Core Competencies Discussion – Ariel Su

My teaching partner and I try to do a reflection piece after each big assignment. Each of the

reflection is based off of a core competency that we focused on. Students are asked to assess themselves on a

scale of Emerging, Developing, Proficient or Extending. Then they are asked questions where they reflect on

their growth and their next goal. We found that students are becoming more aware of how they

communicate, how they structure their thinking and how they perceive themselves or others. For example,

after Student Vote earlier this year, my teaching partner and I asked students to write a quick self-reflection

around the assignment and its connection to Personal Awareness and Responsibility. Were they able to

express some wants, needs and preference? Were they able to make choices in order to meet their wants and

needs? Did they advocate for themselves and their ideas? Did they recognize their value and advocated for

their rights? Those were just some areas that were covered over the course of that assignment and reflection.

For the classes that I work with, we try to aim for six core competency reflections per school year, two per

each of the categories (communication, thinking and personal social).

One good resource that my resource team provided was a quick self-assessment for students to do

revolving around each core competency (please see attached). This can be done at any point in the year,

usually at the start and again near the end (or you can do one per term).