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Weekly Tribes – Random Autobiography

Random Autobiography/Assessment

Start the year, or start the grading period…or just start a portfolio entry.

Each day, have students write on a strip of paper…I learned…, I appreciate…, I realize…(any starter, or they can just write…).

Collect strips of paper (maybe their ‘ticket out’).  File away, or have students keep their own file in class.  How ever you choose to organize the ‘keeping of the strips/statements’, continue until you have amassed at least ten.  Now pass them back to students and have students arrange to form a ‘random autobiography’, a reflection collection, a collage of learning, a cut-and-paste assessment, a portfolio entry…I hope you see the possibilities here?!

This simple little strategy can be a powerful reflection of learning (and teaching!), and an authentic assessment of what and how students think.

Make it as specific or broad as you like.  I recommend starting specific and then going for a wider spectrum of responses.  For example, start with “I learned…” statements OR start with random biographical statements before you encourage students to “write whatever you like”.  If you have a specific theme or purpose in mind, it will be easier to organize the statements later.

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