Student Recollections

• In Event: If Not Standardized Testing, Then What?

Abstract

Arguably, the most important assessments to be made in schools are students’ assessments of themselves. So it is important for educators to continually ask, “How are my students assessing themselves?” For students, assessments of their own particular abilities contribute to the broader way they see themselves—their very identities—which become the central motivator for learning and why students often choose to put effort into a difficult task (Erickson, 1993; Gee, 1996).
One way the K-8 school under focus here creates such opportunities for students is with a project that requires students to reflect on themselves as learners as they complete 5th grade, called Recollections. Recollections are short autobiographies that students write describing their progress at the school, which are published along with self-portraits in a book for all of the students in the grade. When the book is published, a ceremony is conducted with readings from the book to an audience of family members, peers, and faculty, along with a celebration breakfast.
The process starts with students reviewing their own archive of collected work from K-5. Throughout their matriculation at the school, each student and teacher selects approximately 15–20 pieces of work to keep in a large folder called their archive. When students are preparing for the Recollections project, they look through all of the collected materials in their archives. They sit with their teacher or another adult (wonderful community volunteers work with students on this project) and talk about what they notice. The adult writes down what the student notices. The focus is on abiding interests and abilities, favorite work or projects, and experiences that seemed to be most challenging or memorable. After they look through the materials together, the adult gives the notes to the student, and the student begins to write a draft essay about themselves as a learner. This draft will be self-edited, as well as read by the homeroom teacher, who will also offer suggestions for improvement. After several drafts are written, the final draft is typed and printed for the book.
Meanwhile, students will work on a self-portrait, which over the years has been rendered in watercolor, colored pencils, or block print. The final book is a beautiful collection of thoughtful self-assessments and expressions that each student takes home to remember.
The process of writing, publishing, and presenting these recollection essays provides the opportunity for each student to make public an identity that is grounded in activities that take place in school and connected to positive memories relating to academic work. Despite touching on similar themes, each essay reveals a unique and interesting individual student who is engaged in reading, writing, artwork, science, social studies, and being part of a community of learners. Students making public an academic identity also offers educators ways of getting to know the students better, knowledge which might not have been accessible previously, allowing the educators and students to develop deeper relationships that foster a more effective learning environment.

Author

• Matthew Knoester, Ripon College