Last week I went over my students’ portfolios before they handed them in. The portfolio served as the final in the course. The review gave me one last chance to give them formative feedback. As we went over each section, I asked the students what they did well and what they can do to improve. Their most common learning gap was that some students forget to relate what they had done back to the standard. For some students I had to give them the phrase “I showed (this part of the standard) by ……” or “When I wrote ……, I demonstrated the essential characteristics of …..”.
For several students, it was hard making the leap from what we did in class to the standard (even though for each part of the standard, I had labeled the essential characteristics as we had done them in the class. Students tend to get caught up in the activity without thinking about its real purpose.
How do you constantly remind your students of the bigger purpose for each activity they do? How do you keep your students focused on the standards?
I think it’s impossible for a teachers alone to constantly remind students of the bigger purpose of each activity they do. The standards being taught in the classroom should be reinforced through their experiences at home and in their community. I believe students are missing the elaboration of they have learned in class… outside of the classroom setting.