Another chapter that I didn't post on the first time around! Fun!
I am amazed at how comfortable I have become with assessment in the last few years. I'm not sure if it has to do with the principal I was working for a few years ago or the fact that I now have about ten years of teaching under my belt but I know that I feel confident using anecdotals and observations for assessment where I didn't in the past.
I love the analogy that Laney Sammons makes on page 227 to the inuksuit in the tundra...assessment as a guide post!
Amazing.
She states "without this guidance [of assessment], the effectiveness of instruction is lost."
Wow.
Some other quotes that stood out for me are:
"When this evidence of student learning [meaning the gathering of data done my teachers- formally or informally] is used to develop teaching practices and enhance learning, assessment is being performed." (page 228)
"Teachers plan, teach, assess learning, and then adjust their instruction. Eventually teachers may even be able to assess and adjust as they teach." (page 229)
This is where I feel I am... sometimes!
And when it happens isn't it a great feeling?
"Students improve their performances and increase their learning when they know precisely what they have done well and exactly what they need to do to improve, and then are given opportunities to do so." (page 229)
I have totally seen this in my own class as there as been such a big push for using success criteria is every subject over the past few years. Co-creating the success criteria, keeping it posted and having students self assess has changed the way students view their own grades.
Something I want to improve is my descriptive feedback and my use of checklists to inform parents of their child's progress on a more regular basis.
On page 234, Sammons writes about using checklists for assessment, something I have grown to really like. She states that "[a]fter the checklist has been completed for a piece of student work, the student is then given an opportunity to revise his or her work so that it meets the criteria."
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I LOVE the criteria for problem solving rubric that is shared on pages 236-237 and will definitely be using that in my class this year!
A goal for me this coming year is to involve my students as much as possible in the assessment process and have them self-assess and set goals. This isn't something I've been very good at in the past and I really want to improve in this area.
I try to use lots of different kinds of assessment in my class and in the past years I have found myself using formative assessment quite a lot (yeah me!) as well as anecdotal observations and conferences/interviews.
Here are some posts I've done in the past on assessment:
Talking Pictures- love this for formative/diagnostic assessment
Glow and Grow- a strategy I learned at a workshop and then was expanded on by the amazing Jen from Runde's Room!
I also did a short series on assessment
(it is actually only one post! LOL...looks like I need to finish that up! OOPS)
Well, it looks like we are almost done our time together for this book study...one more chapter to go.
But don't forget about the Guided Math Conferences Book Study that has started.
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Beth