Throughout this learning segment students will take part in various informal assessments that will help me monitor children’s progress. For example, for Learning Experience 1 students will be asked to look at artifacts and be asked to use their prior knowledge to think about what they represent. Then they will be read the book I am Jackie Robinson and asked to take part in a class discussion connecting the artifacts to Jackie Robinson and how it relates to their previous language arts story Luke Goes to Bat. Thus, these probes will serve as pre assessments. Students will also complete worksheets that require them to cut and paste the given objects or phrases and glue them in the correct chronological order. These worksheets will serve as formative
In Ms. Hall’s seventh period ESL freshman biology class I chose to do a write around or pass a question formative assessment probe. I came up with three different questions and printed each one on an individual sheet of paper. The three questions were; 1. What is one thing you were surprised to learn about the past few weeks about genetics, what is one thing you wish you could learn more about related to genetics, what was the hardest topic for you to learn or that you are still confused about? I started the class by talking about what the purpose of the write around activity was. I informed them that this activity was an opportunity for them to reflect and talk about the lesson they were working on and also an opportunity for me to read about what students thought about their genetics unit. I placed students into groups of three and then asked them to read the first question and take 2 minutes to write as much as they could about the question at hand. If students were confused at the question at all I encouraged them to ask me about their confusion or ways in which to respond. After the 2 minute time slot students then passed that question to and the next person would spend 2 minutes to respond to the previous person’s comments or respond to that new question as well. This was repeated one more time so each student had an opportunity to respond to each question prompt. The classroom consist of 17 students whose first language is not English. Primary languages of the students in the class consist of Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Polish.
The teacher facilitates tracking of student progress on one or more learning goals using a formative approach to assessment.
Once we began our pre-assessment activity, the children were able to respond to my questions about ‘what words begin with the letter C?’ and these responses were added to the anchor chart and later review. The book was a great addiction as well to the conclusion of this week and they had fun while I was reading and participated as I ask them question about the text. The craft activity and center was a great addiction to our routine, the students enjoyed both of the
For this assignment, I had the pleasure of working with the same student I worked with for the first assignment. My student is in second grade and I well be referring to her as J.R. While working with J.R., I assessed her using four different assessments and I really got to understand her as a learner. This assignment was different from the first assignment because I was able to dig deeper into her literacy knowledge and I was able to identify many of her strengths and areas of need. I feel like I understand J.R. a lot better because I now know about her personally and educationally.
Puckett, M., & Black, J. (2008). Meaningful assessments of the young child. (3th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
The formative assessments that will be used throughout this lesson are direct observations, student participation, and collection of the Fairy Tale Maps. I will use the direct observations to elicit direct feedback, by looking at what the students are completing and then giving them feedback accordingly. I will walk around and see how the students are doing on the task they were asked to complete. Based on what I observe, I will be able to see which students are able to complete the task and which students are still having a difficult time with it. Based on what I see, I will continue with my lesson or stop the students, explain the material again, provide guided practice and then allow them to try their independent work. The way I will
Belinda spent time roving around the classroom and interacting with students individually and in small groups to identify their current knowledge and differences in learning. With the year 12 class, she systematically observed and monitored students during class (informal assessment) and recognised an area the majority of the class struggled with. She then created lessons to address this. These lessons worked extremely well. The students engaged with them and as a result, applied it to their own assessments.
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.
I have always had a keen interest in observing children as they play and learn and using the observations to support the child’s growth. This is partly based on my past professional experiences and observations of my own children. I believe that my other strength in assessment is in analyzing data and using the data to make decisions. While I feel, this area is a strength, my exposure to the vast array of assessment tools used to support student learning has been
Student assessment information should always be what drives a teacher’s instruction. Until taking the Literacy Assessment 637 class I had not been required to administer so many assessments. This class also required me to not only assess my students, but to interpret the data and use it to develop and create remediation activities. The purpose of assessing any student is to gain information about a child and identify strengths as well as deficit areas. This can include formal assessment such a DIBELS, “The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade.” (https://dibels.org/dibels.html), or informal assessment such as observations, checklists and anecdotal records. This class also helped me to understand how critical it is to
When reading with these students, I have tried to assess how the students read independently. I did this by asking them to read a small segment on a page and watched them. I could tell when they weren’t reading. I’ve found that these students do really well with reading out loud and discussing what they read immediately after. I use this and then apply it worksheets in one day, then review the next time. I plan on using the cube I made to review the elements before we start our projects. In using this I feel it will really help my students get active while applying the terms we are covering in a fun and exciting way.
Teachers gather information everyday form student’s through classroom activities to get a picture of where a student’s progress and abilities are. There are many different ways to collect a child’s artifacts such as using a checklist, anecdotal notes, teacher reflections, video and audio recordings, and work samples. Each student has their own folder where all their notes, videos, recordings, and artifacts are kept. As stated in the text (Enz, 2014, p. 207, “They must systematically collect, store, organize, and analyze the samples in order to understand the children’s growth and to plan their next teaching” (Ackerman & Coley, 2012). I learned that an on-demand assessment is more like an annual physical checkup. On demand assessments happen at specific times during the course of the year. One day children will be asked to do something specific such as circle the numbers the teacher says out loud, or having to take a test with a pencil and paper. Some label on -demand assessments as tests. This is because children are asked to perform the same action at the same time and in the same manner during an on-demand assessment. “Standardized tests are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all test takers” (Enz, 2014, p. 208). Some examples of an on-going assessment that could be used in a comprehensive approach to literacy
As teachers, we have to monitor the progress our students make each day, week, quarter and year. Classroom assessments are one of the most crucial educational tools for teachers. When assessments are properly developed and interpreted, they can help teachers better understand their students learning progress and needs, by providing the resources to collect evidence that indicates what information their students know and what skills they can perform. Assessments help teachers to not only identify and monitor learners’ strengths, weaknesses, learning and progress but also help them to better plan and conduct instruction. For these reasons, ongoing classroom assessment is the glue that binds teaching and learning together and allows educators to monitor their efficacy and student learning.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
As I reflect on my past assessment process, I realized how much my assessments have changed over the years. In my early years, I used tests for informational recall as my assessments. I felt these were appropriate guidelines in which I needed to follow in order to substantiate a student’s grade. Every assignment or tests was given a point value and then based on the amount of points, a grade was given. Every student’s assessment was exactly the same, and the assessments did not contain any subjectivity. I felt confident in giving the grade based on a valid point system. However reflecting back, I see that I did not include any performance-based assessments or individual learning styles in my early assessment. I also did not take into consideration the individual needs of my students. My assessment approach was awful. I am embarrassed that I use to assess students in this manner.