A Guide to Documenting Learning

by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

  As with any new endeavor, running a no-grades classroom came with some challenges. Although I’d taught all of the classes before I hadn’t done so without grades, and time management became an issue. At times, the shift away from traditional grades was exceptionally challenging: it was much easier, I realized to “just” put a grade on student work. However, the immediate impact of the new system on my students and encouraged me to persevere through these difficulties. My lower-level students were enticed by the idea of a no-grades classroom, often asking why other teachers weren’t taking the same approach. They like the idea of not being judged; they hadn’t had success in a traditional space, often being negatively labeled because learning was more challenging for them. . . . My highest level students weren’t as excited by the idea; after all, most of the 12th grade advanced placement class define themselves as “A” students and if I took this away from them, how would they know they were excelling? [As a former honor student myself] looking back, the grade had little to do with the learning and more to do with my need to feel smart . . . I can’t imagine how much more I would have learned if I didn’t feel the need to compete for better grades and instead had just focused on learning. Hard conversations had to happen. Tough questions had to be answered. What is achievement? (pp. 14–16)

  The concept of using a scaled grading system began at Yale College in 1785, with traditional letter grades first appearing at Harvard in 1883 (Durm, 1993). Upon hearing this, most educators agree that upgrading a century-plus practice is an absolute necessity.

  And herein lies the 21st century assessment-evaluation dilemma: With encouragement and support from their administrators, teachers are upgrading many areas of their pedagogical practices to facilitate authentic tasks and the now literacies, but struggle when they are required to simultaneously use standard assessment measurements by the same administrators. Rather than allowing upgraded assessments that showcase students’ visible cognitive and metacognitive thinking that is clearly evident in documentation artifacts, teachers and students are supposed to still find value in a letter, number, or percentile grading system that no longer makes sense to them as engaged learners.

  Dr. Evelyn Mahler, an educator who teaches high-school health and environmental science courses, has been struggling with the rich work her students have been producing via their thought-provoking artifacts and the over-simplification of having to create grading-period letter grades:

  Documenting for learning is a trendy concept that did not mean too much to me until I decided to give it a try. The motivation for transforming my Health Ed lessons into something more meaningful to the students, and less oriented to the overwhelming curriculum, challenged me to a whole new approach. And I thought that documenting these processes could, hopefully, help me to reflect. I had never documented in a systematic manner (but now I do it using a professional blog). Moreover, I decided not only to document my own teaching and learning processes, but also asked my students to document their own.

  As we were working on projects, their documenting turned out to be an amazing way to follow up with their progress. Working collaboratively in the cloud allowed me to closely follow up their tumbles, falls, and achievements; along with continuous feedback by commenting and encouraging them to analyze their learning in a more reflective manner. It was incredible how in less than 4 weeks, the quality of their own documentation improved, with metacognitive thinking becoming deeper. It was exciting to see how they got motivated, how they felt that someone listened to them seriously, accepting their doubts, their cognitive conflicts, fairly praising their successes. The feedback on their learning was not only online, but I also tried to take my time to sit with the groups and conference with them, trying to follow their thinking, making it visible, inquiring. It was difficult to get them to the point of true understanding: that they were working not for me and their term grade, but for themselves (and in the case of this community-oriented prevention action, for the whole school community).

  Our system demands grading. How could I possibly demote and simplify all this rich work together to a term grade, a plain number? Does it make any sense? Unfortunately, we are still far away from getting rid of grades. I will keep on trying and find the way to assess their learning in a more significant and transparent manner, getting closer, getting nearer, from learner to learners, letting the motivation be much more than a grade. The path is made by walking, and documenting this trip is an incredible companion.

  The documenting learning framework can be used in parallel with gathering evidence that meets traditional assessment and grades practices. The purpose of the learningflow routine steps is meant to be an occasional or full-time replacement model for traditional grading.

  The phases and learningflow routine celebrate new forms of learning, teaching, and assessing that confront traditional evaluation systems head on. When we talk with teachers who are attempting innovation by combining documenting pedagogy and heutagogy with their traditional assessments and grading requirements, they share their frustrations:

  We are sending the signal to stakeholders (e.g., parents, other educators, local community) that we are not sure what our institution truly values as learning, which is why we do both. If we and our students had our way, we would not choose to do traditional forms at all, or keep the traditional ones to a bare minimum.

  We find that while administrators and other teachers say they want to do what is best for students, they are really not ready to let go of what might not, at first, appear to make sense anymore when thinking about new forms of teaching and learning.

  We are conveying a duality message to our students that on one hand their evidence of learning, captured through their artifacts are valued, but on the other hand not a priority when it comes to getting their quarter grades.

