After attending ACTFL 2019 in D.C. and attending Megan Budke’s session on Grading to Promote Proficiency I was absolutely mind blown! So, I made it one of my goals this year to learn as much from Megan as I possibly could. How do you learn and get coached from someone who doesn’t know you? Easy… you stalk them on their professional Twitter account. By following her on Twitter, I discovered her Glow and Grow student self-evaluation tool to lead students to self assess and self reflect. Through my stalking research, I found out Madame Carbonneau, Rebecca Blouwolff, and Jessica Gillespie inspired Megan with creating these tools. Thank you ladies because you guys have created a domino effect with the glow and grow self-evaluation tool. Megan has graciously shared some of her glow and grow self assessment tools on Twitter.

I am so glad I decided to invest in learning more from Megan. She inspired me to create something similar for my AP classes. I created a self assessment tool for the simulated conversations FRQ of the the AP test.  

The Glow and Grow Self-Evaluation Tool for the AP Simulated Conversation FRQ

I used the scoring guidelines from the College Board, and I ended up with with seven slides. Each provides a reflective opportunity for the student. They can be assigned all at once, but I really feel these are more powerful when one to three at assigned at a time. I also love how I can target the reflection depending on my students’ areas that may need improvement.

You can get your free copy of this guided student self evaluation tool for the interpersonal conversation FRQ of the AP test here.

These are some of the reasons why I love this self-assessment tool:

I noticed it engages students in the learning process regardless of their current proficiency level. It is perfect for all students as they are each growing and focusing on the same tasks but on different areas at a time. For example, my heritage speakers need to improve in very different areas. This tool provides an excellent road map for them. I can engage in meaningful conversations about their progress with this self-assessment tool because it inspires interactive conversations about their performance. It also draws students to actively set goals.

Benefits of Self-Evaluation Tool

These are other reasons why I have enjoyed integrating this tool. It:

• promotes safe risk taking.
• allows for errors and views such as part of the learning process.
• can be personalized and differentiated depending on what skills we want students to focus on.
• can continue to promote self growth once our students leave our classrooms.

Would you like to see more of these glow and grow reflection guides for different levels?

I would love to hear how you plan to use these. Please, keep me in the loop. I know they have made a difference in my students’ progress and feedback conversations.