Saturday, February 5, 2011

Immaculate Conception--or a decent course in literary art.

One Thing Missing:
 
(For those who skipped their Gen.Ed
Literature Requirement or went to some
college which didn’t force it., or took it
but it didn’t take because forced.)
 
…without which we suffer the heavy
metal sound of  one-handed-clapping:
our conscientious house bands:
  
Assessable Aims & The Objectives,
Measurable Goals & The Accountabilities   
 
The rubric is one authentic assessment
tool which is designed to simulate real
life activity where students are engaged
in solving real-life problems.
 
It is a formative type of assessment
because it becomes an ongoing part
of the whole teaching and learning
process.
 
Students themselves are involved in
the assessment process through both
peer and self-assessment. As students
become familiar with rubrics, they
can assist in the rubric design process.
 
This involvement empowers the students
and as a result, their learning becomes
more focused and self-directed.
 
Authentic assessment, therefore, blurs
the lines between teaching, learning,
and assessment (Pickette and Dodge).
 
It probably takes something LIKE an
immaculate conception or maybe a brief
hook-&-haul out of the pond  to flop
around in dry air before flipping back
into the swim to know the difference
between all wet on the one hand and
wet & dry on the other.   

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;


And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter


Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,


Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place


For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there

 and the nothing that is
                           Wallace Stevens

(Voice is all. Content's galore. Not just
what we know but whether we can put
IT in play these days.)

No comments:

Post a Comment