Over-caffinated conundrum

Over-caffeinated conundrum

** I have gone back over the notes I wrote on the articles I read and added in reflective comments. These are denoted with [   ] around the reflection. 

     So a Seattle based coffee company currently has a buy-one get-one-free premonition going on.  My wife and I decided to each get a "holiday inspired beverage. " Unfortunately my wife enjoyed neither her drink nor mine, so I was left to polish off the better part of  40oz of milk and caffeine. Once my stomach forgave me for the injustice, my mind took over on punishment for my poor judgement thus depriving me of my much desired sleep. 

      tl;dr: (Too Long; Didn't Read) I had too much coffee and can't sleep. [ don't ask me why there is a semicolon there, as far a I know it is just internet convention.  I was curious as well and that rabbit hole is deep. Feel free to take the red pill here though  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/is-the-semicolon-in-tldr-ironic ]

The result of my lack of somnolence is shown below.  I got lost in blog posts and masters theses  (thesises... Is that right?) And in the end thought I would write down things that felt relevant. Are they relevant? Will they be coherent?  Can our intrepid, insomniac  author get to the point?  You decide

For blog:

1. Assignments provide snapshot of learning. 
2. Reflection is the thread that ties that Polaroid to the other snapshots AND explains the meaning of the pictures
3. Digital portfolios are both assessment as learning and of learning.
4. The assessment of the learning is obviously the final stage of the portfolio,  and ideally will be done with the student.
5. The assessment as learning has a few parts

    i) cements the learning that has taken place [future blog on curve of forgetting ]
   ii) focuses reflector on the big idea / purpose of the assignment
   iii) teaches metacognative strategies
   iv) provides a logical application point for skills that may not have been obviously applicable to an assignment

Part 4 (iv) of this is hard to explain. Imagine a math assignment where a student has to examine a math "shortcut" figure out how it works, then explain it to a small group.

Using the bc  maths 8 curriculum as a guide  ( https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/mathematics/8 ) 

the student would likely show "reasoning and analyzing " skills and " Understanding and solving " techniques,  but it is unlikely that there would be an organic  way to show their ability to "Reflect on mathematical thinking". I can't recall many group presentations that had the presenter stop and think out loud regarding their thinking strategies. (Maybe they should though...ooh meta^2). I'm not sure if that cleared my point or just muddied the waters.

3) End point reflection should probably include :

A) what skills did I develop /refine
B) what knowledge did I gain / sharpen
C) What do I still have to learn / work on for this course?

4) [Clearly I was getting a little bit over excited here]

• DO I DIRECT TO THE CURRICULUM,  GUIDE THEM THROUGH THE CURRICULUM OR TELL THEM WHAT THE GOAL WAS????? 
• Are the curriculum documents written in such as way that your average high school student can understand them? 
• If not, is it better to re-write the curriculum in "kid friendly" language, or walk them through the "unfriendly" language? [Upon further reflection I would rather walk them through the "unfriendly" language. It develops literacy, helps me re-focus on the task at hand, and provides the students with another tool to help their understanding. ]

Clear as mud? Questions, Comments,  Concerns?  Post them in the comments.