How can students demonstrate mastery?

I just read an article called 100 things students can do to demonstrate what they know. It made me start thinking about how many different ways students can demonstrate mastery. I have thought about it a lot lately when the teachers tell me that the students are not meeting up for the set evaluations. It always makes me wonder why. And there are of course a million different reasons for that, forgot to study, no time, sports, work, and so on. The students I a thinking about are those who do this because they know they don’t master the material. It is the “seat time” dilemma. Why everyone has to be at the same level at the same time. I am making this a priority, it will be one of my main areas of work this coming school year. I’m set on helping all our students succeed and finding ways to prove mastery is a good way to start. We are lucky at our school. Most of our students do very well, they go on to study at university and become engineers, doctors, and lawyers. But I am thinking about those who don’t do well. And even if the number is low,  only 2 % of our students, that still is too many. In our county, the number is 85,4 % so we are actually far ahead.

Let’s start the year by making a list. Off hand without looking at the infographic, how many different ways do you offer your students? Perhaps you can add some suggestions here. This year my students have been writing a book with students from Lindenhurst high school, Long Island. Not only the students who visited the school but the other students as well. That way a project limited to 16 students in both countries, included the whole class that was left behind. These are real-life projects, and these are ways to match your learning with what students will be expected to do later in life. More info on the project here.