  Some teachers look at us like we are crazy because our workload is actually greater, given we have to run parallel tracks through our classrooms. One track captures the traditional assessment requirements, while the other is capturing student learning engagement while they are capturing evidence of their thinking through their documentation artifacts.

  For a classroom example of this dilemma, meet Josh (whose name has been changed for privacy reasons). He is a high school history and social studies teacher who has been attempting to live in both assessment worlds. He upgraded a year-long course focused on social issues affecting their country and required his students to use a blog to convey their learning-thinking evidence as the year progressed. He explained to them that their blogs would be viewed as a form of documenting their understanding, reflections, and findings, as well their peers and his feedback to push the boundaries of their thinking.

  QR Code 13.1 Scan this QR code to read one of Evelyn’s reflective professional blog post.

  http://langwitches.me/grading-tension

  Josh’s students reacted positively to working with this social media platform throughout the year. He was thrilled with the ongoing and cumulative evidence of learning that each student’s collective blog posts conveyed. His desire was to celebrate this evidence and have them conduct a reflection forum. Unfortunately, he could not do this because an end-of-course requirement steeped in school tradition meant his students had to create a PowerPoint coupled with a research paper that would be printed out and evaluated by a panel of teachers as each student conducted an oral presentation with the PowerPoint as a presentation aid. (Note: The teachers on the panel had not read any of his students’ blogs throughout the year.)

  As his students were going through the required motions to prepare their presentations, they voiced their frustrations to him and questioned their year-long blogging experience as it now appeared to be “useless” and an “unnecessary” workload. They no longer saw the act of blogging and the evidence of patterns and trends over time as authentic assessment of their learning.

  Josh began to also question the significant amount of time he had invested in his students’ blogging, not to mention the t
ime it personally took him to evaluate and provide meaningful feedback to all of his students. The biggest blow was when he realized that what he had done throughout the year was not being valued by his colleagues or administrators in terms of worthwhile assessment and evaluation. They told him that the blogs can only serve as a form of anecdotal assessment. In Josh’s personal reflection concerning his students’ blogging year and its perceived value versus actual value, he shared

  Blogs offer enormous possibilities for not only autonomous student work, but also collaborative work that would have been unthinkable just a few years back. Blogs give students a great broadmindedness, since they can connect with other online resources, people, and organizations from different parts of the world. Blogs also give students concrete evidence how they have constructed their own knowledge, because they were able to make their thinking visible along the way. For us teachers, their blogs are valuable tools to help us guide them, they show their prior knowledge and demonstrate evidence of which knowledge they actually incorporated in their process.

  But, I have no doubt, that many times external conditions go exactly against these possibilities. Some schools will only accept as evidence “formal and traditional” forms of assessment. Sometimes the time invested using these new forms of teaching and learning is much more complex work that the majority who are not familiar with the tools and platforms cannot imagine. They do not recognize the time it demands to do it well and do it right.

  Last, but not least, there is also a tension that has to do with the open mindset from teachers in accepting non-traditional forms of evaluation. I would even say, more than an open mindset, is the need to be prepared and possess the skills to work with the tools and platforms.

  A second example of how new forms of documenting cause disruptive tensions with traditional notions of accepted evidence of learning happened during a Middle School Admissions and Transitions night at a private K–8 school attended by eighth graders and their parents or guardians.

  A variety of high school admission directors and guidance counselors were present to share their school’s admission-and-placement procedures and answer any questions about their schools for the students and parents in attendance. Some parents asked if their child’s comprehensive student portfolios would be taken into consideration for admission. Given this was not the norm for the feeder-pattern schools present, they were hesitant to reply. In the end, their responses were not what the parents and students wanted to hear,

  We might take a look at the portfolios, but only if standardized test scores, report cards, and teacher recommendations don’t give us clear picture of where that student is. . . . We also might use the portfolio for academic placement when considering a student for being in honors classes, or not.

  The purpose in sharing these two vignettes is to point out the urgency to upgrade what a school’s or district’s community (e.g., students, teachers, administrators, parents, the feeder pattern schools) perceives as valued evidence of learning. Sackstein states in the conclusion to Hacking Assessment

  In the 21st century, we nurture critical thinkers and collaborators, innovators and problem solvers; we must if we want our world to thrive. The way we assess our students affects their perception of learning, so if we take the negative or superficially positive away from the experience, more students will be able to see the brilliance that lies beneath the number and letter grades. What can you change about your assessment practices tomorrow? What will you change in the future? . . . If you’re ready to see your students thrive and to bring joy and curiosity back to your classroom, take a risk: Make the change to a non-grades classroom and watch it happen. The work will be worth it. (pp. 129–131)

  Upgrading means replacing traditional evaluation methods with contemporary forms. As long as schools and districts cling solely to traditional assessment systems, they will continue to not reflect valuing their students as deep thinkers involved in authentic experiences, nor contributor-producers who reach out to local and global communities.

