🎓 Supercharge Student Motivation with these 5 Self-Assessment Tips

What’s Inside This Week:

• The Big Picture: How Self-Assessments Increases Motivation

• Classroom Hack: Enhance your Classroom’s Organization

• Connecting the Dots: Links to my Favorite Educational Highlights from this Week

Happy Tuesday,

I hope you have fun (and survive) any Halloween 🎃 shenanigans that may happen at your house, or school, this week!

In this weeks Thinking Cap, we’re going to discuss great ways for students to conduct their own self-assessment. Self-assessment is an excellent way to gather data from students without having to provide them with a numerical grade.

Continue reading below to get an in depth analysis of my favorite self-assessment strategies and easy tips for how to use them.

-Brandon

🏆 5 Great Ways that Self-Assessment Increase Student Motivation

Self-assessment activities empower students to realistically evaluate their performance and enhance their work. When students know why self-assessment matters and how it helps them, they're more likely to feel excited and stay interested in their studies.

To boost student motivation through self-assessment, teachers should teach them to assess their work, set clear success criteria, and foster a classroom culture valuing reflection and progress. Here are 5 great ways that self-assessment can increase student motivation.

1. Ownership of their Learning

When students actively participate in assessing their own work, they take ownership of their learning process. They become more engaged and motivated to improve because they are invested in their own progress.

Self-assessment will create a feedback loop where students evaluate their work, identify areas for improvement, make changes, and then re-evaluate. This ongoing process keeps them engaged in their work and encourages continuous improvement.

2. Setting Clear Goals

Self-assessment often involves setting specific goals or criteria for success. Having clear, achievable goals gives students a sense of direction and purpose, motivating them to work toward those goals.

As students track their progress and see their improvement over time, they are more likely to achieve their goals, which can be highly motivating.

3. Allowing for Student Choice

Allowing students to choose the self-assessment methods or tools that work best for them gives them a sense of autonomy. Autonomy is a key motivator in learning.

Self-assessment encourages students to take initiative in their learning. They learn to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and seek resources or strategies to improve, which fosters independence and self-motivation.

4. Reflecting on their Learning

Self-assessment also encourages students to reflect on their strengths and areas that need improvement. This reflective process can be motivating as it helps students recognize their potential and the steps needed for growth.

When students see their own progress and development through self-assessment, they experience a sense of accomplishment and intrinsic motivation. They take pride in their achievements and are more likely to remain engaged in their studies.

5. Creating a Positive Learning Environment

Self-assessments create a positive learning environment where students feel supported and encouraged in their learning journey. This supportive atmosphere can enhance motivation.

Students appreciate when their efforts are recognized and acknowledged. Self-assessment can provide opportunities for students to acknowledge and reward their own efforts, which boosts motivation.

✏️ Steal this Classroom Hack:

• Three Shelf Book Shelf

• Storage Bins with Handles

• Storage Bins with Lids

• Clear Pencil Boxes

• Three Tier Paper Shelf Rack

👍 Why I love this hack:

For most teachers, creating vertical space in your classroom is the best way to maximize space. We all have limited floor space and every time they add another student and another desk, we loose just a little bit more.

That’s why I think this three-shelf bookcase is a great way to create space for easy access to organizational materials. Clear plastic bins make it easy to see and access supplies, while the labels also make it a breeze for students to find what they’re looking for. The three-tier metal shelf for paper storage is the perfect finishing touch, providing ample space for various types of paper.

This organization hack combines functionality and aesthetics to create an efficient and visually pleasing learning environment that benefits both students and teachers. And who wouldn’t love that.

✅ Have a classroom hack that you would like to share? Reply to this email and let me know what awesome hack you’ve created. (I can even include it in next weeks newsletter - with a shout out, of course!)

📚 Highlights from this Week:

• Cornell Center for Education: A great introductory resource for using Self-Assessment in a classroom. (Link)

• Awakened: Awakened offers strategies for teachers to develop a resilient and positive mindset, overcome emotional challenges, and find motivation and contentment in their teaching careers(Link)

• Zero: The Joy of X explores the significance of mathematics in our daily lives, making complex math concepts accessible and engaging through real-world examples and insights. (Link)

• Mathcation: Use code 5Dollars on a Monthly Membership to get your first month for just $5! (Link)

Thank you for reading The Thinking Cap!

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