“Every piece of the puzzle that doesn’t fit gets you closer to the answer.” – Cynthia Copeland Lewis

“Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.”     – Roger Bannister, 1st runner to break 4-minute mile record

School is off to a running start and many of you have written asking for more specifics as you began implementing the Tabor Rotation Framework. This blog will answer some questions about assessment.

As a teacher, report card time was when I found reasons to reorganize my house and to clean out my garage. Assessment is still not my favorite topic because of its misuse. However, if it is used effectively and wisely as a tool to consistently inform the instructor and the learner, then it becomes invaluable. The information you gather about a student helps you piece together the puzzle of how to best help the student.

Assessment should inform you on how to change what you are teaching or the way you are teaching it to better meet the needs of your students.

“The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions.” -John A. Simone Jr.

The previous quote is a great way to think about assessment. It places the responsibility on the teacher to ask the right questions instead of on the students to supply all the “right” answers.  Let’s continue with some of your questions. Dennis, from Cibolo, TX, sent the following email:

“I attended your presentation at CAMT and loved it. I have wanted to implement centers and effective small groups in my class for years, but could never see how to put the pieces together. It has only been a few days, but it is working! I have three other math teachers with me in 5th grade. We each teach 3 periods of math with class sizes from 26-28. Thankfully, one of my compatriots is also fully on board with Tabor Rotation.
I do have one question. When do you fit in assessments, such as unit tests. Our plan right now is to make it brief and do it on a Monday in place of vocabulary, warm up, and the min-lesson. Any thoughts?”

This teacher’s desire to implement small groups, but not being able to see how to put the pieces together is the reason why I have continued to share the Tabor Rotation Framework with educators across the United States. Differentiated instruction is nothing new—ever heard of a one-room school house? Small groups are nothing new—ever been to the book corner? Tabor Rotation is a framework that takes all the best ideas for using small groups based on readiness, interests, and learning styles and helps the student learn the content through varied modalities or processes so they can “show what they know” through a meaningful product.

I was impressed that Dennis and his team went looking for a place to put assessment instead of giving up since it wasn’t “written specifically into the Tabor Rotation Framework.” [See the Tabor Rotation Planning Guide Example.] However, Dennis and his team did think of a practical place to put an assessment. They suggested that an assessment take the place of the whole-group time at the beginning of the week on Monday. Assessment could also take the place of the whole-group time on Friday.

There are other places in which assessment could easily be scheduled in the Tabor Rotation Framework. Look at the bolded, highlighted portions of the Tabor Rotation Planning Guide with Assessment. Assessment could also occur on Monday after the Vocabulary, Whole-Group Mini-Lesson, and Introduction of Stations. The remainder of the math block on Mondays could be used for assessment. During assessment weeks the Leadership Academy would be scheduled during the leaders and co-leaders lunch/recess time or at the beginning of school.

During Rotation on Days 2 & 3 assessment could be the task in the Application Station. Some teachers put the assessment on the computer and have the students complete and save. Some teachers give the students the assessment and privacy boards and have the students move somewhere in the room to take the test. If the students finish the assessment then they go straight to the additional activities which have been placed in the station of to the Technology portion of the station.

Assessment could be part of the students Application Menu of Options with Assessment on Days 4 and/or 5. After Vocabulary and Whole-Group Mini-Lesson the teacher gives the Application Menu of Options with Assessment. The largest portion of the Menu requires the students to take a test over the concepts which should have been mastered. After the student independently completes the test, then she may go on to other options on the Application Menu.

Thank you to all those who are continuing to do what is best for children—especially within the requirements of a school or district. As I close this post I have to add a few more quotes. Let me know if any of them give you an “AHA” moment…

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don’t. I divide the world into learners and non-learners.” -Benjamin Barber

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” -Tom Bodett

“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.” -Alice Wellington Rollins

“All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.” -Erma Bombeck   [Had to add this test quote for a laugh—I have light-colored carpet!]