THE FINISH LINE
THE FINISH LINE IS JUST THE BEGINNING...
... OF A WHOLE NEW RACE. UNKNOWN
CROSSING THE FINISH LINE The finish line is in sight, but how do we know if where we end up is where we intended to go? The 2020 school year was definitely challenging as schools closed and learning in the classroom shifted to the home. Learners had to adjust to online lessons, teachers had to re-create assessments and realign their lessons, while parents became co-teachers. To say the least there were many challenges, but if you looked closely, there were also opportunities for schools that could think flexibly, adapt to the new reality and creatively problem solve.
Escola Concept transitioned very effectively to online learning by creating a Virtual Village with structured phases. The construction process was not always easy, but it was made possible because of intentional pauses along the way to reflect on whether or not we were making progress towards our intended outcomes. How do we know if where we end is where we intended to go? The answer lies with assessment, checking our progress and making adjustments along the way.
What does it mean to MAKE LEARNING VISIBLE through pedagogical documentation? Every educational environment is impacted by influences or energies present in all forms of social learning that act as models of cultural dynamics. Cultural forces are identified as: language, time, environment, opportunities, routines, modeling, interactions and expectations and, if documented, become widely perceived and intentional. If we want the development of people, who can think, plan, create, question and get involved independently as students, we need to offer ways of visibility and interpretation of that thought that is now seen and interpreted.
We always document as a society: from cash register receipts to medical records, family photo albums, etc. But the pedagogical documentation offers more than a record, but a process for listening to children, creating artifacts from that listening to study what they reveal about their competent worldviews. To listen to the children, we document the moments lived with images, videos, recordings, texts, of what the children said, interpreting such relationships.
These documented traits of lived experience, when shared with others, become a tool for thinking together. Listening to the thoughts of others makes us realize that there are many points of view. Pedagogical documentation goes beyond the basis of the development continuum to welcome children's perspectives and the study of their views. When we take these moments out of the flow of time, we can stop them, study them and consider a careful and thoughtful response. A powerful school must reveal, not verbally, the history of the subjects that inhabit it. In short, pedagogical documentation is the second skin of the school that enables such perception.
Stupor s.m. sudden immobility in the face of something that is not expected; big surprise, amazement, amazement.
How pedagogical documentation gives visibility to learning The pedagogical documentation invites us to be curious and to ask ourselves about the meaning of events for children. We became co-learners together, focusing on expanding children's understanding of the world with others. We discovered what we still didn't know how to see. The pedagogical documentation inserts a new phase of thinking and questioning between the act of observation and the act of planning a response. Instead of looking for what is known through evaluation, the pedagogical documentation invites creativity, stupor and delight for educators who discover the world of children.
This documentary process updates and eternalizes memories of experiences and knowledge when seeing children and educators as researchers, offering elements to evaluate the process and indicating strategies. When we register, we clarify our look, we see what we did not notice before, we started to see ourselves in the process, to perceive peculiarities. Finally, there is a confrontation with paradigms and openness to provisional theories. We started to see the little ones as participating citizens, engaging their cultural environment in all their humanity.
LEARNING ASSESSMENTS
As the academic year comes to a close, and a notable milestone, many ponder on the learners’ progress and development. What do they know? What do they not know? Were they able to complete processes and demonstrate skills? On the other hand, if you know what they must understand, how do you verify if the learner in fact did understand?Assessment provides evidence of understanding. Different tools are used to collect data in order to provide clear feedback on learning to establish goals and guide pedagogical planning.
At Escola Concept, assessment is purposeful and intentional. Our learners are assessed in many different ways throughout the academic year. Despite the very unusual year for all of us, Concept was able to maintain its high level of quality assessment with our learners.This year, most assessments were done virtually, which may have come with some challenges, but were nonetheless relevant and meaningful. In this Spotlight issue, you will learn about the final assessments some of our learners will undergo virtually during the following weeks: Student-Led Conferences, MAP (Measures of Academic Progress), Festival of Learning, as well as the pedagogical documentation that continually occurs.
on-line pilot
MAP TEST QUICK FACTS: Grade levels tested: Kindergarten and Grade 1(optional), Grade 2 to Grade 9 (compulsory). Adaptive test: completed electronically via the MAP app on an iPad. Learners take the test individually on their designated iPads. The test questions are dynamically adjusted (they become harder/easier) based on the child’s performance. Frequency: learners take the MAP test three times per year, once every trimester. In 2020, with the school closure, we will carry out two tests in a pilot model that has been adapted to allow the tests to be done at home. What is tested: Reading, Language Usage, to include vocabulary, Math, and Science (starting in grade 3).
