Last week, I wrote about how we use Exam Wrappers on major assessments and the ways in which doing so has changed my practice.  Another aspect of using Exam Wrappers is how I use them to engage students in self-reflection as they prepare for Assessments.

Review Day Habits

When we plan our Modules, my colleague, Irene Witt, and I always set aside one day of review prior to a major, cumulative Assessment.  On this day, there is no new material presented; it is an opportunity for students to ask questions, work on the material from the study guide, catch up on Skill Assessments (teacher-created “quizzes”) and retakes, work on extensions, and so on.

One of the habits I have worked on this year is to have students start their review days by looking back on their performance in the previous Module.  Students get back their Exam Wrapper and they take out their Learning Goals, a list of the major concepts covered in each Module.  Students think about areas they self-identified for improvement on the last Module Assessment and topics they might be struggling with in the current Module.  Finally, they publicly share their plan for using this self-reflection via a padlet, which holds them accountable for their own plan in a low-stakes format.