Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Focus area: 5.1 - Assess student learning
Reflection
During my practicum, I mainly relied on informal, formative assessment to achieve a grade of ‘demonstrated’ for Standard 5.1.1. This was mainly done through questioning that took place during the closure of each lesson. According to both Whitton (2015) and Ruiz-Primo (2011), questioning is a useful tool to informally assess student learning. This strategy was effective for assessing student learning because it allowed me to differentiate and gauge each student’s understanding by asking a question that was appropriate for their learning level. However, I found that simply questioning students each lesson became boring and monotonous. Therefore, I made the questioning component of my lessons game-based to breathe
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life and excitement into formative assessment. Incorporating games made assessment more inviting, less daunting and boosted engagement overall (Whitton, 2015).
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Whitton (2015) highlights the importance of using various forms of assessment, thus, another way I demonstrated an understanding of assessment strategies was through student self-reflection that took place at the end of each lesson. McMillan and Hearn (2008) encourage teachers to incorporate student self-reflection into their classrooms due to how it promotes skills that allow students to evaluate their understanding and identify their strengths, as well as areas they could improve in. My practicum school incorporated this into their programs through a thumb rating system, something I made sure to follow. At the end of a lesson, students reflected on their learning and gave themselves a ‘thumbs up’ or a ‘thumbs down’ based on how well they feel they had met the lesson’s learning intention and success criteria, which was displayed at the beginning of the lesson. This gave students an active role in the feedback and assessment process, while also allowing me to gauge their understanding of not only lesson content but also their interpretation of the success criteria, whereby I made modifications if required.
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References
McMillan, J. H., & Hearn, J. (2008). Student self-assessment: The key to stronger student motivation and higher achievement. Educational horizons, 87(1), 40-49.
Ruiz-Primo, M. (2011). Informal formative assessment: The role of instructional dialogues in assessing students’ learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2011.04.003
Whitton, D. (2015). Teaching and learning strategies. Cambridge University Press.
McMillan, J. H., & Hearn, J. (2008). Student self-assessment: The key to stronger student motivation and higher achievement. Educational horizons, 87(1), 40-49.
Ruiz-Primo, M. (2011). Informal formative assessment: The role of instructional dialogues in assessing students’ learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2011.04.003
Whitton, D. (2015). Teaching and learning strategies. Cambridge University Press.