Kristen Jackson Fieldwork Seminar 4/20/13 Artifact 13: Final Exit Ticket Analysis

I changed the questions on the exit tickets to add a level of reflection to the selfassessment. By asking students to explain why they assigned themselves the grade they did, I am asking them to reflect on their day and what exactly merited that grade. Unfortunately, when I first disseminated the exit ticket assessment system, I did not explicitly ask students to explain their ratings, but when I got them back and only a few students had, I realized the benefit in asking them why. In reading their responses to the why, I have been better able to draw interim conclusions about the progress of my inquiry focus. Below are several students responses to the questions of how their behavior and effort was. The first student rates her behavior a 7 because she wasnt talking and her effort a 5 because she didnt participate. Although I find her grades to be a little harsh, she is clearly expressing an assessment that acknowledges her deficit. If she feels like she was well behaved because she wasnt talking out of turn but her effort was poor because she didnt participate, she is inherently defining good behavior as not talking in class, and good effort as participating in class. Thus, students created their own mini-rubrics and then graded themselves according to it. This is just one of many reasons I revised the questions in the exit ticket assessment.

Next we have answers from Mitchell. As expressed in multiple artifacts, Mitchell was a challenging student to address. He was defiant and often when you asked him to get on task, he would refute or debate every statement you would make. However, below he acknowledges his deficit as well. He says his behavior is an 8 because he wasnt listening for a second and his effort was also an 8 because he was tired. Although I dont necessarily agree with the numerical grade he assigned, I do not have to. What I do agree with is his recognition of his deficit behaviors; which are not listening and sleeping in class. Even though he doesnt say it, he does say that he was tired which affected his effort because he slept in class. Regardless of the score he assigned, he at least recognizes the deficit and thus is self-assessing according to an internal rubric by which he judges good and bad effort and behavior.

Next we have a student who has been consistent the entire year. She has been quiet and reserved ever since she was added to my class. She is probably the only student I would assign a 10 to for her behavior and effort each day because she is just that consistent. When she says she was on her best behavior or she did all her work she is being forthcoming. Again, it isnt about honesty, its about recognition. She, however, does not have a deficit to recognize. Instead, she still self-assesses in that she realizes that her behavior and effort are something to commend.

Finally, a student who has been addressed in previous artifacts, Kia, rated her behavior a 10 because she was on her best behavior and her effort a 10 as well because she did what she had to. This student is often very forthcoming when she believes she is lacking, so her assessment from that day is pretty accurate. Moreover, she further expresses the value in self-assessing. In saying that her effort was a 10 because she did what she had to, she is acknowledging that effort is getting stuff done in class. This expresses her reflection process that possibly alludes to the fact that in the past she did not do what she had to or that also in the past she was not on her best behavior. These two answers are indicative of the fact that she is reflecting on what good effort and behavior mean for her and trying to match her performance to her perceived capabilities.

Although much progress can be shown through these exit tickets, one thing in noticed was that students were more likely to assign themselves a 10 off the bat. I see a lot of 10s that I feel like students gave and then found arbitrary reasons to justify the grade. I only say this because as much as my class has grown and improved, I would not say anyone has a consistent 10 each day. But now Im getting responses like 10 because I did all my work or 10 because I was on my best behavior or 8 because I did my work but I fell asleep. Although these responses are assessments, theyre a little less than accurate. However, the upside to all of this is that students are aiming higher, knowing that at the end of the day, theyre held accountable (even if only by themselves).