  Summing Up

  After reading this chapter and reflecting on what has been shared from a documenting learning perspective, it is obvious that changes need to be made. What to change and how to begin making the change—whether a mindset, overcoming barriers, or rethinking what is valued—involves being a risk-taker, as Sackstein mentioned.

  Most importantly, it involves a willingness to dive in, head first, and be a transparent example to others. In a Twitter #i2chat focused on innovation, Sherratt (2017) summarized how to best do so when he responded to the question:

  Q3 Schools don’t always love change. What advice do you have for others when facing resistance?

  By tweeting:

  A3. My biggest advice is “Show, Don’t Tell”. Telling works for a few people, but showing the way things can be done is more powerful #i2chat

  Godin (2017b) inquires, “But what if it works? Fear of success is at least as big a challenge as fear of failure. Because if it works, things are going to change. Are you ready for that?”

  Change in the context of the documenting framework includes meaningful and purposeful learning opportunities for students, teachers, and communities. These changes support answering action-oriented questions such as the following: Who owns the learning? Who do we learn from? How does cognition and metacognition become centerpieces for learning how to learn?

  Change will also set cogs in motion that will affect related cogs to move in new ways and in new directions throughout an institutional organization (see Image 13.4).

  Image 13.4

  Are you ready for the documenting learning framework and documenting FOR and AS learning opportunities to disrupt your status quo and clash with traditional ways you and your colleagues have always done things?

  It’s Time to Take Action!: Chapter 13 Action Step

  This is the last, and most important, action step! It is time for you and your colleagues to discuss, brainstorm, and plan how you will begin or expand the application of the documentation phases and documenting learningflow routine steps in your learning environment.

  What will you cut? What will you keep? What will you upgrade? How will you and your colleagues turn the

  ideas,

  processes,

  procedures,

  suggestions, and

  provocations

  that you have read, reflected on, and visualized in the thirteen chapters into actionable steps?

  To get you started, you and your colleagues can use the KWHLAQ chart in the Appendix (page 244) to aid in addressing your first learning and teaching action step (e.g., using technology strategically to transform learning, globally connected project, going gradeless, having students use documentation artifacts during student-led conferences to justify their acquisition and application of knowledge and understanding).

  When you have filled in your documenting learning KWHLAQ chart, share your artifact and reasoning with additional colleagues or experts and ask them for their feedback and suggestions.

  If sharing and amplifying your KWHLAQ artifact and reflections, remember to use the #documenting4learning hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or by mentioning @documenting4learning on Facebook and Instagram, and @doc4learning on Twitter.

  Going Beyond

  To amplify your reading beyond the book’s pages, we have created discussion questions and prompts for this chapter, which are located at www.documenting4learning.com. In order to extend your thinking, reactions, and responses, you can connect with other readers of the book by leaving comments on individual chapter’s discussion posts our documenting4learning blog.

  We also invite you to contribute and share your artifacts in other social media spaces in order to connect and learn with and from other readers from around the world via the #documenting4learning hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or by mentioning @documenting4learning on Facebook and Instagram, or @doc4learning on Twitter.

  Appendix

  Image A.
1

  Image A.2

  Image A.3

  Glossary

  Amplification:

  Extending teaching and learning opportunities and one’s influence; make thinking and learning visible beyond own mind and zip code; make learning available to others by inviting them to contribute; action of impacting the learning of others

  Amplify:

  To make larger or greater; increasing audience reach using social media

  Analog:

  Paper based; opposite of digital (e.g., analog chart versus digital chart)

  Annotate:

  Act of adding notes or comments alongside text, image, video to aid in processing or explaining the media content

  Annotext:

  Annotate digitally by overlaying text, directional arrows, and/or frames at specific moments on a still image or in a video

  Artifact:

  Analog or digital media (e.g., text, visual, audio, video) used for documentation purposes

  Bite-size Information:

  Bite-sized nuggets of content that are easy to consume, sometimes they’re images or image-based, whose meaning can be grasped quickly, and often create deeper meaning by referencing shared experiences or stories (Gutierrez, 2014)

  Blogfolio:

  Combination of a blog and portfolio characterized by providing learners opportunities to (a) develop writing skills, increase reflective practices, and connecting with authentic audiences; and (b) use as a platform that embraces creativity, communication, connections, and applications of digital citizenship (term coined by Andrea Hernandez)