In a perfect world, how would you assess your students? Discuss the benefits and challenges to implementing that in the SOL-driven world that we live in.
In a ideal setting, I would assess my students in countless varieties of ways. When I sit down to plan a lesson I start by thinking about what objectives I have in mind that I want my students to accomplish. When I think about assessing my students on these objectives, I like to think about what task(s) would give students the opportunity to demonstrate their mastering of these objectives. It is important to choose an assessment that aligns with your goals and objectives in order to get a true picture of what your students know. Instead, teachers are faced with pressure to produce assessments that can be quickly analyzed for data. Our school systems are under pressure to perform well on standardized testing, which leads to some disconnect between what we know is best practice and what types of assessments are actually used. This disconnect leads to meaningless assessments that require students to simply regurgitate information presented to them.
Assessments can be formal or informal. Sometimes when you are mid-unit, a quick check for understanding is all that is necessary to continue progress in the classroom. Other times, more formal assessments are required by teachers in order to document student progress, check for misunderstandings and misconceptions, and adjust the curriculum accordingly to meet the needs of individual students. With that being said, assessments do not need to be in the format of multiple choice, true/false, or matching tests and quizzes. Assessments can come from interviews between the teacher and the student, observations made during activities and lessons, or by analyzing a product that is being created. By engaging students in project-based learning, teachers become facilitators who get to observe the student’s thought process and guide their thinking in the right direction. When students create meaningful work, they can also demonstrate understanding. Through creative outlets such as videos, photo stories, experiments, oral presentations, powerpoint presentations, designing or creating original work students can demonstrate their understanding without the use of a paper and pencil test.
Laura-
ReplyDeleteIt really seems like you take the time to figure out which assessment style works best with your activities. This really shows that you care a lot about your students and how they learn best. It is true that your assessment needs to align with your goals and objectives. As a teacher, it is our job to figure out which assessment type works best with all assignments. I love how you talk about informal and formal assessments. I do believe that teachers lose sight of how informal assessments can be and sometimes these assessments are the most beneficial to us as teachers. Creativity is a huge aspect of learning that sometimes goes unexplored. I love how you stress the importance of creativity and show a genuine love for meaningful work!
I love your organization! Even more, I love that you start your planning with “what do my students want to accomplish?” I actually have a professor who is having me write my own rubric this semester, and I have never done this. Originally I thought it was strange, and in honesty, it was really hard for me to think of what I wanted to be graded on… I had to focus on what I wanted to get out of this, rather than what someone else wanted me to get out of it. Once I began to think about it, I realized I had much more freedom in my own learning, and it was motivating. Im not sure we give kids enough credit, I think that we often think they will just take the easy route for the best grade, but I don’t think that’s true. I think giving kids some freedom, tells them that you trust and value their ideas, as well as care about what they want to learn. I really think they will take the reins and surprise us. I surprised myself, at least with my rubric. You made a great point about students creating meaningful work, and how this allows them to demonstrate their understanding. I think videos, photo stories, experiments, and the other ideas you mentioned are great. Pencils and paper are so outdated. Sure they have their value, but in 2014, we have so many other great resources! Not to mention, we’re talking about the generations that are born into all of this great technology, they have so much to teach us as well. Great post! Those were some really great ideas :)
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI really like how much you explained your ideal assessment "setting." Reading your post gave me some really great ideas. I specifically like how you said you want to give students the "opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of these objectives." It makes me think---do 'typical' assessments like the SOLs demonstrate a "mastery" of objectives? I think not. You state that it is important to choose an assessment that aligns with your goals and objectives and I could not agree more! I definitely think teachers lose sight of this as they face the pressure with SOLs. Like you, I discussed how important it is to assess through creative outlets. As teachers, we should use what we have learned in this technology course to assess our students in creative ways.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when it comes to assessment. I don’t think assessments need to be given through multiple choice, true/false or matching formats. I think students can really show their understanding through other formats like you mentioned. I really like your idea of using interviews to allow students to demonstrate their understanding. Without a test in front of them, I think students will feel more comfortable and will really be able to effectively show their understanding because the pressure of a test is taken off the table.