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Goal #5: Student Learning

In order for students to learn efficiently, several criteria should be met to promote and

engender learning. Teachers should know their students in particular and theories about how

students in general learn. Teachers can use this information to plan and implement instruction,

make connections across the curriculum, and create meaningful goals for their students’ learning.

Student learning is optimized when educators implement assessment strategies to plan, evaluate,

and strengthen instruction. In this Teacher Work Sample document I wrote during my student

teaching experience, I reflected upon the process of planning a unit and associated assessments,

teaching and modifying the design of the plan as needed, and optimizing student learning for

future use of this unit.

The first criteria I mention is knowledge of individual students and theories about how

children learn. Just as each student in our classrooms is unique, each has a distinct way of

learning information. Gardner espoused multiple intelligences in the 1960s as an explanation of

the wide range of intellectual capabilities— from linguistic to social to logical— that exist in the

world. Over time, however, this idea of multiple intelligences seems to have merged with the

idea of learning styles and preferences. However, as recent studies have found, when students

and teachers attempt to match a preferred learning style to study habits and instruction,

researchers have found no significant improvements in test scores or understanding (May, 2018;

Terada, 2018). This suggests that learning styles are not synonymous with multiple intelligences

theory, and that while adapting instruction to make use of multiple learning modalities is an

effective way to boost memory and understanding, becoming overly reliant on a preferred

learning style does not necessarily lead students to learn more successfully or efficiently.
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In the TWS for the unit I taught in poetry, I write a complete contextual consideration of

the community and school, as well as individual student needs and even learning preferences.

While I tend to believe that learning preferences are indeed important while devising

instructional plans for lessons, I also avoid relying on one instructional strategy and my unit

shows a variety of learning modes to optimize the learning preferences of the greatest number of

students.

Related to learning preferences is student engagement. When teachers tailor instruction to

allow and welcome student choice and voice, there is greater potential for learners to be engaged

in what they are learning. Using this information to plan instruction enhances student buy-in and

ownership of knowledge. The personalized learning environment (PLE), progresses classrooms

from a place of compliance and puts the responsibility for learning in the hands of those who

learn (Bray and McClaskey, 2015). Using student choice and voice can change the culture of our

classrooms and help students shift from engagement to empowerment in their own learning.

Adding student ownership to engagement creates empowerment, a characteristic of learning that

encourages creative and self-directed learners (Spencer, 2019). In the poetry unit I designed for

the TWS, I optimized student choice and voice in order to engage and empower students to write

about what mattered to them in the formats they felt impelled to write in.

In our standards-based educational system, part of the learning process involves making

learning goals and benchmarks attainable for students. Establishing objectives for students to

meet as their learning progresses is an effective way to use student data and contextual

knowledge in order to focus more deeply on student learning (Hambleton, 2017). The

development of learning objectives was a major part of the TWS. The goals established for
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students were based on standards as well as contextual and individual considerations of students.

When objectives are supported and reflected upon through assessments, teachers are better able

to assess not only what and how well students are learning, but also make assessments in order to

learn more about our ability to teach. This is assessing FOR learning rather than merely

assessment OF learning (Riley, 2017). In the TWS, I take notice of two instances in which

instruction was not going as well as I believed it could be, according to formative assessments. I

also documented modifications and adjustments made to the unit to accommodate improvements.

Assessments should be ongoing, and varied. Teachers should rely on informal feedback

from students as formative assessment as well as cumulative projects as summative assessment

of and for student learning. Teachers can even solicit feedback from students to create a culture

of feedback in schools that demonstrates that all opinions matter and is part of the trial and error

process of improving achievement (Shafer, 2017). Collaboration with students and between

students can enhance assessment practices by reflecting deeper upon what works and what needs

improvement. Encouraging students to reflect intentionally by reviewing learning experiences

through inquiry encourages a collective and explicit understanding about what is being done

that’s working, and what needs to change (Herrmann, 2018).

One effective way to encourage students to focus deeper on improvement and feedback

is delaying grading until students have been given a opportunity to assess their own learning.

Providing learners with thoughtful feedback, time to digest and reflect, and then an opportunity

to grade themselves according to a rubric is an effective way to get students to reflect more upon

their work (Louden, 2017). Feedback, collaboration, reflection: these are both the roots and fruits

of assessment that lead to improved learning.


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References

Bray, B. and McClaskey, K. (2015). Learner voice and choice leads to engagement. Center for

Digital Education, Dec. 16, 2015. Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from https://

www.govtech.com/education/news/learner-voice-and-choice-leads-to-engagement.html.

Hambleton, P. (2017). The 123s of SLOs: Defining student learning objectives and how to write

one. NEAToday, Oct. 23, 2017. Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from http://neatoday.org/

new-educators/123s-slos-defining-student-learning-objectives-write-one/.

Herrmann, Z. (2018). A strategy for effective student collaboration. Edutopia, September 5,

2018. Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategy-

effective-student-collaboration.

Louden, K. (2017). Delaying the grade: How to get students to read feedback. Cult of Pedagogy,

June 4, 2017. Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/

delayed-grade/.

May, C. (2018). The problem with “learning styles.” Scientific American, May 29, 2018.

Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-

problem-with-learning-styles/.

Riley, S. (2017). The types of assessment for learning. Education Closet 25, 6. Retrieved on

April 23, 2019 from https://educationcloset.com/2017/07/01/types-assessment-learning/.

Shafer, L. (2017). Making student feedback work. Usable Knowledge, November 2, 2017.

Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/11/making-

student-feedback-work.
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Spencer, J. (2019). Making the shift from student engagement to student empowerment.

Retrieved on April 23, 2019 from http://www.spencerauthor.com/empowerment-shifts/.

Terada, Y. (2018). Multiple intelligences theory: Widely used, yet misunderstood. Edutopia,

October 15, 2018. Retrieved on April 23, 2018 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/

multiple-intelligences-theory-widely-used-yet-misunderstood.