Weekly Question: How can we design tasks that are simultaneously, rigorous, offer access, and require interdependence?

Essential Question: How do we design learning tasks that support all students to be successful?


This week's activity helped me with this question a bit more than the readings did, I think. Going through the motions of identifying the rigor, access, and interdependence in a task helped show where it exists or can be created. I don't know that I have many generalizables right now -- group tasks help us offer access and of course interdependence and access requires openness and playing to different learning styles (visual support, perhaps some written words, instructions and discussion out loud, manipulatives when possible). Rigor seems to be a bit of a question here, as I continue to work towards understanding how on earth I'm supposed to take weird state-provided standards and turn them into things to do. Generally though, trying the task myself is always helpful to see how it feels and if it meets the mark. This is probably also a good place for backwards planning.


The Hand, Kirtley, and Matassa (2015) piece gave some good advice around student strengths and using them in the classroom. It's always nice to notice what students do well and take that information in order to form particularly productive groups for groupwork or encourage students by recognizing their competencies in class. However, it left me (and my small group) with some wonders about the practicalities of this. Students change a lot over time, so hanging on to these ideas too tightly would be a worry for teachers. If you continue to assign something to a student that no longer describes them, that could be very ineffective or even harmful. Also, the things you are noticing are always that -- notices. It is hard to know for sure what a student knows/doesn't know or is good at/isn't good at, especially considering you are not that student. Flexibility and constant change seems to be key here.


Rubel and Lim's 2018 piece was another of those pieces where I thought "wow, I'd love to do this, but I can't imagine developing something like that on my own any time soon." There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day, and there especially isn't enough paid hours in the day. The case study had an entire team developing the curriculum behind the scenes. However, it's a great reminder that rigor, access, and interdependence are hard to foster when students do not want to engage and do not feel motivated. Problems that they relate to, that are meaningful to them, make these ideas so much easier to create in our tasks because students will engage more with them. I'd love to see a similar project tackle things around democracy and voting, especially as we approach US Election Day.

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