1. Assessment for Learning
Hope and Inspiration for the
Secondary School Religion Classroom
Linda Graham – St. Thomas Aquinas High School
Vancouver, B.C.
November 2009

2. Opening Prayer Reflection
A wise woman once said: “Prayer is the raising of the heart, mind, body and soul to God in a relationship of love (not mushy gushy infatuated love) with God, self and others.” (Sr. Josephine Carney)
We, therefore, pause to begin in prayer. May the Holy Spirit guide our formative time together:

3. What do I hope to achieve and inspire as a Religious educator in today’s classroom?
Increase student ownership and relevance to enhance the meaning of assessment in Religion class, and to reach a diverse spectrum of learners within the classroom to bring them to understand that Jesus ROCKS!

4. Jesus R.O.C.K.S ? Based on ideas from Virginia Smith’s article 50
St. Mary’s Press: Touching the Hearts of Teens

5. Relevance – “relevant to their fast paced lives”
Observation – “observe the elements of their
world and come to grips with
God’s place in it”
Challenge – “what appears murky, ambiguous,
even erroneous”
Knowledge – “unless they possess knowledge that
is verifiable”
Spirituality – “build a spirituality that is their own”

6. OR ELSE . . .
“…the chances of religious faith achieving centrality in their lives are slim.”
Virginia Smith

7. Relevance:
“Pope John XXIII understood that church teachings would have to be compelling to modern believers in order to survive
Seek new ways to express old truths, new forms for old practices
Does not imply change for the sake of novelty, but change for the sake of clarity
Pat answers are unacceptable and rote replies are routinely rejected
This generation wants its religion on the level of where the rubber hits the road
Science and Religion need to be brought together”

8. Observation:
“To be trained to observe carefully the world in which they live.
Compare their world with the ones they find in the bible.
Pointless to teach the elements of the historical-critical approach to Bible study. In and of itself, the approach is as dry as dust.
If the search focuses on what biblical books mean for us in this era, it becomes fascinating.
What is its message today?”

9. Challenge:
“We do not teach the Catholics of tomorrow. These are the Catholics of today.
We need to be realistic and optimistic.
We need to increase growth.
Independent study of other religions is strongly recommended.
The greatest challenge is to instill critical thinking skills.
The adventure is in the search.
Class participation constitutes anywhere from 25 to 33 percent of the grade .”

10. Knowledge: “Magic answer boxes we are not.
Fonts of wisdom we are not as often as we would like to be.
Masters of our fields we are only in our dreams.
But knowledgeable professionals in our discipline, especially this discipline, we simply must be.
What we know and how much we care are not mutually exclusive.
Young people must be equipped with both belief and basis for that belief.
If they do not possess a solid, rocklike foundation upon which to erect their faith structure, they will build a house of cards.”

11. Spirituality:
“To know about God is one thing; to know God, quite another.
…must unite the two without slighting either, a neat feat.
We would not put God in a box, we should not confine our students either.
They need plenty of spiritual elbow room.
Among other things, that involves exposure to many forms of prayer and styles of spirituality.”
NB: Assessment tasks should match the different learning styles and intelligences of the students. (CISVA)

12. An anonymous prayer says:
“May you hear God’s call to follow the Christ in your own unique way, united with the church, in service to all the world.”

13. “My hope is to become one of the R. O. C. K
“My hope is to become one of the R.O.C.K.S in my students’ lives… to teach rather than to preach the word of God.”
Linda Graham
STA – November 2009

14. Closing Reflection Faith, Hope and Love
Consider :The Classroom as Holy Ground,
Kevin O’Brien, S.J., 2003
Faith, Hope and Love

15. Appendages ROCKS: (Article 50) Virginia Smith
Teacher, Department Chair, Billings Central Catholic High School, Billings, Montana
Assessment: Excerpt from the Philosophy of Catholic High School Teaching (CISVA)
The Classroom as Holy Ground, Kevin O’Brien, S.J.,