment can be more meaningful than this, but I am limited by the structure that I have chosen for student blogging. I am giving them a very constrained taste of the blogging world by asking them to comment on posts that I make on the class website. Evaluating on a comment-by-comment basis is not realistic.

What I am planning to do within this structure is to evaluate blog comments much as I do their almost-daily “ThinkBooks” or reflective journals. I won’t dive into every entry in a students’ ThinkBook, but I will check to see that they have at least engaged each topic. And the final culminating activity for the semester will require students to re-read their blog comments and ThinkBook to write and reflect on their own learning.

Konrad Glogowski has given me much to think about today in “Towards Reflective BlogTalk.” His ripple effect worksheets have students reflecting on and analyzing their own blog writing. It’s almost inspiring enough to make me consider having students develop their own blogs as part of my courses.

Almost.

Another semester has ended, and I’m wrapping up my final report card comments. I often experience some anxiety over writing comments, not least because of the time in which these concise, insightful, grammatically correct summaries of student’s achievements are to be completed.

But it’s more than meeting the deadline that challenges me. I struggle to find a way to express a student’s progress in a way that helps students and parents alike — meaningful without being too wordy; honest without being harsh; linked to curriculum expectations without being full of education jargon. The Report Card Blues posting by TVOParents suggests that there are parents out there who read these comments carefully and want to be able to understand them. I can appreciate that.

Another challenge is the decision to recommend a student for another level next time. This, I find very difficult. On the one hand, I want students to experience success in school, and some of my students strike me as ideal candidates for a less challenging level. On the other hand, I realize just how significant the course level is in determining future opportunities. Academic/University students have more future options than those in the Applied/College level, who in turn have more than those in the Essential/Workplace level. By recommending that a student try an easier level, am I favouring their short-term success over their long-term fulfillment?

Ultimately, it is the parents who will decide which level to place their student in, so I know that my recommendation is not a final ’sentence’ for a student. Still, it weighs heavy on me.

Tags: course level, report cards, teacher comments