Oh how I LOVE the iPad for assessment purposes! It makes documenting student learning simple and accessible.
For the past few days we have identified qualities of fiction and nonfiction text. We have documented nonfiction features and their purposes and discussed the qualities of fiction. As we get ready to move on to our next area of study, I wanted to document which students could identify fiction and nonfiction text and sort them into the appropriate category.
I asked students to select 3 fiction texts and 3 nonfiction text and to arrange them into groups at their table seats. Then students were to use their iPad to take a photo of their sorts and email it to me.
Each child included their name as the “subject” of the email so I could easily locate the work at a later time.
Of course, while they were sorting texts of their choosing, I still went around and took observational notes and conferred with children as they worked. But as I traveled around from student to student, the iPad photo documentation gave me tons of flexibility to interact deeply with children as I moved about. There was not the pressure that I often feel to get to each child and jot notes about their actions because I knew I could look at their work a bit later.
Additionally, these photos will provide a more concrete representation of what children know and are able to do when I share this information with their families! Whereas previously, students would have to clean up their book sorts at the end of the day, now I can archive their learning and reference it as needed throughout the year.
Wow! Who thought documenting student learning could be so easy and fun?
Kristin
Katie
Inquiry Live in The Classroom 