Monday, December 31, 2012

Looking back and Looking forward

This past year I have tried to continue to read professionally. I have enjoyed learning more about Grading for Learning with book study of 15 Fixes for Grading by Ken O'Connell and Standards based Grading by Guskey. I need to reading more on this topic and try to find out more on how this impacts customized learning at the secondary level. It is an interesting idea and we need to see how this will impact students as they apply to colleges.

I also did some reading on Formative Assessments and need to look back at Dylan Wiliam's book by the same title. I think I will also go back and reread Popham's, Transformative Assessment- a quick read. As we continue to try to customize for every learner, real time assessments with intervention and or enrichment are going to become more important to how we change education for all.

A few authors that have really opened up my mind and have me thinking of late are Todd Whitaker and Simon Sinek. Simon Sinek's Ted Talk is something I would recommend for all educational leaders. I am in the process of finishing his book, The Power of Why. It makes you think. Whitaker's, Shifting the Monkey is a book I would recommend for people looking for ways to make change happen. I think the next book on my list is Doug Reeve's, Activate. It has been sitting on my shelf for while. That will be the book for February.