DUN DUN DUNNN!!
The word assessment strikes fear in the hearts of everyone! But as we've learned this week in class, that doesn't have to be the case.
My old friend merriam-webster.com defines assessment as "the action or instance of assessing." Well Merriam that is no help. Our book defines it as "a process of observing a sample of student behavior and drawing inferences about the student's knowledge and abilities." Okay yeah, that's better.
So beyond that, assessment can take lots of different forms. Two of which are:
-Informal assessment: involves spontaneous, unsystematic observations
-Formal assessment: involves pre-planned, systematic data gathering
Okay so those are all great definitions, but how do they apply? Well I'll you! Say I was teaching a lesson on the differences between the words there, their, and they're. I could use formal and informal methods of assessment before, during, and after my lesson to monitor the prior knowledge, basic skills and understanding, progress, and achievement in my students. I'll list 4 different ways I could do this.
- Before I start my lesson I would have the three words (there, their, they're) on the board. I would ask my class if they knew the words, how to say them, or what they meant. Their responses would let me know their familiarity with the words. I would also check to see if they recognized that "they're" is a contraction. Simply observing like this is a type of formative and informal assessment.
- Next I would begin my lesson and teach the meanings of the three words. I would explain that their shows possession or ownership, there shows directionality, and they're is a contraction of they are. I would have a slide show that has sentences with a blank where the correct version of the word should be. I would model a few of the sentences, breaking down my steps and showing them how to do it. Then I would pass out small whiteboards and markers and tell each student to write the correct word and show me when they are ready. This is another form of formative, informal assessment because it allows me to observe each student's understanding of the concept.
- Once I felt that my students had grasped the concept I would let them work with partners on a worksheet that has a story with the same fill in the blank set up. I would walk around the room and observe as the students worked together. This is a third way to informally assess the class because it allows me to observe who gets it, who is helping who, and who needs more help.
- Based on the results of the partner worksheets, I would either provide additional instruction, give more practice opportunities, or move on. Once I felt the students knew the material I would provide a quiz. This is a summative formal assessment of their knowledge.
Below is a link to a site that lists lots of fun ideas to use formative assessment in the classroom. It has options for oral language, questions, writing, projects, performance, and tests.
I agree, assessments always sound scary, especially for the students. However, assessments happen all the time in the class without kids even knowing it. Honestly, until I started taking my Education of Deaf and Deaf Education class, I did not realize that as an interpreter I will be doing assessments as well. Some assessments formal and some informal. We discussed how in some school you could be the only one in the entire school who has any knowledge of ASL and Deaf culture. There are more than likely times that the schools might ask you to video and analyze a child's language development to see where they are and what direction to go in to develop their language skills. Some deaf students grow up not knowing how to sign until they get into school. This leaves them with a large language delay. It may mean that a child enters elementary or middle school with the ASL language development level of that of a two year old. Assessments are extremely important in every aspect of education.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you are going to use the whiteboards in your classroom as an informal assessment to see what the students are picking up on during your lesson. I remember using whiteboards in school and remember how excited I was to be the first to get the correct answer and so I know students will love using this as a way to show you what they are learning during the lesson. The only thing you have to worry about are those students who will get off task and just use the boards to draw on and not pay attention to what you are asking them to write. I really enjoyed reading your assessment strategies and think they will all be great ways to provide you with feedback on how the lesson is going and allow you to alter your instruction from there!
ReplyDeleteThese are great examples of assessments. I like the whiteboard assessment because students can correct themselves and you can check for comprehension really easily. Mary Kate is right about students getting off task, but if you make it fun you'll be set!
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