Buzzer Beater

I'm stealing the title of a student's slice today as I slide in with fewer than thirty minutes left to post. It was a full day (aren't they all) and the truth is that I was all set to turn out the lights when I remembered what I'd neglected to do. Between an early wake-up with my babe and a night out with my older two to see Annie Get Your Gun, I also managed think a lot of about teaching.

Now that I'm at the bottom of a 90 file stack of portfolios, I can't help but rethink my approach to assessment. Beyond my questions about the efficacy of my comments and ratings, the value of their own self-evaluation, and the readiness of (some) students to access what I'm trying to teach them, I've been making a list of what to teach my young writers before they leave at the end of June. What is useful? What will they remember? What is engaging? What's the point?

I won't attempt to answer these questions tonight. For the moment, I'm simply aiming to beat the buzzer.