Flat Classroom Peer Assessment Project Update (Nanjing International School and United Nations International School)

I am happy to say that we (NIS and UNIS) completed the first chapter of our flat classroom peer assessment project yesterday afternoon with grade 2. For background information on this project, please visit earlier blog (http://www.pyppewithandy.com/2/post/2012/02/flat-classroom-collaborative-peer-assessment-project-in-pyp-pe.html) to see the specifics. Despite experiencing some logistical issues related to scheduling and IT concerns regarding our Skype connection, we were able to stick to our original timeframe and completed the first peer assessment via Skype yesterday afternoon from 1-2pm Nanjing time. 

Although things seemed to go quite well, we recognize that there are some areas that could be improved upon. Cameron McHale, the PE teacher from United Nations International School in Vietnam, did a great job at organizing things from his end to ensure all went smoothly. Both Cam and I decided to change the format in which his students were going to assess my students. We needed to ensure maximum efficiency when peer assessing as timing was critical, especially considering the fact that 50 students (three grade 2 classes) were participating at NIS and 20 grade 2 students were viewing our performances via Skype at UNIS. A very special thanks to NIS drama teacher, Sam Brown and NIS music teacher, Bonnie Tsung for their help in making this happen as well!

Cam’s students watched 4 consecutive movement composition routines and were given a couple of minutes between each group’s performance to peer assess. The best thing about the entire process was that at the end of the 4 routines, aside from the pencil and paper assessment, some of Cam’s students gave verbal feedback to my students that was extremely useful. His students commented on how cool it was to see cartwheels, scarves, and other elements in the routine. They even mentioned that seeing our routines was great because it gave them ideas for their routines. It was clear to see that they were completely focused and following along on Skype. 

My students will be observing Cam’s students do their routines in two weeks time. That will conclude the grade 2 part of this project. We have also scheduled peer assessment projects via Skype with our grade 3 classes on March 9th. Please view slide show below of  the flat classroom peer assessment process continuing to unfold. It has been a great professional experience so far. Cam and I look forward to refining the process in an effort to make the learning experience more valuable for the students and to provide as much feedback as possible to any other teachers around the world wanting to try this sort of thing out.