Formative Math Reflection

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Explanation and Reflection Description: What is/are the artifact(s)? My artifacts are two samples of students’ work. They are both formative math assessments on coins and were used during my student teaching experience. One sample assesses students’ ability to identify coins by its image, value and name by sorting. The other sample assesses students’ ability to solve money word problems by adding or subtracting coins. Interpretation: Provide a rationale for choosing the artifact(s) Both work samples were given as a formative assessment on the same day. I placed students in various groups according to their abilities and provided a different instruction on coins. This shows my ability to use “multiple and appropriate types of assessment” for …show more content…

The work sample is a word problem worksheet on coins. The objective in this lesson was for students to solve problems using coins and the students had to either add up coins or subtract coins in this worksheet. Therefore, I was able to “match learning objectives with assessment methods”. Based on the work sample, the student correctly answered the questions that involved adding up coins but when she had to subtract coins, she got the answers incorrect because she assumed that the question involved adding up coins. It taught me that she did not know when to add or subtract when reading a word problem. As a result, I adjusted my instruction and taught the student to look for clue words such as, “in all” or “have left” when solving a word problem. I taught her that key words such as, how many are left, difference, how many more and fewer indicate that she needs to subtract. While, key words such as, altogether, in all, total and sum indicate that she needs to add. This show that I was able to “analyze the assessment and understood the gaps in her learning and use it to guide my instruction”. The student knew how to add and subtract but she had a difficult time knowing what operation to use when solving word problems. I provided the student with “effective and descriptive feedback” immediately after finishing her worksheet which helped her to improve her …show more content…

However, a formative assessment is ongoing and is used to check for students’ understanding throughout a lesson. Both work samples “matched learning objectives” and I was able to identify the students’ strength and weaknesses. I was also able to “analyze assessment data to understand patterns and gaps in learning” to guide my future instructions. In the word problem assessment, I recognized where the student was struggling and gave “effective and descriptive feedback” to address the area that she needs work in. Assessments are an important part of teaching. Assessments are a good way for teachers to monitor students’ learning and understanding. Knowing students’ level of understanding can help teachers improve students’ learning and guide their instructions. In the future, I plan to continue assessing students in multiple ways such as, asking questions, illustrations and writing to adjust my instruction. I also plan to encourage students to assess their own work so they are involved in their own learning as well as look for ways to “employ technology to support assessment

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