New Buzzwords: Bump It Up Walls

Today I thought I'd share all about the Bump It Up Wall that I created with a colleague. 

We wanted the wall to be useful and engaging, so we decided to have a Super Mario Bros theme. We also wanted the wall to provide students with another tool when it comes to writing. This term we are looking at Writing to Persuade, and so we ensured that all of the text samples reflected this style of writing. We also wanted the wall to show the gradual progression across the Literacy Continuum markers. We therefore designed the text samples to reflect what would be expected at a Cluster 4 level right through to Cluster 12.

Having examples on display like this, helps students see where they're at and where they're heading to next. It clearly shows students what's expected of them at each level and breaks it down into achievable bites. Students are encouraged to create their goals around what they need to do, to move to the next level.

The Bump It Up Wall is accompanied by exit slips. Students tick off all of the markers to prove that they have in fact completed all necessary requirements before moving up a cluster.

Each student has their own avatar. The avatar is moved along the Bump It Up Wall, and is placed at the level (or cluster) that they're currently working at. The Bump It Up Wall enables the teacher to keep track of student progression and assess where to next. It's a lovely way to visually represent the data as well.

We also ensured that we kept some anonymity when it came to the avatars. So the only two people who know which avatar represents whom, is the teacher and the students themselves. 

It took a little while to plan out the Bump It Up Wall. I had to draw several sketches and plan out how it all sat before officially putting it up on the wall. We also made significant changes to the sample texts, adding in annotations to show what each piece of writing has done well.

You can download a copy of each of the Cluster Examples below:

Cluster 4

Cluster 5

Cluster 6

Cluster 7

Cluster 8

Cluster 9

Cluster 10

Cluster 11

Cluster 12

I'd love to give credit to The Relief Teacher. They created the levelled signs and exit slips (along with other amazing resources). You can check out their Years 3-6 Bump It Up Wall documents HERE. And a special mention to my colleague Vanessa for all of her handwork and for doing all of the jobs that I didn't want to do - including the amazing annotations. It's a pleasure working on projects with you!

Where to next?

The plan is to add a Comprehension Bump It Up Wall across the bottom of the design. I'd also like to work on another design for a Numeracy BIU wall.

New Buzzwords: Formative Assessment

Since returning from Maternity Leave, I feel the way in which we assess our students has completely changed. When I was teaching two years ago, I felt like everything was data driven. However, now (which still being data driven I guess) the way we assess students is more authentic. The whole idea of only testing a student at the conclusion of a unit is phasing out. Instead, we're encouraged to formally and informally assess students throughout the unit and make modifications to our program as we go.

I remember looking at this idea of flexible programming a couple of years ago... Where I made a program template, thought about my end result and what I wanted students to achieve, but left the individual lessons blank. That way, I could program as I went... Or sometimes I even programmed after the fact because I couldn't keep up with where the lesson was going.

This whole concept is fantastic because it enables the teacher to see what students know and don't know and then alter their program accordingly. Check out the templates I made below (click on them to download a copy for yourself).

  

But a lot has changed since I created these templates. We've got John Hattie and he has raised the concept of visible learning. We have the National Curriculun, and the NSW Syllabuses. Technology has improved and so there are far more websites and apps out there that specifically target Formative Assessment. So today I thought I'd share one of those websites/apps and review it for you.

An example of a Plickers student card

Plickers

Plickers is a simple tool that collects formative assessment data in real-time. All you need is one device (for the teacher) and the specifically designed cards; one for each student. The idea is that the teacher creates a number of questions (maybe revision questions) on the computer prior to the lesson. Then during the lesson, the teacher operates the questions via their device and projects the responses onto the IWB in the live view. Students turn their card to represent answer options A-D (pictured right). Their responses are collated and graphed for the teacher to see. This gives the teacher a clear understanding of which students have grasped the concepts in a non-threatening or confrontational manner.

Here are two examples of questions that I used in a revision lesson for 'Position' (Mathematics):

I love using Plickers, however, my students love it even more. Whenever I ask them to pull out their Plickers cards, they get excited and race to the floor. They erupt with screaming and words of encouragement to one another. It brings out the competitiveness in students, while assessing their understanding and my effect.

I highly recommend Plickers.

Where to Next?

I'd love to check out other formative assessment apps. I've got my eyes on a few already but would love to hear of any others that you might know of! So comment below...