Measures of Academic Progress, also known as MAP, is an international adaptive external assessment that measures a learner’s progress on learning over a given amount of time.
What do results show: it shows what learners know and informs the educator what they are ready to learn next. MAP shows very detailed information about the individual child’s performance for each skill that is tested. The test is very precise. Think of the test as a surgical procedure about each child’s learning. Think of the result as an X-ray of where the child is with regards to learning. How is the data used: as soon as the learners finish the test, results are generated in the MAP database.
Each educator receives the following: •overall class performance in each area tested, •class performance in each skill tested, •individual performance in each area, •individual performance in each skill, •class groupings based on knowledge and skills.
Each educator studies the data and does the following: • sets individual learning goals for each learner, • sets class goals for the class, • sets group goals for specific groups of learners. When do parents receive results? At the end of the school year, in December. Parents will be able to have the full picture of how their child progressed along the school year. This is known as learning snapshot.
virtual STUDENT LED CONFERENCES
Individual family meetings with the child that are held mid-quarter when families schedule an appointment to learn about the child's development.
Student Led Conferences take place in the middle of the trimester, approximately six weeks into the trimester. These are individually scheduled 30 minute meetings held with the learner, the parent/guardian, and the educator. During this meeting the digital portfolio guides the experience while the learner speaks about specific learning moments, perceived strengths, areas of opportunity, future goals, and any additional relevant information. This opportunity is not an oral exam. The educator also uses this opportunity to share specific information about how the learner is progressing in relation to the identified and planned content targets.
virtual FESTIVAL OF LEARNING At Concept School our learners are assessed in many different ways throughout the academic year. This year, being a very unusual year for schools, Concept was able to maintain its high level of quality assessment with our learners. Our Festival of Learning event is a moment where the magic of learning comes to life, but it is also a moment where learners are assessed by their educators, peers, and also by our community through the presentations of their projects. It is essential, when talking about assessments, that we also keep in mind that throughout the Festival of Learning process, our learners are evaluated rigorously on their weekly project developments. At Concept, assessments are also celebrated with our Festival of Learning presentations.
The process of developing a project for the Festival of Learning goes through many stages. After the initial process of thinking about different ideas and questions, learners go through the processes of designing, planning, creating, and testing their final product. It is essential that as a school, we assess our learners through those stages of developing a product. A learner project can last between 5-7 weeks and during those weeks we evaluate our learners with formative assessments. Our formative assessments are very important to our learners’ project development and learning process. Our evaluations can include simple feedback from peers and educators, a short text, a reflection, a question, the result of a Visible Thinking routine, a video, etc. At Concept, we value the process of learning, and part of the process is to make sure that our learners have many opportunities to be evaluated as they develop their products so that they can learn from their mistakes and solve any problems connected to the success of the development of the product.
The Festival of Learning is a magical moment where all projects, products, and ideas come together to celebrate learning. This Festival of Learning at Concept would not be what it is if our learners were not assessed. We celebrate their achievements, but before the celebration, our learners have to redo, reconstruct, retry, and rethink their products to make sure that the final project was presentable and believable. All the effort, hard work, and persistence that our learners endure during the 5-7 weeks of a project are made possible by the level of assessments that students go through to have successful and completed projects for the Concept Festival of Learning.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! MAP TESTING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH, TO FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4TH.
VIRTUAL STUDENT LED CONFERENCE EARLY YEARS: NOVEMBER 25, 26, 27 AND 28. LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL: NOVEMBER 18, 19, 20 AND 21. VIRTUAL FESTIVAL OF LEARNING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH TO SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5TH
LEAVING OUR MARK
The project-based learning path provides opportunities for learners to develop skills, learn about content and discover talent. At Escola Concept, learners still consider another relevant question: How will my project positively impact society? Learners are able to observe the society in which they live, and discover how they can become contributing citizens in the environment in which they live. The purpose is to transform these ideas into innovative solutions to real problems.Following this premise, the learners of the Escola Concept Salvador, SĂŁo Paulo and RibeirĂŁo Preto campuses, engaged in innovative projects that gained national and international attention!
