Report #5
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Dalia R. Juarez
Date December 16, 2009
FIPP Partner Art Martinez
Section #9649
Activity /Strategy Self Evaluation
Category IV-Feedback and Evaluation
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction I provided students with an opportunity to conduct a self evaluation
of themselves and to use the evaluation to track their performance throughout
the semester.
2. Set up & Supplies At the beginning of the semester I asked the class to respond
to two questions on an index card 1) what goal to you hope to accomplish in
class this semester? 2) what hurdles might prevent you from achieving your
goal? I also directed them to tell me about their hurdles, or any specifics about
their lives, on the other side of the index card: veteran, single parent, care
taker, foster child, homeless etc. We talked about the need to have a realistic
understanding of their hurdles and how they might pop up throughout the
semester.
3. Directions After fililng out the 3x5 card I gave students a "Self Evaluation"
handout with several questions to consider as they reviewed their progress in
the class. Twice a month students wrote in the "Self" journals as a way to track
their work.
4. Conclusion In a developmental writing class looking at themselves as the main
contributors to their success was imperative. Being able to evaluate
themselves helped each student see themselves as being in control of the
academic and personal lives.
What worked well? The journaling definitely worked well. This wasn't a graded
assignment but rather a conversation space. They would write down their concerns, I
would respond and use some of the concerns as topics for discussion
What would you change? I would have the students write every week at least once. Our
class was Monday/Wednesday. On Mondays I would have liked them to write about the
past week and list 3 things they still need to work on, or 3 concerns that are lingering. I
would also then like them to look ahead and note how each of those concerns could be
worked on during the week or to set up a timeline as to when the problems could be
fixed. I think doing the once a week reviews would have been helpful to the majority of
the class
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? I've been using the self
evaluation for years and have always found it useful. I'm a huge believer that students
have to see themselves as being in control of the academic success and failures. The
self evaluation consistently reinforces that idea.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. This acitivity gives students that "a-ha" moment.
Rather than blaming others or outside forces for their failures students recognize that
they have a huge role in whether they pass or fail a class. I had one student in
particular who consistently was finding one excuse after another to explain why things
weren't going his way: a class that was too difficult, a teacher that was too difficult,
financial aid issues, personal issues, I kept referring back to the self evaluation to ask
what he was doing to help himself? The class also began to offer him suggestion on
what he might do. My class became a class of self starters and motivators.