Abby Plassard- EMS 517 Effective Teaching and Planning

  In chapter 2 of "Rigor By Design, Not Chance", Hess discusses the widely known and highly discussed topic of questioning, and specifically takes time to address both closed and open ended questions and how they are important to students’ understanding. Both types of questioning are important to give to students, but for very different reasons.  Closed questions, although often referred to as “basic”, are necessary in order to ensure that students are gaining the necessary knowledge they need in order to engage in different types of learning activities that contribute to their understanding of academic content and skills. Hess (2017) goes on to further explain closed questions by stating, “teachers plan their lessons to include “hinge” questions to get on-the-spot evidence about what students do and don't understand to determine who is and isn’t ready to move on or who may need additional support and practice” (p.74). This shows the importance of closed questions by expl...

After reading Chapter 1 of "Rigor by Design, Not Chance" by Karin Hess, I wanted to dive deeper into the actionable assessment cycle that was discussed in this chapter. The chapter and article both thoroughly discussed the importance of the assessment cycle and the roles of both teacher and student. Both articles also share the common theme of establishing clear learning goals/targets. Chapter 1 of "Rigor by Design, Not Chance" by Karin Hess started off by discussing teacher actions. Teachers are to take action steps in order to support student learning: Design  assessments that uncover what a student is thinking, not what they remember. Interpret assessment results in order to understand where a student is currently in their own learning process. Use assessment results to give students feedback so they can develop more self reflection skills. (Hess, 2023, p.60) The steps mentioned above are crucial for the assessment process because it continuously allows teach...