FABLEARN NYC 2020 Four projects by Concept Salvador learners were selected to be presented at the FabLearn 2020 Conference, at Columbia University in New York. This event brings together the greatest influencers in education, design and research. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic this year, the event took place virtually. The projects aim to promote wellbeing, health and sustainability, with innovative and practical solutions. TrashBall Can, which started with observations that learners made while in the school cafeteria. After being bothered by the amount of leftover food and napkins on the cafeteria floor during meals, Bernardo Lopes (Grade 9), Sophia Almeida (Grade 8) and Angel Miranda (Grade 7), created a themed trash can in the shape of a basketball hoop in order to encourage, in a playful and fun way, the correct disposal of garbage in the school cafeteria.
In addition to participating in the FabLearn Flagship Conference 2020 at Columbia University, the TrashBall Can was also selected to participate in the FabLearn Latin America 2019 in Montevideo, Uruguay and the 10th Meeting of Young Scientists (UFBA). Another project focused on sustainable actions is the RePaper project, which was developed by learners, Gabriel Cardoso (Grade 9), LetĂcia Alfano (Grade 8), Maria Gonzaga (Grade 8), during the scientific club: "Social Commitment, Communication and Technology". After realizing the high consumption of paper at school, the students developed a wastebasket that focused on streamlining the first two steps of the recycling process: the fragmentation of the paper and the process of soaking the fragmented paper for 48 hours.
Still following the premise of sustainability, Gabriel Rabelo (Grade 7), Rafael Hasan (Grade 8), Nicollas Niwton (Grade 8) and Rodrigo Sturaro (Grade 8), brought an innovative idea in the search for water supply and reuse. The Shelter project allows the use and reuse of water in the most diverse situations, especially in the garden, due to its ease of construction and adaptability.Lastly, we have the Note Diaper project. In addition to participating in FabLearn (Columbia University), it was one of the 300 finalists at Febrace 2020, at USP. It also participated in FabLearn Latin America 2019, in Montevideo, and won 2nd place at the 10th Meeting of Young Scientists, from Universidade Federal da Bahia, in the category "Office of Scientific Curiosities".
Developed by learners Alice Nunes (Grade 9), Emanuel Castro (Grade 8) and Enzo Franรงa (Grade 8), Note Diaper is a system that notifies the caregiver when it is time to change an adult patient's diaper, promoting quality of life , well-being, while avoiding illness and discomfort. These projects developed by learners throughout their academic journey represent not only the result of learning itself, but also the growth of students as transforming citizens in the society in which they live.
MINECRAFT CLUB LEARNERS RECREATED ESCOLA CONCEPT BUILDINGS USING MINECRAFT FOR EDUCATION VIRTUAL PROJECT AND RECEIVED RECOGNITION IN THE PRESS With schools temporarily closed this year, learners were able to reconnect with the campuses of the three Concept schools, albeit virtually. Thanks to the Minecraft Club, Lower School learners were able to virtually rebuild school buildings and reimagine their favorite learning spaces in a playful, creative and interactive way. The project, led by Concept's Ed Tech team, put students in touch with mathematical logic, chemistry, biology and arts concepts. When constructing, the game showed the elements of the periodic table that could be used in the materials and helped deepen understanding of chemistry.
“To build, they worked with geometry and measuring space, while developing skills such as creativity, controlling impulsivity and listening with empathy. The constructions were created collectively, developing a sense of collaboration and active listening in children ”, explains Graziella Matarazzo, Educational Technology Coordinator at Concept São Paulo. “Minecraft is a game with a simple interface, but it offers many tools for creativity, allowing students to imagine and create freely using technology. One example of this freedom of virtual creation is that, in this project, students built secret passages in campuses that do not actually physically exist.
Another element that generates a lot of engagement is the possibility of being in a virtual environment with other people and interacting with them ” adds Graziella. The project, carried out in partnership with Minecraft for Education, was highlighted in some specialized media channels. The articles can be seen on these links: Radio Geek The Enemy
Listening with understanding and empathy We believe that they can be As we get closer to the finishing line, we can’t help but reflect on all the learning opportunities that we have encountered during this challenging year. Upon further reflection, we realized that none of this could have happened without our community, without you. Escola Concept is based on an innovative, hands-on approach, that puts our learners in the center, making choices and giving voice to their own ideas.
empowered to co-create their learning path and because of that, have a more meaningful experience at school and in life. This year, we have counted on them, and on our families, more than ever, to give us their opinions, suggestions, and to help us turn our Virtual Village into a valuable place for everyone. We are grateful for our community and for the trust they place in our school. Hearing out is what makes us better, and is always a joy.
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