Informal Assessment In Classroom Assessment

As Popham says in his book, Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know, it is extremely important to frequently assess each students work because “you can’t gauge the student’s progress if you don’t have frequent evidence of the student’s efforts” (Popham 243). It is necessary for assessments to be frequently administered to students because the teacher needs to know consistently the amount of information and content knowledge that the students are actually retaining. Assessments can be delivered in a multitude of different formats , such as formal, informal, authentic and performance assessments. I believe that it is necessary to use several forms of assessments in the correct manner, in order to assist my students in being successful

Informal assessments are quick, simple ways to check and determine if my students are understanding the material covered during that day or lesson. I believe that this type of assessment should be used frequently, if not daily. While these assessments can be given in the format of a short quiz, it does not have to necessarily have to follow that format. Informal assessments can be done in observing the students in a performance activity, such as reading aloud, or by checking the work that they have done in either guided practice or independent practice. This type of assessment should be non-stressful for the students because the teacher is more assessing her performance in teaching the material than the students remembrance of the content. For that very reason, informal assessments should also be simple for the teacher to administer because the majority of these do not need to be graded or entered into the

In this method of assessment, the teacher is evaluating the student based on their ability to apply their knowledge and their actual performance, not on their ability to answer questions correctly. Personally, my favorite performance assessment format is that of the portfolio.According to Popham, “the primary premise in portfolio assessment is that a particularized collection of a student’s evolving work will allow both the student and you to determine the student’s progress” (Popham 243). Therefore, the teacher collects artifacts that the student has completed throughout the year and keeps them in one place. Over time, she is able to observe the amount of improvement that has occurred and determine if they understand the material. I believe that performance assessments are much more accurate because they show the student 's true range of growth and improvement throughout time and I plan on using these types of assessments frequently in my