Revision and Reflection

     Earlier this week I submitted the first draft of the written component for my M.Ed. portfolio.  The title of the piece is, "A Rationale for using Technology in Project Based Learning".  I must admit that in the week that my advisor had it, I kept my Lakehead University email window open on my computer.  I was both eager and anxious about getting the feedback that I knew would be coming. While I know that the work is well received, somewhere, in the back of any learners' mind, I believe that there is the hope that the work will be done, finished, completed.  I ran through a wide range of emotions while I attempted to figure out, or actually guess, at what the feedback might be.  I wondered what the comments would be, what areas would be well done, and in particular what areas I still need to shore up.

     It continues to amaze me at how important the PBL essential of Revision and Reflection is to learning.  It would have been awesome and a relief to have had no suggestions for revision but then again this is the first draft that I have submitted.  It is also somewhat refreshing to not receive a mark but to only have comments.  In an earlier course with Dr. Paul Berger, of Lakehead University, called Critical Pedagogy, I read a piece about assessment by H. Kirschenbaum (1971) titled
 Wad-Ja-Get? The grading game in American education - referring to how often learners simply want to know their "final mark".

 The final mark, however, really can't enhance my learning or make the final product any better. This reading selection was eye opening for me and has shaped the methods that I use for assessment.  I want to provide my students with rich feedback, praise, guidance and suggestions for improvement.  I also want my students to desire these same things and to create a culture of learners who work together to build and honour each other; I want my students to not be so concerned about their mark because they have constructed it and been a part of shaping it.

     The feedback that I have just received on my first draft is rich and valuable - I will be making some changes! One great great responsibility that I have, as a learner and the owner of the work regarding feedback, is that I have the choice to implement none, some, or all of the feedback.  However, if I truly desire to to learn and, to produce better work, then I need to see each comment, idea, and suggestion as a stepping stone to these desires. While the comments initially look intimidating, and overwhelming, the more I read them and piece them together, the more I can see how valuable they are and how they are necessary.
   The Ontario Ministry of Education's document titled  "Growing Success" does a great job of explaining its three levels of assessment - For, As, and Of - see page 31 for a table that summarizes them.  Each level of assessment plays a key role in shaping the learning, the learner and the educator.

   As I go back to school tomorrow after the Christmas break, I wonder if I have sufficiently provided my student with strategies to provide and accept feedback? More importantly, I wonder if I have blessed them and honoured them through the feedback that I have provided?  I also wonder if the revisions that my students have made have been completed out of a sense of duty or if these revisions have been completed joyfully?

     I am almost done - I was excited to read in the email accompanying the feedback that "maybe 2 more edits to go depending on how you wish to deal with the remaining sections of the work." and then it will be finished.  

Kirschenbaum, H., Napier, R., & Simon, S. (1971). Wad-Ja-Get? The grading game in American education. New York: Hart Publishing.