This week I would like to shed some light on my classes this term. As we hit the mid-point of the program my cohort has this quarter of classes and one more in the winter and then it's student teaching for ten weeks followed by one final quarter in which we write our masters thesis. This quarter our classes are math methods, social studies methods, science methods, and assessment practices.
I have to say, I have been a bit surprised by our assessment class. I knew there was more to assessment than simply making tests, but I wasn't so sure it would be easy to fill an entire quarter with worthwhile material. So far, it doesn't seem to be an issue. The course focuses on the concepts of assessment for learning as well as assessment of learning. Although I had seen and used things like improvement portfolios in the past, the overall concept of using assessment as a way to support and increase learning (assessment for learning) was something I hadn't thought much about specifically.
To give a better idea of some of our class reactions and reflections I would like to share some insights from our weekly readings which have been posted to the class discussion board.
"'The guiding belief or value underpinning this book is that the greatest potential value of classroom assessment is realized when we open the process up and welcome students in as full partners during their learning.' While reading Chapter One I became aware of how much of an emphasis the author puts on student involvement. This had never really occurred to me as in my time at school there was never an equal partnership between me, the student, and my teacher; there was only self editing, the requirement of several drafts for each paper, and a few red comments on the returned final paper. There was never any deeper thought that went into the growth of my writing skills. I would have much preferred to have open communication with my teacher as to the things that I personally could improve on. Instead it was whatever was the next step in the curriculum for the entire class. If I ever needed extra help with any assignment, I would not know where to begin to fix the problem. Because of my own experiences with not receiving that extra voice that I needed, I really like what the authors have said about involving the student. It is a very true statement that involving the student is the most important key to that student’s improvement. The story of Emily showed how beneficial it is to make sure that the student is completely on board with the writing process, and the importance of knowing exactly what is going on with their own writing. An individual’s success depends on the time and effort put into their progress, both by themselves and by their teacher."
"What Stood Out:
'Please never underestimate the power of your evaluations of student performance and the impact of your feedback on your students. For us as adults, its a grade that goes in a grade book or a score we average with other scores, but for the students it's always far more personal than that. It's how they decide how they fit into the world of people who this thing called "writing," or "reading" or "math." Indeed they interpret your feedback to decide whether they fit in at all.' pg. 13
I agree with the author that it is crucially important to understand how evaluations will be experienced by the students in our classroom. Under the pressure's and many demands placed on us as teachers, it will be easy to rush through evaluating and inadvertently provide our students with less than helpful feedback on their performance.
Though this affects all students regardless of grade level, I'm assuming that it is even more crucial during the primary years when students have not begun to differentiate themselves from their work if that's even truly possible. However, to know that schoolwork successes and failures as described by a teacher about a student plays such a fundamental role in the development of where a person fits in not only the classroom but the world and furthermore the development of their sense of self, I hope all pre-service teachers will be empowered to allow and plan for thoughtful evaluation in everything they do as it pertains to student work."
This class has certainly underscored the necessity of quality assessments and the impact assessment can have. At this halfway point of the term and the program I can hardly wait to finish out these classes and start to put things into practice in the classroom.
I have to say, I have been a bit surprised by our assessment class. I knew there was more to assessment than simply making tests, but I wasn't so sure it would be easy to fill an entire quarter with worthwhile material. So far, it doesn't seem to be an issue. The course focuses on the concepts of assessment for learning as well as assessment of learning. Although I had seen and used things like improvement portfolios in the past, the overall concept of using assessment as a way to support and increase learning (assessment for learning) was something I hadn't thought much about specifically.
To give a better idea of some of our class reactions and reflections I would like to share some insights from our weekly readings which have been posted to the class discussion board.
"'The guiding belief or value underpinning this book is that the greatest potential value of classroom assessment is realized when we open the process up and welcome students in as full partners during their learning.' While reading Chapter One I became aware of how much of an emphasis the author puts on student involvement. This had never really occurred to me as in my time at school there was never an equal partnership between me, the student, and my teacher; there was only self editing, the requirement of several drafts for each paper, and a few red comments on the returned final paper. There was never any deeper thought that went into the growth of my writing skills. I would have much preferred to have open communication with my teacher as to the things that I personally could improve on. Instead it was whatever was the next step in the curriculum for the entire class. If I ever needed extra help with any assignment, I would not know where to begin to fix the problem. Because of my own experiences with not receiving that extra voice that I needed, I really like what the authors have said about involving the student. It is a very true statement that involving the student is the most important key to that student’s improvement. The story of Emily showed how beneficial it is to make sure that the student is completely on board with the writing process, and the importance of knowing exactly what is going on with their own writing. An individual’s success depends on the time and effort put into their progress, both by themselves and by their teacher."
"What Stood Out:
'Please never underestimate the power of your evaluations of student performance and the impact of your feedback on your students. For us as adults, its a grade that goes in a grade book or a score we average with other scores, but for the students it's always far more personal than that. It's how they decide how they fit into the world of people who this thing called "writing," or "reading" or "math." Indeed they interpret your feedback to decide whether they fit in at all.' pg. 13
I agree with the author that it is crucially important to understand how evaluations will be experienced by the students in our classroom. Under the pressure's and many demands placed on us as teachers, it will be easy to rush through evaluating and inadvertently provide our students with less than helpful feedback on their performance.
Though this affects all students regardless of grade level, I'm assuming that it is even more crucial during the primary years when students have not begun to differentiate themselves from their work if that's even truly possible. However, to know that schoolwork successes and failures as described by a teacher about a student plays such a fundamental role in the development of where a person fits in not only the classroom but the world and furthermore the development of their sense of self, I hope all pre-service teachers will be empowered to allow and plan for thoughtful evaluation in everything they do as it pertains to student work."
This class has certainly underscored the necessity of quality assessments and the impact assessment can have. At this halfway point of the term and the program I can hardly wait to finish out these classes and start to put things into practice in the classroom.
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