I know that I have written on alternative assessments before, but my wife Batsheva showed me some samples of her ALA English's "Mac-blog" assignment from this year that just had to share with you.
(Sample blog home page from one of the students/)
First, some history...
Back in 2004, while teaching for a girls' Jewish High School in New Jersey (shout out to Bruriah High School!!!), Batsheva decided that she was going test her students understanding of the "Scottish Play" (Macbeth for those of you who are Shakespeare challenged) by having them do a - for that time - non standard assessment. Since there was this new Facebook thingy that everyone was talking about, she had the students pick a character from the play and create a faux facebook page as if they were that character.
It was great! Students had a blast trying to "get into the heads" of each of the characters so that they could pretend - role play actually - and develop a strong understanding of what made each character unique. Nowadays, we call this HOTS - Higher Order Thinking Skills.
Well, Batsheva has updated this alternative assessment and this year's students at her current school (Batsheva is the Dean of Faculty at Arete Preparatory Academy) did an amazing job. In Batsheva's own words, here was the assignment...
"Macblogs"The assignment was to create a blog that either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth would have kept during the duration of the events from the play, and then as secondary characters they commented on each others' blogs. They were also required to add visuals, links or "favorites" and music that the person would like.
The students used whatever platform they liked - squarespace, pinterest, tumblr, Google Sites, and so on. Then the fun began... The students analyzed, in-depth, each character and tried to "live" as that character. Then, they posted. The quality of the "Macblog" AND the supporting characters comments were measured via a marking rubric. While keeping student interest and enthusiasm up, the teacher obtains a very clear indication if the student has mastered the goals of the course.
Now, here as some of the blogs.... give them a look!! (The students gave me permission to post their blog links.)
www.themacb.com - (this student is studying to be a graphic artist. Since this is a paid site, it will only be up for a month - so check it out right away!)
What do you think? As always, I solicit your comments on my blogsite!
Regards...
Yossie
Yossie Frankel
IT Director - Shalhevet High School
Tech Specialist - CIJE
Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
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