Flipchart Assessment Day.

"I'm so over flipcharts!" was the comment made to me the other day in the staffroom. One of our IWB teachers was expressing her frustration (maybe exasperation is a better word) at working towards addressing the criteria for flipchart assessment, as part of our beginning steps of the accreditation process towards the status of being a Promethean Centre of Excellence.

The assessment process took place today with our Melbourne-based trainer, Kate. We had eight practitioners taking place - most of our original "pioneer" group and a couple of our new board users looking to see how their skills were coming along. I have to admit that I was feeling a bit under pressure - the so-called technology savvy coordinator might be the only one whose flipchart skills weren't up to scratch!

Now the way I see it, the first comment might have something in it because when you look at what is required to reach certain levels in the Centre For Excellence criteria, it is mainly about using the ACTIVstudio tools and demonstrating a certain level of expertise. It certainly doesn't measure the pedagogical changes in a teacher - it reminds me a little bit of the debate between high stakes testing advocates and educators who are interested in the more holistic view of education. In the Centre For Excellence criteria, it is all definitely measureable - six flipcharts, using page notes somewhere, show a snap to grid, layered object examples and so on. But demonstrating how that flipchart has improved your students' learning outcomes - well, that's a different kettle of fish.